40 Whiskies under $40: Tomatin 12 year old
We’ve already reviewed Trader Joe’s Tomatin 10 (available in CA), and StrongLikeCask didn’t have much love for it. But fortunately for the right-most 95% of the country (and the rest of the drinking world), Tomatin has an extremely affordable official 12 year old release into which they clearly put a lot of work. Tomatin, in the Monadh Liath Mountains outside of Inverness, is at once one of the highest ditilleries (in terms of elevevation) in Scotland and one of the largest, with 12 working stills. Most of their distillate goes into blends such as Antiquary, but since around 2008 they have been increasing their output of various single malt expressions. This 12 year old comes from a lightly peated malting and is finished in sherry butts.
Tomatin 12 year old
Abv: 43%
Color: gasoline… in a good way
Legs: medium beads (a little bit tight), with a kinda slow descent; not bad
Nose: fresh cherries; slightly floral (rose petals; honeysuckle); a subtle maltiness; some pine notes; and then a little perfume, pineapples, and stewed apples develop with aeration
Palate: nice honey, a good dose of vanilla malt; nuts (cashews?), a few spices, and then a nice amount of light and heathery smoke developing in the middle to end
Body: medium; a touch flabby, with a watery front end, but still a good bit rounded and decent overall
Tomatin is Gaelic for "hill of the juniper"... thanks, Dr. Whisky
Finish: not huge; very subtle toffee at first, and then some very dried berries linger for a bit more, and numbing if you drink enough (which is easy to do)
Overall: Enjoyable. A handful of pleasant flavours to ponder, and perfect for someone starting to get into Scotch since it hits a few different notes but is immensely easy to imbibe. There’s a nice subtlety to the taste; and yet it still imparts a balanced variety. I almost want to say that this is the poor man’s Highland Park, what with its heathery peat and hint of sherry maturation… not to belittle it, though: Hanley Ramirez was once known as the poor man’s Jose Reyes. For the price ($29), a gem. Dollar-blind… not amazing, but still nice.
Other Opinions: straightforward and malty, with some fruit, spices and nuttiness seeming to be a nearly general consensus. Where I found honey up front, others seem to get some kind of seed oil.
- neither MJ nor DB at Whisky Mag love it, and seem to (slightly) agree on the maltiness and nuttiness.
- SMSMMS also noses a floral element and tastes some nutts, but like DB, gets a rubbery note, too; we’re in agreement on the value.
- The great John Hansell likes the straightforward malt and “summer fruit,” but mentions the $60 18 year old as a great value… haven’t seen that one around much, though.
- The Malt Imposter mostly just recites Robert Burns poems.
Lions!
- DodgyDrammer
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Not to be pedantic, but calling it a “poor man’s Higland Park” seems a little silly given that HP 12 is only about US$7 more than Tomatin 12 (in Minneapolis, anyway). Do you think the price difference warrants choosing Tomatin over HP? (I know, at that price, just buy both!)
Well, true, we had thought about the low cost of the HP 12 year. However, there are several reasons that warrant why this term might come to mind with reference to the Tomatin (notice I “almost” wanted to call it that…).
1. I meant Highland Park’s style in general, and did not refer to the 12 year specifically.
2. Even the cost of the HP 12 year is rising, as I imagine it will continue to as it gains popularity in the US. Right now at Binny’s the Tomatin 12 costs 25% less than the HP 12. Very soon we may have to adjust our 40/$40 entry.
3. The vernacular use of the phrase “poor man’s such and such” rarely refers to the cost or the cost alone of a given thing, but more often to either the quality or the overall value. For me, Highland Park products are exceptionally well-crafted, where as the Tomatin 12 is just well crafted.
So if you had $29 in your pocket, would you buy the Tomatin or wait til you had enough to buy the HP 12?
Well, I think they are both good values for their price. I am partial to the HP 12, but the Tomatin 12, while different than the HP 12, is great if you don’t want to spend $40.