A personally “meaningful” set of reviews for a milestone review. After the first side by side I did, I decided to do it for all milestone reviews that don’t occur during ‘events’ such as my Advent calendar. Number 300 just so happened to (read: was contrived to) fall right after the Advent calendar for this year. As soon as I heard of it, “Slytherin potion flask” became a unicorn whisky for me. The names shouldn’t matter, but I’m a big Harry Potter fan and a Slytherin at heart and Ledaig is my favorite distillery, and I also really like 42 as 7 is my favorite number and it’s a multiple of that and I also really enjoyed Hitchhiker’s Guide, so it almost felt made for me (or at least marketed directly toward me). Unfortunately it was bottled before I got into whisky and the society, and it wasn’t even released in what would have been my chapter, so it went onto the wishlist and life went on. A while later I was bidding in an auction and saw 42.46 and bid and ended up winning it. I wanted to try a society bottling of my favorite distillery. Turns out, since the SMWS doesn’t differentiate Tobermory and Ledaig, different sites have different standards for listing those bottles. Whiskybase has every 42 as a Tobermory, peated or not, and evidently Scotch Whisky Auctions has every 42 listed as a Ledaig. Unfortunately peated whisky can easily fall into the Oily & Coastal flavor profile, so you can’t even rely on that cue. Anyway, I was mildly disappointed, but it’s not like Tobermory makes garbage when they’re not using peat. I put it on the shelf for another time, and life went on.
Then I joined the society and a 42 came up (42.47). I called in to order it, and Tom made sure to point out which type of 42 it was without me having to ask (stick tap to Tom for that), but I figured “What the hell, I’m already on the phone, plus I really want another bottle to group with my held order to ease the shipping.” That got delivered, I put it on the shelf for another time, and life went on.
Months later with a stroke of luck only Harry Potter himself and his plot armor could hope for, 42.34 popped up in an auction and I made sure to get it. I finally got the bottle I had resigned myself never to have, and my unicorn list was empty (other than the bunch of others that went on it between this going on and coming off, of course). But the bottle was too special to just open, so it went on the shelf for another time, and life…you get it.
Then I ended up with enough SMWS bottles that I decided to track details (like the rest of you I ended up with a lot more spare time than I had ante-covid, and my OCD ran out of amok) and I discovered these were sister casks. Since I had decided to do sister cask reviews these got penciled in for the next available slot of significance. And now, here we are, with the text you actually clicked on this post for:
Tobermory 9, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.34, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 61.2% ABVMinutia: Distilled on June 25, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon barrel for 9 years yielding 221 bottles. This is part of the Oily & Coastal flavor profile named “Slytherin potion flask”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn side by side with its sister casks, 42.46 & 42.47, with water added later.
Color: Old gold; 0.6.
Nose: Sweet malt, salty. Floral, a little honey. With water, softer, gains an almost smoky note.
Taste: Leather, spice/salt intensity. A bit of salty sweet malt. With water: amplified spice & salt.
Finish: Coffee beans, cacao. Salty. Medium-long. With water: loses the non-salt note.
Very nice for an unpeated malt for my tastes. I’d have liked some smoke, if course, but as my appreciation for unpeated malt has grown, it’s nice that this whisky which appealed to me was enjoyable and not a stinker.
Score: 84
Musical Evocation: Muggle Death Camp – “Love Song for a Serpent”
Tobermory 10, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.46, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 61.9% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on June 25, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon barrel for 10 years yielding 207 bottles. This is part of the Oily & Coastal flavor profile named “Seahorse to air missile”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn side by side with its sister casks, 42.34 & 42.47, with water added later.
Color: Amber; 0.7.
Nose: Dark, hidden aromas to start, lemon after. Gets coastal. With water: sharper, some malt.
Taste: Sweet into very salty/briny. Hot. With water: earthy and briny. Still hot not not quite so much.
Finish: Hot. A berry note late. Settles into chocolate after that berry flourish. With water: not quite as hot but still potent. Chocolate and malt notes dance in and out with each other.
It’s quite hot, which makes it a bit harder for me to enjoy, otherwise it’s quite good. I’m looking forward to spending more time with it as it feels like a lot is masked by that heat.
Score: 81
Musical Evocation: Muggle Death Camp – “Salazar’s Treasure”
Tobermory 10, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.47, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 60.1% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on June 25, 2008 and matured in a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel for 10 years yielding 184 bottles. This is part of the Oily & Coastal flavor profile named “Oblivious to genius”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn side by side with its sister casks, 42.34 & 42.46, with water added later.
Color: Old gold amber; 0.6.5.
Nose: Subtle. Apple, and more pear, they step aside to reveal the malt. With water: easier to find the fruit, with a bit of vanilla sweeping through.
Taste: Salt into spicy. A savory note tries to peek through. With water: it stays softer, and a light nutty flavor is there.
Finish: Heat at the top. Fades to salt. Some chocolate late. Medium. With water: A light heat gives way to chocolatey malt with a kick. Cereal later.
Another dram that’s decent if unastounding. The finish improved a good deal with the water. It’s another one I’m looking to spend more time with as it seems like a dram that rewards it with subtle notes that won’t jump out at you every time. It’s not as hot as the other one, so it doesn’t feel like that’s masking the other notes in the same way, more that you really need to tease and coax them out here.
Score: 83
Musical Evocation: Muggle Death Camp – “The Crown of the Grey Lady”
A fun side by side to mark review #300. I’m glad I made it here and I’m glad I’ve finally opened this bottle. Far too many bottles in the “I have it but haven’t opened it yet, category” and with some restructuring to my process, I think I’ll be able to speed that up (in a way that doesn’t entail endangering my body more than I already am). Three is a lot for a side by side, I think I prefer two, but I’ll be back in 25 reviews with 5 of this distillery’s peated brother. Of course, if between now and when I get to them (I’m guess sometime around April) I end up with one or more other sister casks, I might just split them like I did with the ten Bunnahabhains, TBD.
