Cadeanhead’s Small Batch series seems to be a hit. They keep a nice balance of younger and older whiskies from a wide array of ditilleries. Some releases rapidly made a name for themselves.
Here’s a new Tomatin 1978 bottled for their Belgian importer The Nectar. We already saw a similar (general) release last year.
Tomatin 35 yo 1978 (46,5%, Cadenhead Small Batch for The Nectar 2014, hogshead, 216 btl.)
Nose: fruity. Hey, what did you expect? A slightly ‘greener’ fruitiness than most 1976’s though. A little more bubblegummy too, but really nice nonetheless. Oranges, stewed rhubarb and banana. Hints of yoghurt and quite some spearmint. A light, grassy oakiness. Aniseed. Oh wait, after some time it becomes even more aromatic, with some classic tangerines and pink grapefruit. Really good.
Mouth: even more fruity. Bananas, tangerines, orange candy, pineapple. Hints of mango and strawberry candy. Rather sweet from the start, which makes this a great lemonade. Some candy sugar before it fades to pepper and cinnamon. An echo of the grassy notes as well, but no loud oak, nor any excessive dryness.
Finish: long, slightly drying now but still pleasantly fruity and sweet.
Now that the legendary 1976’s are gone (?), this is probably the closest we can get to their profile. Slightly more bourbonny but overall a very similar, sweet fruit bomb character. Around € 270.
Score: 91/100