Official bottlings 1990s, 2010s & 2024 | 40% & 43% ABV

Disappointed.

Why? Well it’s because Tomatin was my final ah-ha moment. I was keyed onto whisky firstly via Famous Grouse, followed by Glenmorangie 10yo, and the final I’m-all-in moment was with a 2010s version of the Tomatin 12yo. 

My wife and I, recently married at the time, were packing up for a trip to the mountains for another wedding. The destination wedding, while it wasn’t a hot beach or resort that is all too common for us frozen canucks, was up in the Rocky Mountains at Emerald Lake Lodge, British Columbia. This small resort, consisting of rough hewn wood cabins and beautiful scenery, was going to be a focal point of a small group of friends that are still tight to this day, with many of us living within five minutes of each other and all raising our families together. I dug into Broddy’s photo library and found some pics of this stunning location.

With the forethought of bringing some drinks to travel between rooms the evening before the wedding, I snagged a bottle of the old black and red label Tomatin 12yo by pure happenstance. A three hour drive later, climbing up through some mildly snowy mountain roads and lugging our bags across a bridge to the lodge, we settled in for some laughs with friends. Bouncing between rooms, this unassuming bottle exploded in my mind, bringing forward new understandings and flavours and locking this wedding venue and whisky into my memory.

Waking up the next morning and getting dressed for the big day, I kept returning to this bottle for a quick nip in-between activities, sharing it amongst friends. Heading home, it was even more memorable when friends, who were carpooling with us, shared the news with us that they were expecting their first child and don’t be surprised if she needed to roll down the window and yack out the window due to the windy roads (or maybe it was my driving, hard to say) and first trimester troubles.

So fast forward and my gradual accumulation of whiskies ever expanding, I turned to auctions to try and locate the tall red and black time capsule of Tomatin 12yo that pushed me off the precipice into taking whisky more seriously. After a successful win, I also managed to snag a 1990s bottling as well, and this review was born. Make sure to read the Final Dregs to understand the title of this review.

Review 1/3

Tomatin 12yo, est. 1990-2000s, 40% ABV
CAD$100 (£35 plus fees via auction)

Nose

Full, rich, and inviting. Whiffs of damp humidor, peach pie with vanilla-laced whipped cream, patisserie and croissants.

Palate

Brighter than the nose would suggest, mainly from the missing tobacco-related notes. Peach pie again, vanilla extract (the good stuff), patisserie again, and red apple flesh.

There’s an underlying unctuousness that keeps me hooked, something I often attribute to a very light peat content. It reminds me of the extra little kick found in the Shackleton however it’s far more subtle and not as identifiable. Even the extremely timely Blender Files #3 feature Michael Henry alludes to the subtle use of peat acts as a seasoning without adding identifiable peat notes.

The finish is medium in length (and far longer and more intriguing than modern 12 year old 40%ers) and slightly drying, sticking to my tongue for several minutes. Some cooked red apple, apple crumble, and butterscotch make up the individual notes.

The Dregs

After battling a broken cork and filtering out the detritus with a coffee filter, this was stunning. Absolutely stunning. I had no preconceptions on this one with a vague hope that it was tainted or old-bottle effect muted. Instead it’s enjoyable, complex, and makes me yearn for an entry-level core range bottling that is this good. Score well deserved.

Score: 6/10

Review 2/3

Tomatin 12yo, 2011 bottling, 40% ABV
CAD$100 (£35 plus fees via auction)

Nose

Full, rich, and inviting again! Less humidor than the 90s but more caramel and butterscotch. Ripe peaches, pecan pie, apple crumble with cinnamon.

Palate

Copy paste the nose here, it all follows through perfectly and deliciously. Compared to the 1990s bottling and going side-by-side, this 2011 bottle is brighter and fresher and is either a sign of the changing program at Tomatin or perhaps some old-bottle effect.

The finish is slightly drying, medium in length, and nearly identical to the 1990s.

The Dregs

Again, after battling a stuck cork and being reassured of a good seal when a hissing vacuum noise was heard after poking through the cork, I was pleasantly surprised that my memory of this bottle lived up to the actual liquid.

Score: 6/10

Review 3/3

Tomatin 12yo, 2023 bottling, 43% ABV
CAD$75 (£42 paid locally)

Nose

Modern and clean. Compared to the two previous legacy bottles, this smells almost antiseptic and engineered. Tinned peaches, vanilla, red apples. Danish/strudel. Nose is prickling my nostrils at only 43%.

Palate

Thin and peppery. Bit of everything and nothing at the same time. White fleshed fruit (red apple and pear), some mixed nuts, syrup sweetness, and vanilla. It’s all there but it’s somehow muted and muddied together.

The finish is short and generic.

The Dregs

This noses nicely but the palate is a massive let down. The finish is virtually non-existent. The flavours are thin and muddied, not expressive and boasting. When doing a side by side with all three 12yo’s, I had drained this glass three times faster than the others because the finish was so short and I kept losing the experience on the palate by the time I was able to translate my sensations to written word. And the pepperiness kept obfuscating the initial sip of the liquid, very frustrating.

Score: 4/10

The Final Dregs

Overall, it was nice to see Tomatin’s fruitiness continue through these 3 decades of whiskies. But that’s the only thing that has. The drift in flavours and experience has been significant and the modern incarnation is a mere shadow of its former self. For the price of the modern Tomatin 12yo, I’ll take all of the Arran 10 yo’s please.

Alright so what’s up with the title? The intro here was all full of warm and fuzzy memories so what gives?

I’m disappointed in Tomatin because of their recent decisions. Decisions that are directly affecting us consumers. Decisions that are pushing their products into a realm only available to those with a few extra zeros on their bank accounts. Yes, of course I’m talking about price and their recent antics, at least here in Canada. Bear with me here:

• Tomatin Legacy, NAS, 43%: $60 (£34)

• Tomatin 12 yo, 43%: $75 (£42)

• Tomatin 14 yo, 46%: $150 (£84)

• Tomatin 18 yo, 46%: $180 (£100)

What the heck is up with the doubling of price between the 12yo and the 14yo? How is two years going to be worth that much more in the eyes of potential future customers? I’ve got an older bottle of the 14yo and 18yo but I can tell you that the 14yo makes absolutely no sense in pricing and I won’t be replacing it when it’s done.

It gets even worse when we consider the “special releases”, of which I wager there are >10,000 bottles of each available, and the distillery exclusives. The special releases, usually demonstrating various different casking finishes and regional influences, at a normal 46% and nothing special age-wise (10-15 yo typically), are above $200 (£115) here. Dougie has been bitten by one of these highly priced special releases, awarding a 3/10 to the Italian Amarone Special Release.

That’s one hell of a bullet to bite when some of these are not-so-special. I got particularly angry, and very likely unjustifiably so, when I peaked at their distillery exclusives. After receiving an email from them and intrigued by the casks, I fired up a browser and looked at the prices of these cask strength whiskies knowing many are quite fond of the PX edition and I might fancy a birthday bottle for myself:

• Virgin Oak, typically 6-7 yo: £90+

• Ex-Bourbon, typically 12-13 yo: £130+

• Pedro Ximinez, 6 yrs in ex-bourbon and 8ish yrs in PX: £145+

• Oloroso, 14ish yrs in 1st fill Oloroso: £160+

Yup, let those sink in. Ouch. Needless to say, I’m flabbergasted and my credit card details were nowhere to be seen that day. The virgin oak and ex-bourbon prices are just so stratospheric I struggle to understand the economics. A new virgin American oak barrel, holding 200 L of new make, is around £350-380 for us plebs. Tomatin, since they’d be buying barrels in bulk, will be much cheaper. But assuming the full price, that’s around £1.33 per bottle assuming no angel’s share. So in a real-world sense, the barrel contributes anywhere between £0.50-3 per bottle depending on the barrel’s price and the amount of loss from angel’s share. What a kick in the nethers.

A direct message to Tomatin from Broddy: you’re not a luxury brand and therefore should not be charging luxury prices. You’ve not invested enough effort into building a fan base or to enter the premium market to justify this exorbitant and egregious scheme. And for the love of all things angel’s share, please drop your distillery exclusive prices. That’s straight profit to your coffers since you’re not paying for distribution and brick-and-mortar store overhead. You’re taking advantage of people and padding your pockets. While I never wish anyone bad fortune, especially since there are nice people usually working at these places, I do hope you as a company have a wake-up call coming. Because you’ve lost touch with me, a dedicated Tomatin fan for over ten years, and if I’ve lost the love, then many others have too, and you’re very likely not bringing the next wave of consumers into your portfolio. Time to smarten up.

PS: while that last statement is a somewhat serious, somewhat tongue-in-cheek statement directed at Tomatin, there are many more distilleries taking advantage of people with distillery exclusives. After we’ve invested time and money to travel to you, you then flog us with your pricing, leaving scars in our credit card bills and almost begging us to not open the whiskies for fear of not enjoying the over-priced liquid. It smacks of insensitivity and ingratitude. Time for us as consumers to push back against those moving in the wrong direction and celebrate those who are trying to do the right thing.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB

Other opinions on this:

Whiskybase (1990s)
Whiskybase (2011)
Whiskybase (2022)

Malt (1990s - 2020s comparison)

Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.