The Story:
These days people start to realize the potential of Tobermory and Ledaig – especially the recent Berry Bros.&Rudd bottlings of young peaty Ledaig convinced the connoisseurs. Today I want to try a Tobermory recommended by Manfred Kröger. It was finished in a Chateau Latour cask, a first growth Bordeaux winery with worldwide fame. Bruichladdich / Murray McDavid believe in using famous wine producer’s casks: for maturation in fine wood and for good PR. However, no whisky critic can confirm a clear difference in the taste of 
whisky that has been racked in either excellent or average producers of wine so far, but it undoubtedly is a nice idea for a wine lover and adds an extra-value to the drinking experience. Let’s now taste this Mull Single Malt with its affinity for expensive Bordeaux.
Tasting Note:
Nose: Farmyardy, fresh and spicily exotic at first, a malty and grainy overture, some peat, red grapes, green bell peppers (a typical note of Cabernet wine), charcoaled bonfire wood and resin, forest freshness, interesting spice-combo (nutmeg, spice cake, mustard seed, black and white pepper), dried flowers, leather balsamico and wonderful latte macchiato coffee aroma with a piece of milk chocolate on the side. It gets more raisiny and wine-oriented with time, also late vanilla, and more milk coffee. Quite complex and unusual. A development worth waiting for, very interesting.
Palate: Spices and sweetness battle in the creamy and viscose liquid – Liquid wet dog (J) in the very beginning, then malt, grain, farm yard, Kahlua, grapes and lots of raisins. This might be modern and tweaked but it is huge for its 46%.
Finish: The sweetness wins, but the spices still echo from afar – chocolate, sweet red wine, malt, coffee, leather, pepper, chili and some peat. The farmyard notes seem to be gone.
Score: 88/89 (after a day it improved to 89 and became more integrated)
Comment: This is a digestif (maybe even after a coffee break) because of its sweetness and viscosity. It reflects its place of origin and therefore, it is an interesting and justified Single Malt. If you like your whisky big, raisiny and liqueur-like, this is made for you. At 39.90 € this is quite a bargain. However, our friend Manfred Kröger from www.whizita.
de sent me this dram to review and takes off another 5% on every new customer’s order if you mention www.slowdrink.de – sounds good to me.