Tamdhu 12YO, 43% - Whisky Wednesday
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Welcome to a series on Tamdhu!
Part 1 is all about Tamdhu 12YO, and it's approachable and available nature to whisky drinkers who are looking for a sherry alternative.
Matured solely in ex-sherry casks and bottled at 43% ABV - this bottle is striking to look at, easy to drink, if not a little lacking in big flavours.
Overall, it's a whisky to certainly put your eyes on if you want something that you haven't seen or tried before.
spot on! thanks
This is a great 12 year old. Not groundbreaking but worth getting if the price is good. I'm on my second bottle... I admit I kinda powered through the first one but I'm taking my time with the second one... sometimes I try the 15 year old with it, but that one is too expensive to flash around and certainly won't be replaced (more due to its price than its quality though which is excellent). I prefer the 15 over the 12, but value wise the 12 blows the 15 out of the water.
I took some time to learn how to fully appreciate this whisky... difficult to judge based on a small sample, there's so much evolution throughout the life of a bottle.
I'm not sure how consistently across the industry, but at least some distilleries drop the sherry type designation (Oloroso, PX, etc.), resorting instead to just "sherry" on their labels, once the barrels are beyond perhaps second fill? That is, as the degree of sherry influence fades through re-use, it becomes thought less distinctive.
But note these are almost all sherry-seasoned casks... and before 1986 they were travel casks--i.e. any sherry casks in the whisky industry very seldom have been ex-solera butts. Ex-solera butts, in addition to being far more expensive than casks/butts made for travel or seasoning, arguably aren't really suited to whisky as the type of casks sought for making sherry are relatively neutral ones. Sherry isn't known for "wood-influenced" wines. At least across the 20C sherry solera butts were pretty much all US oak--way cheaper than European, and just as well-suited given that sherry producers want a neutral, porous container rather than strong new-wood influence, or the flavours of e.g. French rather than US oak as may be sought when making other types of wines like Burgundy, Bordeaux, etc.
Travel casks and sherry seasoned casks have some differences but also similarities. In both cases they were (or quickly became) largely made-to-order for the whisky industry. Using e.g. a new European oak cask for travel made no sense if it was just a matter of shipping the sherry to the UK prior to bottling. It only begins to make sense if the whisky industry asks (and pays) for such for its own use later down the line. In both cases the sherry is inside the cask for typically only a relatively short time--months or perhaps a year or so. Just as most of the influence of the sherry is imparted to the whisky in the first few months following filling, likewise before that most of the sherry flavour imparted into the wood happens in the first few months. The additive and subtractive processes in relation to wood are seldom linear.
There are differences such as:
Having, or choosing, to use sulphur candles in empty casks, opening the risk of overly sulphur-affected whiskies.
What type of sherry, or sherry-syrup, is used to "season" the cask. The sherry may be real (legal) Oloroso or PX or whatever, but it often gets later used, after the cask's been seasoned, for making things like sherry vinegar.
There are perhaps layers of misperception and mythologising about sherry casks among the whisky-drinking community, in part due to how the industry has chosen to portray things; their careful use of words. People *imagine* solera butts being "soaked" in sherry flavour across years or decades, and also later imparting it into the whisky again over years or decades. But that's not only what doesn't happen now, it also largely didn't happen like that even in the past.
There will always be sufficient sherry-seasoned casks for the whisky industry regardless of how much (or little) sherry wine is drunk. Drink more sherry if one wants but it's pretty much unrelated to the sherry-seasoned cask supply-chain for the whisky industry. But there are issues in terms of with what is chosen to season those casks, issues related to economic choices, cost-cutting, speed, etc.
Sorry, got carried away.
I agree with a little sulpher kicking around. Fair review though. My favourite Tamdhu is their cask strength. Cheers!
Must try this
I had the 10 year old and tried to buy it again but accidentally bought the 12..
I much preferred the 10.
Hmmmm, I'll have to try the 10 now.
A very fair review. Though not overly complex, I really enjoyed the sherry character that I found to be rich but well defined without being over the top. Very drinkable.
Quality stuff the 15 and Batch Strength some of my favorite drams. The 12 is nice but a tame version of Tamhdu but still worth purchasing.
Now you're in my wheel house. Tamdhu is my favourite whisky. The 12 is an amazing entry point for $100NZD (£50) but the 15 is the standout. Nuanced, layered with deep sherry flavours all for $145NZD. However the 18, for me, is good but isn't double the price of the 15 good. Some of the batch strengths are worth a look to. Will look forward to the next couple of weeks to hear your thoughts.
Quite agree the 15 is stellar and the cask strength versions are worth seeking out for sure.
For some reason I feel like your little taster bottle wasn't doing the Tamdhu 12 YO justice. Perhaps just a slight aeration thing led to loss of quality or something similar threw the whole thing off but I gotta say most of the time I agree with your ratings though this particular time I feel like the sample was not up to par. I bought a full bottle of Tamdhu 12 YO a couple of years ago, the fill level is slightly below half now and I was comparing it to a sample (from a full bottle) Tamdhu 15 YO which costs 97 Euros as opposed to 44 Euros the Tamdhu 12 YO costs here and the 15 YO barely came on top. So it feels like we are not tasting the same whisky at this time. Is there a chance you could retry this one in a pub or something similar? I would gladly pour you a dram but since UK is not in the EU anymore sending alcohol seems too complicated for me.
Yeah, the smaller bottles aren't the best way to try the styles. But I figured this was a cool way to the selection. I've made a point of trying to buy a dram of it in a bar to see if it's just my batch in particular. But, for folks who want a nice liquid, this does the job. It's just a shame about the lack of depth, and Brexit.