Towiemore Classic Selection - The Lost Distillery
Towiemore Classic Selection, NAS, 43 %
Towiemore
We have a brand new whisky on our test bench today. This is the first release in a new series called Classic Selection, from The Lost Distillery Company. All the expressions in this series are bottled at 43 % ABV, and they are not chill-filtered. Furthermore they are all blended malts (what we used to call vatted malts), so a mix of single malts have been used.
All whiskies from The Lost Distillery Company aim to 'recreate' or 'imagine' what these long lost distilleries, which each whisky take its name from, would have produced had they still been around today. It's all a bit nerdy and wacky and, in my opinion, very cool. They also publish a lot of historical data on these old distilleries on their website. Please check it out, it is a great read.
Back to our whisky of the day then, the Towiemore Classic Selection. This is a Speyside whisky, and The Lost Distillery guys have neatly summarized the main facts about the distillery and whisky on the new label:
Towiemore_details
Nose (22/25): First off I get soft sherry notes, and something fresh and vegetal. There's also a hint of mustard seed. Time to dig in. After a while I pick up vegetable broth as well, and the mustard associations grow stronger. I had to raid the fridge for all our mustard, tried them all, and can conclude that this nose reminds me (slightly) of French's Honey Mustard. Later still the nose is getting a bit warmer, with more fruit of the dark and ripe kind, and it is a bit sweeter with less emphasis on the mustard notes. Fast forward another 30 minutes and I get almonds, vanilla and a deeper sweetness still. Quite a complex nose, I would say.
Taste (21/25): The immediate delivery is very powerful, it feels as if the ABV is higher than 43 %. Not that there is any alcohol burn or anything like that, it just feels very full. Oily, and fruity. Lots of spices up front; pepper, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg.
Finish (22/25): Dark chocolate, fatty nuts, and oranges - slightly bitter oranges - or is that a bit of orange zest? Imagine a very decadent and rich chocolate dessert with nuts, fruit and fruit juices. The finish is warm and medium to short in length.
Balance (21/25): As always with The Lost Distillery Company's whiskies, this feels like a single malt. It is well-balanced, and stands well on its own two legs. You are never drawn into guessing what single malts make up the mix here - there's no need to do that.
Score (86/100)
Sláinte!
- Thomas
