When David Bennet sent his summer 2021 email letting his devoted Chorlton followers know about this Tormore 28-year, I simply couldn’t resist! At that time, I had tried only one whisky from Tormore – a very special 10 year from the 1970s at Singapore Whisky Live’s Collectors Room. More recently in 2022, I had the pleasure to try the Tormore 29-year bottled by Gordon & Macphail at London’s Whisky Show.
While we had to be a bit patient to try this Tormore 28-year, we made it count! It was sampled over four evenings, of which below I’ve captured an amalgam of impressions from some.
Tormore 28 year (Nov 1992/Jul 2021) 42.45% 253 bottles
What did we think of this dram – contrasting our experiences between a fine fall evening in London vs two warm evenings in Mumbai…
- Nose
- London: Incredibly rich, beautiful nose, sunshine sweetness, fruity marmalade, apple crumble pastry, heavy on the cinnamon and brown sugar… as it opened up, there was also light saline, shifting into something heavier… like wandering into a forest, faintly mineral, wet stone, then shifted again into brazil nut, buttery, red food coloring
- Mumbai: Very salty, metallic, some kelp or seaweed, misty, cold water from a copper jug, slowly opened and sweetened into gingerbread, lebkuchen, candied ginger, followed by fruits, minute by minute becoming “jammier”- starting with plum jam then sweetening into a melange of strawberry and raspberry, like that mystery red jelly that you aren’t quite sure what exactly it is!
- Palate
- London: Exceptional! Silky smooth, hot buttery biscuits, a bit nutty too… gorgeous… was there even a puff of smoke too?
- Mumbai: Honey, ginger, wood tannins, walnut, orange rind, light smoke…. utterly lovely! Light yet complex, very open and approachable, boiled lemon sweets
- Finish – Very dry, long, and lingers bitter almond
- Water
- London: No temptation to add!
- Mumbai: Brings out a bar of lovely milk chocolate on the nose… needed? No. But still worth trying this way too…
- Revisit – Fab fruity with nutty caramel – yum!!
One of our ladies in Mumbai had tried this earlier in the year in London and noted there was some impact of oxidation between the freshly opened bottle she tried and our evening in November, where some elements had muted and shifted.
For myself, I recall the first experience just a month earlier in London as simply stunning – one class act! I could just sit with this whisky alone… savoring it slowly. Remarkable. Lovely… Pure delight in a glass!
What was most appealing is how it developed in the glass – from maritime to mineral to marmalade on the nose, silky smooth, light yet complex on the palate, and closing with a strong, long, dry bitter finish. Simply superb!
There was no doubt this is indeed a special treat – rare and worthy of slowing down to enjoy.
What did David have to say?
Properly matured single malt here from the reliably fruity Tormore distillery!
On the nose this is a real fruit basket (red apples, orange drops, marmalade, juicy Riesling), backed with some mineralic and foresty depth (waxes, flints and ferns). The palate is lightly syrupy and waxy, with cream teas and biscuits mixed in with the fruits. The finish is very clean, with blood oranges and mandarins. Very summery, and utterly delicious.
This whisky was distilled on the 16th November 1992, and matured in a refill hogshead until being bottled in July 2021. It produced 253 bottles at a cask strength of 42.4% and they are available for £175 each.
I purchased this in July 2021 which joined three more from La Nouvelle Vague series:
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