Secret Spirits Advent Calendar Day 6 – December 6th

1995 Tormore 18 y.o. (Samaroli)

Cask #20260/20262 American Oak

45% abv

Score:  91/100

A whisky from the Secret Spirits Advent Calendar First Edition. 

I know nothing about Tormore.  Literally.  Never tried one.  Never really read much about the distillery either.  So let’s not get bothered about the distillery history or anything here.  That’s not really the point in what I’m doing with these Secret Spirits Advent Calendar reviews.  Suffice it to say I’m tickled pink to be able to add a new distillery to my list.

This ’95 Tormore is another knockout release from Samaroli.  It’s an 18 year old malt composed of two (nearly consecutive) former bourbon barrels.  Quite active barrels, I’d suggest.  There’s a lot of spice and synthetic sweetness coming through on this whisky.   I must admit that this style is generally not particularly to my taste, but this malt is really, really working for me.

I would have loved to have seen this bottled at natural cask strength, but 45% is still a healthy abv, and strong enough to deliver flavours as they were meant to be experienced.

As only 30 bottles of this whisky are hitting the local market, I can only assume that a few hundred bottles will be released in the wider whisky world.  For those with access…this is a malt well worth investing in.

Nose:  Oh, hell, yeah!  At first nosing I’d even guess this to be OLDER than 18 years.  Great soft fruits like green grapes, peach, pink grapefruit and syrupy cocktail.  Cherry and cinnamon.  Chewy ju-jube sort of candy notes.  Body Shop satsuma glycerine soap.  Very, very sweet nose.

Palate:  Sweet and spicy arrival.  Mouthwatering fruits up front, then some wine-like woody notes.  That very same satsuma fruity note.  More on the juicy sweet pink grapefruit.  Dried into pith and oaky notes.  Lovely throughout.

Thoughts:  Tangy, tangy, tangy.  A lot of bourbon influence.  Becomes more and more bourbon-esque over time.  Exceptional cask selection.  Man, what a way to pop my ‘Tormore’ cherry.  Must…find…more.

Bonus:  My mate, Jonathan, and I are gonna blog on these drams side by side through the season.  Here’s a link to his notes on the same whisky at SingleMalting.com.

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt