Bought – Whisky Galore, 25th November 2013
Ratings:
94.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
81/100 – Ralfy, of www.ralfy.com
Review: – Ralfy – Tomintoul 16yo – YouTube
For my single malt example from Tomintoul I was originally going to invest in a bottle of ‘With A Peaty Tang’ (which gets 94/100 in the Whisky Bible 2013) until I realised I’m not a great peat lover. I’d be happier to have a lump of peat burning on my fire than shoved into my dram! So I was delighted to find that the 16yo from this Speyside distillery was 94.5/100 in the bible AND easily obtainable as a half bottle.
I originally tried to buy this 16yo from Loch Fyne Whiskies but, after I’d ordered it, they contacted me and said it was out-of-stock. They offered me the 10yo instead but at 79/100 in the bible and only 50p cheaper than the 16yo I decided to find the older brother elsewhere.
As I was hunting down a video review of this 16yo, not only did I discover Ralfy’s version mentioned above but he also covers the 14yo Tomintoul. In this video he makes reference to his earlier review of the 16yo, which makes interesting viewing. You can see this video here.
Ralfy gives the 14yo a mark of 91/100, which is extremely high for him and 10 points more than he gives the 16yo. The whisky bible also scores the 14yo higher than the 16yo but only by 0.5 of a point. Reviews on Malt Maniacs have close marks but still in favour of the younger whisky with the 16yo getting 83/100 (from 2 reviewers) and the 14yo getting 84/100 (from 2 reviewers).
Ralfy has certainly got me curious about the 14yo, even if other reviewers think it’s only marginally better than the 16yo (not a whole 10 points like he does!). Unfortunately it’s not available in anything less than a 70cl bottle and at £40 (the 16yo is only £34 for 70cl) it seems rather expensive for what it is.
Whisky Den 