Tormore is one of those distilleries that have no real fans. With official bottlings that were put out sporadically and not really marketed, despite there being a new 16 year old bottled at 48% and non chill filtered out on the market for over a year (the other OB is a 14 year old bottled at 43%) and the fact that there was a 12 year old out for over a decade, following a 1991 release by then owners Allied Distillers in their ‘Caledonian Malts’ that didn’t pick up any serious market share, so it was replaced by Scapa.
Pernod Ricard’s Tormore was built in 1958 (By Allied Distillers, later Allied Domecq), and looks very different than any other distillery, so it would easily be passed by on the nearby A95 highway. With four pairs of stills producing lightly peated spirit, it has a capacity of 4.4 million liters per year, nearly all of it goes into blends.
Photo Credit: panoramio.com
Besides the official bottlings, casks of Tormore make their way to independent bottlers, as did this cask which aged for 19 years in a hogshead (with a rather surprising amount of liquid left in it after 19 years – representing only a 15% loss to the angels, but with the low ABV this would indicate maturation in a cold and very humid environment with relatively little temperature fluctuation).
Whisky Live Tel Aviv 2015 Exclusives…
Tormore 19 Year Old – Whisky Live Tel Aviv 2015 Bottling, Hogshead 20315, Distilled 1995, Bottled 2015, 289 Bottles (49.1% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Pale gold with thick long forming legs.
Nose: There are some light sherry notes here, but I’m not sure if this it’s sherry or the hogshead influence. I found notes of peaches, malt, hay, freshly cut grass, dry spices, green apples, some sour notes. A drop of water brings out some cereal and crushed green leaves.
Palate: The peaches remain into the palate as well with notes of honey, somewhat fizzy spices, cinnamon and light pepper and some green fruity notes.
Linger: Spicy both in the mouth and in the throat, light sweetness on the tongue with a rather long spicy linger with a long note of cocoa powder.
Conclusion
This is a fabulous expression, changing and growing with time in the glass (and I’m sure in an open bottle as well). The sour and sweet play with each other nicely, and this will keep your interest for a while.
Tomer Goren did a great job choosing this cask, and really took Whisky Live Tel-Aviv to a new level. I’m positive that the 2016 show will be even better.
I didn’t buy one at the show, but contacted Tomer later to secure a bottle.
Really enjoyed it at the show!
Can’t wait for the bottles to make Aliya…