Showing posts with label 28 Years. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 28 Years. Show all posts

Tormore 1988 (Sansibar)


”Country Comfort”


Whisky Review # 910

Country: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Brand: Tormore 1988
Type: Single Malt Single Cask Scotch Whisky - Distilled in 1988
Bottled: In 2016 by/for Sansibar Spirits Shop' Selection - Chinese Theater Mask
Age: 28 Years
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 51.6% (Cask-Strength)
Maturation: Ex-Bourbon cask - 228 Bottles
Chill Filtration: No
Price Range: Around US$ 250 (April 2021)
Price/Quality Ratio: 👍Okay. At this age a Single Malt can't be cheap of course.
Buying Advice: 👍 A well-matured Speyside Malt. Bit on the Woody side though!

Colour:

Golden (Natural Color)

Nose:

A nice, slightly dusty, mature Nose with the Oak nicely lingering in the background. A bit of an old English country club image with Polished Old Furniture inviting you to have a Single Malt. I think you get the picture. The Nose is a mix of Sweet, Fruity, Sour and Floral notes. Quite Buttery as well. You wouldn't give it 28 years as there are still some Fresh Aromas around. The Alcohol is nicely integrated. It's a rather plesant combination!

Main Aromas:

Malted and Toasted Barley, Buttered Toast, Vanilla, Grass and Straw, Bounty Candy Bars, Charred Oak, Peach or Nectarine, Stewed Apples richly sprinkled with fresh Cinnamon, Polished Leather Upholstery, Tobacco, Orange-Milk Chocolate, Mint and Nutmeg.
  
Supportive Aroma Accents:

Salted Caramel, Honey, Marshmallow, Floral Soap, Dried Herbs, Grapefruit, Lemon, Hazelnuts, Dusty Road, Pepper and Meat-Extract.


Palate:

Thick and Buttery. It's been a while I found so much Butter in a Single Malt. On the Palate this Tormore presents a mix of Bitter, Sweet and Sour notes. The Years in the cask are telling now and the Alcohol is a bit more noticeable as well.

Main Flavours:

Malted and Toasted Barley, Buttered Toast, Salted Caramel, Bounty Candy Bars, Polished Old Leather, Tobacco, Seville-Orange, Charred Oak, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Pepper, Ginger, Aniseed, Mint, Meat-Extract and Licorice.
   
Supportive Flavour Accents:

Honey, Vanilla, Toffee, Grass and Straw, Hazelnut-Milk Chocolate, Marzipan, Fresh & Dried Herbs, Grapefruit, Lemon, Stewed Apples, Espresso, Nutmeg and Cloves.

Finish
:


Middle-Long and Bitter-Sweet with increasing Bitterness towards the Medium-Dry end. You can certainly tell its age by now. Wood, Spices and Herbs are firmly in control at this point. I find Toasted Barley, Caramel, Vanilla, Honey, Marzipan, Grapefruit, Lemon, Seville-Orange, Tea, Fresh & Dried Herbs, Bounty Candy Bars, Stewed Apples, Leather, Tobacco, Charred Oak, Pepper, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove, Cardamom, Ginger, Mint, Licorice, Aniseed and Meat-Extract.

Drinking Advice:

I added a little Water and you will get additional ripe Fruit on the Nose (Nectarine, Peach). The Palate does not improve in my view and the Finish gets very Spicy and Hot. You can carefully add a few drops but don't overdo it. I prefer it Neat.

Rating: 86.5

Nose: 22.5 - Taste: 21.5  - Finish: 21 - Overall: 21.5

Drinking Experience Neat:

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.

Sansibar Whisky is a German Indie bottler founded by Jens Drewitz and others who taste and hand-select almost all casks they buy at the distilleries.

I've had a few other old Tormore Indies in the past and they are all quite good in my opinion. This Sansibar is a bit on the Woody side and might have overstayed its time in the cask somewhat. But it's still a very nice almost farm-made Single Malt that really reminds me of the warmth of Good Old British Country Comfort. The sort of hotel or club that Mr. Bean would have liked!

Cheers!

Jan van den Ende                                                                           April 14, 2021