I recently found a forgotten half-bottle of Tobermory 10 year old, in the back of a cupboard. Here are a few tasting notes about this long-forgotten friend.
This whisky is a light straw colour, quite thin in consistency. However, its insipid appearance belies a splendid if subtle flavour. With overtones of honeyed vanilla, it’s a sweet and faintly floral whisky. There is little aftertaste but I can forgive this in a delicate whisky of this nature.
The question I always ask, but never really get an answer to.. Does a 10 year old Whiskey, left forgotten for 5 years, become a 15 year old Whiskey?
I'm afraid not. The age on the label is the minimum duration that a whisky has been in the cask for. Actually, it’s more stringent than that. The master distiller puts different casks' whiskys together (in the case of single malt, they all have to come from the same distillery) to make for a consistent drink, and the number reflects the age of the youngest whisky in the mix.