
Mars 9, 2022

The Tamdhu Works, part dva

So, the indies. The officials have been a little boring yesterday, I have to say. This time, we'll do things randomly, for more fun.

Tamdhu 18 yo 1999/2018 (48.4%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, refill hogshead, cask # DL 12201, 337 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: good nutty nose, with some sunflower oil, fresh croissants, sesame oil, then brioche and vanilla. Not earthshattering, and neither is it very 'particular', but this is a pleasant nose. Mouth: good fruitiness, with overripe apples, Danishes, clafoutis, then croissants again and cassata. No-quibble malt whisky that we won't remember forever, but that goes down well and without hassles. Finish: medium, on cider apples and sweeter beers. Apple juice and young calvados. Comments: fine drop from just before Y2K. Remember?
SGP:541 - 80 points.

Tamdhu 2001/2013 (53.7%, Malts of Scotland, sherry butt, cask #MoS 13050, 685 bottles)

Colour: light gold. Nose: we're reminded of the official 'batch strengths' (oh, no) but this is rather cleaner, without any sour notes, rather good cakes, biscuits, brioches, white chocolate, toasts, burnt bread, roasted nuts, toffee and fudge… With water: subtle oils, sunflower, pine nuts… Mouth (neat): very good! Treacle toffee, Malibu (just one drop, no worries), bananas flambéed (al rum, naturally) and just a big fat well-caramelised tarte tatin. With water: some lighter yet waxier developments around young cognac and… well, young cognac. How interesting. Finish: medium, waxy and oily, close to the barley, even breadier in the aftertaste. Comments: I believe we're starting to talk. Spitzenklasse at barely 12.
SGP:551 - 87 points.

Tamdhu 10 yo 2007/2018 (57.8%, Archives, Koval cask, cask #36101, 156 bottles)

Always a good laugh with these 'Fishes of Samoa' labels. We're still waiting for a 'Tardigrades of Mongolia' series! Colour: straw. Nose: these lovely oils that were to be found in the MoS and that were sadly absent from the officials. Sunflower, linseed… The doughiness is perfect too, there's some welcome chalk too, some pils and other blond beers too, and a little cottage porridge too. I mean, not supermarket porridge. With water: white asparagus and Scottish mud, more linseed oil, a little damp cardboard. Mouth (neat): very good upfront, a tad mentholy, camphory (perhaps the Koval cask?) rather fat and, indeed, oily, with an impeccable fruity barleyness. Something reminiscent of both patchouli and mothballs. With water: tends to close down on apples and wine gums. Finish: medium, with an awesome fruity barleyness. Comments: feels authentic, natural, and simply very good. Mind you, another tenner that would be ruling a show.
SGP:551 - 87 points.

There, another 2007 for good measure… Hold on, have you seen the strength?...

Tamdhu 13 yo 2007/2020 (66.5%, Or Sileis, sherry butt, cask #13822, 348 bottles)

Attempted murder once again. Bah, they'll never catch me. Colour: gold. Nose: bourbon, barley and ethanol, plus vanilla and cappuccino. No further chances to be taken. With water: wow, it's doing the peacock's tail. Apricot tarte, apple pie, soft white nougat, lemon tarte (I always insist, with meringue!), pears poached in Sauternes (try that), then peppermint, chartreuse, verbena liqueur… It seems that we unleashed a whole horde of herbal aromas! Mouth (neat): great, it seems, well I'm not sure these roasted-and-flambéed pineapples really belong here. So, with water: prickly pears, cranberries, more tarte tatin, apricot pie… and so on. Superb. Finish: goes on in the same vein for a lot of time. Some kind of sweet basil and lime in the aftertaste, which makes it very fresh in the end. Comments: great bunch of molecules but our worst nightmare here would be to have a whole double-magnum of this and no single drop of water. Exquisite youngish Tamdhu (but they should sell it with a free wee bottle of water on the side).
SGP:551 - 88 points.

Tamdhu 20 yo 1998/2018 (55.8%, Hunter Laing, The First Editions, refill hogshead, cask #HL 15369, 265 bottles)

Colour: straw/gold. Nose: the oiliness is the first thing to come through, with some sunflower oil once again, then doughs and fresh breads. Fresh kougelhopf and focaccia. Which just kills any just soul. Totally anti-modern and in a way, unwillingly anti-OB. With water: many leaves, bidis, lime leaves, breads, peelings, walnuts and just sweet apples. Wonderful nose. Mouth (neat): tighter, peppery, but bringing a huuuge walnut cake in front of us. I say that's bordering corruption. With water: complex, fat, oily, barley-y, bready. Say apricot-and-hazelnut bread, to be had with genuine goose foie gras. Boy am I not making myself hungry! Finish: medium, clean, barley-y, very nice. I'm reminded of Canadian late-harvest apple wine. Or is that Canadian apple ice-wine? Comments: not much to add, this is impeccable, tabernak!
SGP:651 - 88 points.

Tamdhu 20 yo 1998/2018 (53.3%, Valinch & Mallet, bourbon hogshead, cask # 18-2003, 161 bottles)

Colour: light gold. Nose: similar, that is to say all on some kind of waxy and oily western fruitiness and fruit breads. Having said that, this one's got many more sultanas too. With water: more breads chiming in, which is strictly always great news. In my simplistic system and on the nose, breads = good, woods = bad. Mouth (neat): how good is this! A wonderful fruit cocktail enhanced with at least three different kinds of honey (what?) and a few soft spices, around Szechuan pepper and turmeric powder. There. With water: some lemon zests, grass, green spices, green tannins. Not sure the palate was in need for water. Finish: medium, doughy and sweet. Just stewed apples in the aftertaste. Comments: another excellent middle-aged Tamdhu, perhaps just a tad less comfortable with H2O than others.
SGP:551 - 85 points.

Tamdhu 2014/2020 (62.2%, Or Sileis, Craftsman Selection, sherry hogshead, cask #13764, 275 bottles)

With a wonderful kitten on the label. Colour: full gold. Nose: hot, with a wee metallic side at first (copper coins), which I find lovely, then apple peel and rhubarb. Let's not forget that this baby was bottled at some rather lethal 62% vol. Consequently, with water: whiffs of rainwater, leaves, peelings, then sourdough and bone-dry cider. Chervil and, perhaps, a little marrow. Green walnuts, very typical indeed. Mouth (neat): some extremely punchy spicy and grassy young sherry. Quite turbulent and pretty raw when unreduced. With water: we're rather reminded of the official 'Batch Strengths' (let me ask again, what does batch strength mean?) Apple pie, walnuts, cider, a little nougat, some grass, leaves, cherries, pepper, cinnamon… The youth does feel, after all this baby's only six or even five. Gets a little sweeter and rounder after five minutes, it may need a lot of oxygen. Finish: long, a little sour and rather spicy. Green pepper and hints of burnt beans. Comments: I think it's pretty good given the age, but perhaps does it lack a little more polishing.
SGP:451 - 83 points.

Let's call this a tasting session, if you agree.

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