Tomintoul 25 Year

My bottle is 40% ABV, while the listed ABV is 43%. This difference is notable, and I suspect a decline in quality alongside the ABV reduction in recent years. Based on this bottle, I'd guess its age to be between 15 and 18 years. It presents a smooth, creamy aroma with subtle, full-bodied wood notes. Hints of vanilla, light almond, the characteristic Tomintoul cereal, a touch of tart orange, and a peach note bordering on apricot are present. The scent is pleasant and suggests enjoyable drinking, but it's not outstanding. It's quite complex and light without flaws, yet somewhat unremarkable. The taste is very smooth with a pleasant spice of cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and clove. A nice creaminess is followed by a comforting cereal note. It has body but lacks richness. The maltiness and creamy smoothness are enhanced by the wood. Pecan and almond notes are quite pleasing. I could easily drink this for a long time, finding it enjoyable, unlike the Tomintoul 10 and 16. The complexity unfolds subtly, with an apricot flavor appearing alongside vanilla, though it's more bitter than anticipated. It's also slightly harsher than expected, contrary to what I thought Tomintoul was about. The finish retains the creamy wood character with some sawdust, alongside pecan, almond, and the expected cereal. A lingering, unexpected bitterness is present but not overpowering. It's an appropriate conclusion for this dram. This significantly surpasses the Tomintoul 16. However, it's not exceptional, especially considering its age. The improvement over the Tomintoul 16 after 9 years was a pleasant surprise. It's a genuinely good dram. Is it good value? Definitely not! Would I enjoy sipping it? Yes, this Tomintoul meets that standard. Unfortunately, Tomintoul seems to offer poor value, so I'll likely avoid it going forward. Dalwhinnie 15 has a more pronounced flavor profile with greater variety than this Tomintoul, though it is harsher and less balanced. This bears resemblance to Càrn Mòr's Glen Grant 26 from 1992. That bottling is a bit spicier with more vanilla, emphasizing its bourbon influence. This bottling is creamier with more richness, but also lower proof. I find it a difficult choice between the two. I'd rate this at least a 15, possibly a 16, but unlikely a 17. The bitter oiliness is somewhat unpleasant, reminiscent of the flaws in Sir Edward's 12. Between this and the Glen Grant, I slightly prefer the Glen Grant. Neither offers good value, of course. I'll assign this a 15, but it could reach a 16 with another tasting (which is unlikely).

The tasting kit included 10, 16, and 25-year-old expressions. Here's my experience. Aroma: The 10-year-old is quite fresh, suggesting its youth. It evokes a stream flowing through blooming plants, with a subtle tobacco note. It's very gentle. The 16-year-old is reminiscent of the 10, but richer, with vanilla being the dominant flavor. This one is also very gentle. The 25-year-old shows a consistently very gentle progression: vanilla, along with wildflowers, fresh fruit, and almonds. Its low alcohol content further enhances its character, which the distillery itself describes as gentle! Taste: We begin with the 10-year-old, which is exceptionally delicate, yet it seems older than its stated age. It gives the impression of eating vanilla ice cream with hazelnuts and some fresh fruit pieces. It has a pleasant, oily texture. A fine dram. The 16-year-old is equally delicate, recalling the 10 but with a hint of licorice and increased oiliness. An excellent dram! The 25-year-old is certainly more full-bodied, but it loses some of the aromatic gentleness, presenting wood and vanilla, nuts, and tobacco. Finish: The 10-year-old's finish is brief, confirming its excellent balance and leaving a pleasant trace of flowers and vanilla. The 16-year-old's finish is slightly more bitter than the 10's and is short. The 25-year-old has a much longer finish, but it's also more bitter than the other two. Conclusion: For me, the 16-year-old is the winner due to the enjoyment it provided, closely followed by the 10-year-old, which it strongly resembles, and then the 25-year-old: among the 25-year-old whiskies I've sampled, there are significantly better ones! Scores: 16-year-old 4.25 - 10-year-old 4.00 - 25-year-old 3.75

This was the third sample from the official Tomintoul Distillery 3cl sampler set I purchased online a few months back. This well-aged pour was the primary reason for buying the set, as acquiring a 25-year-old sample of this in a bar would likely have been equally or more expensive. I had a suspicion that the 10 & 16-year samples might not be very impressive (refer to my reviews for them), but a 25-year-old is almost invariably tasty. This whisky presented a shimmering gold color in the tasting glass, appearing just slightly darker than the other two younger samples. It still seemed like it should have been a darker hue after spending a quarter-century in the cask, but that's how it is. It left many oily legs and no residual water droplets. While this isn't cask strength, I'm sure the angel's share likely prevented too much water addition, even to reach the 40% ABV bottling strength. The aroma offered notes of vanilla and bread, with abundant oak and some unexpected hints of alcohol. After about 20-25 minutes, I detected a subtle peach note in the background. The palate was pleasantly smooth, as expected, featuring peaches again along with some pears and a slight orchard fruitiness. There was no oak presence on the tongue. The finish was of medium length and silky smooth, but it lacked significant depth or lasting character, offering only a mild peppery bite. Overall, it's marginally superior to the 10 & 16-year samples in this set, but I believe Tomintoul takes its slogan a bit too literally. “The gentle dram” sounds understated enough, but a little more kick or character would be beneficial here. It's simply too soft. I rated both younger pours at 3 stars, and I feel this one warrants an increase because it possesses a bit more complexity in its flavor profile and is well-rounded, as a 25-year-old should be. 3.5 stars, but at $400 for a full bottle, I won't be purchasing much more from Tomintoul unless they push their boundaries further. Cheers, my friends.

The sample for this review is a 40% ABV mini bottle, while the full bottle is 43% ABV. As I'm unwilling to spend $550 to $800 on a bottle without sampling it, I opted for a sample that has been diluted by 3%. It's unclear why diluted mini bottles are provided to potential buyers, but it likely represents a business strategy involving shrinkflation, allowing for more product at 40% than 43%. Nevertheless, let's examine the taste of this diluted version. The aroma is initially light and mellow, reminiscent of frosted wheat cereal, followed by golden raisins, persimmons, and light grapefruit. It then transitions to subtle floral notes, before revealing spices like black pepper, cloves, and light oak with a mild ethanol burn. The taste presents a thin mouthfeel, starting with light floral caramel, followed by candied pecans, and fruits such as golden raisins, honeydew, and apricot. It then shifts to a moderately bitter spice in the mid-palate, which gradually fades into black pepper, ginger, cloves, and ashy oak, with a slight ethanol burn. The finish is of medium length and slightly drying, with notes of golden raisins, apple, plums, whole peppercorns, ginger, and ashy oak. This is quite a letdown. It begins with a light nose of citrus, whole wheat cereal, and subtle spices, which carry over to the palate with the addition of light toasted nuts, before evolving into a bitter and spicy flavor that diminishes but reappears in the finish. There's no way this warrants the $550+ price tag; significantly better whiskies can be found for under $100. It's possible these are their lesser barrels, with the superior 25-year-old stock reserved for the higher proof full bottle, but I certainly won't be spending the money to confirm.

Nose: A large volume of freshly picked autumn apples, lemon, tart grapes, a bit of honey, very fresh, and not at all aged or mellowed as one might anticipate from a 25-year-old. Palate: A harsh arrival with a fresh fruity tartness and a light chili heat. Herbal tea notes are present alongside a woody bitterness that brings mate-tea to mind. Unfortunately, it's not very enjoyable. While it is certainly intriguing and possesses impressive fullness with a lingering aftertaste, I would never have guessed its 25-year age. It has the character and taste of many popular NAS whiskies from numerous distilleries today, aged for 3 to 7 years in one or two large casks. Those aren't bad by any means, but this Tomintoul lacks a distinctive touch or a convincing personality - it doesn't deliver that, so for me, it's just a fairly standard dram without anything special or memorable. Peculiar, but I'm glad I tried it. Worth sampling - not worth buying a whole bottle for me.

A spirit with a significant age statement but low expectations. With artificial coloring and a modest 40% ABV, the presentation of this Tomintoul suggests outdated practices persist. Nevertheless, the aroma opens up impressively, revealing persimmon, chamomile, and a hint of pepper. Following a sweet soda-like arrival, the palate is overwhelmed by spices, masking sour fruits, coconut, and floral notes. The oak remains dominant through the dry and tannin-rich finish, revealing the influence of subpar casks. My assessment is mixed; this spirit may have passed its prime. RATING: 3.5/5.0 stars ≙ 83 pts → ABOVE AVERAGE