Five Tamdhu


August 23, 2017

Five Tamdhu

I thought we could have a little bag of Tamdhus, what do you think?

Tamdhu 10 yo ‘Sherry Casks’ (46%, OB, 1000 bottles, +/-2104)

A limited edition that I had forgotten about. My bad. You’ll have noticed that the label was black instead of white. Colour: dark straw. Nose: bags and bags of red berries in this one, plus a lot of artisan muesli and some kind of IPA-ish feeling, with pineapples and, well, various hops. Then the expected raisins and pastries, brioche, and panettone. Nice nose, assuredly. Mouth: extremely good, and very easy. It’s a fruity sherry, but the malty side keeps all this balanced, with raisins, zests, and simply various pies and pastries. The kind of malt that go well in magnums, since they’re so drinkable. Finish: medium, fresh, orangey, with the malty side again in the aftertaste (Ovaltine). Jaffa cakes. Comments: I find it impressive, why have I been so late? SGP:651 - 87 points.

Tamdhu 3 yo 2013/2017 (58.3%, Malts of Scotland, hogshead, cask #MoS 17008, 359 bottles)

Three years old! Either someone needed cash, or it’s the fastest whisky in the west. What’s good is that they said it (I mean, that it’s 3 years old). Colour: straw. Nose: porridge muesli custard bread barley. With water: and ripe apples. Mouth (neat): barley eau-de-vie, ale, ginger beer, leather, vanilla, Nescafé. With water: and ripe apples. Finish: medium, malty, a tad bitter(ish). More ale. Comments: ready, but maybe not totally fit. Perhaps not totally what we used to call an infanticide when the Web hadn’t been totally PC-ed yet. So, some more than fair whisky ‘reposado’. SGP:441 - 80 points.

Tamdhu 18 yo 1998/2017 (48.4%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular) This one’s brand new, we haven’t got full data yet. Colour: white wine. Nose: maltier than malt, and more Guinnessy than Guinness. Over all that, some lovely whiffs of menthol, fern, lemongrass, and cappuccino. Mouth: excellent, very malty at first, then full of spearmint and lemon balm. That gives it a fresh side, while the backbone is very solid, very malty. Finish: loses a bag of points here, thanks to a rather gingery bitterness. Distilled Schweppes, Aperol. Comments: if you like your malt really very malty… SGP:451 - 78 points.

What else do we have in the library?...

Tamdhu 22 yo 1982/2005 (58.2%, Adelphi, cask #2453, 211 bottles)

This baby from a refill hogshead. Colour: straw. Nose: not a lot. Cardboard and old papers, plus roasted chestnuts and barbecued herbs. A little weird I have to say. Unexpected whiffs of rose petals coming out after two minutes, but they would come together with a wee soapiness. With water: mild tea. Mouth (neat): a little angular, on oranges and icing sugar, plus burnt herbs. Really unusual. With water: a better, and more regular maltiness. One slice of homemade orange cake. Finish: medium, with a bitter side. Comments: a little dispensable, and way below Adelphi’s usual high profile, but who cares, this is an old thing. SGP:451 - 75 points.

Tamdhu 27 yo 1984/2011 (50.3%, Exclusive Malts, refill hogshead, cask #2839, 261 bottles)

Another one that I had missed at the time. Colour: gold. Nose: oh nice, it smells of many oils, especially sunflower. Then white chocolate and pine nuts, sesame oil, and roasted peanuts. A touch of mayonnaise, which goes particularly well in this context. With water: butter, warm sawdust, more roasted nuts. Mouth (neat): I like this. It’s some kind of all-influence malt whisky, so not very focused, but rather entertaining. Mocha, roasted nuts, caramel, coffee liqueur, violet sweets, oranges… This one’s really fun to follow. With water: touches of oak, bourbon-style, and some coconut and vanilla. Oranges too. Finish: medium, with some pistachio halva. Comments: so a nutty one. I enjoyed it quite a lot. SGP:551 - 85 points.

(Thanks Tom)

Check the index of all Tamdhu I've tasted so far