Up until quite recently I was only vauguely aware of Tormore but had never tried it. A random selection of drams had at The Balmoral one afternoon led me to try this gem, which turned out to be one of my highlights of the day.

Considering the other drams we had that was high praise…

Distillation only began at Tormore in 1961. It is one of the constituent parts of the Ballantines blends and is owned by Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard)  It has a capacity of 5million litres per year and (according to the label) is known as the Pearl of Speyside.

Tormore 12, 40% abv, from my own collection

The nose is grassy, floral and with great toffee notes, seems quite light and sweet but with a dark undernote.  The palate is mellow with vanilla, oaky and barley notes emerging alongside some orange oil and a touch of brown sugar.  The finish is of medium length and follows on as you would expect from such a palate, with the sweeter notes making way for some gentle floral and spiced notes.

Probably not the most complex whisky you or I will ever try but is really rather pleasant and I would say underated and perhaps even undiscovered by many whisky drinkers.

One man who appreciates Tormore is Whisky Rover who wrote a fantastic comparative article on a vertical tasting of Tormore.