Official Distillery Core Release | 46% ABV

Home

I’ve moved a lot over the last twenty years. Less often by choice and more by circumstance.

In fact, I can accurately declare that most of my adult life has been bound by transiency.

Eleven times since 2005. Impressive if one were keeping score or saw this as a “feat”, which I don’t, especially since I find the whole exercise of moving to be exhausting. I hate moving, it’s a genuine annoyance I’ve had to do it so regularly.

Yet less lately, which is a relief. Where my partner and I currently reside – exactly four years as of this month – officially marks the longest I’ve lived in one place since I left my parent’s house decades ago.

First, it was the fleeting nature of “life on the road,” then a cross-state relocation while I was still a musician. Abruptly, the band broke up, and a financial crisis forced more moves. Next, I was drifting between various places and new roommates, then a series of transitions, marriage, divorce, old lives, new lives, present lives.

This impermanence has stirred internal conflicts. I feel myself wrestling against a restless spirit that rebels against the idea of staying put, but also a yearning to settle and find cozy comfort in a domestic routine. The devil and angel on my shoulder. Maybe it's two angels. Maybe it’s two devils.

Such frequent mobility caused a complicated relationship with the idea of home. Once a place starts to feel familiar, time to pack it all up.

Home becomes just a life thrown into boxes. Eventually it all ends up shoved in a van and moved from one temporary dwelling to another.

But more than the sum of my worldly possessions, not having any family where I live means home is also defined by friends and community close by; constants amid the chaos of change. Visiting family and where I grew up stirs both a sense of place and belonging equally tempered by quiet melancholy at the long separations. The duality of long-distance relationships with loved ones.

What I end up with is pieces of “home” in multiple places, less a physical space and more a state of mind.

That’s why I now find myself so at ease outdoors or in the wilderness. Despite nature’s seeming fragility, there’s a durable permanence to it. Trees grow, rivers roll unbothered for millennia, rocks and hills endure, animals find homes where they can, migratory habits born out of instinct and evolution.

I recently found myself stressed by work and other life happenings and headed out to one of my favorite trails – hoping to soak in some late morning tree therapy. A confluence below the trail where a creek meets the river is one of my go-to places for reflection.

The waters of the creek and river were swollen following the winter and spring rains, leading to that delightful natural symphony of water tumbling over rocks, in no hurry, undulating toward the sea some forty miles away. As perfect a place as any to clear one’s head.

I stayed there for a while, pondering and practising mindfulness. Keeping myself in the moment. Despite an overcast morning, the sun eventually peaked through, bathing the whole tableau in a soft, warm light, reflected in a thousand pieces by the rolling water.

In that moment of tranquillity, it felt like home was right there.

I get a similar feeling when I’m alone in the evening with my notebook and a dram. A small sample poured, pen scrawling, senses aflame with the latest in my glass. A meditative serenity.

Perhaps home is simply where we’re at peace.

Not necessarily a placid silence. For those who take pleasure in their large families or their children, home is a rowdy household bursting with life and energy.

No, home is comfort. Home is where we’re our most unguarded selves.

Torabhaig’s latest release (and their first core expression) is called “Taigh.” According to their website, In Scottish Gaelic, “Taigh” translates as house, but the good folks at Torabhaig say to them, it means: “home”.

Also from the website, Taigh is their “signature release and the purest reflection of [their] house style, ‘Smoke with Taste’”.

It makes perfect sense as this (not so) new distillery finds its footing with age statements and inaugural core releases, that they’d invite us into their sense of place. Their language here using “house style” seems intentional. “Taigh” is an apt name for their inaugural core release.

Torabhaig wear their home on their sleeves. “Isle of Skye” is proudly etched on every bottle and the artwork for both this release and its predecessor “Sound of Sleat” pay tribute to their surroundings. The label for “Taigh” features a painting of the distillery, looking very much like a secluded house amid the backdrop of the sea and mountains.

As quaint a home as any.

Review 1/2 - Archie

Torabhaig Taigh, Official Distillery Core Release, first-fill bourbon, refill bourbon and Madeira casks, 46% ABV
US$50 paid (£40) & wide availability

I personally find a lot of comfort in Torabhaig. I’ve been proud to see them grow over the past few years and have worked to try as much of their spirit as I can.

The Allt-Gleann was one of the few bottles I brought back from a fateful trip to Scotland that sent me into the whisky rabbit hole. The profile stood out to me then and they have autobiographical significance to my whisky journey.

The familiarity of this distillery is as close to home as I can think of and I feel I have a connection to this whisky.

Further – and he may not know this, but I felt a kindred spirit in Charlie Campbell, who I also followed on Instagram before joining our motley crew of contributors. I’ve gotten to know the writers through their reviews here and his are always ones that I enjoy.

He’s a fellow Torabhaig fan and I read every one of those write-ups, comparing his notes to mine. We had similar thoughts on the Sound of Sleat, and I had only a little bit of FOMO that he was able to get that Thompson Bros bottle and I was not. So it goes.

I was quite happy when he agreed to this little collab. I haven’t read his notes yet, but as always, I’m excited to see how we both approached this bottle.

And of course, for our readers, the more opinions the better!

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*A strong inaugural core release, Sweet, smoky, and moreish*

Nose

Initially clean kindling smoke and zesty lemon-lime citrus. Sweet peppers. Salt and vinegar chips. Peppery and earthy. Behind that there’s a pleasant sweetness settling in. White chocolate chips. Limoncello. Sugar cookies. White cake. The smokiness mellows into more of a griddle smoke with glazed ham and applewood bacon. Weber briquettes and wood chips. Rock salt. A pleasant dirtiness. On my first couple of drams I got persistent whiffs of rubber balls, but that fell off as the liquid moved past the shoulder. Also, new car plastic. Fruitier notes appear like sugary pineapple.

Water brings pebbles, petrichor, and wet gravel. Earthier. Chocolate mousse. Bologna. The inside of a tin of Pringles. Faint fresh apples. Hints of distant campfire and vague vegetal aromas of seaweed and low tide.

Palate

Sweeter smokiness on the palate. Very inviting and moreish. Iced Coffee. Peppery smoke. Richer than I’m used to with Torabhaig, whose previous releases had more of an austere profile. Fudgy. Raspberries dipped in white chocolate. Blackberry cobbler. Water brings cookie dough, strawberry shortcake, and adds a slight jamminess. The finish is engaging, velvety, and sugary sweet, featuring less smoke that’s more caffe mocha and flavored coffee. Saccharine sweetness. Long finish. Very enjoyable.

The Dregs

Color me surprised when I saw the inaugural “house style” core release threw a wild card at us Torabhaig fans by putting Madeira casks in the mix. As I mentioned I’m used to Torabhaig’s more austere profile of ex-bourbon and “American Oak” casks. Something that drew me to them. No frills.

The Madeira casks definitely work here. Blended with the first and refill bourbon there are accents of sweet richness that pervade the dram throughout, but don’t overpower. The soul of the distillery character is certainly present, if certainly less “smoke & brine” then the Allt Gleann I fell in love with years ago. To me, the sweetness and dessert notes are certainly welcome.

The value of this is sky high. Another reason to root for these newbies as they make their way in the whisky world. I paid $50 for this bottle, but just last week I saw it listed locally for $45. Insane value. Hard to think of another bottle one can find stateside for $45 that delivers this much engagement.

Can’t wait to read Charlie’s notes.

There’s no place like home.

Score: 7/10 AD

Review 2/2 - Charlie

Torabhaig Taigh, Official Distillery Core Release, first-fill bourbon, refill bourbon and Madeira casks, 46% ABV
£47 paid & wide availability

It would be an understatement to suggest I have been enjoying the Torabhaig releases, both in official bottling and independent form. I’ve collected quite a few. I’m on my second bottle of one of them (the absolute dirty sherry banger official release known as Cask 92), and I’ve joined their ‘Peat Elite’ fan club.

But I need to admit, when the Taigh release came out I didn’t immediately jump on it. I was aware of it but, for whatever reason, it didn’t have that automatic need-to-have-it draw.

It’s the first core expression from Torabhaig, but I don’t think that was why; it wasn’t just because I knew it would theoretically always be around. Even when I did buy it, just because I saw it on the shelf in Glasgow’s Good Spirits Company, it then proceeded to sit on my shelf unopened for a period. As the summer seemed to draw closer my interest had moved away from peat slightly and more towards those fresh juicy unpeated bourbon casks – but I am glad I got stuck into this one.

Taigh is Scots Gaelic for "house" representing the standard style of the distillery. It is matured in a mixture of first-fill and refill bourbon casks and some Madeira casks, bottled at 46% ABV without chill-filtration or added colour. Madeira cask use on a core expression seems quite an interesting concept to me.

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Great at the price if you like the peat*

Nose

The nose gives a clean smoke note, more well-established wood fire than peat I would say, which sits nicely alongside the salinity of the coastal notes. There are some notes of apple and grass with a bit of frangipane and some herbal edge which put me in mind of Becherovka, but it’s a while since I have had that.

The smoky notes are not overpowering in any way.

Palate

My first taste of this absolutely took me by surprise. I definitely think it took my brain a minute to catch up and - bizarre as it sounds - my very first thought was “has this been tampered with and diluted massively?” because it wasn’t what I was expecting from the nose, or from Torabhaig.

It was a thick mouthfeel but it was clean and initially had little flavour. It quickly moved into a creamier phase where the blast of charcoal-led peat smoke arrived together with grapefruit, apples, and a sweet sponge cake like tinge. There is a good level of complexity in this as it evolves and opens up to notes of Amaretti biscuits, salinity, ginger and walnuts, with a touch of sweet vanilla in there.

The finish was medium length and slightly oily. The peat stayed present but was balanced alongside the salinity and the other sweet notes.

My instinct was that water wouldn’t do this any favours, and in practice even a couple of drops flattened it considerably.

The Dregs

In the low £40 bracket this is an absolute no-brainer for a peat lover to have on their shelf and a great introduction to the distillery. I personally didn’t get as much of the Madeira cask influence as I would have liked, but I will persevere to see if I can access more of it.

Is it my favourite Torabhaig? No.

I’d love to taste this at a higher ABV, because the stronger ABV Sound of Sleat release showed just how much extra weight and energy that can bring. There’s also a touch of youthfulness here that you can’t quite ignore. The hope, of course, is that as the years pass and older stock feeds into Taigh, it only gets better.

As a final thought, and it is a picky note, but I did really like the original Torabhaig labels that formed a ‘T’ on the bottle. I know it probably cost more, but I thought it added a lot of extra brand identity. Having checked whilst I finish this, it’s on everyone’s favourite web seller for £41, which is great value.

Score: 7/10 CC

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AD

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