3 Inverness Malts: Tomatin Cask Strength and PX Handfill, Royal Brackla 2014 (Signatory)

I've spoken before about the Lowlands and the Speyside as regions of malt whisky production that are underrated, but there's another one that deserves the spotlight: Inverness and its surroundings, also known as the Axis of Orange. You've got a few new distilleries that I don't know very well, but you've got a ton of old classics: Glenmorangie, Balblair, Dalmore, and Teaninich to the north (all good distilleries that typically deserve better presentation), the mighty Glen Ord to the west, and then on the eastern side you've got the two I'm reviewing today, Tomatin and Brackla. Brackla I've never reviewed on the channel before but it's typically very nuts-and-pastries driven. And Tomatin is an old favorite, an absolute orange bomb that I haven't properly reviewed in a good six years (   • Tomatin 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch review   ). On deck are two of the latter and one of the former, a high proof OB cheapie and a terrifying handfill from Tomatin and a Signatory bottling of Brackla for their Small Batch Edition series. Stats: Royal Brackla 2014 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Signatory Small Batch Edition No. 17 (Cawdor Estate, bottled by Signatory; 1st Fill Pedro Ximénez Hogsheads Finish, lot L25/22, bottled 1/31/2025; 48.2% ABV), 84+/100 Tomatin "Cask Strength" Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Tomatin; ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso casks, bottled circa 2023; 57.5% ABV), 86🍊/100 Tomatin 2001 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Distillery Exclusive Single Cask No. 34880 (Tomatin; 10 years Bourbon, 8+ years Pedro Ximenez, bottled circa 2020, 19 years old; 53.7% ABV), 83-🍇/100 The Handfill is overwhelmed by PX cask dirty raisins, with nary a sign of Tomatin-ness left to be found (and also it doesn't like water). Unless you're a PX diehard, avoid. Far better (and quite cheap!) is the Tomatin Cask Strength, which is exactly what I want from this distillery: an uncompromising barrage of orange liqueur, pepper, graininess, and earl grey tea. And then there's the Brackla, which needs a bit of water to bring the mouth presence to life but is otherwise a delightful, pastry-driven kind of Highland malt; I'm not convinced the PX finish is doing it any favors, but I'll still take it over the Tomatin Handfill or indeed the OB Bracklas that Bacardi has been putting out. Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) - Gerard-Paul Aman Eric Amig Anthony Darcy Bean Chris Bobby Jamie Brown Kingsbury bushcraft William Christopher Clematis Rob D Liam Davitt Joe Devine Samuel Dose eon Ingmar nine Manuel Fihman Steve Frazee Ian Gendler Solomon Grundy John Halliday Alex Hurd Trevor Jarrait Jonathan Lestingi Kyaru Craig Nielsen Jason Newquist No Thanks Chris Rhodes Randy Rice Lael Rios RumSquirrel Eric Schmidt Gordon W Zach W Mean Will (Also, maybe check out the less-boozy side channel over at    / @criticalspirits   )