Tormore is a little known distillery in Speyside. It was only opened in 1958 and the majority of the whisky produced is put into Teacher's and Ballantine's, which are two of the biggest selling blended whiskies in the UK. The only current official distillery bottling is this 12 years old and other independent bottlings are hard to find. As a result, Tormore has a bit of a cult following (this includes Michael, my boss at Royal Mile Whiskies!). This was an impulse purchase by Karen, as Morrison's were selling it for £15 (the normal price is between £20-22) and it seemed a bargain. The appearance is golden brown (like caramel) and the nose is quite pleasant. There is something resembling fresh apples and also some freshly cut grass, vanilla and a whiff of heather. On the palate, the malted barley sweetness is the most prominent feature and this takes over virtually everything else. There is something herbal (maybe the grass again) and an acidic note (think of orange or lemon zest) that is present but overall, it is quite one dimensional. It feels thin in the mouth and the raw spirit coming through would not be to everyone's taste. The finish is quite short but I found it pleasant as the raw spirit from the palate fades and reveals a decent creamy mix of vanilla, toffee and coconut. Right at the end, there is a woodiness that appears, giving a slightly bitter final taste. This whisky is basic but good, although as mentioned before, not to everyone's taste. It is pleasant and easy drinking and would be good as an everyday drinking whisky. I am certainly not complaining about having a bottle of this in our whisky cupboard, especially at the bargain price of £15.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
In the whisky cupboard ... Tormore 12 years old
Tormore is a little known distillery in Speyside. It was only opened in 1958 and the majority of the whisky produced is put into Teacher's and Ballantine's, which are two of the biggest selling blended whiskies in the UK. The only current official distillery bottling is this 12 years old and other independent bottlings are hard to find. As a result, Tormore has a bit of a cult following (this includes Michael, my boss at Royal Mile Whiskies!). This was an impulse purchase by Karen, as Morrison's were selling it for £15 (the normal price is between £20-22) and it seemed a bargain. The appearance is golden brown (like caramel) and the nose is quite pleasant. There is something resembling fresh apples and also some freshly cut grass, vanilla and a whiff of heather. On the palate, the malted barley sweetness is the most prominent feature and this takes over virtually everything else. There is something herbal (maybe the grass again) and an acidic note (think of orange or lemon zest) that is present but overall, it is quite one dimensional. It feels thin in the mouth and the raw spirit coming through would not be to everyone's taste. The finish is quite short but I found it pleasant as the raw spirit from the palate fades and reveals a decent creamy mix of vanilla, toffee and coconut. Right at the end, there is a woodiness that appears, giving a slightly bitter final taste. This whisky is basic but good, although as mentioned before, not to everyone's taste. It is pleasant and easy drinking and would be good as an everyday drinking whisky. I am certainly not complaining about having a bottle of this in our whisky cupboard, especially at the bargain price of £15.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment