27/05/2022 Tobermory

Tobermory (40%, OB ceramic decanter, b.1980s): nose: delicate and dusty at first, the nose promises floury apples past their primes, not yet fallen into decay. It soon opens up to let ashes through, accentuating the dusty impression. There is a dash of caramel water ("melted sugar in water, before it turns into caramel" may be a more accurate phrase, but it is a mouthful), distant Turkish delights, and a drop of rosewater so tame it is easy to miss. Maybe shy bergamot hand cream (might that just be my hands?) or tiger balm. Citrus segments appear, both caramelised and crystallised, before it turns muddier, with dust and, well, muddy water. The second nose is bolder: the apples have now transmuted into apple-cider vinegar that is only part of a vinaigrette, which is to say it is blended with oil -- walnut oil. There is something almost mayonnaise-like in this nose that, combined with the above, cannot fail to remind me of a Waldorf salad. Much later on, we have a purple plastic bucket; certainly one that has been used to pick apples and walnuts. Mouth: easy-going, caramel-y, there is something honest about this, something close to earth -- and down to earth. It does not pretend to be more seductive than it really is by dressing up in a cloak of vanillin achieved by careful re-racking. No. This is rustic and comfortable with that fact. Woodworm-eaten dining chairs, dusty caramel, barley water. The second sip reveals a watery texture, punctuated by drops of oil, no more. In terms of taste, it is sugary apple compote served cold. Yes, the water makes way for light-brown sugar. Finish: some wood spices kick the tonsils, now, ginger peel and galangal shavings. Then, caramelised apple compote and caramel join forces with hazelnut or oat faux-milk. It is pretty close to chocolate milk, even if it does not reach that intensity. Perhaps it is milk tainted by chocolate cereals instead? Repeated sipping does not alter it much; perhaps it adds hazel wood shavings and ground walnuts, again, pointing at a Waldorf salad. The death has the gentle bitterness of walnuts, so Waldorf is spot on. The rusticity of the dram throughout is truly charming. If all NAS offerings were this good... 8/10