Tomintoul Seiridh (40%)

Speyside distillery Tomintoul has for years billed its malt as ‘The Gentle Dram,’ and sure enough, there is the phrase in small, golden font on the label of the Seiridh (pronounced, in a fairly obvious nod to what’s behind the whisky in the bottle, ‘sheh-ree’). But as Dave Broom so accurately observes in his World Atlas of Whisky, while ‘the gentle dram’ would seem to suggest blandness, this is to do a disservice to Tomintoul’s single malts.

This is a malt-forward distillery, but neither one that packs so much malt character in its whiskies that it borders on confectionary, nor one with a flinty, dry maltiness. Instead, it sits quite comfortably somewhere in the middle, with cereal grain balancing fruity malt.

This expression, as suggested by the name, emphasizes whiskies aged in Oloroso sherry barrels, some fully matured in the wood, others simply finished in sherry oak after an initial maturation in bourbon casks. There is no age statement, but given the age range of the rest of the distillery’s core line-up, and the roundness of this dram, I’d guess 10 to 13 or 14 years on average would be a safe bet.

A robust gold in colour, the nose of this malt emphasises its ‘gentleness,’ but not at the expense of interest, with light floral notes (lily?) buoyed by the raisin and spice of the sherry butts, light caramel, and hints of walnut and pecan. On the palate, it is sweet with caramel and toasted raisin bread in front, slightly drier and a bit spicy with Christmas cake and digestive biscuit notes on the mid-palate, and introducing hints of Glosette Raisins towards the drying, lightly woody finish.

Overall, this is indeed gentle, but also packs a flavour profile rich and complex enough to impress any single malt aficionado, yet still sufficiently soft that it remains inviting to even a whisky novice. And with single malt prices rising the way they have been lately, it also offers very fine value for the money.

86 ($74 - $80)