Tomatin Reviewed by our own Thom Smyth

THOM-O-TIME

Those of you who don’t know Thom, he is a regular fixture tending the whisky bar at Milroys Spitalfields. He is known for his wisecracking scene of humour and depth of random whisky quips and facts.  Here he has shared some of his whisky adventures with us.

What was your first experience of whisky?

I was about 18, me and my mates met outside our local pub The Prince of Wales. No longer having to rely on fake IDs to escape the scowl of the landlady Sandra. I remember thinking having something a little more sophisticated would draw attention away from the bum fluff on my chin and my Fall Out Boy haircut.  I ordered a Laphroaig 10 Year Old without really knowing too much about it. I was taken back by the stench of the peat and how ‘strong’ it tasted, I spluttered as Sandra glared across the bar. The second sip I felt the full power and experience of the whisky and seemed to enjoy the punishment. From there on I always tended to drink the peatier whiskies.

What are your top three desert island whiskies?

Caol Ila 2016 Distillers Edition, finish in Muscatel Casks. This is one of the most well rounded whiskies, the muscatel cask cuts through the creamy almondy nature of Caol ila signature style.

Tomatin 12 Year Old (2006) Amontillado Sherry Cask Finish. Tomatin is a big powerful base spirit, bringing the amontillado finish to this base spirit brings a nutty savory note which works fantastically.

Redbreast 15 Year Old Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. Pound for pound the best everyday whiskey out there.

What is your funniest whisky story?

I got invited to spend Christmas with a friend’s family whilst living in Canada. Spending the day with them I was indoctrinated into a proper Canadian Christmas mainly drinking whisky, driving snowmobiles, eating pierogis and listening to Christmas songs, it was great! A cousin of my friend decided he wanted to go dram-for-dram with me. This is a mistake on his part as he ended up falling asleep in his Christmas dinner and his dad and myself having to carry him to bed whilst his Grandfather called him a little b**** while taking a big swig of her Canadian Club and Coke. I preceded to slow down my drinking but still finished the night off with Grandpa George.

Why is Tomatin one of your favorite distillers?

What makes Tomatin one of my favourite whiskies is it’s diverse range. Their use of different varying casks, such as Caribbean rum casks, Amontillado sherry and Oloroso sherry casks add so much to an already powerful, soft, delicious whisky which makes me go back to Tomatin for something different every time.

Tomatin Distillery

Tomatin was established in 1897, even though they had been producing liquid and selling to cattle drivers since the 16th century, under the name of Tomatin Spey Distillery Company. Owned since 1986 by Japanese company Takara Shuzo, they took ’Spey’ out of the name of the distillery as it is actually a highland whisky.

Producing between 2.5 and 5 million litres of liquid per year, Tomatin has a core range of a 12 year old, 14 year old. 18 year old, 25 year old and a 36 year old as well as Non Age Statement (NAS) labels. Within their production, they also have the Cu Bocan lineup which is a NAS and lightly peated as well as their own blends the Antiquary and the Talisman.

Tomatin Decades II NAS – 46%

A marriage of 21 casks ranging from Scotch Whisky, ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry, and recharred French Oak from the last 50 years.

Nose – Citrus and floral with a fruity, coconut punch. Some dried fruit and light spice.

Palate – An initial burst of red berry fruits and Christmas cake with a length of ginger spice and orange peel.

Finish – Long waxy finish with chocolate and tropical fruit lingering.

Order for £145

Tomatin 21YO The Boutique-y Whisky Company Batch 3 – 47.4%

Nose – Blueberries and barley. Breakfast notes.

Palate – Slightly earthy with a bitter orange citrus burst. Honey texture with a pinch of a dry cinnamon spice.

Finish – Finishes very oaky with a sweet chocolate undertone.  

Order for £125

We set our sights on the impressive array of bottlings from Highland Park and Macallan that arrived this week. Arguably two of the biggest names in Scotch, we have a bottling for nearly every taste and palate. From Highland Park’s potentially perfect-scoring 18 Year Old to the extremely rare 52-Year-Old Macallan, these are compelling drams that soar to unbelievable heights. All are offered in very limited quantities, making quick action a necessity.

Highland Park 12 Year Old Isle of Orkney Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $46.99 View

Macallan 12 Year Old “Sherry Oak Cask” Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $69.99 View

Highland Park 18 Year Old Isle of Orkney Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $129.99 View

Macallan “Edition No. 5” Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $129.99 View

Macallan “Triple Cask” 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $129.99 View

Macallan 18 Year Old “Annual 2019 Release” Sherry Oak Cask Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $299.99 View

Macallan 25 Year Old “Distillery Bottling” Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $1,999.99 View

Macallan 52 Year Old (2018 Release) Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $60,000.00 View (NO SHIPPING NO DELIVERY WILL CALL ONLY)

Caol Ila 9 Year Old

Single Cask Sherry Butt

Caol Ila 9 Year Old 2010

Single sherry butt bottled March 2020 by Signatory Vintage for the Cask Strength Collection. A full bodied smokey Islay malt brimming with sweet sherry notes. 625 bottles and selling fast! Caol Ila 9 Year Old 2010 vintage Islay single malt Scotch whiskey. Single cask refill sherry butt #316658 bottled March 2020 by Signatory Vintage for the Cask Strength Collection. 625 numbered bottles.

Caol Ila Distillery is famous for the stunning view from its still house windows looking out across the Sound of Islay and for the objects which have passed by including naval battleships, submarines and whales. Caol Ila was established in 1846 by Hector Henderson on a sheltered but rocky stretch of coast on north east Islay. Now the largest malt whisky distillery on Islay it produces peated and some un-peated malt whiskey with the distillery range including Caol Ila 12 year old and the Distiller’s Edition. Caol Ila participates in Feis Ile, the annual Islay Festival of Malt and Music.

Shop – Caol Ila 9 Year Old 2020 – £106.54

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 312: Islay 8 Year Old Ypres Whisky Friends / The Magnificent Five

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky vlogger, tries an Islay whisky. The guys of the Ypres Whisky Friends have realized their first club bottling. It’s an Islay Blended Malt, although that is to be taken with a grain of salt. The cask number leaves no doubt that this is a Laphroaig, according to insiders teaspooned with a bit of Caol Ila, so that it can no longer be termed single malt. They share the cask with the Magnificent Five – also from Belgium – who took the rest of the cask, but selected a totally different packaging.

https://youtu.be/1Sn0vy1XG1E

WATERFORD DISTILLER Y UNVEILS ITS SINGLE FARM ORIGIN SERIES

 BARLEY- FORWARD 
TERROIR – DRIVEN NATURAL WHISKIES

Terroir-driven whisky producer, Waterford Distillery, unveils its highly anticipated first commercial releases since it began distillation in 2015. Influenced by the world’s greatest winemakers, Waterford Distillery obsessively brings the same intellectual drive, methodology & rigour to single malt whisky.

Using 100% Irish barley, widely considered to be the world’s finest, its new Single Farm Origin series is an uber-provenance range of limited edition natural whiskies that explore Irish terroir one farm, once place, at a time. They are expressions of precision and rarity, showcasing barley flavours derived from individual Irish farms and harvests.

The distillery’s ultimate aim is that these component single malts come together create the world’s most unique, complex and profound whisky. But as part of this new series they mark the distillery’s first commercial steps to showcase barley-forward, terroir-driven natural whiskies.

THE  P R E C I S I O N  O F  P L A C E

The first two Single Farm Origin editions use barley originating from unique corners of Ireland: Bannow Island: Edition 1.1 – distilled from barley grown by Ed Harpur on the extreme southern coast of Co. Wexford, where salt-laden Atlantic winds and sandy soils create a unique, if challenging, terroir.

Ballykilcavan: Edition 1.1 – distilled from barley grown by David Walsh-Kemmis west of the Barrow in Co. Laois in the barley heartlands, where his fertile fields are sheltered by ancient woodland.
Bottled at 50% ABV without colouring, chill-filtration or any additives – totally natural – each Single Farm Origin has a RRP of between €70-79/£70 (depending on location) and will be available in specialist whisky retailers from the end of June 2020.

Different Single Farm Origin bottlings, equally unique, will be released to the US and other overseas markets later in the year, whilst Single Farm Origin: Ratheadon: Edition 1.1 will follow exclusively online and from the distillery itself.

Waterford Distillery Founder and CEO Mark Reynier says: “I’ve spent a lifetime in the top end of drinks industry – half in fine wine, half in single malt – and Waterford is the culmination of this rather unusual journey. It’s rare one has the chance to breathe life into to such a provocative concept, one of such of precision, challenge and originality.

“For years folk have been hoodwinked on where whisky’s quality truly lies – once stills, then water, now wood. We want to shine the light on what really makes malt whisky the most complex spirit in the world, the primary source of all that extraordinary flavour: barley.

“I can safely say no stone has been left unturned. No challenge unmet. Thanks to unparalleled logistics, great teamwork, and singleminded focus we can now share our inspiration, this vision, that will one day rebalance the way we look at and enjoy this fine spirit. And this is just the beginning.”

C O M PA R E  &  C O N T R A S T

All of Waterford’s whiskies use 100% demonstrably Irish-grown barley – one farm, one terroir, at a time – without adding any imported grains to meet specifications. Following a strict methodology that originates in the greatest vineyards of France, each farm’s crop is kept separate from field to barrel.

Using a mash filter instead of a mash tun, minimum 120-hour fermentations, and exceptionally slow distillations, Waterford produces the most natural and respectful expressions of barley possible. Throughout the entire process, the distillery keeps track of thousands of data points.

TÉIREOIR : TOTALLY TRACEABLE & TRANSPARENT

Every bottle features its own pioneering TÉIREOIR code, which once entered on the website from the end of June will reveal a host of unprecedented and engaging content related to the release. Using rich photography, and drawing upon the distillery’s unrivalled digital logistics systems, drinkers will be able to explore the place, the harvest, the grower, distillation details as well as view the full spectrum of wood.

N O T E S 

FOUNDER & CEO MARK REYNIER

2020 sees Waterford founder and CEO Mark Reynier reach 40 years in the drinks industry – 20 years in wine, and 20 years in spirits. A maverick entrepreneur who has done perhaps more than any other figure
to apply the rigours of terroir to the spirits world, he began his career in the London wine trade in 1980, formed La Réserve – one of London’s premier wine & spirit merchants – before resurrecting the mothballed Bruichladdich Distillery at the end of 2000. After introducing pioneering cask finishing policies that went on to change the whisky industry, and launching The Botanist, one of the world’s bestselling gins, Bruichladdich was sold to Rémy Cointreau for £58 million in 2012. Reynier then bought the former Guinness brewery in Waterford in 2014 – transforming a state-of-the-art brewery into a modern distillery, and in July 2018 commenced building the game-changing US$30 million Renegade Rum Distillery in Grenada.

SINGLE FARM ORIGIN – THE SOLO VOICE

Barley is the source of malt whisky’s complex flavours. Those flavours are shaped by the place where barley grows, by the soils that nourish its roots. By the microclimate in which it ripens. By terroir. In Ireland’s Sunny South East, warmed by the Gulf Stream, temperate, moist air crosses fertile soils to produce a verdant landscape – & the world’s finest barley. Our Single Farm Origin editions explore this premier region one terroir at a time. Each exclusive bottling represents the precision of place.

THE VI SI O N

There’s been a brewery here on the banks of the River Suir since 1792. Today’s Waterford Distillery, the technological marvel we call the Facilitator, enables us to create elite whisky. State-of-the-art equipment marries with ancient knowledge, local Irish barley with extended fermentations, unhurried distillation with a spectrum of exceptional oak. Thus we can reveal the ultimate expression of terroir, farm by farm, harvest by harvest. Unique distillates, new starting points, & beguiling expressions of place. After maturing for several years in the best of French and American oak, we believe these component “single”, single malts – a solo voice, a solo terroir – each one exhibiting its own nuances, will come together a chorus of flavours layering on top of each other, the total sum of its parts, making what we humbly believe to be most profound single malt whisky ever created. It is this whisky that we are striving for – our ambition, our destination, our raison d’être. Watch this space.

Exclusive Apollo 11
51st Anniversary Bottling

‘One Small Step’ Bowmore 17 Year Old 2002

Fifty-one years ago Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong took “One small step for man” when he set foot on the Moon – one of the most historic, scientific and culturally significant events of the 20 Century.

To mark this occasion, TheWhiskyBarrel.com has bottled a single first fill Oloroso sherry hogshead distilled in 2002 at the Bowmore distillery on Islay. Yielding 270 numbered bottles at cask strength 54.6%.

In the interest of fairness ‘One Small Step’ Bowmore 17 Year Old is limited to one bottle per customer (but you don’t have to be an astronaut to buy it!)

Shop – One Small Step – £150

Thursday, May 28th 5:30PM:

Glyph Molecular Whisky

with exclusive pre-release mystery tasting sets!

Located in the historic Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco just a few miles away from The Whisky Shop, Endless West distillery is best known for their unique method of whisky creation – whiskey made from the molecule up. To make Glyph, distillery Endless West begins by mapping out a desired flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel, then selecting the exact molecules from sources like fruit, citrus, yeasts, and sugars to build their spirit, eschewing traditional aging and distilling methods to create a delicious whiskey in record time. This virtual tasting will give an in-depth look at the mysterious molecular methods that go into making Glyph, PLUS a very special bonus for our customers!

Click here to Reserve your Ticket

Get 50% Off Glyph Whiskey PLUS an exclusive mystery tasting set!

In connection with our virtual Glyph Molecular Whisky tasting on May 28th, we’ve partnered with Endless West distillery to get exclusive pre-launch tasting bottles of their upcoming expressions, now only $9.99 while supplies last.

The pre-release tasting set includes:

– (1) 375 ML bottle of Glyph Whiskey (normally $18.99!)

– (2) 50ML small exclusive pre-launch bottles of brand new whiskeys from Endless West.

Previously intended to be released in-store later this year, you’ll be among the first to try these brand new mystery whiskies.

Limited quantity available! 

Click here for more details and to Purchase the tasting set

Thank you everyone for your incredible patience and understanding throughout this difficult time. We are pleased to announce that Auction 108, postponed in March, will go live on Friday 29th May. If you had bottles originally booked into Auction 108 these will automatically be included.  Our auction schedule has been updated for the coming months and we are very much looking forward to welcoming you all back.

Our offices remain closed to the public at the moment and we will update further as soon as we can.

Best wishes from all at Team SWA.

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Not this week folks,  his samples didn’t arrive!