Tamdhu 15 yo (43%, OB, 1980s)
I’ve always liked this bottling, Serge wrote notes for a German market version back in 2006 and gave it no less than 90 points. So, let’s have a crack at this UK version. Colour: light amber. Nose: harmonic is the word with these old Tamdhus. A beautiful and elegant entanglement of sultanas, raisins, pastries, soft waxes, herbal teas, resins, furniture polish and a few syrupy old fruit liqueurs. A leafy and tobacco-accented sherry runs beneath and holds everything together with aplomb. Some subtle notes of old Cognac surface after a while. Mouth: surprising richness and texture for 43%, it’s also surprisingly towards coffee sweets, caramel wafters, coconut, vanilla custard, mint choc chip and wee hints of hessian cloth, rancio and darjeeling tea. More leafy earthy tones, more tobacco, more soft dark fruit notes. Beautiful old school, gently sherried malt whisky. Finish: long and with a brittle spiciness encased in waxes, honeycomb, green and mint teas, a few soft tropical fruit notes and a little white pepper. Comments: I cannot disagree.
SGP: 661 - 90 points.

Tamdhu ‘Dalbeallie Dram’ (62.1%, OB for Speyside Whisky Festival, sherry, 1000 bottles)
Named after a local train station apparently; a bit of story with little detail - welcome to Scotch Whisky in 2019. Colour: amber. Nose: modern sherry, lots of pencil shavings and ginger bread, some rather nice darker fruits as well. Black cherries, boozy trifle, a little hot dry earthiness. With water: some flowers (lilies) and mocha with praline, cheap milk chocolate, leaf mulch and redcurrants. Still rather dry and woody. Mouth: pretty hot and with more of these pencil shavings up front. New wood, plasticine, cocoa, green wood, bark, pine resin, some cherry cola cubes. With water: paprika, black pepper, turmeric - pretty spicy but still a bit tough and dry with a sawdusty aspect. Not too pleasurably if I’m honest. Finish: medium in length, earthy, dry, a little sooty and some more graphite, pencil shavings and black tea. Comments: The older one just crushes this new high strength NAS. This one really feels like it’s been almost bullied by these modern ‘sherry’ casks - it’s miles away from the balance and harmony of the 15. It’s not terrible, it just feels a bit unbalanced and there isn’t a huge amount to enjoy here I find.
SGP: 571 - 77 points.