Facts

Tomatin 2004 (The Whisky Cask)

Nose

Freshly chopped walnuts and fruits. At first oranges, but as time passes by, the fruits get darker. There is some oiliness, which I can’t really describe – maybe lube oil? Hints of herbal smoke in the background.

Taste

Sweet sherry, followed by spicy wood. Then dark cherries, bitter chocolate and menthol appear. Gets dryer and bitterer towards the end.

Finish

Very long. Dry with a touch of smokey bitterness. Dark chocolate with nuts, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Overall

A very simple, straightforward single malt. Very drinkable even neat, despite the high strength.

Score: 82 / 100

You can find the other three here:

• Tomatin 2002 ‘Cuatro #1′ (Fino)
• Tomatin 2002 ‘Cuatro #2′ (Manzanilla)
• Tomatin 2002 ‘Cuatro #3′ (Oloroso)

Facts

Tomatin 2002 ‘Cuatro #4′ (Pedro Ximenez)

Nose

Pretty sweet overall, although it burns a bit in the nose. Blood oranges, vanilla fudge and sweet syrup. Accompanied by dried red berries and dried flowers. Then some gunpowder comes to light.

Taste

Oily and sweet. Dark fruits followed by candied oranges. Its getting spicier now with white pepper, spicy licorice and ginger although the increasing spiciness is nicely balanced by chocolate coated berries.

Finish

Long. Sweet spiciness, rounded off by hints of bitter oak and dry sherry.

Overall

Pretty similar to the Oloroso Finish expression from this series, albeit with small differences. Again, solid but not earthshaking.

Score: 82 / 100

Epilogue

An interesting concept with potential, yet I am not sold on the execution which I find rather bland. Don’t get me wrong, all four expressions are solid and enjoyable, but by the same token they are surprising similar to each other. I just expected more differences to be honest. Next time, in case there is a next time at all, I would like to see a longer finish period (maybe six years ?) or even a full maturation. However, hats off to Tomatin for trying something new. 

Facts

Tomatin 2002 ‘Cuatro #3′ (Oloroso)

Nose

A heavy sweetness right up front. Honey glazed nuts, dark fruits and hints of nutmeg and clove.

Taste

Oily and bittersweet. Spiced orange cake. Chocolate dipped dark fruits. Served with a double espresso. Spicy pipe tobacco. Gets sweeter and sweeter.

Finish

Long. Lots of dry oak with sweetish tobacco and some walnuts.

Overall

Pretty straightforward. Does not disappoint but does not surprise either.

Score: 83 / 100

Facts

Tomatin 2002 ‘Cuatro #2′ (Manzanilla)

Nose

It is like entering one of those old fashioned candy stores – lots and lots of marshmallows, vanilla fudge and candy floss. Seems like it’s been awhile since the shop has been cleaned the last time because the aroma has some dusty, unfresh appearance to it. Oh, there are also some plastic bags lying on the ground of the store. So time to get out of here. Once outside, we are greeted by the pleasant aroma of bitter orange marmalade accompanied by apples, pears and white grapes. There also seems to be a farm nearby because the smell of hay is in the air.

Taste

Tingling with a dry sweetness. Candied oranges and pink grapefruits. A sip of limonchello. Followed by a short intermezzo of spicy oak. Then the grapefruits take over again.

Finish

Medium with dry earth, bitter grapefruit and lemon pepper.

Overall

Smooth and enjoyable but I couldn’t detect too much influence of the sherry here. Nice sip but ultimately a bit uninspiring.

Score: 82 / 100

The idea behind this series sounds pretty interesting: Take a batch of whisky distilled on the same day (January 15th 2002), mature it for nine years in ex-bourbon casks and then finish each quarter in a different type of first-fill sherry cask – Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso and Pedro Ximinez – for another three years. It will be very interesting to find out how big, or small, each sherry type impacted the very same base whisky.

By the way, if you were already wondering what ‘Cuatro’ means: It is the simple the Spanish word for “four”. Not the most creative naming by any means but I have seen worse before.

As of this writing, the series is still relatively widely available despite the fact that only 1,500 bottles from each expression were released.

Facts

Tomatin 2002 ‘Cuatro #1′ (Fino)

Nose

Starts with a lot of brown butter. Moves on with walnut apple pie and orange zest. Hints of wine soap in the background.

Taste

A rather interesting mix of whisky and sherry, not really one or the other, just a bit of both. A huge load of sour apples. Followed by sweet oranges, spicy gingerbread and roasted nuts. Overall pretty close to a white wine somehow.

Finish

Rather long and dry with walnuts and oranges before the white wine comes back again.

Overall

I am not quite sure what that was. Unusual but not unpleasant I would say.

Score: 83 / 100