The Isle of Mull isn’t far from Islay and is home to the Tobermory distillery in the town of Tobermory. Currently under going 2 years of upgrades and not producing any alcohol at the moment this relatively hard to find whisky is a secret characterful whisky for those in the know.

The Distillery

The distillery was built in 1798 on the Isle of Mull by a Mr John Sinclair which is only 10 years younger than the village of Tobermory. Like all distilleries of that age (pretty much) it has had a chequred history of boom and bust. Currently under the ownership of Distell Group alongside Bunnahabhain and Deanston in Scotland. They are a South African outfit with a wealth of experience in the brewing and distilling industry and have been investing heavily of late.

The distillery is getting a major refit as we have already mentioned but Bunnahabhain is also getting an upgrade and investment in its cottages and visitor centre revenue streams. It should be noted though that the distillery think they have enough stock at the moment that ongoing stocks on the shelves will not be impacted by the shutdown in the future although you have to imagine a 2 year whole in stocks will create someone a headache in the next 6 to 8 years.

The Dram

The Tobermory 10 is made with unpeated barley and aged for at least 10 years. The presentation is in the craft style as is the group  wide policy at the moment. It has been matured for its entire life in ex-bourbon barrels and is available for just under £50 which is quite a lot. This definitely used to be much cheaper at around £35 previously.

Tasting Notes

Colour – Lemon Juice

Nose – sweet, very very sweet with some lovely cooking apples and pears giving a tart edge. More acidic bite from lemon rinds.

Palate – Touch of sweet honey and caramel source. The texture is lovely and full like sticky caramel again.

Finish – a touch of charring, a twist of pepper and a generally sour cask  note.

Final Thoughts

This is a lovely and well constructed dram with bags of interest and character. The problem is purely the price which is more about limited stocks (knew it) than the real value of the product. If you can find it around £40 get it. If not there is far more exotic and interesting stuff out there for the money.