Tobermory 21 year Sherry Octave Sujet III 1995/2017 Whic Special

Distilled in March 1995 and bottled in January 2017, this whisky first matured for about 20 years in a single ex-bourbon American white oak hogshead. It then was filled into three small sherry octave casks where it was finished for 8 additional months. The result was 231 Bottles at cask strength 48,6% ABV - what an insane angels share. Nose: a typical scotch single malt sherry finish at cask strength: liquid caramel, orange oil, creamy vanilla, sweet baking spices, oily and full consistency, some pepper, marshmallows, maybe a hint of garlic (sulphur) which becomes increasingly stronger, really smooth, quiet massive at “only” 48% ABV - well it is still natural cask strength Palate: first a intense dry sweetness, slightly metallic and very nice, then some intense wood notes (apple tree wood came into my mind). Most prominent: roasted cocoa beans / cocoa nibs. Then added some wet tobacco leaves, brown clear apple juice, cinnamon, then it becomes slightly sweeter but not too much, dark chocolate Finish: wood and roasted coffee, bitter chocolate, raisins and burned sugar What a powerful whisky. I like that it strong suit isn’t waving on top of sweetness but more on some very intense notes in the bitter, organic and spicy spectrum. The nose is much sweeter and fruitier than the palate and finish which makes for an interesting nose / mouth contrasts. Tobermory offers consistently good whisky that is very well crafted and of noticeable high quality. Also they are one of the distilleries that really well can make both peated and unpeated whisky. This was an impressive example of a single casks bottling at cask strength and I really enjoyed this sample. It is unique and very interesting but quite demanding and nothing to just sip away on.