Advent 2021 #20 - Tobermory 12

As a big fan of Ledaig, I missed out on an opportunity or two to order some highly recommended bottles from their website during a time they didn’t have shipping to the States, but they ended up coming along in some sample packs they had available, so I ordered those and this was a part of it. It wasn’t the main reason, but I wasn’t upset it was in there or anything. A handful of other, more interesting Tobermorys were in their, too. It feels appropriate this turned up toward the end of the calendar as after it’s done, my next review will be for some Tobermory sister casks side by side for review #300.

Tobermory 12, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 46.3% ABV

Minutia: Matured for 12 years in 1st fill bourbon and virgin oak casks. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.

Color: Russet, Muscat; 1.3.

Nose: This was fruity before getting it up to my nose. From then, malt, honey, fresh wood/grass.

Taste: Malty, honey and toast, a bit of spice/heat.

Finish: Mostly malt, some red pepper. Medium. A faint maltiness lasts quite a bit longer.

Guess: Bunnahabhain, doesn’t feel strong enough to be an IB. Could be Jura, maybe.

Ah, Tobermory. It certainly fits as it did feel “islandy” but I didn’t think I had an Arran in there and didn’t detect any peat. I prefer Ledaig so much, I forgot about half of the distillery’s output. This is quite nice for a dram without smoke, and it’s nice to try some more Tobermory expressions as I’ve only had the 10 thus far. It’s quite nice as far as something without peat goes, though it’s not very complex (not that that’s a mark against it, necessarily). I find myself now rather eager to try those older and differently finished Tobermory samples I have in my inventory. 

Score: 81

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar: