Nov 08
Tomintoul 1969 - The Whiskyman
Posted on 8th November 2012 by Stuart
It must surely be time for another oldie, and indeed time to feature another of Dominiek Bouckaert’s excellent Whisky Man bottlings. Tomintoul distillery certainly isn’t the most glamorous or oft-lauded name in the Whisky world, but like just about any distillery –well virtually- there are still gems to be found. It’s a relatively young plant, built in the mid-60s and now in the hands of Angus Dundee Distillers it is producing a range of affordable expressions, not to mention a beautifully packaged 76. The site also distils a peated make under the name Old Ballantruan which has recently been packaged as a rather attractive 10 year old and is worth checking out, if only for interests sake.
On to Independent examples such as this 1969 release then, and as with many distilleries where the focus has been largely placed upon producing stock for blending, the non-proprietary releases tend to provide punters with good value and perhaps the best opportunity to get a handle on what the distillery has to offer. There has been quite a number of late 60s Tomintoul casks bottled over the last few years, many of them of high quality, and given the reputation of Dominiek’s selections it can’t be easy to track down and recognise a cask that offers something new. Particularly while retaining the qualities that have given a number of these old Tomintoul’s favourable reviews in the past.
Apr 27
Clynelish 1997, The Whiskyman
Posted on 27th April 2012 by Stuart
After last week’s excellent 1989 Clynelish whisky from The Malts of Scotland it seemed like a good idea to try a new and younger example from Dominiek Bouckaert’s The Whiskyman classic label series. Dominiek also released a 1997 in his first batch of Whiskyman bottlings, and along with various releases from Berry Bros & Rudd, Archives and a number of others, it has been a well-represented vintage for some time.
This cask was split between this new label and the Dutch festival Whisky in Leiden and is a refill sherry hogshead, though it should be said that the colour suggests that any sherry influence will be minimal. I probably waxed lyrical about the joys of Clynelish enough in our post on the Clynelish 1989 Malts of Scotland, I doubt it will be the last, so let’s simply say that these younger examples after frequently worth keeping on your shelf.