The third bottling from this year’s Limited Editions is also the oldest one. This wee baby was ‘only’ finished in Oloroso casks for three years after spending almost two decades in bourbon casks.

The story from Scott Adamson was that they bottled it now, because after tasting a cask sample they were worried that the sherry cask would start overpowering the whisky all together.

I don’t mind a big sherry hit in a whisky, but it’s not every day that a sherry finish of three years is on the brink of overpowering such a well aged whisky. As with the rum cask description I was immediately intrigued by this whisky and really wanted to try a sample.

I’ll tell you it didn’t last long!

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
On the nose I get a big sherry sweetness of raisins, dates and plums. Mostly fresh fruit in the beginning, but more dried fruit notes after a while. The oak isn’t overly noticeable, but there is a hint of graphite. Not too much though.

Sip:
The palate is a bit more spicy than the nose is. Slightly peppery and sweet. The fruit and oak come hit a bit later. Quite juicy but with raisins and other dried fruits. Some dates too.

Swallow:
The finish is fruity and spicy again. Lots of sherry, and indeed on the brink of overpowering the gentle spirit. A lot more oak here.

This one is gorgeous. I think they were right in saving this from another couple of  years in sherry in which it would have become oversherried. Now it’s a lovely combination of gentle whisky with some spicy notes, and the sherry adds a lot of fruitiness.

As it happens, this one ticks all my boxes. I love fruity sherry, but not in a way that it’s the only thing you can taste and that is what is happening here exactly. Very well done, and not unexpectedly, this one was the first to go.

89/100

Tomatin 21yo, 16/06/1995 – 01/08/2016, 21yo, Oloroso Sherry Finish, 46%. Available for 130 euros at Dramtime.