Skene Cask Tobermory Tasting Notes

Skene Cask Classics Tobermory 2008 (9 year old) 46%

Bourbon Hogshead 110364

Dist: Dec 2008 Btl: Jun 2017/ Tasted: Apr 2018

Aromas of high toned white fruit, cereal and a touch of orange blossom honey. Very clean and quite sweet with an appealing cinnamon coated, baked apple note and a touch of salt and citrus.

The palate is clean! Yes, clean, with slightly oily vanilla, malt and baked fruit. Fuller than the nose with more salt and malt character. Some gritty wood spice and light treacle notes come through on the middle. Long, dry, salty, youthful and malty finish with a touch of sweet rose petal marc, cinnamon and liquorice.

Skene Cask Classics Tobermory 2008 (9 year old) 46%

Bourbon Hogshead 110356

Dist: 2008 Btl: 2018/ Tasted: Jun 2018

The nose is quite barley’d with hints of rose petal and lime. The alcohol is a little intrusive and prickly. With time hints of white fruit, oily apricot, salt and vanilla.

The palate is soft and barley’d. A little watery with white fruit, oily apricot, salt and gentle creamy vanilla. Crisp, citric and salty finish, which is a little on the hot side. Pleasant enough, but not as interesting as their previous bottling.

Master of Malt Tobermory Tasting Notes

Master of Malt ‘Darkness!’ Tobermory 16 year old 54.9%

Oloroso Sherry Cask/ Btl: 2015

Tasted: Mar 2016

The nose is dusty, mocha laced slightly phenolic peat, brine, manure, earth and crisp barley. Pleasantly fresh and deep with tarry treacle. With time it becomes pretty stinky (in a good way that is!)

The palate is very malty and manurey with dark treacle, vanilla and wood spice. A touch of honey and sweet barley lighten the middle and the dusty peat and salt appears. The alcohol helps emphasise the coastal intensity. Long, salty and mouth-watering with lovely, lingering dry and sweet peat, manure and violets. The oak bitters a little at the death. In conclusion: Now this has a lovely character, as long as you like a good chunk of manure with your malt. Funnily enough I do!

Lady of the Glen Tobermory Tasting Notes

Lady of the Glen ‘Limited Edition’ Tobermory 1995 (20 year old) 56.6%

Bourbon Hogshead/ Dist: Jul 1995 Btl: Sept 2015

Tasted: Feb 2016

A pungent and phenolic, but not hugely peated nose. Very coastal and citric with almost gristy barley notes, combined with malt biscuits, dunnage, astringent herbs and a touch of gooseberry.

The palate is full and barley’d with gentle honey and crisp citrus. Darkens towards the middle as the malt appears along with some dry, woody peat and drier oak notes, although the sweetness balances. Superb length. Dry and salty with lingering barley and citrus. In conclusion: Beautifully poised and balanced. You have to love its youthful intensity.

Duncan Taylor Tobermory Tasting Notes

Duncan Taylor Battlehill Tobermory 2008 (10 year old) 46%

Bourbon/ Dist: 2008 Btl: 2019

Tasted: Apr 2020

The nose is clean and meaty (Bovril) with malt and subtle creamy vanilla. Straightforward with the oak becoming rather dominant. I would guess this is a combination of first fill Bourbon and possibly Virgin oak casks. Late hints of barley and white rose.

The palate is extremely oaky with a hint of barley and malt, but like the distillery bottled 12 year old it all oak. Creamy vanilla and grippy tannins follow. Short, oaky and spicy with lingering cinnamon and vanilla. It’s definitely modern ‘mory.

The Single Cask Tobermory Tasting Notes

The Single Cask Tobermory 1994 (22 year old) 59.1%

Cask A394/ Dist: Mar 1994 Btl: Jan 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017

Dusty, mature and quite spicy on the nose with subtly, sooty peat, thick malt, dark honey and slightly marc-like note. It becomes quite earthy with time and a light manurey note appears. For an old ‘mory, it’s very impressive.

The palate opens with some delicate dark honey, malt and mature oak. Now that’s a sentence I never expected to write about an old ‘mory! Hints of milk chocolate, peat, sweet barley and liquorice follow. It’s not 100% clean as there is a faint edginess in the background, but it’s sort of wrapped up by the bitter spice and citrus. Good finish with hints of salt, coffee, vanilla and sooty peat.

Carn Mor Tobermory Tasting Notes

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Tobermory 2008 (7 year old) 46%

Bourbon Barrel/ Dist: 2008 Btl: Jan 2016

Tasted: Feb 2016

Young, cereally and a little spirity on the nose but clean with coastal enhanced white fruit, barley and even a touch of honey! With time hints of earth, subtle smoke, malt and dusty oak.

The palate is quite sweet and barley’d with hints of honey, white fruit and pepper. Subtly oaked on the middle with a touch of estery fruit. Medium length with a ‘toshan-like rose peat/ boiled sweet and pepper finish.

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Tobermory 2008 (8 year old) 46%

Sherry Butt/ Dist: 2008 Btl: 2017

Tasted: Mar 2017

The nose displays plenty of ‘toshan-esque boiled sweets, Oloroso sherry, rose petals and barley. Subtly coastal with hints of malt, tar and salt. It has unfortunately, a faintly burnt treacle hardness in the background.

The palate is subtly sulphur tainted with a touch of burnt sherry wood and hints of tar, treacle, hard barley, boiled sweets and spice. Good, mouth-watering finish with lingering rose petals and pepper. It’s a hard one to love!

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Tobermory 2009 (9 year old) 46%

Bourbon Barrel/ Dist: 2009 Btl: 2018

Tasted: Aug 2018

The nose is quite oily and cereally, but more importantly….. Clean! Hints of rose petal marc, salt and black pepper.

The palate is like the nose, quite oily with hints of apricot, salt and rose petal. Straightforward but showing a good intensity and cleanliness. Good length with a salt and black pepper finish.

Claxton’s Tobermory Tasting Notes

Claxton’s The Single Cask Tobermory 1995 (20 year old) 48%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead 1501-652

Dist: Apr 1995 Btl: 2015/ Tasted: Apr 2016

Quite a malty and peppery nose with very subtle, lazy peat smoke and hints of barley, greengage and green wood. With time hints of violets and subtle coastal notes.

The palate is quite fresh and citric with and almost sea salt spritz. Hints of barley, nutty oak and coal dust appear as the citrus becomes quite tart. Long and peppery with some slightly balsamic notes, malt and salt. Impressive cask!

Caermory Whisky Tasting Notes

Caermory Single Malt 21 year old 48.2%

A single cask of Tobermory – Cask 238/ Tasted: Oct 2015

The nose is quite oily with sugar coated barley, baked fruit and coffee’d oak. Wonderfully mature with hints of green fruit, citrus, light earth and milk chocolate. Some gentle creamy oak notes appear and the sweet, milky coffee notes increase. Is this really ‘mory?

The palate is pretty fresh and citric with wood spice and oily barley. Mature and quite fruity for a ‘mory with a distinct baked fruit demeanour. Some earthy and coffee’d tannins come through on the middle but the light fish oils balance the slight bitterness Good length with the woody spices returning. What no fustiness or wet cardboard. A damn fine old ‘mory!

Caermory Single Malt 21 year old 48.2%

A single cask of Tobermory – Cask 238/ Re-Tasted: Nov 2016

Edgy and earthy aromas of malt, damp earth and mature honey. Hints of balsamic baked fruit follow along with a little cigar smoke, barley and subtle spice. Very complex with salt, greengage, lime, mature oak and just a brief whiff of ‘distillery character’.

The palate is soft and mature with hints of malt, honey and dusty, mature oak. Pleasantly earthy on the middle with a suggestion of smoke and hints of salt and barley. Very pleasantly balances with a lightly spiced and salty finish.

Edition Spirits Tobermory Tasting Notes

Edition Spirits ‘The First Editions’ Tobermory 1994 (21 year old) 58.6%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: EDI0112/ HL11833

Dist: 1994 Btl: Sept 2015/ Tasted: Oct 2015

The nose is quite coastal and honeyed with mature, baked fruit and a slight suggestion of cardboard, which is pretty much wrapped up in the baked fruit notes. Edgy and herbal with time, plus a touch if green citrus fruit, vanilla and gentle sooty peat. Very well balanced.

The palate opens with creamy toffee, herbs, edgy citrus and hints of earth and peat. The mature, baked fruit from the nose comes through on the middle. The finish is very mentholated with lingering herbal notes and dry, slightly burnt wood tannins.

Water doesn’t make much change to the nose, maybe a touch of root ginger and liquorice root appear.  On the palate it emphasises the baked fruit and malt. Not as mentholated now but longer and juicer a touch of menthol creeping in at the end.

Edition Spirits ‘The First Editions’ Tobermory 1996 (21 year old) 50.4%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: EDI0303/ HL14407

Dist: Jul 1996 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Feb 2018

Edgy, earthy and herbal aromas, but plenty of honey balances the distillery character. There’s even some lovely, fragrant barley and luscious, sweet fruit – apricot, tangerine. The peat notes are very subtle, as are the coastal notes. Late lime, greengage, coffee and mature oak. It’s very impressive for an old ‘mory.

The palate is quite coffee’d and woody with vanilla, liquorice, malt and light tar. Slightly earthy and coastal with mature baked fruit and herbs. Pretty impressive it has to be said! Long, rock salt, mature fruit, citrus and dark chocolaty tannins on the the finish.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company Tobermory Tasting Notes

That Boutique-y Whisky Company Tobermory Batch #3 48.1%

Tasted: Mar 2015

Nose: A lusciously moist and succulent nose of both Gala and Honeydew melon, apricot, pineapple, tangerine and barley. A touch of sawdusty oak appears along with a light grassiness. That’s a gorgeous nose!

Palate: Not quite as exuberantly fruity as the nose but definitely not lacking in the fruit department. Showing a little more barley and a taught, mineral edge. A touch of green apple and gooseberry appears on the middle amidst the slightly tropical fruit.

Finish: Fabulously balanced, long and lightly honeyed with the barley and oak lingering. Lovely, light bitter chocolate note in the after-taste.

Conclusion: A superbly balanced whisky. [My god. Tobermory? Really!?! – Tasted blind for issue 127 of the Whisky Magazine]