Tomatin Cuatro Series #2 "Manzanilla" 12 Year

Sweet

OK so I didn't buy the PX finished bottle (wasn't at the store I bought these at) and I'll get into as I go through this. Otherwise I'll focus on the Manzanilla but this will be a side by side review. Nose - Manzanilla has the vanilla notes but not the butter scotch. It's sweeter and there's a lot more just overall to smell here, much more intense. The Oloroso is drier more sherry dark fruits and less of the grape/wine element. There's a lot less butter scotch and vanilla here. Fino - butter scotch, vanilla, a bit of dark fruits, perhaps some grape/wine elements. Swirling I start to get some oak, almost buttered toast. The Fino might be the most complex but the Oloroso is the most powerful and frankly by far my favorite. Manzanilla is the sweetest. Taste - Manzanilla - sweet and oily, fruity, but no distinct finishing. I could believe this was just a speyside though it's a bit too fruit forward and sweet imo to not have some finishing. Oloroso - more spice, perhaps spicier. chocolate, dark fruits (waxy). There's more influence from the finishing I believe. Fino - Spicy, it has a good vanilla note, some nice fino notes (I know). Some fruity elements, light fruits, but spicy. My first comment is that these have incredibly improved from when i first opened them and I got nearly no finishing. That said these are still fairly bourbon forward, likely some fairly well used casks for the secondary fill. Manzanilla- overall this is an interesting drinker. It's however not really for me. 12 years is a bit young for this one. I think heavier finishing would really help if they were going for 12 years old. That said I'm still really happy with this. At 60+ I'd not recommend this unless you want to do a side by side comp like this. This is a bottle that isn't getting killed this year and maybe not next. You'll note I wrote the same thing on the Fino and Oloroso. I somewhat like the more vanilla and sweet notes here. I like the finishing on the other two but they took on a spice character I don't associate with wine casking. That said it's coy and waxy and vanilla heavy. It's not my jam and it comes off the youngest. As a result, slightly lower score.

Salty, nutty flavours from the manzanilla come through. Citrus - lemon and orange peel with accompanying mild bitterness. Initially I thought not a bad dram but not one I'd drink a lot of but adding a few drops of water and letting it open up improved things further. 3.75

Rather medicinal. Not a big fan. Now I know why I don’t like it - the aftertaste is exactly like tequila - and I do not like tequila.

Relic 2017-12-07.

Quite enjoyed this one. There's dried fruit, Marcona almonds, vanilla, herbs, olive, and seabreeze to be found on the nose and palate...the savory notes emerge more clearly with a tiny splash of water. It's really a brilliant example of cask selection - you can tell most of the signature notes of Manzanilla sherry (which is rich, but salty and savory) while also not losing the soft, sweet character of the Tomatin malt. Well done!