The last review was on a Balblair from G&M’s new discovery series which has just been released. The second green bottle in the new series is this 13 year old from Tormore. The last whisky was soft and gentle with bags of sweet fruity notes. Will the Tormore be more of the same or something a little different?

The Distillery

Tormore distillery is known as the “Pearl of Speyside” this powerhouse distillery is not open to the public and is mostly used for blending by owners Chivas.

Located in the village of Tormore the distillery has its own website which shows two official expressions which were released in 2014. The 14 and 16 year old whiskies were high ABV bottles and seemed to be well received. While the website is still live it doesn’t look to have been updated and bottled are marked as discontinued on online retailers websites.

Using 11 steel washbacks and 8 copper stills Tormore produces up to 5 million litres of alcohol each year. This spirit is used as top dressing in blends like Ballantines or sold to independent companies like Gordon & Macphail.

The Dram

With a modern green packaging and simple information on the bottle this look exactly like the Balblair in the previous review. It is also bottled at 43% ABV and available for the same RRP of £49.95 in the UK. When I searched a few retailers this morning it seems like it is not currently available for sale anywhere. Perhaps this is to avoid cannibalising sales of the Balblair which is available but lets see how the taste compares.

Tasting Notes

Colour – white wine which is the same as the Balblair

Nose – Darker notes of nutmeg and cloves which develops into Starburst fruit sweets. Definitely different to the previous one here.

Palate – The nose and palate align with those savoury notes and spiced flavours which are all on the bitter side.

Finish – Drying finish with some apple pies for a tart sweetness and pastries for a grainy malty note at the end.

Final Thoughts

Like the Balblair 12 Year Old – Discovery (Gordon & MacPhail) this is another spirit led whisky which has lots of distillery spirit character in it. It is an interesting one purely because there is few official bottles and independent releases generally are something of a lottery. If your palate follows someone like Serge at WhiskyFun then this will probably tick your boxes.