Tamdhu 12yo

It was in 1863 that the Strathspey railway first graced Speyside's locality. A dependable means of travel was, at last, brought to the area and several distilleries were built as a result. Tamdhu was one of them; founded in 1896 by a group of whisky blenders, including William Grant and Sons among others, and designed by the famed, prolific Speyside distillery architect, Charles Doig of Elgin.

The distillery is of good size; her six stills have a total capacity of four million litres annually, though at present Tamdhu runs at three quarters of this. Tamdhu installed a substantial Saladin box malting system in 1950. One of but a handful of distilleries with onsite maltings and the only one still using a Saladin box, Tamdhu produces all of its own malt as well as enough to supply other distilleries in the Edrington group, notably the Glenrothes distillery. Tamdhu lies on the banks of the mighty River Spey, not far from Knockando. The Knockando distillery's ancient railway station has since been converted into the Tamdhu visitor centre.

Tamdhu 12yo is matured exclusively in a combination of first-fill and refill Oloroso sherry casks for 12 years. Sherried Speyside whisky is always a winner, with oodles of fruit and spice. Check out that handsome retro bottle, too. Stunning stuff.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Orange Starburst, cinnamon swirls and toasted oak, along with some mint chocolate.

Palate: Lots of plum, juicy raisin, fried banana, raspberry jam doughnuts and oak spice.

Finish: Chocolate fudge and just a whisper of smoke, with sweet cinnamon returning.