Tormore 1992 21 Year Cask #100 (Berry Bros & Rudd)

Nose: leather, honey Palate: rich, strong, oily, full and rich Finish: long, salty Overall: this rare bottle of whisky is from distillery “highland park” from the island area. Very strong. My bottle is from cask #1.

Tormore. Who is Tormore? I have never seen or heard much of anything about them. But I have a chance to taste this off-the-beaten-path whisky thanks to @Telex as part of the whisky trading group (all through the startup energies of @LeeEvolved). And the likes of @Generously_Paul and @PBMichiganWolverine). What a fantastic team of players...And now onto the whisky... The nose is needs time and patience to start to reveal itself. A good twenty minutes or more ( which is fine by me since tonight I am just parking myself on the couch). Fruity and sweetness. Apples, pears, apricots cocktail within a syrupy medium of toffee, vanilla, honey and white sugar. Leather, cereal and faint wisps of oak come through though with extreme patience. First draw is a kick to the palate. Once acclimated, oak with sherry notes (dates and mixed nuts) and the first discernible flavors. Tropical notes of coconut and pineapples with demerara sugar and vanilla. This is all delivered in a medium light body. The oak drying factor is on the high scale sucking all moisture from the palate. Orange bitters fade out and close the curtain. This one took me a great deal of digging, patience and analyzing. All through that, I enjoyed this one. The nose and palate and strong but it falls short on the finish (though many whiskies fall short here). This is worthy to seek out because how many Tormore’s do you find? But it’s also a pretty good dram. [87/100][Tasted: 3/24/18]

Here’s another sample from the group of friends that have joined me in trying to claim a pour from every active distillery in Scotland. This sample is from a not very well known distillery: Tormore. It’s an independent bottling from Berry Bros & Rudd, out of the U.K. and it’s a well-aged example, at 21 years old. This one is cask strength at 54%. I believe my friend Jason paid around $120 for this bottle. Let’s see if it was worth it... In the tasting glass it’s a beautiful, shimmering gold. There’s lots of super thin, runny legs that leave behind really tiny, watery beads after you roll it around the Glencairn. The nose opens with a very mature smelling oak: it’s weathered and worn. Some nice florals appear before the sweetness sinks in. I’m getting faint, Gala apple slices and a nice hit of pineapple. It bounces around between tropical and sherry sweet constantly. It’s very inviting. On the tongue, sherry sweetness and a bit of acidity open the proceedings. Luscious melons, like cantaloupe and honeydew, coat the tongue and linger on with honeysuckle florals. After a bit of a “chew” the ABV takes over and causes a much hotter back end that wasn’t detectable early on. At 54%, I cant say I was surprised but since it didn’t hit until later on it did put a blemish on what was a very good experience to this point. The finish is pretty hot and dry, but thankfully a lot of the fruity melon notes linger on and on long enough for me to consider it quite a lengthy ending. Pluses here. Overall, it’s a very good dram. I think the use of a higher quality barrel would’ve led to a near-perfect score. It’s well aged and from a very obscure distillery. The biggest box it checks is that this bottling makes me want to look for other official bottles from Tormore to try. Thanks again, @Telex. A solid 4 star dram. Cheers, my friends.

Thanks to @Telex as part of our trading team, I got to try this relatively unknown distillery. I don’t think I ever have seen a Tormore or even knew of its existence till now. It surprises me how there’s so many distilleries I’ve come across in this trading team that I’ve never even knew existed. Makes me wonder—do they get used in blends? And if so, why even bothering putting out a single malt offering, unless they think people will buy it over tried and tested others? Anyway, one here is 21 years old, but I couldn’t tell it was that mature. Quite muted in aroma and taste. Honey and cereals. That’s all I got. Inoffensive, unchallenging, and boring. I don’t mind those qualities, but I don’t expect it in a 21 yr old.

Stop number 67 on the SDT is Tormore. A fairly unknown Speyside distillery, they do have several official releases but are not widely available, which leads me to this independent bottle from Berry’s. 21 years old, distilled in 1992 and bottled in 2014, 54% ABV, non chill filtered and natural color of pale gold. Cask reference # 100. The nose starts on the earthy/vegetal side. It transitions into warm oak, floral honey and cereal malt. Hints of sherry and nuts. Fruity with apricots, red plums, faint banana, grilled pineapple, toasted coconut, pears and melons. There is a very faint wood smoke, buttery biscuits and a light toffee. Old leather and tobacco with a hint of lemon. Apple skins, vanilla, ginger and some mint/herbs. A bit of a weird waxy/soapy note at the bottom of the glass. The palate has strong oak and oak tannins. Sherry, likely refill or third fill. Pineapple, tangerines, apple skins, faint coconut. Light tobacco and leather. Dates, raisins, slightly vegetal. Finishes with a bit of sawdust. Medium bodied mouthfeel, lightly oily and mouthwatering. A medium length finish with sherry oak, fruity with a touch of bitterness. Dry. Finally a good bottle from Berry’s. Not a great bottle, but a good one. Some nice complexity on the nose, but not so much on the palate. It’s a bit jumbled at times and seems to lack real cohesion. At $120 it’s too expensive for what you get, but it’s a good price for a 21 year old. Thanks to @Telex for the sample. 3.5. Cheers

It's really surprising that the cask strength didn't carry over the flavor for me here. Typical speyside nose with tropical pineapple and coconut qualities, but has more of a floral honeysuckle, vanilla, cream, and very little smoke at all. The finish is very mild and short with light syrup and powdered sugar, without any alcohol burn. A couple drops of water will bring out honeydews, cantaloupes, and watermelons. It's such a mild and delicate dram for the ABV. The theme needs to be a soft and sweet song like "Open Arms" by Journey. Hmm, a 3.75.