Tomintoul 13 Year Old 2010 SWMS Single Cask 89.20 A Rodeo Bull Ride Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024) 70cl

One Panellist was off to a rodeo – polished cowboy boots, saddle and all that. Another was out on the slopes skiing and, having drunk herb liqueur from his hipflask, had now stopped for a hot chocolate. The taste also split the Panel: it was either spicy and dry, like a hot and dirty martini using cayenne pepper and spiked olives, or very playful, bringing dark chocolate biscuits, treacle and mint chocolates. Diluted, we tucked into borscht made with beets, beef shank, onions, carrots, potatoes and cabbage, and topped with sour cream. On the palate we had sticky toffee pudding in a pewter bowl and red wine in a plastic bottle. Following nine years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a second fill American oak PX hogshead.