Tomatin 15yo
Official Bottling - Discontinued | 43% ABV
Not All Revelations Lead To More Gold Nuggets
The cat’s out of the bag.
I found the older Tomatin juice, whether it’s their vintage bottlings of the entry level 12 yo or their quirky Contrasts series, to be worth the squeeze. I didn’t find any old bottle effect in any of those whiskies and in many cases, a significant pressure change was heard when prying out the crumbling corks. Well sealed and therefore representative of these older expressions.
So with auctions providing a glimpse into whiskies lost to time, I snagged this discontinued 15yo release. Thankfully, Tomatin is still an operating distillery, not unlike some other foray’s here on Dramface like Ainsley’s dalliances with Caperdonich or Tyree and his Imperial, which means prices for these vintage expressions are more attainable.
With my fond memories of the 2010s 12yo in mind, I figured a 2010s bottling of Tomatin’s 15yo would surely be worth adding to my library of experiences. It took several rounds of SWA’s auctions for a 15yo to pop up, and go for a hammer price that was palatable, before I was successful. In this day and age, patience is key and the whisky will eventually come to you.
Interestingly, this box came with a nifty little leaflet with some intel on the Tomatin products, circa early 2010s. The “superb” 12yo, married in Spanish sherry butts prior to bottling, has earned itself a place on my “epic” shelf. The 18yo, presumably a direct predecessor to today’s modern 18yo incarnation, was aged for a minimum of 18 years and married for a period in “distinctive” Spanish Oloroso casks. And the 15yo, of which is under the microscope today, was released in August 2009 and matured in refill American oak casks.
But perhaps the biggest shocker was upon turning over the leaflet to the back: a standard tour was valued at £3. If we account for inflation since 2009, a tour is estimated to have a current price of £4.64 when using Bank of England’s inflation calculator. Looking at Tomatin’s website, the current tour’s start at £15 (3 drams - Legacy, 12yo, Cù Bòcan) per person, with more expansive tours reaching £60/person. Now these might be the range of prices typical to Scottish distilleries today, for I have yet to make the pilgrimage, but it’s an interesting look backwards to where the industry was some 15 years ago.
Review
Tomatin 15yo, Official core release circa 2009-2015, 43% ABV
£35 paid at auction plus fees.
In a bit of research, it appears that Tomatin reformulated their core range in 2015-2016 to remove the 15yo and instead divert it towards a Travel Retail Exclusive, with a 14 yo Port and 18 yo Oloroso rounding out the normal end of their core range.
Nose
Light toffee apple. Some cinnamon. Baked apple tart with vanilla icing. It’s shy and not jumping out.
Palate
Light but still a few hooks. Good dose of tannin nibbles on my tongue and inner cheeks, making this more enjoyable than the lower percentage ABV and nose may suggest. Runny honey. The most delicate kiss of orange zest, not unlike the invisible spritz found on the rim of an Old Fashioned. There’s some sweet and spicy wood-related notes but nothing easily identifiable. Generic fruits, sprinkled cinnamon.
After successive sips, the tannins come across much like some fizzy effervescence, not unlike a quality well-made secondary fermented grape beverage.
The Dregs
The palate is the saving factor here. The nose is light, unexpressive, and with very little in the way of an interesting “hook”. The palate, with its refreshing tannin-driven effervescence, is the only saving grace. The label proudly states “matured in traditional oak casks” which, knowing a few Scotsman who all like to count their pennies, very likely means refill casks. And it shows.
I like refill casks, they’re my favourite type of cask. But refill can also mean tired, and insufficient time in tired casks often leads to less flavour (less time for oxygen and esterification to work their subtle magic) and this discontinued 15yo core range whispers of tired wood. (Note: I wrote that before reading the leaflet, if that’s why the cadence seems out of place. Seems I was on the right track.)
For reference, I poured myself a dram of the matching 2010s bottling of their 12yo. And you know what? The 12yo mops the floor with the 15yo. The flavours are more robust, expressive, and balanced, despite being down 3% on the ABV and three years younger. Very interesting.
This deserves a 5/10 but not a decimal more.
Score: 5/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB