Tomintoul 1968 Whiskybroker [Road to #1000, Review #994]

Hi everyone,

Now I know I said I don’t often taste whiskies distilled back in the 60’s but this was an exception.

In fact, both this and the 1968 Glen Elgin were reasonably priced at Usquabae in Edinburgh. Which was great. Great bar, great atmosphere and food.

This one was recommended by one of the people behind the bar.

What I didn’t realise at the time was that Tomintoul had only started production in July 1965! Only three years before this was distilled. This was probably sold for an insanely low cost, as most of Whiskybroker’s bottlings are.

Tomintoul 1968 Whiskybroker 47.6%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose:Kinda soapy, outside a Lush shop, lavender, FWP-esque, Haribo Strawbs, wood varnish, green apple amazingly (can’t believe that it’s kept that freshness), leather as well.

Taste: Chewy, fruit, red apple, a little soapy then big strong oak, spice with ginger, then backs off with the soap returning. Not bad soap, not really an off note, but a little weird.

Finish: Long length. Strawberry Haribo-Strawbs, plenty of awesome chocolate, amazing finish.

Bottled at 43yo. Better as it opens up, though it remains a bit soapy. Similar to the two 1972 Tobermory’s that I’ve tasted actually.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #831

Whisky Network Review #994

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Tomatin Cù Bòcan (+Blind Review Video) & Old Ballentruan 15 Reviews

Hi everyone,

I’ve been trying to continue doing my blind reviews on my Youtube channel but life keeps getting in the way, or perhaps I’m just lazy.

Anyway, when a mate put two samples in my hand of things he’d gotten over Christmas, I told him not to tell me what they were so I could taste them blind.

So this is the first, a Tomatin that (spoiler alert) I guessed was a young Bruichladdich. The lack of peat but presence of saltiness seemed to have put me off the mark on this one. Link here

Tomatin Cù Bòcan 46%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Buttery, oily and lightly floral. Lemon and some yeasty dough notes, quite young with the New Make Spirit poking through a little.

Taste: Soft arrival, lacking power initially with some lemon and a little malt, quite delicate development with some yeast and dough, quite sour with green apple joining the lemon.

Finish: Medium length. More spirity here, a little harsh and sour.

Lightly peated Tomatin. Very lightly peated apparently because I don't get any peat at all! If I hadn’t picked up on the saltiness, I would have said this was a young NAS Highlander.

64/100

Oh, hell. I’m sure I’ve got another peated Highlander I reviewed recently…

rummage

 

Old Ballantruan 15 50%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Quite rustic, malty, a little dust, honey, florals and golden raisin, a little smoke here and there but not powerful.

Taste: Soft then oily with growing smoke, peaty and mineral after a little rubber then honey and dust and golden raisin before more peat going into the finish.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More peaty here with red apple, going very mineral.

A heavily peated Tomintoul but again, not a massive amount of smoke here. Almost tastes like a peated Macallan with the golden raisin notes. Quite flat on the palate. Balance is tricky here.

72/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #722-#723

Whisky Network Review #860-#861

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Tomintoul Reviews: 14yo & Peaty Tang

Hey guys!

I've been doing small tastings of only one or two whiskies, going through samples from distilleries I haven't had whiskies from. Including this one: Tomintoul.

Here we go!

Tomintoul 14 46%

Colour: Very Light Straw

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Fresh and malty. Quite fruity with watermelon, melon, Greek yoghurt, maltiness and a little nut. A bit of oak in the background.

Water: More citrus- Lemon and melon.

Taste: Very fresh and light. Fruity with some sour lemon, then building malt and nut with vanilla and pastry then some oak taking over with tonnes of coffee and chocolate into the finish.

Water: More dry, more sour lemon and slowly building oak. Very oaky into the finish.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Bitter with a tonne of coffee and chocolate that sweep everything away. Actually it's quite appetising.

Notes: I like it. Very light nose though.

71/100

Better than I was expecting! Most of these unknown distilleries I've been trying have been scoring in the 60's.

And to compare I've got the medium peated version (they also do Old Ballantruan, which is heavily peated).

Tomintoul Peaty Tang 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Quite light. Fresh peat and lots of citrus. Lime and lemon juice, quite oily, quite earthy, a bit of hay, some malt.

Taste: Fresh and light. Fruity with lemon juice at first then some oiliness and earthiness, going very earthy, almost mud like.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Very earthy, a little oak.

Notes: Should be 46%.

67/100

Reminds me of a worse version of Lagavulin, without the Islayness.

That's all for today Check back for more!

Reviews #56-#57

Network Average: 78.8

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent