Tobermory 30 (1994) Alambic Classique Rare & Old (blind)

Review by: Raygun

A group of us put together a little homemade Advent calendar. Been a while since Christmas, but life happens. It only took until September to post the last one, #24 in the series. 

Alambic Classique is a small German independent bottler. It initially started out as an importer and moved into bottling spirits in 2005. I’ve never seen a bottle in person myself, and I don’t imagine they get out of Europe much, maybe not even Germany. This would have been from not long after Tobermory was purchased and reopened by Burn Stewart in 1993. Interestingly, I learned some of the buildings had been used for cheese storage until then. Maybe where Tobermory gets some of its funk. Initially sampled blind, with additions after the reveal (months later in this instance) in italics. Reviewed from a sample. Rested about 15 minutes. 

Distillery: Tobermory  

Bottler: Alambic Classique

Region/style: Islands single malt Scotch  

ABV: 62.9%. Cask strength.  

Age: 30 years 

Cask type: Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes barrel

Color: 1.5 mahogany. Natural color and non-chill-filtered.

Nose: Deep, and smells like a sherry cask. Figs, molasses, ginger, and sweet bean sauce. Bit of  Chinese medicine smell. Some earthy funk. Seriously earthy, which for Tobermory makes sense. Notice some orange now.      

Palate: Whoa, that’s intense. Yes, very sherried, much more than I thought from the nose. ABV is pretty high, too. On the sweet side, with gingerbread, figs, prunes, and sweet bean sauce. Some definitely salinity; maybe a touch of peat? Matchstick sulfur. Chewy. Normally I get tropical fruit from Sauternes casks, but not finding that here. There is some citrus now. Still earthy and a little salty.

Finish: Intense on the finish, too. Breakfast tea, prunes, figs, and a touch of ginger bite. That bit of salinity. Brown sugar syrup. Sort of a char flavor. Got some heat here. Pineapple cakes, more brown sugar. Sulfur turns up more.

Conclusion: This one got me good. Read sherry at first and couldn’t get off of that. I haven’t had too many unpeated Sauternes casks, but this wasn’t as tropical as I’d have expected. Sure was intense, with a nice funky side. In fact, I thought it might be Springbank, but Tobermory was not a surprise. I’ve had similar dirty and earthy Tobermory before. A little more sulfur than I’d have liked, but still very good.

Score: 88

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)

Published by Raygun

Unknown's avatar

I drank Scotch occasionally (mostly at family gatherings) for years, but started getting more interested after an introduction and tasting from a Scottish acquaintance. That led to buying my first bottle (Highland Park 12). Now 600+ spirits later, Scotch is still my first love, but I drink other whisky and dabble in brandy as well.

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