Side by side: a trio from Saltire Rare Malts

Saltire Rare Malt Whisky Company have been going for a few years now, with regular releases from their warehouse stocks.

This latest trio of releases include Port Dundas, Tamnavulin and a mystery bottling, let's see what they are like.

Keith Rennie and Nigel Heywood have been building a collection of casks, numbering more than 250, for more than 30 years and have now decided to share them with the world, 2014 being a good year to launch the very first bottlings of Saltire Rare Malt, 530 years after the birth of Scotch Whisky, in the beautiful, historic ‘toon’ of Falkland.

Saltire are releasing most of their bottles at 48.8% ABV - a good drinking strength, but there will be some cask strength releases, with a minimum age of 14 years. Here we have one of each and a mystery dram!

Let's see what they are like!

Dram	Port Dundas 20yo Virgin Mizunara Butt	Tamnavulin 17yo 2nd Fill European Oak HHD - Ex Oloroso	Unknown
Characteristics	Distilled: 23 Aug '05 Bottled: 1 Sep '25 Cask #50092100 ABV 59.7% 558 bottles	Distilled: 8 Feb '08 Bottled: 10 Feb '25 Cask #1008 ABV 48.8% 259 bottles	???
Bottler notes	A 20-year-old single grain distilled at the ‘lost distillery’ Port Dundas, finished in an exceptional virgin Japanese Mizunara Oak Butt, one of the rarest and most expensive oaks in the world. Red fruit (cherries), cedar wood, waffles and maple syrup, warm leather. Slightly tannic but not disturbing at all. A nice, full and complex dram. A vintage convertible with leather upholstery and a wooden dashboard, basking in the sun with its passengers enjoying a sweet treat.	Saltire Rare Malts First Christmas Edition Bottle. A fruity dram with the smell of cigar boxes. Dried fruit, raisins, a nose-drying tannic influence, woody, slightly musty with cloves. Watered down at 48.8% the tannic edge and the mustiness are gone, and the dram is now clearly fruity, with the smell of cigar boxes, chestnut paste and cherry pipe tobacco in the mix.	TBD
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Bronze in the Glencairn, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thick oily legs.	Bronze in the Glencairn, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up and fall as slow thin legs.	Bronze in the Glencairn, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up and fall as slow thick legs.
Nose	Huge oak notes to start, some raspberries and cherries. A little dunnage funk, some dates, figs and prunes here too.	Sherry soaked dried fruit, glacier cherries, a hint of tobacco - very Christmassy! There's some poached pear, fig and a hint of Christmas spice.	Berries and cherries to start, some black treacle, dunnage funk and some distant smoke. Orchard fruit and dried fruit.
Palate	Thick mouth coating arrival, dry wood spice, berries, cherries and icing sugar sweetness. There's hints of vanilla, orange juice and peppery spice. The ABV is well concealed, I wouldn't have suggested it was over 50%.	Sweet jammy arrival, berries, cherries and dried fruit. There's some dry cinnamon & nutmeg spices and a little hint of smoke. A little time and air offers  more berry - strawberries, cranberries, raspberries and blueberries. There's a little lime zest note as the liquid disappears.	Another sweet jammy arrival, a little drying. Lots of berries and cherries, suggesting maybe a wine cask? There's some gentle spice and a lovely distant smoke note.
Finish	Lingering wood spice, berries and prunes.	Lingering Christmas spices, berries and dried fruit.	Medium length, dry spice, berries, drying.
Overall	The Port Dundas was a yummy dram, the Mizunara oak has masked a lot of the grain characteristics, you'd be hard pushed to suggest this wasn't a malt. It's wonderfully complex and worth taking your time with, The Tamnavulin is Christmas in a glass, lot's of dried fruit, cherries, spices and sherry - a Christmas Cake mixing bowl! Just the bottle you need on your shelf as we head into winter! The unknown dram came across as a lower ABV so probably the 'standard' 48.8% that Saltire bottle at. Berries and dryness pointed at a wine cask but it may be sherry, unpeated but with a hint of smoke - looking forward to finding out what it was!

Huge thanks to David at Saltire for the samples.

It turned out the Mystery sample was from Saltire's new Falkland Whisky range:

A bright and expressive Speyside single malt, balancing sweetness and depth. Fresh orchard fruits, honeyed malt, vanilla, and citrus zest lift the nose. Sherry casks introduce dried fruits, warm spices, and subtle oak on the palate, adding richness while preserving youthful vibrancy.

Nose: Fresh orchard fruits, honeyed malt, vanilla, and citrus zest
Palate: Dried fruits, warm spices, and subtle oak
Finish: Smooth and lingering, with gentle spice and caramelised nuts.

Single Malt, 45% ABV,  Refill Ex-Oloroso Sherry Casks, Non-Chill Filtered