One of my favorite drams of all time was a Tomintoul - an independent bottling (Exclusive Malts, RIP) that I sampled at a tasting in Washington DC. That Tomintoul, a 10 year, oozed honey and marshmallow for days, and was outrageously tasty.
The strange thing is that I rather dislike the official bottlings from Tomintoul - I find them bland and unexciting. So when I came across another independent bottling, this time a 7 year, from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), I jumped on it. Called "A Kraftwerk Orange" (huh?), it's spent those 7 years in a first-fill hogshead, and comes in at a VERY hot 64% ABV. As always with SMWS, no coloring, no filtering at all.
Nose: What a strange, curious nose! Clay... putty... rich honey... cream... coffee... burnt sugar.
Mouthfeel: Medium/viscous.
Palate: Honey is overtaken by a series of herbal and savory flavors, like toasted pumpkin seeds, herbal broth, and nice wood notes, before an afterecho of vanilla returns.
Finish: Surprisingly long, wood notes (including a nice faint smoke that sticks to the tongue) and honey together, likely due to the high alcohol percentage.
Verdict: This is a curious spirit - it has a nearly 50/50 mix of sweet and savory flavors going on, and although the rich honey flavor reminds me of Tomintoul generally, none of the rest of the flavors are expected... in fact, I would say that I was surprised by this dram from start to finish. Very interesting!! And in a world of boring bottles - and there are many - this is a welcome excursion.
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