I’m setting up another side-by-side tasting for tonight, and this is one that I’m really looking forward to! You see, I am comparing two single malts, both from the same distillery and of the same age, but one is a “standard” distillery bottling from their core range, while the other is an independent bottling by That Boutique-y Whisky Company (TBWC). I can’t wait to see how these stand up against each other, so let us jump right in! But first, we need music! Now playing: Gabríel Ólafs – Solon Islandus.

It seems that every time I profile a dram from TBWC against a distillery bottling, it seems to win a round [there are, of course, a few exceptions]. There is a reason behind this. TBWC tends to bottle whiskies of uncompromised quality by keeping them non-chill filtered and uncoloured. Sometimes they are from a single cask, but more often than not they offer up a batch [a blend] from a particular distillery. I really love TBWC and have built up a bit of a collection of their bottlings [mostly from Islay]. Today we are looking at Tobermory, which is a distillery from the Isle of Mull [and thus it’s from an “Island” region]. Tobermory has a very rich and long history dating back to 1798. Besides the single malt that bears the distillery’s name, it also produces Ledaig, which is a [heavily?] peated version of its spirit. In the past, Tobermory was not too popular with whisky connoisseurs and malt mates. It was a bit of a letdown, to be honest. But in the most recent years, the distillery has “re-invented” itself and started really focusing on its product, producing some outstanding single malt. It also doesn’t colour nor chill-filter the whisky, and thus, both of these bottlings get my immediate thumbs up, as well as an integrity star as a badge of honour. As already mentioned, both whiskies are of the same age, but whereas the distillery bottling comes in at 46.3% ABV, the TBWC’s is somewhat significantly higher, at 54.7%. Neither provides more information on the casks, albeit some sites claim that the distillery’s batch is made up of whisky that spent its life in first-fill ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks. We’ll see about that. So let’s finally explore these!

The whiskies are very much the same colour. The TBWC is perhaps just a little darker [more towards the bronze]. They also [unsurprisingly?] got the very same nose, but the TBWC is just a little bit more “pungent”, which is definitely attributed to a higher ABV. In both, I can sense sultanas, butterscotch, and a bit of fruit. Let’s go in for a taste. TBWC is a little darker on the palate. The flavour profile here is a bit more of a burnt caramel rather than just caramel alone. If the distillery bottling has notes of bananas, then the TBWC bottling has lightly grilled bananas. And although it is nice in certain aspects, on my subsequent tastings, that flavour is pronounced. I’ll add a drop of water to both now to see how they open up and let them breathe a little before I go in for another round. The distillery bottling is a bit different with water – a lot smoother and softer now, but still very clean. TBWC is still a bit darker and still almost syrupy – and I’m starting to wonder if there is sherried malt in this dram – too bad it says nothing on the label or on any other site. Nothing at all! And it’s a dram exclusive to the TBWC Advent Calendar for 2022, so chances of me finding more on this are nill. One more drop of water, just to the TBWC this time alone. I’ll take a sip of San Pellegrino now and then re-run the tasting in reverse. The TBWC has definitely mellowed out, but there is still something bitter-burned on the edge of the flavour. The distillery bottling is a lot sweeter, fruitier, honey-suckle now, and very much well-integrated dram.

Distillery / Region	Tobermory / Island	Tobermory / Island
Producer	Distell International Ltd.	Distell International Ltd.
Bottler / Series	Distillery bottling / core range	TBWC / Advent 2022 Exclusive
Stated Age / Vintage	12 years old	12 years old
Cask type	Probably ex-bourbon & virgin oak	Undisclosed
ABV / Cask Strength	46.3% / No	54.7% / Batch strength
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	Yes / Yes 🌟	Yes / Yes 🌟
Price	£47	Not individually for sale

So there you have it, folks, another excellent pairing. To be honest, even I was surprised at the outcome. That is because, in most of my tastings, the TBWC clearly outshines the compromised distillery bottling. But in this case, Tobermory itself is offering up an integrity single malt. And frankly, I think it’s doing a much better job of it. I’m still a bit convinced that there is an ex-sherried whisky in the batch from TBWC, or maybe something that they just topped it off with to bring out a flavour, but the cleaner taste from the distillery was really all it needed in the end. And with that said, I will proclaim that Tobermory’s 12-year-old [distillery bottling] as the winner of this round. It’s a surprising victory, and I am only glad for it! Now let us go and buy a bottle!