Your thoughts on Tomintoul 16 y.o.

You might note that most older expressions are fully described as "Tomintoul-Glenlivet." Tomintoul is made in the same area as The Glenlivet, and many people find it quite similar in weight and flavor. So any of the non-sherried Speysides would be candidates.

-- Larry

I am a big fan of usenet but its a bit dead here. Try these forums too (and no doubt many others) They seem far more active, and people will happily answer your queries

On 2008-03-08, boulder (aka Bruce) was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Oi! 'es not dead! 'es just resting!

Anyone know what may be the "Bowmore original 12yo" vs the "Bowmore single malt 12yo"? I gave mum a list of SMS to try to grab when she was in the big city, and she phoned me up this morning presenting the above choice, along with a Talisker 10. I go ogled the original, but it's such a generic term that I didn't have any luck, other than one bottling in the pre-1992 changeover from the old style of bottle. I got her to pull out the bottle, and it wasn't an old style bottle.

I opted for the Talisker (never having had it) and conventional Bowmore 12yo.

What's wrong with this group (in part) is the tendency for folk to respond to posts with off-topic questions of their own. A guy asks a question about Tomintoul 16 and you fail to even mention it while spewing on Bowmore. Unless you are "nailed to your perch" go start a Bowmore thread.

Now the Tomintoul 16. Not to my taste but I've enjoyed a dram as a pre-dinner drink. A bit too light and grassy for me but while I'll admit that some Speyside malts are tasty, I tend toward more smoke and peat in my favorite malts "The One Jim" might graduate to something like Oban before tackling the Islay malts.

No no no no, yess .. what's wrong with this group is twofold: first, all the old, eager-to-contribute members have fled, and second, nobody else is contributing.

The result is ... for weeks on end ... t'aint no bloody posts.

Christ, I'd almost prefer spam to nothing ... almost.

BTW - I do like Bowmore but it's not my favorite Islay. Caol Ila 18 reigns in my house. Ardbeg is up there as well.

My reason for answering as I did.

I check this group daily, and certainly wouldn't class myself as an old timer here, but its a backwater. Whisky seems to have gone to the forums.

U¿ytkownik "The One" napisa³:

I must admit I haven't had the opportunity of tasting the current 16yo, but I have to say Tomintoul is one of the distilleries that has surprised me many a time. While the standard 10yo is far from impressive, an old 14yo version (from at least a few years ago) was the whisky that converted me to Speysiders. Very delicate, multi-layered whisky, with hosts of various notes of flowers and fruits, beautifully intermingling on the tongue. A real beauty. Also, I have had a few really old, single cask, cask strength versions from the late 1960s, from sherry butts. Smashing.

Anyway, if out of the four you mentioned, you liked the Tomintoul best, over the HP and Balvenie (I'm not surprised about Glenmorangie Port Wood), that means the Tomintoul kind of profile is what you like best. In such case, I'd go for some older Glenlivets (e.g. 18yo), Glenrothes, maybe Balvenie 10yo Founder's Reserve, Glen Moray 16yo, some older Balblairs, Glengoyne (esp. the 17yo), maybe Glen Garioch. They may not be exactly the same cup of tea as the Tomintoul, but they're definitely worth a try.

If you're going there, I suggest you begin with some of the Bruichladdichs, perhaps a nice Bunnahabhain, or an older Bowmore, before you go for the true peaty monsters from Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin or Caol Ila.

Cheers, Rajmund

A fine and informative post, Rajmund, and proof that not all the knowledgeable old-timers have gone away.

Cheers.

Bruichladdichs,

Thank you very much for an informative post. I will let you know what I try next. Thanks, again.

G'day,

Jim

Yes, I recall the first 14-yr version which was distributed in the northeast US, around 1985. It came in a very modern cylindrical fluted glass bottle, with a large, cylindrical silver plastic top, the same diameter as the bottle. I guess they were trying to crack the market, since the price was around $15US. It was indeed a very nice, refined expression.

-- Larry

It's been a while since I tried it, but as I recall it's not a sherried dram (bourbon barrels perhaps?) and it's fairly light. You might like to try a Dalwhinnie in that case.

Also give Balvenie 10yo Founders Reserve a try - the Doublewood is a good dram but I find it a bit cloying nowadays.

Jim