Welcome back to another exciting tasting of two single malts, where I spend some time discovering each relative to the other to peel apart those intricate details. For this particular pairing, I took some notes on the side while taking my sips and then reflected on the overall experience. There were a few surprises along the way, and as a result, it turned into a bit of philosophical discussion, which I will cover at the end of this write-up. So stay tuned for that. For now, let’s follow my usual format, go through each unique dram and see where the journey takes us. But first, we need music! Now playing: loscil // lawrence english – Colours Of Air.

First up is a 30ml dram from That Boutique-y Whisky Company Advent Calendar from 2022, hiding behind door #4. You can check out the other covered drams on Two Drams A Day in a dedicated category here. This is a 22-year-old single malt from an unknown distillery, baring the label that only says Highland #2 bottled at a nice 47.9% ABV, and at that age, it is probable to assume that this is a cask-strength whisky, but since the label does not mention it, I can’t take that leap. I do know that this independent bottler delivers an uncompromised experience, and therefore it is safe to state that it’s an uncoloured and un-chill filtered single malt. For that, it is immediately awarded an integrity star in my coverage and instantly raises the bar. This dram is an “Advent 2022 Exclusive”, so I’m unlikely to find a bottle of this anywhere else. The colour and the nose immediately hint at a strong bourbon influence. The whisky is pretty sweet on arrival but not too sharp. It’s rich and full, with elegant honey and a medium-length finish. It tastes a bit familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it just yet. With further sips, it reveals more sweet peaches, bananas, and waxy caramel. This is a very solid and cohesive single malt. And so I turn over to the Tomatin dram to contrast my palate. My 30ml sample came from Southport Whisky Club’s Grand Dramming 12 Online Tasting, which I purchased directly from their site. I didn’t attend the tasting; I just had the samples shipped to me separately because I liked the lineup and wanted to try them all! You, too, can purchase some of these offline [if you live in the UK]. For example, I see a Mossburn and Torabhaig sample set of six drams for £25 right now. But I digress. Let’s get back to our tasting!

The Tomatin 21-year-old is also a Highland single malt, which is why I chose to pair it with that undisclosed whisky. This one explicitly states that it’s a cask-strength bottling at 52.0% ABV. My sample does not reveal much else, but some research via the trustworthy whiskybase.com shows that it’s coloured but non-chill filtered whisky that spent its life in a combination of ex-bourbon casks and sherry butts. One commenter appeared to be confident that this expression comprised of a vatting of seven casks, six of which were refill American oak and only one the ex-sherry butt – but my sample is from 2022, and their comment is from 2015, so it’s very possible that we are not experiencing the very same whisky. That said, I can’t find this bottle anywhere else, so who knows if this one came from the archives. This whisky is immediately more sherried on the nose, but it’s also light and crisp. Let’s go in for a taste! Oh wow, it’s very oily, and I almost taste some cognac on my tongue. I thought that I would add some water to this [because of the strength], but I’m cautious of bringing it down any further and having it fall apart – it’s as if it all got concentrated a bit, and I don’t want to ruin that experience. I was so surprised by the arrival that I forgot to focus on the tasting notes. So let me go at it again. It tastes like a syrupy reduction of stewed dried fruit [like raisins, plums and cherries] slowly cooked over a medium fire and then poured over a decadent cheesecake. Something is coating my entire mouth with influences of a bourbon cask, but then immediately layers it with a sherried finish. It’s a complex single malt, but it could also be that it’s not integrated well – the layers here are far apart. The 22-year-old undisclosed, on the other hand, is a unified, direct ex-bourbon that seems to deliver what it declares upfront.

Distillery / Region	Undisclosed / Highlands	Tomatin / Highlands
Producer	Undisclosed	The Tomatin Distillery Co.
Bottler / Series	TBWC / Advent 2022 Exclusive	Distillery bottling / ltd release of 2400
Stated Age / Vintage	22 years old	21 years old / 1988 [?]
Cask type	Undisclosed	Bourbon + Sherry Butt [?]
ABV / Cask Strength	47.9% / Probably	52.0% / Yes
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	Yes / Yes 🌟	Yes / No
Price	Not individually for sale	£130-160 on a secondary market?

I think I know what Highland #2 is. I’ve used the powers of the internet to search for the label of this bottle and then used the picture of the label to find a page where it is revealed to be a Clynelish single malt. That page talks about a 20-year-old at a higher ABV, but the name and the label are the same, and I have a later batch, which ultimately suggests that I am drinking a 22-year-old Clynelish. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this overall experience. On the one hand, I am thrilled that it was revealed to me to be a distillery that I respect, and it almost feels like it was a blind tasting, where I tried to figure out what it is, only to be somewhat surprised and reconciled when I found out the distillery. But then, it was presented still behind the curtains, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. Was the distillery not happy that this dram was not representative of their output? And if so, what was particularly wrong with this cask? Why all the cloaking and the secrecy? There are a lot of philosophical nuances between blind tastings and undisclosed bottlings. But why is it so hard to just enjoy the whisky without names? On the other hand, the Tomatin was even more of a mystery than the undisclosed dram! It’s not like any Tomatin I have ever tasted, and I’m still slightly intrigued. It’s very lovely, but there is just something about it that is somewhat strange. And why is it no longer available? Is it truly gone? I have a bottle of another Tomatin Cask Strength, but it doesn’t state the age, and it’s at a higher ABV. I do wish I had more of this and regret I didn’t add water; alas, this dram is truly gone!

So there you have it, folks, a strange [but lovely] tasting. Usually, in order for me to pick a winner, I close my eyes and picture which bottle I would reach for next. And here is where I’m struggling with these two. I kind of want the 22-year-old Clynelish once again, but I’m a bit put off by the fact that they are not transparent. I also want the 21-year-old Tomatin, but mainly to satisfy my curiosity about this mysterious dram. As in – I’m not sure I would buy either to drink them on their own. And, since I actually can’t even purchase them [unless I splurge on the secondary market for that Tomatin], I think I will reject to make a call here and pronounce that neither is the winner of this round. You live and learn, folks… live and learn!