LeeEvolved
Reviewed
August 28, 2017 (edited December 14, 2020)
This is the second dram I purchased at my local, big ticket whiskey bar yesterday. I picked this one in hopes it would play well with my dinner entree: a fancy, baked macaroni & cheese bowl piled high with smoked pork BBQ....I love it when a plan comes together.
The Tobermory 15 is a peated, sherried single malt from the Isle of Mull. It's aged in Gonzalez Bypass Oloroso sherry casks, is non-chill filtered and comes in at the Tobermory/LeDaig house identifiable 46.3% ABV. That number is rumored to be the same on almost, if not all of their whiskies to help hint to the distillery at blind tasting events/competitions. That's either dirty or clever depending on your feelings about whisky competitions, lol. It's a worn penny, dark copper in the glass that looks thick and oily, while not making any legs when you spin it. It stayed glued to the walls of the Glencairn.
The nose is raisins and smoke, cigar box, and honey while also being eerily reminiscent of liquified Kraft vanilla caramel candies. Strangely enough, it's different on the palate: after the smoke there's spice cake, chocolate creme and oak spice that really overpower the sherry aspects. It's actually a good thing that it does, IMO, as the nose was just too sweet. It was significantly drying as well and the finish was long, spicy and somewhat harsh. There was a lingering nuttiness that played well with my food pairing.
Overall, I'm sure the smoky cheese/BBQ food changed some of the whisky's profile, but damn they worked really well together. I may have to buy a full bottle at some point just out of curiosity and I had to pay another hefty price for this pour at the bar ($21), but it was a great total experience. I'd recommend this one for sure. 4 stars. Cheers, my friends.