12 Barrels is a ‘bottler’ from The Netherlands. Apart from the fact that they’ve bottled some casks, they’re more like a club of friends who happen to own a couple of casks than anything else. Anyway, last year they released two of their casks, a Bruichladdich and a Tomatin. I bottle-shared one of the bottles I bought from each, and here’s the review of one.

The cask was a sherry hogshead, and that’s noticeable in the color and in tasting the whisky. Even though it’s a young one, there’s a lot happening, so dive right in!

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Big, fat sherry, but not too much of one thing. Lots of dried fruit, but also some spices, oak and a bit of distillery character. Rather light, a bit sweet and fruity. On top of that, there’s the sherry, which brings heavier fruit.

Sip:
Dry and strong. Lots of sherry and wood. The distillery brings apples, grass and straw. The cask brings plums and dates. Then there’s the spicy wood with cinnamon and nutmeg and clove.

Swallow:
The finish is a little fiery with charcoal and flint. Big and fruity, with mountains of dried fruit.

87/100

A bit too simple for more points, but nonetheless a great little whisky for only 7 years old! A lot is happening and it’s fun to taste the layers in the whisky, the distillate and the cask. It’s more or less still layered and not matured long enough to be merged into one line of flavor. In this case, I think that’s a good thing. Cracking stuff! Especially at € 55 a pop!

Tomatin 2011-2018, 7yo, Sherry Hogshead 1674, 59.6%, 12 Barrels