Tobermory 10y with Dan, Goran, Ryan, Davey & Matt

At long last, another Island scotch.

Tobermory is a town and distillery on the Isle of Mull, home to 3000 good people, and a straight up pirate wreck. Defeated Spanish Armada types allegedly stopped by for supplies on their way to Out Of Here, yada yada yada, boat sank. Legend says there’s gold in Tobermory Bay.

The name in Gaelic is Tobar Mhoire, which means Holy Well or St Mary’s Well or Well of the Virgin Mary or Incheril, although Incheril also appears to be a neighborhood in Kinlochewe, which is on the mainland, and since Mull is the second largest Inner Hebridean island after Skye (home of Talisker), that’s probably not right. Or maybe they have a virgin well there too.

I wonder how you check to see if someone’s tapped a virgin well before you do. There’s probably a couple websites about that.

Tobermory is also the name of a song by Capercaillie:

Much like many Island scotches, Tobermory 10y is unchillfiltered and bottled at a higher proof. Arguably this should mean less interference between you and the “true flavour” of the scotch, although we’ve found that watering down high proof whiskies almost invariably improves them. But this scotch is not what we expected:

colour
Dan – apple juice
Simon – bright yellow
Goran – hah, very light apple juice
Ryan – irish whiskey
Davey – granny smith apple juice
Matt – n/a

smell
Dan – pear, soft fruits, cardhu-y, vegetation
Simon – savoury, bitter, ginger, pear drops
Goran – salt water, soft fruit, mossy, candied fruit
Ryan – gala apple, peat
Davey – pear
Matt – apple, honey

neat
Dan – veggies, pear, salt water
Simon – honey, sweet tang on tongue, high proof, pops but creamy
Goran – vanillaish, irish whiskey, sharp burn, milky aftertaste
Ryan – soggy wood
Davey – caramel but unsweetened
Matt – honey, flowers

finish
Dan – subtle smoke
Simon – tangy
Goran – sharp, spicy & peppery, white chocolate
Ryan – settles into smoke
Davey – subtle
Matt – nice, pleasant, sweet

splash
Dan – sulphur/salt gone, pleasant spicy pear
Simon – quite drinkable, spice, mild wood
Goran – better, splash gets rid of burn
Ryan – fantastic with splash, great
Davey – n/a
Matt – sugar, floral

Tobermory 10y Single Malt – 46.3% 750ml – $63.95 – Islands

Try it? Yes! Buy it? Yes!