Tormore 16 Years

 

“Wood I Lie To You”

Whisky Review # 999

Country: Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Region: Speyside

Brand: Tormore

Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky - Batch #: Unknown

Age: 16 Years

Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 48%
Maturation: Unknown. I presume a mix of American Oak (Bourbon + Sherry)

Chill Filtration: No

Price: Around US$ 90 (August 2023)
Price/Quality Ratio: 👍 Okay
Buying Advice: 😐 Not quite my style as Wood and Spices dominate but...

Colour: Amber with shades of Orange  (Artificially Coloured)

Nose:

Be sure to give this Tormore sufficient time in the glass before Nosing as it opens up rather slowly. The nose is a mix of Sweet, Sour and Musty notes with Malt, cooked Fruits and Orange leading the way. Quite Creamy.

Main Aromas:

Sweet Barley, Buttered Toast, Vanilla, Cooked Apples & Pears, Dried Fruit like Figs, Raisins, Plums, Apricot & Banana, Orange Marmalade, Dusty Casks, Peanut Butter, slightly Sour Red Berries, Cinnamon, Ginger, Paprika powder and Leather.

Supportive Aroma Accents:

Honey, Caramel, Toffee, Mixed Nuts, Grass, Forest Floor, Floral Perfume, Wet Rocks, Wet Newspaper, Artificially-Flavoured Candies (Nectarine, Melon, Pineapple), Milk Chocolate, Pepper, Nutmeg, Cardamom and Aniseed.

Palate:

Bitter-Sweet, Creamy and slightly Hot. Heavy Cask influence. The Fruit is still there but Malt, Cask and Spices start to take the upper hand. Quite Dry & slightly Meaty.

Main Flavours:

Sweet Malted Barley, Vanilla, Mixed Chocolate, Nuts and Nut Shells, Orange, Pear, Red Apple, Dried Fruit like Raisins & Plums, Red Berry Liqueur, Dusty Casks, Pepper, Nutmeg, Cloves, Ginger, Cardamom and hints of Leather and Tobacco.

Supportive Flavour Accents:

Honey, Toffee, Salted Caramel, Butterscotch, Resin, Coconut, Yogurt with Tropical Fruit Flavour, Coconut, Cinnamon, Aniseed, Licorice, Wet Rocks, Grapefruit, Stale Espresso and Varnish.

Finish:

Middle-Long, Creamy, Bitter-Sweet and quite Dry. Oak and Spices are in control by now. I also find Toasted Malted Barley, Toffee, Caramel, Vanilla, Honey, Nuts and Nut Shells, Coconut, Dusty Oak, Red Apple, Orange, Red Berry Liqueur, Cocoa and Coffee, Dried Herbs, Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cardamom and Cloves.

Drinking Advice:

Added Water sort of kills this Tormore.

Rating: 7 (*******)

Nose: 7.5 - Taste: 7 - Finish: 6.5

*** Important Note with respect to Rating.

If the Final score is above 8 you can safely buy the whisky in question if and when it fits your Aroma/Flavor profile. If the score is between 6 and 8 you might want to try it out in the form of a sample or if offered at a good price. Anything below 6 should be left alone when you are looking for a nice sipping whisky. You might still like it of course & I realize pricing is an important item for many whisky fans especially when you are used to enjoy whisky in a cocktail or a mixed drink.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Conclusion:

Tormore is certainly a relatively new distillery and was founded in 1958 by Schenley Int. Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) acquired the distillery in 2005 when it took over Allied Domecq. It is located in Grantown-on-Spey (Morayshire). The distillery has a production capacity of 4.8 million litres. Most of the Tormore Spirit is used in Blends like Ballentine's, Long John, Cream of the Barley and Chivas. The core range merely consists of the 14 and 16 Years. Surprisingly, Chivas sold Tormore in 2022 to Elixir Distillers. The new owners (Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh) plan to refurbish the distillery and construct a Visitor Centre. I'm convinced they will also try to position Tormore globally as a valid Single Malt and not just as an (important) component of Blended Whisky.

The first batch of this Tormore was released in 2014 but I have no information as to what Batch I'm reviewing today. Most batches have matured in Ex-Bourbon casks but I'm pretty sure that the Batch I'm tasting right now matured in both Bourbon casks and sherry-infused American Oak.

I've had some independent well-matured Tormore malts in the past and rather liked them because of their character although they perhaps overstayed their time in the casks. The latter might be true for this 16 Years as well as Wood and Spices are quite dominant on the Palate and in the Finish. But I don't find that character here in the same density. It's rather dull actually. It's Malty, Creamy and Powerful what makes it perfectly suitable as a Blended Whisky component. But on a stand alone basis this Tormore 16 years does not convince me. The price level is okay though so if you like the Aroma and Flavour profile you should try it out.

Cheers!

Jan van den Ende                                                                        August 10, 2023

Waterford Ballymorgan Edition 1.2

“Unfinished Sympathy”

Whisky Review # 998

Country: Ireland 🇮🇪

Region: South-East

Brand: Waterford Ballymorgan Edition 1.2

Type: Single Malt Irish Whisky - Single Farm Origin Series - 30.000 Bottles

Age: 4 Years (2016 - 2020)

Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 50%
Maturation: Mixed Barrels (See Conclusion)

Chill Filtration: No

Price Range: US$ 55-70 (August 2023)
Price/Quality Ratio: 😐 Borderline okay
Buying Advice: 😐 There's potential here but it's just too immature

Colour: Pale Gold (Natural Colour)

Nose:

Please give the Waterford a little time in the glass before Nosing to avoid the initial waft of Varnish. With that out of the way you clearly get the Virgin Oak, present in most West-European whiskies. The Nose is Young with various Bakery notes. Lots of Toffee and Vanilla as well as some Sweet and Sour Fruity notes. Not bad but rather underdeveloped. The Alcohol is noticeable but not as strong as you would expect in view of the high ABV.

Main Aromas:

Sweet Barley, German Butter Biscuits, Toffee, Vanilla, Yeast, Bread Dough, Apple-Filled Pastry, Hay, Dusty Track, White Chocolate, Dairy, Sour Berries, Fresh Herbs, Cinnamon and Ginger.
    
Supportive Aroma Accents:

Caramel, Treacle, Farmyard, Floral Perfume, White Port Wine, Artificially-Flavored Candies (Orange, Lemon, Banana), Slivovitz, Varnish, Sweet Tropical Fruit Salad, Oak and Pepper.

Palate:

Young, Thin and slightly Hot. The Cask and its Spices come to the front. It's like soaking White Bread in New Make Spirit and cover it in Spices. It's not bad but it tastes like a semi-finished product.

Main Flavours:

Sweet Barley, Toffee, Vanilla, Dough, Yeast, Fruit-Flavored Candies (Orange, Green Apple, Lemon, Banana, Pear), Sour Berries, Grapefruit, Oak, Pepper, Ginger, Cloves, Nutmeg and Licorice.

Supportive Flavour Accents:

Sugary Honey, Caramel, Floral Perfume, Slivovitz, Milk Chocolate, Leather, Tobacco, Fresh Herbs, Cinnamon and Aniseed.

Finish:

Middle-Long, quite Hot & a little on the Thin side. Sweet at first but with increasing Bitterness towards the Dry end. The potential is there but this Spirit is very Young & clearly requires some additional Cask time. I find Toasted Barley, Caramel, Vanilla, Toffee, Resin, Varnish, Pastry, Sour Berries, Lemon, Grapefruit, Green Apple, Floral Perfume, Dusty Track, Bounty Candy Bars, Oak, Pepper, Ginger, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Mint, Licorice and Cloves. Slightly stale Espresso after a while.

Drinking Advice:

A little Water helps to control the Alcohol of course and that's a plus. On the minus side you lose a lot of the Flavours. A few drops can't hurt but don't overdo it.

Rating: 6.5 (******1/2)

Nose: 7 - Taste: 6.5 - Finish: 6

*** Important Note with respect to Rating.

If the Final score is above 8 you can safely buy the whisky in question if and when it fits your Aroma/Flavor profile. If the score is between 6 and 8 you might want to try it out in the form of a sample or if offered at a good price. Anything below 6 should be left alone when you are looking for a nice sipping whisky. You might still like it of course & I realize pricing is an important item for many whisky fans especially when you are used to enjoy whisky in a cocktail or a mixed drink.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay but way too Young.

Conclusion:

The Waterford distillery is located in the town that bears the same name and was founded in 2014 by former co-owner of Bruichladdich, Mark Reynier. The current production capacity is one million litres. Waterford seems to specialize in organic & biodynamic whisky using local products whenever possible. The Single Farm Origin Series are made with Barley produced on a single farm. In the case of the 1.2 I'm reviewing today the barley was produced by Robert Milne in the County Wexford.

The 1.2 Edition matured in the following very interesting cask combination: 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Casks (37%), Virgin US Oak (20%), French Oak (23%), Fortified Sweet Wine-Vin Doux Naturel (23%).

The Waterford Distillery took a lot of effort to create something special here. They took Single Farm Barley and matured the Spirit in a variety of casks of good quality. They gave it everything but...Time! Four years is simply not enough and the Virgin Oak and Hot Spices are in full control. And that's a pity because I feel that the full potential of the Fruity Waterford Spirit is there. It just needs to be left alone for at least 12 Years. I really hope to be able to taste a fully matured Waterford in the near future.

Cheers!

Jan van den Ende                                                                         August 3, 2023