Whisky: Tomatin 17 Year (2001), Gordon & MacPhail

Country/Region: Scotland/Highland

ABV: 57.8%

Cask: First Fill Bourbon Barrel

Age: 17 Year (Distilled 2001, Bottled 17 Jan. 2019)

Nose: Vanilla, brown sugar, and stone fruit. Peach upside-down cake with caramelized brown sugar and hints of vanilla bean. Licorice hung behind notes of Saturn peaches, apricots, cake batter, and cream. Orange rind and aniseed gave a citrusy-licorice twist to the sweet stone fruits.

Palate: Full-bodied and oily with citrus, herbs, and stone fruit. Sweet citrus and aniseed crashed into herbal tobacco while notes of apple blossom and orange oil lingered in the background. Peaches and nectarines brought to mind subtle fruity tea and cake. Bitter toward the end with an underlying minerality, green apple, and notes of herbal liquors and aniseed.

Finish: Lingering dry herbal quality with hints of peaches and vanilla.

Score: 6

Mental Image: Peaches and Pizza

Notes: A beauty upfront with peaches, cream, and vanilla cake— yet something herbal and bitter lurked at the end. The bitter backend and lingering dry herbal quality on the finish were a bit of a downer after a wonderfully sweet palate. There were hints of the herbal surprise on the nose, though they were mostly hidden behind sugary stone fruits and licorice. The palate also had hints with its herbal tobacco and subtle tea that transformed at the end and paired with a minerality that a friend described as “hard water.”

Perhaps the most amazing thing about this dram was how close some of my notes matched those of Gordon & MacPhail. Sometimes I read bottle notes and wonder if I was even tasting the same thing or wonder if some of the spices or tropical fruits taste the same in Scotland as they do out in the Pacific. Yet, this time, the good copy editor at Gordon & MacPhail and I mainly seemed in agreement— diverging mostly on whether toffee was that prevalent and whether aniseed was an undertone or a bit higher.

Overall, a delicious Tomatin! It was Scotland’s largest malt distillery for the longest time, and though it remains quite large (currently tied for 22nd largest), it has been at the top for many decades. I associate the distillery with cake and cake frosting notes, and this bottle had some of those elements, though with a lovely layer of stone fruit.