Tomintoul 14

THIS Speyside malt has the words “The gentle dram” emblazoned across the bottle in glittering gold - very similar to Dalwhinnie's “The gentle spirit” statement on their bottles. Both are clearly marked to try and attract non-whisky drinkers into the fold but is it all just marketing, or is their substance to their claims?
    As I previously mentioned, the Dalwhinnie 15 is a rather decent drop and is indeed very accessible. However, in my opinion, this Tomintoul 14 has that little bit extra going on and would be my recommended starting point for those new to single malts.
    On the nose there's grapefruit, orange rind, green apple, vanilla and a hard toffee note.
    On the palate, the Tomintoul has a nice viscosity to it, with lemon, walnuts, barley and butterscotch flavours coating the mouth. The finish is a decent length, with wood, honey, warming spices and a huge smack of marzipan, while there's also a slight citrus note lurking around in the background.
    I found the Tomintoul 14 to have more complexity that the Dalwhinnie 15, and an added bonus is that it has no added colouring, it's non-chill filtered, is bottled at a thoroughly decent 46% and costs around £35. Good stuff all round.