Whisky Emporium

Tormore

My thanks to Teun van Wel for permission to copy & use the distillery photos

Tormore distillery

Region: Speyside

Location: Grantown on Spey, Moray

Status: Operational (currently owned by Pernod Ricard)

General whisky characteristics: Smooth, warm and gentle

More great distillery info here, thanks to Malt Madness

Tormore, OB, 12y, 40% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Rich oak, almost amber

Nose: Straw, barn, farmyard, even down to the wellies in a corner of the barn. After a few minutes a faint suggestion of raspberry appears.

Palate: Creamy, leafy farmyard and barn.

Finish: Medium

Overall Impression: A real outdoor dram. Perhaps one for the hip flask on a Spring-time walk through the Yorkshire Dales.

Independent Bottlers

McKillop's Choice, Tormore, 1992, 43% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Nose: A floral, slightly salty beach

Palate: Not at all salty on the palate, just gentle fruit cake edging towards German Christmas Stollen with marzipan.

Finish: The finish is quite long, but even longer with a few drops of water added.

Overall Impression: I was hoping for a lot from this as I have enjoyed a couple of marvellous Tormores, but this was a more ordinary dram, not a great, but good.

Wemyss, Tormore Fresh Bourbon, 1988, 46%

Labelled as 'Lemon Butter Pastry'

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Spiegelau

Colour: Pale yellow

Nose: My initial thought was that lemon butter pastry was not far away. There are hints of lemon and something akin to pastry or bread dough. I would describe the nose as light, not overpowering, but promising quite a lot.

Palate: Fresh creamy (or buttery) lemon with the pastry or bread dough only appearing slightly on the aftertaste.

With 2 drops of water: The nose becomes slightly fresher, as does the palate. More or less gone is the pastry (bread dough) and an almost minty lemon freshness is much in evidence.

Overall Impression: I enjoyed this dram. It doesn't fit the taste profile which I would normally choose, but I have to say that this is a good Summer's evening or aperitif dram. I would also be interested to pair this with something interesting in one of my Gourmet evenings, but with what? With the presence of lemon, maybe a light (unsmoked) fish dish, or maybe an equally fresh dessert.
Anyway, Susan of Wemyss has stated above that these were all bottled in April 2009, so this one is 20/21 years old and at an RRP of €67, I don't think that's too bad as it does have character and is enjoyable.