Tamdhu distillery had a rebirth at the latest Speyside festival, after being bought by Glengoyne. The first two releases are this new Tamdhu 10 years and a limited edition Tamdhu 10yo 100% first fill sherry. Sandy Couts, the previous distillery manager at Glenrothes, is now running the distillery.
It’s a slight disappointment to see range makeovers and still end up with alcohol volumes of 40%. I thought we had evolved to 43% or rather 46% by now, even for standard releases?
The new Tamdhu 10 years was assembled using sherry wood, a combination of European and American oak casks, with quite some first fill barrels in the mix.
Tamdhu 10 yo (40%, OB 2013)
Tamdhu 10 yo (40%, OB 2013)Nose: there’s a nice smoothness to this nose, with quite some vanilla cake and raisin notes to it. Latte notes and honey coated almonds. Some juicy apples. Closely related to Glenrothes, or so it seems. Unfortunately there’s also a significant amount of rubber. It comes and goes but it’s hard to miss. A bit sad for an otherwise very attractive nose.
Mouth: medium weight (better than the 40% suggested I must say), with a lot of caramel and citrus notes now, both oranges and lime. Vanilla and soft ginger. Quite a big malty core as well. Cocoa.
Finish: medium long, playing the spicy card now. Pepper and grassy notes with a nice berry note in the aftertaste.
Definitely a nice entry-level malt and a good rebirth of the brand. Though blemished by some rubber and a slight lack of punch on the nose, it’s an elegant composition of first fill and refill sherry. Around € 35.
Score: 82/100