Tomintoul - With a Peaty Tang - Tasting Notes

Nose
Lemons, pear juice, smoke infused with some mint, heather, sweet floral honey notes, vanilla and some toffee.

There is a dry underlying note of dried out heather bushes with tall sharp grasses and some peat bogs.
Bit coastal feel, but through the floral and fruity note also in it, you could think you were also in the mid of the inner lands and not on an island with rough coast line.

Palate
Bit dry heather and peaty with vanilla with some white grapes and red apple skin. Thyme and walnuts.

Sweet notes of heather honey and toffee with some dried apricots and a hint of citrus freshness.

Dark chocolate and a little bit of mint with some earthy, mossy and a little bit of salt in it.

Finish
Medium length finish, bit lime bitter and some dark chocolate. Bit creamy vanilla and some dry nutty note.

Score
It is fresh and peaty, but I find it a bit dry and the nutty almost earthy feel, a bit too overpowering giving it a dry mouth feel. The sweeter and fresher tones that are lying underneath are in my opinion a bit hidden by that all. For this money this is a good dram, and enjoyable. The combination of the bitter lime, white grapes and nuts does not make me wild so to say about it.

Tried this also with some water to see if it would release some more of the flavours hidden underneath that layer. It does on the nose a bit, becomes a bit less harsh. The palate is still dry, but bit more creamy and vanilla with fruit notes. It might be me with also the thing with nuts I found in the others from Tomintoul I tasted. Thomas liked this one very much, but for me this is a 6.5 out of 10.