The next one is a classic, at least among my friends. It’s a Tomatin 1976 bottled by The Whisky Agency. They had five of these casks, which they distributed (seemingly at random) over different series. In this case it’s the cornerstone series The Perfect Dram, but I already tried a sister cask from the Grotesque Crocs series. I’m sure they also passed on many sister casks to friendly bottlers.
Tomatin 34 yo 1976 (51,9%, The Whisky Agency ‘Perfect Dram’ 2011, sherry wood, 396 btl.)
Nose: very juicy, with high acidity fruits. That means redcurrants, blood oranges and tangerines, along with more tropical notes like mango and passion fruit. A little honey and mint, as well as subtle polished oak. After a while it goes towards brown sugar and subtle herbal touches. Great.
Mouth: all about the tropical fruits, of course. Pink grapefruit, maracuya, more tangerine, along with juicy berries and mango. Very Irish in a way. Then it moves towards herbal honey and fruit tea, which works very well. I love the acidity that comes with it. Also a little cinnamon and light tobacco or leathery dryness in the very end.
Finish: long, nice balance between polished oak and fruit juice. Now the sherry influence comes out more.
Such a nice fruit salad! You can down this so easily. To think there were so many Tomatin 1976s at that time that we only bought the ones that somehow had an edge. Personally I bought the Daily Dram / LMdW bottling and a Wilson & Morgan release but in hindsight all of them were worth saving for later! Thanks, Karel.