Tamdhu say that every bottle of whisky which they release has been matured "exclusively in the finest Oloroso sherry casks", but...
Tamdhu distillery has had a chequered history - like neighbouring Knockando,
it is another late 19th century railway distillery which has quietly provided
fillings for blends ever since. Built in 1897 by a group of blenders headed by
William Grant a director of Highland Distillers with the company purchasing it
outright in 1899. It closed for 2 years in 1911 and then for twenty years in
1927.
Distilling recommenced in 1948 and shortly afterwards the old floor maltings
were replaced with 10 Saladin boxes, one of the first distilleries to use
these devices and the last one to do so. In a traditional floor maltings the
malt is left to germinate for 14 days but needs to be turned regularly to
control temperature and ensure uniform germination - this is done manually and
gives us the term Monkey Shoulder from the repetitive strain injuries
suffered by the maltmen.
The Saladin box, invented in France in the 19th century, takes out most of the
manual labour. It's a concrete trough with a perforated floor, the steeped
barley is poured in and air is blown through the floor to control the
temperature. The germinating grain is left undisturbed for the first day or so
but then the turning process begins to dissipate the build-up of heat. A bank
of mechanical turners resembling giant, flat-bladed corkscrews, reach down to
the bottom of the grain turning it slowly, lifting the lower grain to the top
of the box
Unfortunately the cost of using and maintaining the Saladin Boxes became
uneconomical and they were knocked down a few years ago. Tamdhu, like a lot of
Speyside distilleries, now gets it malt from Simpsons.
Tamdhu was expanded in 1972 with two extra pairs of stills added to the
original pair.
Edrington took over Highland Distillers in 1999 but just 10 years later
mothballed the distillery. In 2012 it was sold to Ian MacLeod, who'd bought
Glengoyne distillery from them in 2003.
So let's get back to the wood - Tamdhu are very clear about exclusively using Oloroso sherry oak casks, and that is correct for their own bottlings. But
some of their whisky is also matured in ex-bourbon and PX casks and sold to
independent bottlers or other distilleries for use in blends. In the past, and
possibly still today, Tamdhu was used in The Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark
blends.
Tamdhu source their casks from Spain - European (usually Spanish) and American oak is cut into
staves and air dried in Spain for a number of years.
Casks are built and toasted in a Jerez Cooperage before being seasoned with
oloroso for around two years.
The casks are then sent to Tamdhu to be filled with new make spirit. Most of
their own releases are a marriage of both Spanish and American oak cask
matured whisky but both are available individually as single cask bottlings.
Ex-bourbon and PX single casks are only available from independent bottlers.
Here I'm going to try an ex-bourbon release from A.D. Rattray, both an
American Oak single cask and a European (Spanish) Oak Oloroso single cask from
Tamdhu and a PX Butt from The Maltman.
| Dram |
2013 8yo Single Cask #353 A.D. Rattray |
2003 17yo Single Cask #7196 |
2003 16yo Single Cask #5892 |
2006 12yo Single Cask #104 The Maltman |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | 66.8% ABV Ex-bourbon 209 bottles |
59.3% ABV American Oak Oloroso seasoned 582 bottles |
57% ABV European Oak Oloroso seasoned 676 bottles |
53.9% ABV PX Butt 576 bottles |
| Bottler notes | Nose: Porridge, orange blossom honey and roast almond. Palate: Rich, vintage marmalade, gentian and walnut. Finish: Black pepper oatcake with a hint of liquorice and ginger. |
Released for the Spirit of Speyside Festival 2021 Nose: Warmed honey dipped / coated vanilla tablet, mango and pineapple fruitiness. Palate: Sweetened custard creams, ripened coconut, poached pears. Finish: Long and lingering with a smattering of summer fruits. Not too intense |
To honour Iain Whitecross’ 14 years of commitment to the distillery. Nose: Notes of deep toffee on the nose, accompanied with perfectly balanced milk chocolate, hazelnut, peach, and vanilla. Palate: On the palate, expect a wonderful contrast of rich truffle, sharp zesty orange and warming cinnamon. Finish: The dram finishes with notes of crème caramel, soft oak, wine gums and – of course – unstoppable sherry notes. |
None |
| My thoughts: | ||||
| Appearance |  |
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| Very pale gold, almost transparent in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line and form small beads which drop as slow thin legs. | Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line and form small beads which drop as very slow thin legs. | Dark gold, almost bronze, in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line take an age to bead up and drop as slow thin legs. Interestingly much darker than the similarly aged American Oak S.C. | Dark gold, almost bronze, in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line take an age to bead up and drop as slow thin legs. Almost the same colour as the 16yo but 4 years younger. |
|
| Nose | Orange marmalade, honey, walnuts, vanilla and oats. Very closed at this ABV, a little water gives dry stoned fruit - apricots, peaches and a little damp hay. | Hedgerow berries: raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants; a little honey, vanilla and strawberry jam. A little time and air offers some toffee and tropical fruit notes. | Full on sherry bomb nose: dunnage warehouse, strawberry and blackcurrant jams, dried fruit, dates, figs, prunes; and hints of Christmas spices. All the sorts of notes I'd associate with a PX cask! | Again full on sherry bomb nose but this one seems much much drier, nuttier and a little less fruity. Dark chocolate and coffee notes. |
| Palate | Oily arrival, tropical fruit: pineapple, kiwi, banana, passion fruit and coconut. There's a little honey sweetness and a hint of almond toffee. There's a lovely ginger spice with drying icing sugar left on the tongue as the liquid disappears. Yummy! |
Thick mouthcoating arrival, instantly drying. Dried fruit and thick strawberry jam give way to a combination of orchard fruit and tropical fruit. There's a little honey sweetness and a bite of ginger spice to finish. Yummy! |
Again a thick mouthcoating arrival, syrupy even. The jams are here along with dried fruit, dates, prunes etc, some black cherries here too - again a little PX like. A little sweeter and a little dryer than the American oak. Yummy! |
Again a thick mouthcoating arrival, sweeter than the oloroso bottlings, honey, barley sugars and brown sugar. The fruit is a little subdued, It's a little drying but not as much as the oloroso pair. There's toffee, nuts and coffee notes as the liquid disappears. Yummy! |
| Finish | Lingering ginger spice and honey. | Lingering dry oak, ginger spice and a little honey. | Lingering ginger spice, sherry soaked dried fruit and dry brown sugar. | Lingering honey, toffee and brown sugar with ginger spice |
| Overall | One thing I have really noticed this year is my tolerance of and preference for high ABV drams and these didn't disappoint! Saying that the 66.8% ABV of the ex-bourbon was a little too much and a drop of water opened it up beautifully. I didn't add any water to the other 3 they just didn't need it. In a word all four were Yummy! It shows what terrific spirit Tamdhu produce and although they offer their distillery releases "exclusively in the finest Oloroso sherry casks" you can get ex-bourbon and PX from the indies. Distillery character is difficult to find with the different cask types but I'd go with thick mouthfeel, fruit, honey, nuts and ginger spice. The bourbon fruit was tropical and added a toffee note. The American Oak fruit was more of the dried variety but there was some underlying orchard and tropical notes, very drying. The European Oak was a little sweeter and dryer, more of what I'd call a sherry bomb. The PX fruit again was dried but subued, the whisky was sweeter and a little less drying that the Oloroso pair but the European Oak Oloroso and PX had lots of similarities. There is a hefty price tag for Tamdhu single casks but if you go for the core range 15yo you get a bottling which marries together the two Oloroso cask styles and is a lovely dram for a good price. |
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Many thanks to @SpiritAndWood for the 3 older samples!
Tamdhu have a great video explaining where their casks come from:
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