Review by: Raygun

Royal Mile Whiskies is a well-known shop in Edinburgh, located appropriately enough on the Royal Mile. They’ve done occasional bottles under their own label for a while now, but seem to have stepped up the number of those starting in 2023. Tobermory is located on the Isle of Mull, and produces both peated (Ledaig) and unpeated (Tobermory) whisky. I’ve actually had far more Ledaig than Tobermory, and it’s one of my favorites for peat. Rested for 15 minutes.

---

Distillery: Tobermory

Bottler: Royal Mile Whiskies

Region/style: Islands single malt Scotch

ABV: 50.8%

Age: 28 years. Distilled on July 22, 1994, bottled in May 2023. 

Cask type: Sherry cask #381018, 551 bottles. Sounds like a butt.

Color: 1.3 russet. Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. I suspect a refill cask given the age.

---

Nose: There’s some earthy Tobermory funk. And by “some,” I mean “a lot.” Cola, chocolate-covered cherries, tomato paste, and mushrooms. Oddly, some grape soda, too. Matchstick sulfur and barnyard. 

Palate: Not a conventional sherry bomb at all. Tends to the earthy, savory, and meaty. The Tobermory I’ve had before hasn’t been noticeably funky, but this is pretty much exactly what I’d expect Ledaig minus the peat to be. Hints of raisins and dates, and a bit of the cherry but it’s dried now. Plus meat broth, cola, chocolate, and mushrooms. Seriously tannic.     

Finish: The earthy theme continues. Tomato paste, cola, beef broth, and chocolate, joined by raisins. Really does taste like flat cola in a barnyard. Lots of oak. Maybe not a refill cask after all. Certainly would account for the tannins. Not too savory here, but the umami is strong for sure. 

---

Conclusion: Gets points for interesting. Requires a lot of tolerance for dirty, earthy flavors. Not dirty in the way sulfur can be, though I did get touches of that. More like distillate sulfur than cask sulfur. Barnyard, mushroom, and earth flavors are strong. I could imagine this turning some drinkers off, though the WB overall score is high. Me, I enjoyed it. 

Buy again? Great value for the age, but I’m OK with one.

Score: 82

---

Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
• 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)