Tomatin 12yo Amarone Cask
Limited Edition Italian Collection - Part 2 | 46% ABV
Score: 3/10
Disappointing.
TL;DR
Lacking in more than just Amarone influence, with finger-in-the-air RRP too
The Death of the Wine Cask Influence?
Looking out of the window, a deep guttural rumbling signals the next squall sending, with unrelenting force, horizontal sheets of rain up the valley. Sustained winds of over 90mph lash the window with big fat car-wash drops and through the wobbling liquid view the trees and bushes can be seen whipping around, desperately gripping onto the earth. We really do start to wonder if our house will uproot and take to the skies.
On Skye everything is in the extremes. When it’s cold, it’s bitterly, bone chillingly freezing. When it’s windy, the force is enough to sweep you clean off your feet. When it’s raining it’s torrential and when it’s snowing it’s immediately impassable. But on a calmer evening when the sun sets, it’s astonishingly beautiful. Proper stop in your tracks stuff. When it’s a sunny day the scenes in all directions are Bob Ross worthy. And when it’s time to head for the lowlands for family visits, returning is as thrilling as the day we first stepped onto the island: big, majestic and magical.
It’s easy to feel disconnected to what’s happening out there in the wider world; the doom and gloom of news cycles talking about the next big crisis, someone doing something reprehensible or the questionable conduct of those in high office. Standing outside reveals a quiet of such luxurious spaciousness that I’m quickly lost to the peace it bestows.
The postie appears and we have a chat about the incoming weather, I watch the robins defy gravity and perch on the thinnest of branches, and even the birds of prey seem to perch on the very tips of the utmost branches without bending them; it’s captivating. Nature at play.
Friday morning arrives with calmer skies and, with the prospect of a dram or two later in the day, my mind opens up the whisky door and I’m thinking of what I’ll pour. I mentioned in the last review that I’d not bought any whisky all January and that fact, and the impending lollop to Portree, put an immediate burning into my wallet - I fancy something new. Something that wouldn’t be an unknown but would tickle my investigative side. Something not cask strength. A distillery that I’ve not really explored fully and one that is a bit more unique than a core range. Brief in hand I mentioned to Mrs Crystal that I would be diverting into my ‘Special Place’ when we went to collect our daughter after half-day Friday; customary eye-roll and knowing strained smile received in return.
Arriving in town and entering the Isle of Skye Distillers’ shoppe, I’m faced with a choice of Lochlea’s full spectrum, Torabhaig’s core and cask strength, some Arran, some Diageo drams of despair and even some The Hearach (Batch 0008). A shelf of Tomatin rests above it all: the full range of Limited Edition Italian Wine Collection bottlings of Barolo, Marsala and Amarone finished 12 year old delights.
We’d arrived ahead of schedule so Mrs Crystal accompanied me on this reconnaissance mission, occupied briefly with the smorgasbord of gins from all the islands around the west and beyond. A quiet shop, with only the two of us grunting our interest in this or that, and the shopkeeper’s squeaky chair as music. Mrs got chatting to the lady when she asked if we were on holiday - we need to work out what the appropriate islander wardrobe is.
Not wanting to get the phone out to check what each of these Italian finishes presented like, for fear of looking like I was checking the price, I instead decided to return after we’d collected Mini Crystal and stolen a glance online for tasting notes. Doing so I reasoned that the Amarone finish sounded the most aligned to what I fancied, and headed back to shoppe to close the deal.
Before I did, I asked the shopkeeper for any thoughts on the Tomatin Italian Collection and she said she didn’t drink whisky. I’m on my own with this decision. Amarone it is.
Review
Tomatin 12yo, Italian collection - The Amarone Edition, Amarone Cask finish, 10 years in traditional oak, 2 years in Amarone Casks, 46% ABV
£53-75 widely available
The rest of Friday blew by in a haze of work woes and howls of wind, until I could take it no longer and decided 4:30pm was precisely the time to unzip some tin and get the camera out. I was excited about this Tomatin experience because I’ve had a few Tomatin experiences of note - an incredible PX single cask sample from Oor Man Gregor blew my tiny mind. A few Tomatin samples from the EIS bottle split likewise. I’ve bought a few Tomatin’s in my time too, with a nightmarish Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting bottling and their Cask Strength core range; decent enough, albeit slow to start.
I’m expecting to find the Tomatin savoury sweet mashup here with an edge of…well, what actually is Amarone? I’ve no idea. Italian definitely, but what is it? I’ll Google it later because right now all I care about is losing myself in the comforting warm golden ocean of brand new whisky thinking. The packaging is quite nice - a bright red/pink palette against rich deep purple/blacks - I like this. Evocative and gives the impression of bold, vivid flavour. Golden writing with ‘Limited Edition’ all over the place, and the key whisky exciter boxes all magnificently ticked - 46%, non chill-filtered, natural colour and a big round age statement of 12 years. This has it all going - to hell with NAS youth boys and girls, I’m hitting the double digits!
Score: 3/10
Disappointing.
TL;DR
Lacking in more than just Amarone influence, with finger-in-the-air RRP too
Nose
Pears and sweet red apple. A rye toast note. The slightest whisper of coffee. A distant peppery fragrance, floral. Gone. Back to generic woody sweetness. Ream of paper.
Palate
Sweet, generic, slightly reddish. Like a peach colour. Sugary water. Dusted pastry folded with fake butter. Softer than an over proofed white floury bap. Inert. Unhelpful. Souring slightly at the death.
The Dregs
‘The Softer Side of the Highlands’ it says. Understatement of the year, I say. The first pour was interesting and, honestly, pretty exciting. Being able to pull off a stopper and pour a glass of whisky that is ready to drink has become a bit of a novelty for me. I’m exaggerating obviously but I’m used to paying £75 for single casks, alchemic indie bottlings and the odd auction steal that require a lot of patience and fiddling to garner satisfaction, but it’s been a long time since I went into a shop and paid £75 for a 46% bottle of anything. I’d probably have to go back to 2021 and a Glen Scotia 15yo…oh. Just checked the spreadsheet there and I paid £56. Curse you rampant price gouging! The nearest 46%er is the Arran 18 at £81 in 2021.
After a week or so of analysis, both in isolation and in comparison, this Tomatin Amarone is resolving like a pretty flat-footed middling whisky. It’s not rubbish and it’s not super. It’s neither unpalatable nor is it exciting. It’s just…mediocre. The Amarone influence, a revered Italian red wine varietal, is to my rudimentary wine palate, non-existent. Aye there’s a wee hint of something ‘fruity’ there, a small degree of leaning towards a tannin, maybe. But it’s certainly not overt or challenging or obvious - I really have to search and search to identify it.
Maybe I need to give it a bit of time and space, like I did the Cask Strength bottling? The motivator is there to leave it a while when, after deciding what dram to pair with my haggis, neeps and tatties for Robert Burns Night, I poured a dram of the Longrow hand-fill from last year’s Whisky Dash and found it absolutely magnificent. Time and space. Into my face.
Amarone, by all online accounts, is a rich red wine with potent red and black cherry flavours, dark chocolate and coffee - big old bruising flavours. Some call it the King of Italian red wines. The technique used to make Amarone is called Appassimento, which I recognise because Mrs Crystal loves a bottle of red wine called “Appassimento” by Christian Patat, made available through the Naked Wines pyramid of exclusivity system, long abandoned by us due to the shift to the uisge beatha & gin.
Although a different region of Italy, I feel like I have some idea of what Amarone might present as - a rich red wine - and thus some idea of what I should be seeking to find in this Amarone finished Tomatin. Any black or red cherry notes would be great. Chocolate or coffee too. Dried fruits and ripe plums maybe. Not on your life. At a loss, I turn to The Tomatin website, where light will surely cascade plentifully to illuminate what I should be finding in here to properly distinguish this Amarone tinted Tomatin from all other Tomatin whisky:
“Aromas of poached pears and traditional rhubarb and custard sweets lead, while on the palate notes of strawberry jam are accompanied by Turkish delight and light butter pastry. The finish is rich with cinnamon spiced red apple.”
Right. Well, ok, maybe that’s different from the core range 12 year old, albeit 43%, chill-filtered and with added colourant? Notes for the core range 12:
“Aromas of wild heather, pine and cedar soon sweeten to reveal notes of crème caramel with apples, pears and mango before a full-bodied and buttery finish, the 12-year-old is a distinguished sherry cask whisky with a little something different.”
I need to do something about this problem I have: my ability to switch off my analytical brain and make decisions based on…farts, whimsy and bright colours.
I looked at this Tomatin in the shop and felt my palms getting itchy with the prospect of new whisky in my hands right there and then - from a shop! I read the Tomatin website on the fly to try and decipher, from the three options, which one I fancied. I saw ‘Turkish delight’ and thought, ‘I’ll have a bit of that please’. I never stopped to think if I wanted the pears or rhubarb and custard or the light butter pastry. I never stopped to check if this was like any other Tomatin, especially one more than half the price.
I went in, took the bottle and paid £75 - in some cases £20 more than places online. Is that fair levy for the convenience to go and collect it that very moment, and to support my local whisky shop, despite being bereft of whisky expertise? I didn’t stop to research what Amarone is, what it should be lending to this alchemy and why this Tomatin finished in Amarone casks costs £75. I just bought it, as would any layperson looking for something interesting to drink in whiskyland. And I’ve been stung. Softly, but stung nonetheless.
I expected something new, something I’d not experienced before in whisky - Amarone!? A moron more like. This whisky is nothing magical, it’s nothing special, it’s nothing that excites or sings or delights. It smells ok, it goes in and tastes ok, and then it goes down and feels ok. There’s certainly no delight here that I can find, Turkish or otherwise. It doesn’t give me any impression of any cask finishing or any influence other than normal oak maturation. The website reads “Matured in Amarone Casks” and it’s heavily punted on box and bottle, but in reality it was matured in “traditional oak casks” for 10 years and then finished, clearly inside inert Amarone wine casks, for 2 further years.
You know what doesn’t feel ok? Paying £75 for it, and even more unwelcome is seeing the whole Italian range at many online retailers now for just over £50 - mere weeks after launch. It’s really smarting this time and I can feel my temper fraying. I could have bought any number of certified bangers for this price. Tried and tested and loved. I could have bought Tomatin’s core range 12 year old for £36 and, it would appear, had a very similar experience. Instead I stuck my neck above the parapet of silence, of literally no reviews for this bottle of whisky, to see what was hiding over the barbed wire and smoke screens was nothing but a cardboard cut-out of a middle finger.
I opened a sample of Murray McDavid Glen Garioch 11 year old, finished in Tokaji Wine Casks and presented at 46%, to drink beside this. Found online for £73, it was something I looked at but didn’t consider, ironically, because of the high price. My uncle did buy it and sent me some, and it’s engaging, fascinating and exciting. The Tokaji influence is utterly undeniable - it’s Geery but with a depth and uniqueness of presentation so engaging that I can feel my mind expanding. I am learning here - ginger and rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, spring onions and maybe even a bit of miso in there too. How Hungarian wine finishing is giving such terrific umami feels is beyond me. Fantastic.
Coming back to the Tomatin, after that little diversion, it feels like a whisky to sip whilst watching paint dry. Dull. Inert. Of no consequence. A groundwork for something better beyond. A mark in the sand between misery and happiness, today. I’m on my way. I’ve had it with being duped. Gregor McWee and oor Broddy will curse me, but so be it: Tomatin, you’ve done me in, good and proper.
A finality has woven its miserable fingers into my thundering mind: I’ve bought an overly expensive whisky that is made to look and sound like a wonderful experience but in reality is tailored to someone that finds cream crackers too strong for their tastes. A disaster, even more so now I see how much retailers are slashing off the RRP to get them shifted. It’s all my fault. I should have done my research.
It’s not awful. In fact, it’s really quite pleasing. Pleasing in the same way that you’ve trapped your favoured index finger in a meat grinder, but you’re pleased it’s not your whole hand.
Regretful, remorseful even that you did it in the first place, but not the end of the world.
Score: 3/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DC
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