It's 2 years after LMdW's 60th Anniversary, and I'm still drinking stuff from back then. Got to up the pace!!
Bought this at last year's private sale. I was looking for a non-sherried Speysider to add some variety to my drinking. Looked around, but many of the Speysiders were either too expensive, or too sherried. I think there were 2 options I narrowed down to eventually - a Sansibar bottled...Macallan(?) and this Tormore. Under $200 after discount, and the good people at LMdW (it was Mauricio, I think) were full of praise for this exceptional whisky. Very limited bottling, with only 251 bottles coming from a single cask.
Tormore 20 years old, for LMDW 60th Anniversary (46% abv)
Nose - This is pretty special. Pineapples and mozarella. Cinnamon and figs. Pears and lemons. Almonds and yeasty, malting barley. The pineapples stand out though. Big, juicy pineapples. I learnt recently that a pineapple is a cluster of berries. What. There's a hint of marzipan after a while, and a bit of paraffin as well. This is alluring.
Palate - More pineapple juice, but there's a hint of bitterness here. Feels like black tea and charred oak. Not quite smokey territory, but almost. The bitterness is rounded out by some active wood, giving this whisky a rounded woody flavour. Lots of spice. I'm detecting a touch of salted butter, but this takes a backseat. Fruits come to the fore. Pineapples, passion fruit, coconut, almond (not a fruit), orange pith.
Finish - The spices grow and grow on you. A dash of pepper, clove, maybe a hint of cardamon...but the bitter note is there, more prominent than on the palate. That's sticking out like a small bit of cardboard.
Overall - I like this, all the way till the bitter end. Then the bitterness stays a bit longer than is welcomed.
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