Tobermory Distillery, Scotland     founded: 1798 | active
For more detailed mapping of the distilleries in the area from our whisky map page, use this link.

OK, let's start in a school science lab and you've been given a project to create one ENORMOUS raisin (it's really big!) from only prunes, raw shortbread dough, furniture polish and some fireworks. Tricky huh? Well, fear not! In comes Mr Fisher the science teacher, with some burnt electrons and ozone. His expectant look quickly fades as he realises you've absolutely no idea how to use these items to facilitate giant raisin production DESPITE ALL HE TAUGHT YOU. In some kind of mad banana-fuelled rage, he storms out the room, picks up his damp laundry and coffee cake and runs off into the chorizo horizon. The next day, you leave a piece of meat, a cherry pie and a bar of chocolate on his desk by way of apology for your stupidity and he immediately changes tone – "this whole experience was really excellent!".

It's unclear if this is a specific gradation of woodiness or just a descriptive taste, but there's something really enjoyable about a whisky that tastes of 'a plank of wood'. In fact it's not just woody, but Woody Harrelson. And it doesn't just taste of porcupine, but pork-u-pine. Do you want to heat things up to varying degrees? Yes? Well, that's handy: burnt rubber ("super rubbery!"), burnt sugar, toasted almonds and very, very toasted marshmallows (blackened). There's Schezuan pepper, kipper (a bit smoked) and something a bit peppery going on too – with that slight spiciness offset with the decreasing-in-sweetness / rising in fruitiness trio of golden syrup, Ribena and calvados. (And anyone who complains that Ribena is actually fruitier than calvados and this review has a clear inaccuracy in it would be fully vindicated).

Well this was quite different for us, quite rocky short. Pretty surprising considering the madness richness on the nose and palate. Dry with crème brûlée and burnt sugar, gardening with marigolds – both the glove and the garden version, with the smell and taste of damp leaves. He's just rascal, he's just a rascal, he's just a rascal… Fizzy Rascal.

~£66 (70cl)

WhiskyBase: Tobermory 1994 CA   |   https://www.whiskybase.com/whisky/70401/tober

We've always scored out of 10 in our group (see number in red box, below), with scores regularly given across that spectrum. The value out of 100 below is adjusted to the scale most commonly used for whisky reviews, to allow for better comparison.

83 / 100