
April 30, 2019

A wee bag of Tamnavulin

We haven’t tried as many Tamnavulins as we wished, but I seem to remember some pleasant citrus notes. Let’s see what we have, probably some old and some newish bottles…

Tamnavulin 1993/2013 (54.6%, Malts of Scotland, bourbon hogshead, cask #MoS 13003, 175 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: sugar syrup and apple juice, plus a touch of chalk and some porridge. A little minimal so far, and little citrus in sight. With water: a little soap, or is that paraffin? Raw wool, barley, grist, wood dust, brioche dough… Nicer than it sounds, actually. Mouth (neat): there, lemons and oranges, as marmalades and as squashes. Other than that, it’s all a story about porridge, dough, barley, and bread leaven. And about grass. With water: gentle sweet barley and oranges, muesli, lemon, some paraffin again. Remains a little raw. Finish: medium, very cereally, always with this dry waxiness. Comments: it’s nice, but perhaps not totally unforgettable. Forgot what I wanted to add…
SGP:451 - 80 points.

Tamnavulin 17 yo 1978/1996 (59.6%, Signatory Vintage, sherry, cask #8065, 510 bottles)

An old bottle from some much earlier maniacal days. Colour: gold. Nose: pleasant raisins on this waxy base again, which rather leads to beeswax and honeycomb this time. A little tobacco and leather too, that’s nice in this context. With water: gentler, on cake, brioche, kougelhopf, panettone and buddy cakes. Mouth (neat): huge marmalade, both lemons and oranges, plus ginger liqueur and certainly quite some black pepper, which makes it a tad prickly, as if it was ginger tonic. Leather. With water: freshly squeezed oranges with a dollop of honey thrown in. That’s nice. Finish: medium, a tad gingery again, otherwise rather all on oranges till the end of the aftertaste. Comments: a very fine old dram. What these Tamnavulins did not quite display so far was a huge complexity, but we’ll have more...
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Tamnavulin 25 yo 1992/2018 (50.6%, The Single Malts of Scotland, hogshead, cask #5377, 247 bottles)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: here we go again, waxes, citrus peel, fresh barley, grapefruits, a little balsam, yellow melons, barley syrup, yellow peaches… Oh how we enjoy ‘simple’ hogsheads! With water: a beehive, that’s an aroma cluster I always cherished. Indeed, honey, wax, pollen, nectar, but little propolis this time… Mouth (neat): this is extremely good, if not very complex, once more. Fruit salad, soft oak, vanilla, coconut (the hoggie was still sexually active – I mean active), oranges, angelica… All very good indeed, while the age is perfect. With water: same, just even brighter and getting frankly citrusy this time, some other fruits having given up (peaches, apples…) Touches of bananas, sometimes to be found in American oak. Finish: medium, clean, very fruity, with a wee Irish side, perhaps. Bushmills? Comments: an excellent Tamnavulin. They’re not very common, are they.
SGP:641 - 87 points.

Tamnavulin-Glenlivet 26 yo 1992/2018 (51.3%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 234 bottles)

Tamnavulin-Glenlivet 26 yo 1992/2018 (51.3%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 234 bottles)
Don’t they release whiskies from just all distilleries? Isn’t that cool? Colour: straw. Nose: very close to the TSMOS, which is not very surprising. Perhaps just a tad greener and tarter. I’m thinking kiwis and I’m think rhubarb. Other than that, it’s almost the same whisky, and we shan’t complain. With water: really very close. Perhaps more meadow flowers here? Mouth (neat): indeed the cask seems to have been a tad less active this time. Rather no coconuts and bananas, rather more green apples and plums. Greengages. With water: closer together again. Very good. Finish: medium, very good, perfectly fruity, bright, fresh. Comments: good moderate wood, good age, good whisky. An equation that no one can fake.
SGP:651 - 87 points.

Check the index of all Tamnavulin we've tasted so far