Tomatin, Glen Moray, Bonnington (Fruitful Spirits)

Fruitful Spirits is a young company involved in cask management / investments while also starting a line of independent bottlings.

Their first release was a 14 year old Glen Moray 2007, followed by an old North British grain and a middle-aged Glentauchers, among others. Today we’ll try an old Tomatin 1991, finished for two years in a second fill Pedro Ximénez cask, and the first cask ever from Bonnington distillery.

 

 

Tomatin 32 yo 1991 (45,3%, Fruitful Spirits 2023, bourbon cask + PX finish #14188, 91 btl.)

Nose: starts on a sour note, think gooseberries, green apples and plums, later also peaches and pink grapefruit. Then there’s a floral woody note, akin to potpourri and jasmine. Summer meadows. Old cupboards and drops of linseed oil tone it down a little. Eucalyptus and mint leaves. It folds open nicely over time, but it never shows the glory of its high age either.

Mouth: funny. There’s a nice fruitiness, more gooseberries, kiwis, melons and hints of passion fruits. Very high-pitched. Then a hoppy side appears, more potpourri and hints of straw. Sour fruit ale? Also leather, a mossy note and apple peelings. Very subtle herbs. Never woody as such, but always fragile and hesitating.

Finish: a little short, but still quite elegant and thin. Hints of fruit tea.

I’m not sure what to make of this Tomatin. It feels like an offbeat cask that was brought back to life by the PX finish. On the other hand I’m not getting any thick PX either, so that’s certainly not the whole story. Parts of this are great and even remind me of a few 50+ year old whiskies I could try, but overall it’s not the brilliant Tomatin I expected. Available from the Fruitful Spirits website or HTFW for instance.

 

 

Glen Moray 14 yo 2007 (55,6%, Fruitful Spirits 2023, bourbon barrel #6223, 192 btl.)

Nose: peaches, lemon candy, sour apples and greengages. Subtle hints of sponge cake with a chalky touch in the background. A bit of vanilla. Then also whiffs of paraffin, pine needles and floral women’s cream.

Mouth: nice sweet-and-sour fruits. Peaches and berries, gooseberries and drops of limoncello. Then also hints of butter biscuits and almonds. Still a chalky note and grapefruit after a while. In the end it shows some peppery wood and citrus zest.

Finish: mediium length, still zesty and spicy. Some green tea and young walnut in the end.

A nice every-day drinker and a classic springtime profile, similar to other 2007s I’ve had. Fruit acidity leading to lightly bitter, zesty notes. Not very complex but really fresh and highly drinkable – a good first release. Sold out, I believe. Score: 86/100

 

And now for something truly special: the first cask ever bottled from Bonnington distillery, the first distillery in Edinburgh for over 100 years. It is a heavily peated single malt, matured in heavily charred virgin oak. Everything dialed up to 11.

 

Bonnington single malt 3 yo 2020 (64,8%, Fruitful Spirits 2023, heavily peated, heavily charred virgin oak barrel #0779, 246 btl.)

Nose: good, full of warm wood smoke, with some burnt toast underneath. Hints of hay, mint, lightly burnt vanilla pastry. Roasted herbs and garden bonfire. Black peppercorns in the distance.

Mouth: dark and intense, with lots of charred and sooty notes. There’s a brief hint of plankish wood but the peat is big enough to overcome this. More crushed peppercorns with dry cereals, linseed oil, espresso and hints of coal tar soap.

Finish: not very long, mostly on wood spice and charred notes. Nutty notes too.

Basically still an infant, but really not bad as a first bottling. Very drinkable at full strength too. I’m curious to see how this evolves. The score is influenced by the (low) complexity but it’s actually a really interesting proposal. Score: 83/100