Daily Dram #1. Tobermory 10 y/o. He Says...

Daily Dram #1.   Tobermory 10 y/o. 46.3%abv. Non-Chillfiltered.

From the moment Johanne and I pulled the cork on this whisky I knew this and the fraternal twin that accompanied it, the Ledaig 10, were my home in a bottle. I don’t mean home in the sense that they are my go-to drams or my everyday drinking whiskies, au-contraire. What I mean to say is that so many of the smells of my past are wrapped up in these drams that I feel grounded every time I pour a drop of either. For now, the Tobermory 10 for me the immediate hit on the nose is brine, the salty seashore. The daily fog that rolls in and envelops the entire uptown area that I call home. The cool breeze off the same bay where as a boy I would spend weeks with my aunt and uncle at their summer cottage in a small fishing village. From the brine I immediately move to tropical fruits like pineapple and pear. Johanne and I stayed at Bed and Breakfast once and they served honeydew melon and cantaloupe drizzled with ginger and limejuice, this brings me right back to that great weekend. I also spent a good deal of my teenaged years permanently attached to a lawnmower from May to October and there is a fair deal of fresh cut grass in this bottle as well…thank goodness Ian MacMillan held back on the gasoline.

One sip and I am awash with the heat of spicy ginger followed up with the mouthwatering charm of citrus. Sweet but not buttery sugar sweet; rather the small ginger snap cookies that were always sent in a care package from my high-school roommate’s mother. She used too much of both the powdered and candied ginger pieces and they were addictive. Sweet, nose-clearing and coveted. This dram has that fresh clean lip smacking sweetness.

No mystery that I really enjoy this whisky for the great memories that it brings but also for its uniqueness. Tobermory distillery is the only distillery on the Isle of Mull and they produce whiskies that are of strong identity and character (which I find typical of island whiskies in general, much like island people, strong characters). This is not a well known whisky is my little part of the world but it is available on our local liquor store shelves, although at about $89 a bottle I feel it may be a tad over priced, but that could be because we bought ours elsewhere for $65. From what I’ve read, Tobermory used to be a bit of a joke in the whisky world; this dram is nothing to laugh at but it certainly makes me smile.