Official bottlings | 43% ABV

tomatin 12 year old tomatin legacy bottle images — Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Surprisingly balanced, weighty and well rounded*

The dynamic duo that shone the light on a delightful distillery

As we begin to descend into these colder, darker autumn months, well at least us here in the Northern Hemisphere, I'm now opening up to be in the mood for a wee dram compared to the cooler tipples of choice over the summer (albeit the rain just gets a bit warmer here on the island of Ireland during the summer, not much in the way of sunshine).

Hot weather often means a more refreshing drink. Cool, crisp white wine…or a sharp IPA. The feeling of pouring a tall Glencairn of delicious malt just doesn't compute when you've been grafting most of the day, or you're going for drinks after a long day at the office.

At the time of writing, the British Isles is expecting the first of the 2023/24 storms with Agnes on the way. There’s no feeling quite like rushing home in the rain and high winds, putting on the central heating and letting the whisky do the warming up for the evening.

After a nice little birthday whisky haul, Tomatin Legacy & their 12 year old are back on the shelves and going down an absolute treat. Along with a Glen Keith NAS, which to be honest wasn't great, but it's a very easy sipper when watching a movie. It's not too cold just yet, so I'll save some of the smokier and heavily peated drams to when the temperature drops to single figures, or below minus.

Looking at today's drams for review, it has been fun to get stuck into tasting notes again with some solid and dependable whiskies. I've been a Tomatin fan boy ever since an online tasting in the middle of 2022. It was a tremendous showcase of how the Highlander has changed over the decades, and the nuance you can find between official releases and indie bottles out there. The liquid performs well at high strength, and absorbs the added drop of water magically.

Before this eye-opener of a tasting, I'd only ever sampled the core range Legacy and the 12 year old, and it’s these I'll be talking about today. The single casks I've sampled and purchased have been superb. But for the widely available core range bottlings, it’s my opinion that you can't go wrong with these two stalwart malts.

I first came across the Legacy NAS when watching Vin (No Nonsense Whisky) take on the Aqvavitae Blind Challenge, which was back in October 2017 (wow, I didn't realise it was that long ago). A standout pour from the five dram lineup was the Tomatin Legacy, especially on the nose where it performed better than expected. This was especially significant back in 2017, where NAS releases were seen with such disdain. Well, that's the opinion I took from reviews and releases of the time.

You only have to look at some NAS editions that came out back then which replaced well known age-statement regulars. Examples such as the Glenlivet Founders Reserve (replacing the 12 year old) and the Longmorn Distiller's Reserve (which took over the green labelled 16 year old), all of which seemed to ride on the coattails of the consistent and welcomed standard of their predecessors. A method that seems to be slowly going away, as the single digit age statements are fashionable and blends are back.

With regard to the 12 year old, I didn't sample this until very recently. Sometimes you can't beat a trio tasting pack for a nice introduction to a distillery core range. And a nice gift to receive I might add. The more recent purchases I've made have been mostly from Tomatin, either a nice auction win of some single casks or the odd Cadenhead’s release. I'm slowly following in the footsteps of Dougie Crystal in finding my groove and total admiration for a particular distillery and their style.

My own interests and curiosity brings me to look at some older styles of the liquid from the 80s and 90s. If the price is right of course. While there's the romantic ideal of following a new distillery from inception throughout its growth…this is the closest I can get into the history of a distillery and region; how it’s changed over the decades and what's yet to come. In the context of Tomatin, there's differing variance to what expressions they release. The likes of the Five Virtues range and the delicious peated Cù Bòcan are exciting to see as a whisky fan, not to mention a Tomatin follower.

Although it just adds to the ever-growing list of 'new bottle purchases' that I'd like.

For me, the FOMO list grows exponentially.

Review 1/2

Tomatin Legacy, NAS, Single Malt Scotch, Bourbon and Virgin Oak maturation, 43% ABV
£30-35 and wide availability

This is Tomatin’s entry level product and has been around since at least 2014. Due to a petty labelling infringement, it’s known as Tomatin Dualchas in the USA.

Nose

Deliciously bright and fruity. Honey and oat biscuits. Mixture of green apples and conference pears. Cubed pineapple with a floral hint toward the end. A touch of lavender, lemon zest…almost verging on a strong lemon zesty floor cleaner(!). There's some dry wood chippings and more rolled oats. A really great nose on this one.

Palate

A promising nose doesn't translate over onto the taste unfortunately. Initial sip, it's sharp with a punch! It's mellow, quite thin and light mouthfeel that sours at the back end.

It has a lick of hazelnut spread mixed with dark chocolate shavings. From the nose comes the fresh fruit and honey. Plenty of pineapple and sliced apple. That sourness from before finishes off into bitter coffee grounds. A disappointing end to a promising start, really.

Score: 5/10

Review 2/2

Tomatin 12yo, Single Malt Scotch, bourbon and oloroso maturation, 43% ABV
£36-42 and wide availability

This is Tomatin’s heart of their core range. It’s been around a long time and is probably the pick for being the most typical of Tomatin.

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Surprisingly balanced, weighty and a well rounded*

Nose

Rounded. Soft and welcoming on first sniff. Spiced. Stone fruits layered with a nice sherry sweetness. On top is a vanilla cream, honeydew melon and a nice damp wood. Thick golden syrup with fudge and that spice turns into cinnamon and a sprinkle of whole walnuts. The stone fruits remind me of plums, apricots and fresh red grapes. There's a little subtle hint of cherry, and cola cube confectionary. A nice pine finish, with orange rind and a drop of chopped mint. Not what I was expecting. Lovely stuff.

Palate

This is nicely balanced. A bit more of what was expected when coming from the nose, compared to the Legacy. A heap of heavily sugared toffee cubes, with nutmeg and mixed spice. The balance has some great sherry elements, it's ever so prickly on the tongue and it turns to a tiny touch of cured meat seasoned with cayenne pepper.

After a while it's quite drying. It turns woody, in a good way. A nice weighted mouth feel, with a medium to long finish. Again, turning ever so sour with that dark chocolate influence and coffee grounds.

The Dregs

While I received these bottles as birthday presents, I would happily replenish them once they inevitably get killed off - and there’s not long to go.

The Legacy goes for about £30 - 35 in some specialist retailers, and as we come up to Christmas it's bound to be on offer, especially in supermarkets, even if it’s not currently in Northern Irish supermarkets.

The nose for the Legacy is joyous. It entices you in and really gets you excited for the experience ahead. It does fall short on the palate however, which is disappointing. On its own, as a NAS whisky at 43% it isn't bad whisky. It's better than a lot of others out there that's for sure, but the mismatch of nose and palate might put a lot of people off. Maybe my love for Tomatin is clouding my judgement, but I'd recommend this as a delightful starter for a night of drams, maybe first spot for a flight of whisky, or alongside a nice stout!

As for the 12-year-old, it's good. It delivers on many levels, and the added ageing brings more nuance and a touch more complexity compared to its NAS partner. A great example from the Tomatin core range, and again another bottle I'd recommend picking up for the right price. This can be on the pricey side here in the U.K, but is another bottle that pops up on the Bezos Christmas offer list for whiskies in the run up to the festive period. The balance on the taste and that added depth & weight brings the score up a notch. I think if this was bumped up in ABV - just a tad - you could see maybe another point on the scoreboard here. Like I said before Tomatin performs very well when it's got that amped ABV.

Both of these bottles from the core range fill a gap and scratch that itch for a nice whisky that doesn't always need too much thought. However, as I hope I’ve suggested, they can be dissected and analysed, and I've had a lot of fun getting to know them.

Two bottles you can't go wrong with, and nice bottles to have in any whisky collection. At a good price, I recommend you pick them up. If there are any distilleries that you lean toward, let us know why you’ve a soft spot in particular. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts. I was also glad to hear Tomatin get a shout out in the recent Dramface Podcast - focusing on fantasy distilleries. A real fun listen, go check it out!

Score: 6/10

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF

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