Tomintoul 16 Year

Nose: vanilla, caramel, orchard fruits (cherry first then more like pear), cinnamon Taste: oily, caramel, cinnamon, ginger, later on more snd more coffeeish Finish: sticky, sweet, ginger and oak, then honey and bitterrness (almond) remains long

Nose: pear, apple, a whiff of smoke, orange, barley malt and oak. Very smooth, fruity; flavors of grain, pepper, apple and charred wood. Soft, lightly peppery finish.

Strong honey smell. Smooth, light, malty, vanilla, and spicy. Somewhat plain but enjoyable and easy.

Tasted from a miniature three-pack that includes the 10yo and 25yo. The nose is the best thing about it: toast with jam, fig chutney, raisin, red wine, dusty crumbled walnut, and chocolate. It is a little thin on the palate (but that could be expected at 40%) and it tastes better when left to open for 20 minutes or more, with notes of fig roll, a little salt, and some oak spice. The finish is dry and a little tannic. It is almost sherryish in its profile or I could swear there was perhaps a red wine finish in there somewhere, but I was a little surprised to learn that it is ex-bourbon cask matured only. I purchased the pack in 2017 and tried the 10yo the following year. I was fairly underwhelmed and so, with many other options, it dampened my eagerness to try the remaining bottles from the set. I was right to be reluctant. Unless anyone can recommend it, I may need another 4 or 5 years to build up to trying the 25yo.