Tomintoul 16 Year

A Friday night after "the longest week ever" is the perfect time for "the gentle dram," Tomintoul 16 Speyside Glenlivet. Crafted by distiller Robert Fleming, this scotch is aged in select bourbon casks for at least 16 years. Its nose reminds me of candied apricots, barley and crackers. With time, a sweet, fruity expression unfolds like a banana split with hot caramel drizzle. Like a good Speyside, this is a gentle scotch indeed. The mouthfeel is full bodied with a blend of light smoke, vanilla and ripe pear. This is one to enjoy neat. The finish is subtle with apple and oak. It's a very smooth dram that like a Houdini trick, disappears too quickly. While it doesn't dazzle with too much flair, I find its simple gentleness comforting. 8/10

Rating: 12/23 N: The nose is oilier and richer than that of Tomintoul 10. That's promising, but it still isn't very rich and doesn't smell that great. There's a bit of an unpleasant bitterness here and still lots of cereal. It's perhaps a bit like fumes from the plant making wheaties? A little sweetness is present though. It isn't very interesting. P: It's light despite the added age. There's some grain that leads into that Tominoul cereal flavor that is a bit sweet and almost chalky and can't be escaped. It has a bit of an alcohol presence as well, which definitely turns me off of it. I'd say that the richness that brings in some caramel and a dash of malt improves upon the flavor of the 10, but it isn't really a different beast. There are faint allusions to fruit, sort of like that classic Irish whiskey apricot flavor just a tad, but they get mixed in with the alcohol, of which there is a fair amount, disappointingly. There's a tad of oily nuttiness, but it isn't very pronounced. Maybe the char smoke, coconut, mint, lemon peel, and vanilla that Distiller cites are all getting mixed into the alcoholic oiliness that I'm tasting, but if so, they aren't very good flavors. F: The alcohol fortunately disappears, leaving mainly slightly rich cereal with a bit of oil. It isn't bad, but it isn't what I want from my whiskey. Still, the reduced alcohol flavor matters a lot because it helps to salvage the part of this that actually was a regression from the 10. Not an interesting or enjoyable finish though. I'd say that this is better than the Tomintoul 10, but not by a whole lot, sadly. The 10 has a more pure flavor, while this focuses on making up for its pathetic weakness. This could be a 12, but no higher. I'm thinking an 11. Dalwhinnie 15 sadly has a lot more going on than this does. Dalwhinnie 15 is sort of half way between this and Oban Little Bay. I'm going 10 on this because it really is not very good. The oiliness in particular seems out of place; it would be more welcome in a blanco tequila. It actually reminds me a fair amount of Bushmill's 10 with its lightness, oiliness, and hint of fruit, but this is definitely a step up in all dimensions. The cereal that persists throughout is not something I'm a fan of, but it wouldn't stop me from drinking this if offered. Still, the 10 is a bit more nuanced, despite being rougher around the edges. I'm torn between 11 and 12 here, but I think I'll give it the bump to 12. Not a bad whisky, but I expect a lot more from a 16 year old. Still, for $60, one could do a lot worse. I'd take it over two Ainsley Brae Burgundies for sure.

Deep settings fruit with honey noise, quite fragrant but not rude. The nose extends to flavour, and there's lots there, but smooth and pleasant with a very slight oak char finish. The finish comes quick, but it's a gentle caramelly sweetness that thankfully sticks around at the back of the tongue beckoning another sip.