The Nectar of the Daily Drams Tomatin 1997 Aged 23 Years
Style: Fruity, Herbaceous and Complex
Rating: ☆☆ [Highly Recommended]
Nose:
Elegant but rich yellow fruits, overripe mangoes, passion fruits, papaya sweet soup and jack fruits jellies. Sweet, not cloying and pleasantly perfume-y. Very nice. An endless grass field in the background, some cold aloe vera, spiritus, and hint of pine cone at the tip. Faint echoes of minerals, white chalk and barley notes after the spice. Fresh cream, vanilla pudding with a pinch of salt as a finishing touch. Excellent.
Palate:
The yellow fruits are now boiled down and further reduced into a concentrated tropical fruit punch. More emphasis on the mangoes and lady finger bananas at the front, then we have some ripe papayas reversing-growing back to green ones which paves the way for the herbal side of the distillate to come in. Intense Eclipse, mint stalks and spoonful of cough syrup. A quick cardamom smoke screen leading to creme brulee and vanilla pudding. Plain flour loaf and mineral flicks down under.
Finish:
A mix of everything on the palate making a slow retreat, with a bit more malt and boiled tropical fruits. Then we have some cranberries and goji berries influx. So this is a Sherry cask isn't it!
Thoughts:
One of the most complete modern Tomatin I have tried to date. For me, generally Tomatin have such a strong distillate which makes it quite tricky to find the "equilibrium point" that can elevate the profile to the next level. This Nectar has somehow found a cask in the optimum zone that every element is in harmony without losing its core distillate character. There are plenty of flair and intricate plays that makes it quite complex and supremely delicious, is this really just a single cask? Somehow part of me thinks this is a feat only vatting expression can achieve. Anyway, this is a must for every Tomatin fans. Highly Recommended.
[52.7% | Independent Bottling |1997 Distilled | 2020 Bottled | Single Cask | Cask Strength | **]
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