Tobermory 24 1995 Manzanilla Finish (Skotchtoberfest #7)

Of the Tobermory samples in the pack that I didn’t buy the pack for, this is the one I was most please happened to be in it. So far my only experience with Manzanilla casks has been Ardbog which I enjoyed, so I’m keen on trying more of it, plus it’s got some nice age to it.

Tobermory 24 1995 Manzanilla Finish, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 52.7% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on December 16, 1995 and matured in an ex-bourbon casks for about 14 years before a finish of about 11 years in an ex-Manzanilla casks totaling 24 years before bottling on November 28, 2020. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny; 1.4.

Nose: Brown sugar, molasses. It feels like how I imagine it would be to sniff a rummy syrup. A musty feel overall, but not so much that I’d use that word outright.

Taste: What I like in whisky that saw a Sherry cask. Chocolate/dark fruit combo. Some spice from the ethanol. If only it were peated.

Finish: Mineral. Otherwise a musty version of the taste. Medium-long.

This is very nice. For me, it seems that significant aging once again gets an unpeated dram up to my liking. I’ll have to venture more into this space as time goes on. Nice as it is, however, it would be a home run if it were Ledaig. Thinking back on it, I think I remember a Manzanilla Ledaig being well regarded and I’m not a bit surprised. This is a perfect example of a whisky with a score in that range of my scale. The options to better suit my tastes are indeed limited, in this case pretty much only to the barley having been peated. A pricy one, but a good one.

Score: 86

Musical Evocation: Wintersun – “Time”