Single Malts of Scotland (distilled at Tormore) 1988, 64.2%

There's something rather round peg in a square hole about Tormore, that grand urban palace of a distillery in wildest Speyside. The whisky, sadly, is often the same. Here, though, things look promising to start with: rice crackers, and a spicy, rye-like hardness on top of a vanilla-accented, sweet trail mix of a nose with some earthiness behind. The palate, for me, is still too rigid. For all its efforts to relax, this Tormore remains tense. £90