Tomintoul 25 Year

This was the third sample in the official Tomintoul Distillery 3cl sampler pack I bought online a couple of months ago. This well aged pour is the main reason I purchased the set because getting a 25 year old sample of this in a bar would’ve surely cost just as much ($34), if not more. I had a feeling the 10 & 16 year samples might not add up to much (see my reviews for them here as well), but a 25 is almost always tasty. This one was shimmering gold in the tasting glass and just a touch darker than the other two, younger samples. It still felt like it should’ve been darker after spending a quarter of a century in the cask, but oh well. It had many oily legs while not leaving any water droplets behind- I know this isn’t cask strength, but I’m sure the angel’s share probably kept them from adding too much water- even to get it down to the 40%abv bottling strength. The nose was vanilla and bread-y with plenty of oak notes and some surprising hints of alcohol. After a good 20-25 minutes I also got a little bit of peaches in the background. The palate was nice and smooth, as it should be, with peaches again along with some pears and slight orchard fruitiness. There was no oak note at all on the tongue. The finish was medium length and silky smooth, but it lacked any real depth or lingering character- just a slight peppery bite. Overall, it’s marginally better than the 10 & 16 year samples that were included here, but I think Tomintoul takes their slogan a little too much to heart. “The gentle dram” sounds inauspicious enough, but I little kick back or character would go a long way here. It’s just too soft. I gave both the younger pours a 3 star rating and I feel like this deserves a bump because it does have a little more going for it in the flavor profile and is well-rounded like a 25 year should be. 3.5 stars, but at $400 for a full bottle- I won’t be buying much else from Tomintoul unless they push their own envelope a bit further. Cheers, my friends.

Fruity nose, smooth finish