Tomatin 34 year old

Artful Dodger Tomatin 1990
Highland Single Malt Whisky / 34 Years Old / Hogshead / 53.3% abv / 50cl

Distilled in 1990, over 300 metres up in the hills south of Inverness, at what was once the biggest malt distillery in Scotland. Back then Tomatin was still running at a scale built for blenders, and most of what came off those stills vanished into somebody else’s bottle. This hogshead got lucky. Thirty-four years later it’s all custard, coconut and orchard fruit, with a lick of salt and a crisp, winey edge keeping it on its toes. Old enough to have earned a rest. Too lively to take one.

Conspirator’s Notes
Nose: Custard tarts warm from the bakery, toasted coconut and a creamy apple yoghurt note that’s far more delicious than it sounds. Underneath it all sits that unmistakable old oak cask smell, the kind you only get from a whisky that’s sat quietly in the dark for a third of a century.
Palate: Orchard fruit up front, juicy and generous. Then a slight salinity and a crisp white wine freshness that stops all that creaminess getting heavy. Thirty-four years old and still standing up straight.
Finish: Long. The apple just keeps going, then a sweet olive brine slips in right at the end and leaves you reaching for the bottle again.