To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Tomintoul created Five Decades - a special release composed of whisky from 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995 and (yep, you guessed it!) 2005.
Tomintoul Five Decades - NAS - 50%abv
Nose: instant hit of peardrops; vanilla; cream; pineapple cubes; unripe bananas; damp cardboard initially in the background, becoming more prominent after a short while.Palate: a thinner texture than I was expecting - creamy rather than syrupy; malty; oak spice; hazelnuts; honey; slightly bitter towards the finish.
With a few drops of water, the fruitiness on the nose mellows but the cream is enhanced reminding me a bit of ice cream soda. On the palate, the water brings out the oak spice more and the whisky becomes quite peppery after a while. I think I preferred it without water.
This a great, well crafted whisky. Thanks to Tomintoul for the sample. With a bottle from Master of Malt retailing for £250, now that I'm un/self*employed, this will probably have been my only chance to taste it.
*it's a fine line
