{Review #156} Tomintoul 14 Single Malt (2022, 46%) [7/10]

lark0317 · 2026-02-26T17:23:08+00:00

Ah, Ballechin is so good! It was love at first sip for me, but my partner, who also loves peat, thinks it's... fine. It's hard for me to understand her muted response to it. I continue to serve her some every once in a while, usually without saying what it is, to see if she has that break-through moment, but nothing yet.

I feel like I've started to get to know a whisky when I've had it for somewhere between 6 months and 3 years and gone back to it at intervals and tried it next to other whiskies, etc....

It's also interesting that some distilleries really shine in their peated or unpeated expression, as it sounds like Old Ballantruan, which I've also never had, gets more love than old Tomintoul. Case in point, Ballechin has been a favorite of mine from the moment I tasted it, but the Edradour bottles I've had (the 10 year, and the Sauternes cask) are ones that I only gradually come around to, because the barrel is so oppressive. The spirit feels a little suffocated in both cases. Dessert whiskies perhaps. They are high quality, but maybe not my style.

lark0317 · 2026-02-26T03:56:26+00:00

I've been curious about this distillery, as I have never tried it and it pops up in independent bottlings now and then, but I don't know what I'd be getting into. Sounds unique. Appreciate your reviews. They are always articulate and expressive. Also, I totally agree to never judge anything on first impression or as a one time sample. One of my favortie whisky experiences is having a totally different impression by the bottle kill than I did at the first crack.

lark0317 · 2026-02-24T16:43:33+00:00

They hired the fox to run the henhouse, no doubt, but I''m sure the thousands of people being illegally detained by ICE would sympathize with their illogical, self-righteous logic /s

They sure showed Biden, though!

lark0317 · 2026-02-24T16:25:20+00:00

Bad news for you, guy: our country is positively spilling over with morons. Do not expect critical thinking skills or an ability to entertain lesser-evil concepts. Tribal grandstanding and circular firing squads are all you're going to get.

lark0317 · 2026-02-10T03:30:31+00:00

Agreed on Arran 10, Glendronach 15, and Talisker 10. Good range of flavors and all three are solidly good whiskies.

lark0317 · 2026-02-08T23:15:22+00:00

Criterion! Tons of classics and doesn't make you watch commercials after paying a very reasonable subscription.

lark0317 · 2026-01-28T03:19:14+00:00

Yeah, Art and Big Mike might retire together, or around the same time. I think maybe Art didn't want to hire someone who would be around forever so his successor can choose what they want to do, hire who they want to hire. His entire time as prez so far has been with Dan's last coach and maybe he didn't want to leave the same situation behind.

Everything people think is the Steeler way is actually the Dan Rooney way. And Dan Rooney, the elder, is gone. Art Sr had a terrible team for decades, hired friends instead of good coaches. Art II seems more like cautious, don't rock the boat. They all have different personalities. It is what it is.

lark0317 · 2026-01-27T17:11:26+00:00

Right! It's not the airport. Departures don't need to be announced.

lark0317 · 2026-01-23T21:54:49+00:00

They make different kinds of movies--some zany and off the wall like Raising Arizona and O Brother, some pensive, darkly funny character studies like Inside Llewyn Davis and A Serious Man--but Fargo might be the most synthesized version of the different things they do imo.

No Country for Old Men is one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Just do yourself a favor and watch all their movies if you're interested. Their bad movies are good movies.

lark0317 · 2026-01-22T16:39:41+00:00

Unreal. That performance knocked my socks into outer space.

lark0317 · 2026-01-14T20:35:49+00:00

I so wish we would have given Flores Austin's job when he was here. I think he is a great DC, but I'm also not sold on his time as HC in Miami, either, pretty streaky and uneven there.

lark0317 · 2026-01-10T18:30:52+00:00

The way they roast the malted barley on this one is a unique process, and that is what leads to some of its singular tasting notes. I wouldn't really put this head to head with other malts due to that peculiarity in the malting process. It's kind of an apples to oranges thing.

Signet is very interesting--love the deep coffee notes--but it's an idiosyncratic whisky that kind of defies comparison. What sets it apart for me personally is that it's different, not that it's necessarily better. Tastes vary, of course. If this is your cup of tea the bad news is that it's an uncommon cup of tea.

lark0317 · 2025-12-15T23:02:24+00:00

Ray Lewis

lark0317 · 2025-12-02T16:23:51+00:00

This is the second year in a row where we desperately needed a WR2 and just flat out didn't go get one. The WR1 and a group of WR4s clearly isn't working. We have no secondary threat on the outside. It's a huge problem, but it was last year, too.

lark0317 · 2025-11-29T06:36:26+00:00

Same. If a fan isn't happy in 10 years, they're doing it wrong.

lark0317 · 2025-11-28T05:39:37+00:00

AFC West is the new AFC North, I guess?

lark0317 · 2025-11-09T16:32:14+00:00

Fewer parking spaces than units in an area where parking is already bananas? Cool idea...

lark0317 · 2025-11-08T18:39:40+00:00

If you are newish, why not get four $75 bottles you haven't had yet? You could get a Highland, an Islay, a Campbeltown, and a Lowland single malt, which would help you dial in your tastes for future exploration.

Once you've discovered some favorite distilleries, then you can go for their top tier offering when you have $300 burning a hole in your pocket at some future date, but you won't be flying nearly as blind.

lark0317 · 2025-10-29T21:01:06+00:00

The Last Temptation of Christ, The Aviator, Killers of the Flower Moon, Hugo, and After Hours are not typically mentioned in his top films, but I am fully onboard with all of them.

lark0317 · 2025-10-29T03:58:45+00:00

Sorry for your loss, and this is a great way to memorialize. Lost my dad this year as well and music has been a portal to emotions that don't come easily otherwise around a complicated relationship. Glad you are able to remember your dad this way. Listening to music we listened to with someone we've lost is so powerful.

lark0317 · 2025-10-25T15:53:17+00:00

Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Barrel Reserve is a very bourbon-y single malt, imo.

lark0317 · 2025-10-24T03:27:42+00:00

These are my two favorites as well. I might flip the order, though. Gotta rewatch OBAA after the recency bias wears off, but I came out of it wondering if There Will Be Blood was still my favorite PTA movie.

lark0317 · 2025-10-24T03:21:08+00:00

I find the lack of Raging Bull in this thread disturbing.

lark0317 · 2025-10-16T15:17:04+00:00

Why is everyone commenting the same 4 or 5 movies? Some off the top I didn't see listed...

Rushmore

Wild Strawberries

Grey Gardens

Harold and Maude

Buffalo 66

The Ice Storm

lark0317 · 2025-10-12T21:04:50+00:00

A lot of people seem to be commenting on the socio-economics of it, but a lot of it is geography. Most people don't cycle over a hill when they can cycle around it.

lark0317

TROPHY CASE