The Service has been prepared by us solely for information purposes to Members and the Service is based on information we consider reliable and we obtain the contents of the Service from a number of different third party sources (including Contributions), but we do not endorse, support, represent, warrant or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of the Services and any information therein. That ethos has carried over into 2022, which brings the 125 th anniversary of the foundation of the distillery. To mark the passing of this milestone year the distillery of this milestone year the distillery commissioned Emily Hogarth an Edinburgh based illustrator and papercut artist to produce an artwork (more details here) which was then used to decorate the Tomatin 12 year old boxes. This approach flies in the face of the elitist campaigns of other big brands, where the special releases are so exclusive as to be unobtainable for the whisky drinkers who keep the brand turning over year on year. Macallan and Peter Blake spring to mind, but no doubt readers can add to that list. The Isle of Skye 12 blows the doors off Legacy. Hands down. I'm going to save the rest of my Skye and use up this bottle of Legacy for the same purpose. It will be gone in about three or four more months of after dinner drinks with "whisky heathen" friends who can't learn the fine art of sipping a scotch and appreciating it. C'est la vie.

In the mouth: Malty, oaky, very bourbon forward, actually my maximum amount of bourbon cask, then sherry sweetness arrives, bringing butter popcorn, fudgy traybake, charred sugar, toasted marshmallows, darker fruits like raisings and then baking spices and feeling a little raw. Conclusions:On the nose: Baked apples, caramel, fruity toffee, bread and butter pudding, vanilla sponge, a bit more juicy fruit developing, biscuity shortcake, fudge donuts, marginally more spirity and certainly spicier than the old 12 year old. I have also tasted a number of dreadful independent bottlings, often overlong in finishing casks, where the Tomatin spirit has been bludgeoned to death. However, indie bottlings in bourbon are often great; their only challenge is meeting the price point delivered by the brand. Tomatin can be good at 40% ABV, better at 43%, and absolutely sings at 46%; I don’t believe it needs a cask strength presentation. All of this plays into Tomatin being one of the few distilleries where the official bottlings are my preference over independent releases.

Kilchoman was the only other Islay distillery to take a Gold Outstanding medal. It won for its Machir Bay Scotch Whisky. The whisky is matured in both ex-Bourbon and Sherry casks. Great Drams, a specialty bottler, took a Gold Outstanding medal for its Islay Distillery Single Cask Single Malt Whisky. On Sunday morning I paid the atrocious price of a heavy-head for that high-spirited whisky drinking on top of a lively lunch. Fortunately, I had returned with a reasonable sample remaining in the bottle to allow for this review.

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