Ah Tomatin. The budget single malt. Legacy, or Dualchas as it’s called here in the US, is the least expensive of the Tomatin core range. The12 year old comes in at around $35, whereas this one is a more than affordable $25. What kind of quality can be had in a single malt for so low a price? Let’s find out.
This Highland NAS is bottled at 43% ABV and is more than likely chill filtered with colorant added making it a yellow gold.
The nose is ripe with soft fruits. Lots of pineapple, some oranges, tangerines, apricots and some coconut. Honey, dry grasses and fairly malty. Sanded oak, some syrupy sweetness. Apples, pears, weak cinnamon and cocoa powder. Buttery biscuits and light vanilla. A little bit of a chalky/mineral quality which is the only real blemish here other than being fairly light overall.
The palate delivers as expected for 43%. Oranges, pineapple, tangerines. Grassy, hay and some faint oak. Vanilla and very light lemon and cinnamon. Pepper builds the more you drink it which really gives it the power that the nose was lacking.
Medium bodied mouthfeel that is oily and very mouthwatering.
The finish is medium short, fruity with a touch of oak and mouthwatering throughout.
Well, at $25 this is a very solid malt. Mostly light in profile but the flavors are there where it counts. Other than the pineapple, nothing really stands out, but there is nothing really bad about it either. I think I might prefer this to the 12 year old. It may have less complexity, but the 12 has a bitterness in the finish that was hard to get past. This one does not and is $8-10 less. Factoring quality and value for money, this is a solid 3.5 and possibly a 3.75. Thanks to
@LeeEvolved for the sample.
Cheers