You see, this is what really annoys me. Tamnavulin 12 was one of the single malts which really impressed me back in the early 1990s when I was just getting serious about Whisky. It was 100% Refill Ex-Bourbon barrel matured, it was clean, fresh, light, honeydew melon, honey, lemon grass, floral and delicious malty biscuits. I first drunk it whilst on my very first Speyside tour and after visiting six distilleries with a friend, we declared the Tamnavulin 12 our favourite. It was honest Speyside whisky. When it was mothballed in 1995, I went round buying up as many bottles as I could and even today, I still have a few bottles left, one open. I was delighted when they reopened the distillery in 2007. However, the owners have no confidence in their own spirit and have never bottled Tamnavulin in its natural form, but instead only release it with a finish in some exotic wine cask, which in my opinion, destroys the Tamnavulin character, depriving us of the experience of sipping a true Speyside classic. Ex-Bourbon Independent bottles of Tamnavulin are also as rare as hen's teeth.
@@RebMordechaiReviews Mate it's two different whiskies in each glass....how has nobody pulled ralphy up on it??? Never seen mahogany turn to straw colour overnight!!!!!!
It's a £23 bottle. I've several of these. Is it 90s Highland Park. Nope. Nor is it a Macallan. It is however a casual daily sipper and it sits well. I currently have a bottle sitting between a Bunna and many indie bottles. It drinks better than some bottles costing more and yes it's preferable to Ledaig easily. A reliable daily whisky. Nothing more or less.
Thank you Ralfy, for another scrupulous whisky review. A thing I'd like to add here is related to the "short finish" that you've mentioned. In my humble opinion, it's actually not that short as it sometimes happens to other scotches, like Glenfiddich or Glen Moray. What I'm able to detect here is clear winery sulfurness and also acidity of of a deep berry tea, both last pretty enough to enjoy them. I think, this red wine cask stands apart from other modern Tamnavulin editions and certainly worth to try, especially with a good seasonal discount.
I have a bottle of their Tempranillo finished single malt. Makes a good early step (after a Fiddich 12) for someone starting the single malt journey. But, too tame for anyone who has already travelled a few miles down that road.
All the Tamnavulin cask finishes are readily available at the Swedish Systembolaget for fixed SeK 330 (£24). I've tried at least 3 and they have all been the same. Nose is kind of OK, but it tastes thin and watery with a superficial cask influence and an extremely short finish. This one I rated 72 and the Double Cask 70.
Thank you Ralfy for your honest review again. Tamnavullin can be tastefull but only if you can get one of a IB. And there are a few good red wine finished whisky's but you have to search for it. I have found one a couple of years ago. The Whisky base number is 102592. One that realy is an enjoyable one.
Exactly. Though I didnt try this whisky only just the sherry cask version, but I guess it is really similar. I sometimes don’t understand these scores (like the Benriach 12 rant, for example). Sure, it’s not a complex whisky, but it doesn’t taste bad, and it’s very affordable with a good price-to-value ratio. These days, I don’t usually go below $50 since my range is between $50-$100, but I do understand people who either won’t spend or can’t afford those drams. And honestly, these spirits are still better than a $15-$30 vodka. Anyway, I’d choose Tamnavulin over JW Blue any day, especially since it’s 5-6 times cheaper. I feel like Ralfy has been a lot harsher with his whisky ratings lately, which is fine, but if that’s the case, he should review some of the older bottles, as many of those ratings don’t align with the recent scores he’s been giving.
@Martin-uj7wj Lidl Whisky you mean Ben Bracken? In Hungary it costs about £15- £17, and it much better than JW Red or Balantines, but yeah, it is an ultra budget whisky. Im sure it would get below 70 points. But I think it is time to re-review all of the Johhnie Walkers whiskies and so on, because they got much more points as they deserved on this recent Ralfy's scale.
It is so tempting to buy a cheap deal and then realize you have fallen into a trap. After all having a bottle of whisky you discover you don’t like is rather like having a pair of shoes that don’t fit - horrid. That said unless you take a chance you might never discover gold!
One of the best scotches I had was Sainsburys cheap blended whisky. for a year or two it was a blend of.... some very quality malts. I did work it out and had my suspicion confirmed by people in the know... I totally forget which distillery it was now.
There’s not much gold in the budget category of whisk(e)y. And most are in Bourbon like Evan Williams Bottled In Bond ($18), JTS Brown ($18), JW Dant ($17), and Wild Turkey 101 ($25), which are all at least 100 proof.
Aye but despite ALL that, Ralfy, myself and my experienced whisky lover pals all agree, Tamnavulin is a damn fine whisky, young or not. Forget the old malt snobbery, it's obvious that all of the expressions ate well made and it's a bit of fun to try all of them at a very affordable price. Mair strength tae yer airm, Tamnavulin. Awa wi' the snobs, we're lovin' your bargains.
I have a 13yo tamnavulin indi bottling in refill bourbon. It's an ideal summer whisky especially after dry white wine. When it's gone I will replace it with something similar from tamnavulin. I quite like their distillate. It is pretty distinctive . It's also rather like another supermarket discount fave Jura not very user friendly for the general public and so ends up in various finishes on discount sales . Funnily enough I love Jura too,also very distinctive and in many ways difficult distillate if you can find it in refill bourbon with a bit of age.
I remember liking the standard "Double Cask" version of this for the money back when it was £20. Been looking at getting a Tamnavulin from an indie bottler, but they're all just a bit too expensive.
That’s the public they target, just for supermarkets, duty free shops and so forth. When I asked do you going to bottle this beautiful cask we just tasted, the answer was no. Your best tamnavulin is in the independent markets tasted a very old one and that was amazing. They have great stuff, but their profit is in het big sale and I understand. It’s a great place to visit and when they open in a few years time the visitor centre I recommend to do a warehouse tour. Great people, lots of history and those special casks they have. 🥃
Hey Ralfy, it could be a topic for fitter philosophy: Is a bargain a bargain or just a low price for a low quality product? If we try to save money running after bargains for low quality products we are in a sweet honey trap that shows up vinegar in the end. For some people it may be okay but if you are a little bit further on the journey you let it go this „bargain“.
M&S used to have an incredible selection of different scotch... Sadly, they stopped stocking them about 4 or 5 years ago. I used to get a lot of vouchers in receipt for projects that I worked on and the only place I could spend them was Marks.. I got a bottle of Writers Tears from there... absolutely delicious.
This is usually sold for £21 at Coop. Not that much better than Lidl offerings at £18. And if you can get Glen Scotia at £25 at Waitrose, one does not see why you would bother. Unless you need a single malt on the way back from the gym.
Great review, now I now Im gonna awoid all the cheap Tamnavulin here in Sweden. Ive been had many discounted good whisky now sherry peated that im happy with from Arran and Ardnamurchan that I knew was good stuff thanks to you.
That price point reminds me of the good old days around 2007-2008 when the local spirits retailer had a good supply of the very nice Jon Mark & Robbo malt blends for $26.00 US. They too were only bottled at 40%, but were still quite tasty and beat a lot of standard single malts for nose and flavor because they were obviously sourcing good whisky to make their product. Sadly, JMR folded after only a couple of years and I haven't seen any since about 2009.
Ralfy is a hero and rolemodel for many 1malt and fine liquior connoisseurs. He has contributed a lot, and sacrificed a lot. But we must acknowledge unheralded heroes in Ralfy's victorious campaigns. Ralfy's organs. Ralfy's liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal system, tongue (especcially taste bud nerve endings), and central nervous system. All of which must hav ebeen taken a walloping , like London Blitz or Drezden Bombing, intersperced with a Belfast IRA and Provo blast here and there, from alchohol, and impurities in the spirits he has reviwed , partaken in. It is one thing to sacrifice one's time and effort in pursuit of idea. Quite another to sacrifice health and welfare of one's vital organs in pursut of 'wisdom'. I humbly ask for a secondings, with much respect to honorable gentleman and his organs. Ralfy.
Whether it's whisky or wine people get phycology anchored to 2 things, price and age, neither is a logical metric of quality but it's a learning process
I'm still waiting for Ralfy's opinion on Wireworks whisky from White Peak Distillery in Derbyshire. I have their Stout casked expression and am sitting on their very special Amarone cask.... as yet, unopened. Fascinating distillery, amazing building and dripping with integrity.
Yes White Peak are making some great stuff! I've had the stout cask (Necessary Evil finish I believe it was) and the Amarone, both lovely although I think the cask was a little too dominant with those. The spirit really shines in the Alter Ego and Bourbon Barrel releases, the latter is actually a nominee in the OSWA's at the moment!
@@simonsherratt1484 I'm lucky to live quite close so that I can visit them, it was a real pleasure to sample them and meet Max and the team. Beautiful location. i was very lucky to visit a few years ago as they were drawing out some new make spirit that had just spent 3 monthsnin the first barrels... interesting to sample. This was around the time of the flood that nearly blew the whole operation Things will only get better and better
@simonsherratt1484 As I say, I'm sittingnon the Amorone expression, they only had the one barrel and they can't use it a second time.. So, I may call that my first investment bottle... even the distillery don't have a bottle now.
I guessed that you would give it 75. It’s hard to reconcile and normalize all these different scoring systems so I generally look at each reviewer independently and consider the score relative to their average or typical score. In this case, Tamnavulin is solid no way. Regarding your opinion of Ledaig Rioja I have also heard extremely good things about the Bordeaux finish AND the Bruichladdich Micro-provenance series. I’m not a huge wine finish person but if the base distillate is attractive I’ll certainly give it a go. Cheers
I bought a sample pack of Tamnavulin last month just to have tried the brand. Double Cask, sherry finish and three different red wine finishes. Let's just say I'm done with Tamnavulin...
Nice Ralf, here in holland its getting more rainy and i like it. I would like a good sweet young laphroaig from an independent bottler that knows its casks. mmmmmm
I found this one a little too metallic for my taste. With Loch Lomond and Ledaigs wine finishes at a similar price, I'll stick to those. Also Ralfy, while I agree that a name on the bottle does increase the price, I really want more openness and integrity from the whisky world. I've a couple stellar Caol Ilas aged in Chateau Latour barrels. I'm glad Loch Lomond and Ledaig specify it's Rioja and Deanston's clear about using bordeaux cask. That says a lot more than just red/white wine finished. And even then, they're just types of wine, there's nothing said about the quality of the wine, nor the barrels.
Hello Ralfy, This Bottle is on sale regulary for 24€ without Discount here in Germany. 😅 So i guess your Discount was only Marketing, which you probably already knew 😅.
I've seen Tamnavulin on sale just about every time I check out the Whisky isle, but never onece have I been tempted to even try it. I don't know why, I guess I always felt a bit sus.
Hi Ralfy have you tried the new Port Cask Finish ? it was on sale in Tesco for £25, there are no reviews of it yet on youtube, its a okay everyday sipper.
These Tamnavulins are quite ubiquitous around spanish and italian supermarkets under the 30 euro markup where basic malts compete. They must be distilling quite an amount of whisky to fill all those bottles, on Caol Ila volumes I'd say. Does anybody know Tamnavulin's capacity?
What happened to the colour between the previous pour and the current one? I didn't know that colour from a cask finish could fade. I've never tried this, but it retails in my market for around $65-70 NZD (approx. 30-32 pounds). Cheers!
The Deanston Kentucky Cask has a similar price point but is a much better whisky. I do like seeing these reviews on cheaper whisky and cheaper whisky does have its place. I would rather introduce a newcomer to a dram of this, then say Red Label, Grants or Bells
Hmm yes so a whisky with a superficial finish, the 2 flavours arnt intergrated. Its a struggle to find a whisky with decent just ex bourbon maturation. A few distillerys come to mind.
Would be interesting to know what TamnaVulin means in Serbian language. Tamna means Dark, while Vulin is a surname, diminutive of Wolf, kind of DarkLittleWolf. LagaVulin, Laga diminutive of Lie, so LittleLieLittleWolf.
Had the Tamnavulin Sherry Cask Edition earlier this year and have to say it was the most unimpressive single malt i have had all year. So the price in my opinion is justified. Not worth more than a 25 pounds.
I hate to be rude. But i think perhaps it best if ralfy stick to opining on what he knows best. Some of what he says here about wine borders on misinformation. Rioja not an especially tannic wine when young. Young Rioja can be very plush. And rather than being better when young it is famous for its wines aged for many years in cask before release in bottle. It is in fact one of very few red table wines that are often released after long cask aging like whisky! And... most young fine french wine is very tannic so why wouldnt its casks work for aging whisky? Perhaps Rioja cask work well because they make use of American oak casks to age the wine, you know like bourbon casks or sherry casks... And to be honest its a bit disappointing to hear what amounts to little more than prejudice against wine enthusiasm. I love both and know fans of both. There is plenty of pretension all round. And at least you might see some women at a wine tasting! Its whisky that is becoming exclusive and very poor value for money. Good wine (£10+) is far far more affordable and accessible than a good single malt (these days? what can you find for £50?) and if people think its not for them thats a real shame. They are missing out. I recently purchased a case of 6 bottle of Ch Courac a Cote du Rhone for £58.50. It is delicious now and will improve for at least 5 years. Good lucky finding anything as accessible as that in whisky world.
I have always shied away from Tamnavulin and Singleton due to the reviews I've read on them. Having already had a really flat bottle of Bunnahabhain 12 and a poor bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail which was all semi-flat sherry and no peat, I am in no mood to even attempt to jump in on bad quality low cost bottles. It is bad enough when you get a bad batch of well established distilleries. Yes, these others may be cheaper, but if I am going to go cheap, my bottles are going to be ones like Arran 10, Ardbeg Wee Beastie, and Deanston 12. At least I know they will still taste good.
Look at this Dacia, it's basic and does the job. Look at this BMW, its high quality and is better. It's also 3x more expensive. This is basically what's been said here.
You see, this is what really annoys me. Tamnavulin 12 was one of the single malts which really impressed me back in the early 1990s when I was just getting serious about Whisky. It was 100% Refill Ex-Bourbon barrel matured, it was clean, fresh, light, honeydew melon, honey, lemon grass, floral and delicious malty biscuits. I first drunk it whilst on my very first Speyside tour and after visiting six distilleries with a friend, we declared the Tamnavulin 12 our favourite.
It was honest Speyside whisky. When it was mothballed in 1995, I went round buying up as many bottles as I could and even today, I still have a few bottles left, one open. I was delighted when they reopened the distillery in 2007. However, the owners have no confidence in their own spirit and have never bottled Tamnavulin in its natural form, but instead only release it with a finish in some exotic wine cask, which in my opinion, destroys the Tamnavulin character, depriving us of the experience of sipping a true Speyside classic. Ex-Bourbon Independent bottles of Tamnavulin are also as rare as hen's teeth.
@@RebMordechaiReviews Mate it's two different whiskies in each glass....how has nobody pulled ralphy up on it???
Never seen mahogany turn to straw colour overnight!!!!!!
It's a £23 bottle.
I've several of these.
Is it 90s Highland Park. Nope.
Nor is it a Macallan.
It is however a casual daily sipper and it sits well.
I currently have a bottle sitting between a Bunna and many indie bottles.
It drinks better than some bottles costing more and yes it's preferable to Ledaig easily.
A reliable daily whisky.
Nothing more or less.
Thank you Ralfy, for another scrupulous whisky review.
A thing I'd like to add here is related to the "short finish" that you've mentioned.
In my humble opinion, it's actually not that short as it sometimes happens to other scotches, like Glenfiddich or Glen Moray. What I'm able to detect here is clear winery sulfurness and also acidity of of a deep berry tea, both last pretty enough to enjoy them.
I think, this red wine cask stands apart from other modern Tamnavulin editions and certainly worth to try, especially with a good seasonal discount.
I have a bottle of their Tempranillo finished single malt. Makes a good early step (after a Fiddich 12) for someone starting the single malt journey. But, too tame for anyone who has already travelled a few miles down that road.
All the Tamnavulin cask finishes are readily available at the Swedish Systembolaget for fixed SeK 330 (£24).
I've tried at least 3 and they have all been the same. Nose is kind of OK, but it tastes thin and watery with a superficial cask influence and an extremely short finish. This one I rated 72 and the Double Cask 70.
Thank you Ralfy for your honest review again. Tamnavullin can be tastefull but only if you can get one of a IB. And there are a few good red wine finished whisky's but you have to search for it. I have found one a couple of years ago. The Whisky base number is 102592. One that realy is an enjoyable one.
Or at the warehouse tasting! 😉
Wow ! That colour difference between the two pours was amazing.
I love Tamnavulins, had this one, but also their lovely sherry cask edition.
Great value for money!
Exactly. Though I didnt try this whisky only just the sherry cask version, but I guess it is really similar.
I sometimes don’t understand these scores (like the Benriach 12 rant, for example). Sure, it’s not a complex whisky, but it doesn’t taste bad, and it’s very affordable with a good price-to-value ratio. These days, I don’t usually go below $50 since my range is between $50-$100, but I do understand people who either won’t spend or can’t afford those drams. And honestly, these spirits are still better than a $15-$30 vodka.
Anyway, I’d choose Tamnavulin over JW Blue any day, especially since it’s 5-6 times cheaper. I feel like Ralfy has been a lot harsher with his whisky ratings lately, which is fine, but if that’s the case, he should review some of the older bottles, as many of those ratings don’t align with the recent scores he’s been giving.
@Martin-uj7wj Lidl Whisky you mean Ben Bracken? In Hungary it costs about £15- £17, and it much better than JW Red or Balantines, but yeah, it is an ultra budget whisky. Im sure it would get below 70 points. But I think it is time to re-review all of the Johhnie Walkers whiskies and so on, because they got much more points as they deserved on this recent Ralfy's scale.
It is so tempting to buy a cheap deal and then realize you have fallen into a trap. After all having a bottle of whisky you discover you don’t like is rather like having a pair of shoes that don’t fit - horrid. That said unless you take a chance you might never discover gold!
One of the best scotches I had was Sainsburys cheap blended whisky.
for a year or two it was a blend of.... some very quality malts. I did work it out and had my suspicion confirmed by people in the know...
I totally forget which distillery it was now.
There’s not much gold in the budget category of whisk(e)y. And most are in Bourbon like Evan Williams Bottled In Bond ($18), JTS Brown ($18), JW Dant ($17), and Wild Turkey 101 ($25), which are all at least 100 proof.
Aye but despite ALL that, Ralfy, myself and my experienced whisky lover pals all agree, Tamnavulin is a damn fine whisky, young or not. Forget the old malt snobbery, it's obvious that all of the expressions ate well made and it's a bit of fun to try all of them at a very affordable price. Mair strength tae yer airm, Tamnavulin. Awa wi' the snobs, we're lovin' your bargains.
I got 2 bottles of glen Keith for £11 each from Tesco on clearance magnificent whisky for the price
Reminds me of the episode of the Inspector Morse series where ‘Daedalus’, the crossword setter drinks Tamnavulin single malt to keep his mind sharp.
I like these videos where you look at the lower end of the market
i agree
I have a 13yo tamnavulin indi bottling in refill bourbon. It's an ideal summer whisky especially after dry white wine. When it's gone I will replace it with something similar from tamnavulin. I quite like their distillate. It is pretty distinctive . It's also rather like another supermarket discount fave Jura not very user friendly for the general public and so ends up in various finishes on discount sales . Funnily enough I love Jura too,also very distinctive and in many ways difficult distillate if you can find it in refill bourbon with a bit of age.
I remember liking the standard "Double Cask" version of this for the money back when it was £20. Been looking at getting a Tamnavulin from an indie bottler, but they're all just a bit too expensive.
That’s the public they target, just for supermarkets, duty free shops and so forth. When I asked do you going to bottle this beautiful cask we just tasted, the answer was no. Your best tamnavulin is in the independent markets tasted a very old one and that was amazing. They have great stuff, but their profit is in het big sale and I understand. It’s a great place to visit and when they open in a few years time the visitor centre I recommend to do a warehouse tour. Great people, lots of history and those special casks they have. 🥃
Hey Ralfy, it could be a topic for fitter philosophy: Is a bargain a bargain or just a low price for a low quality product? If we try to save money running after bargains for low quality products we are in a sweet honey trap that shows up vinegar in the end. For some people it may be okay but if you are a little bit further on the journey you let it go this „bargain“.
Marks and Spencers blue topped 42% Whisky, is smooooooooth and worth giving a go. the Tamnavulin was used as a mixer with some coke.
M&S used to have an incredible selection of different scotch...
Sadly, they stopped stocking them about 4 or 5 years ago.
I used to get a lot of vouchers in receipt for projects that I worked on and the only place I could spend them was Marks.. I got a bottle of Writers Tears from there... absolutely delicious.
Cheers Ralfy 🥃
I'm curious as to Ralfy's scoring. What quantifies a 50 or 60 score? Total drain pour swill? Does it have to contain arsenic?
I have been looking at these (mostly because of the price) but due to the "low" abv never made the purchase. Thanks for confirming my suspicions 😁
What really struck me was the difference in colour between the pours
Personally I think he added a teaspoon of water by habit & forget to say. To check if it got cloudy.
That haze is noteworthy nonetheless
Have you ever seen a whisky change colour overnight due to added water?!?!?!
He's mixed up his whisky again guys
Have you tried Glen Moray Twisted Vine? Similar price, 8 years old, fully matured in Cognac
Kavalan Solist French Wine Cask is a very good dram, but expensive.
This is usually sold for £21 at Coop. Not that much better than Lidl offerings at £18. And if you can get Glen Scotia at £25 at Waitrose, one does not see why you would bother.
Unless you need a single malt on the way back from the gym.
Great review, now I now Im gonna awoid all the cheap Tamnavulin here in Sweden. Ive been had many discounted good whisky now sherry peated that im happy with from Arran and Ardnamurchan that I knew was good stuff thanks to you.
I had this one, and for the price it is good. But when i wan't a good red wine cask, i go for the Deanston 10 bordeaux cask. Man, i love Deanston haha
french wines are described by region (e.g. Bourdeau) rather than grape variety
That price point reminds me of the good old days around 2007-2008 when the local spirits retailer had a good supply of the very nice Jon Mark & Robbo malt blends for $26.00 US. They too were only bottled at 40%, but were still quite tasty and beat a lot of standard single malts for nose and flavor because they were obviously sourcing good whisky to make their product. Sadly, JMR folded after only a couple of years and I haven't seen any since about 2009.
Are you sure those are from the same bottle? The fresh pour looks like a red wine, and the old pour looks like a white wine. 😮 lol
Ralfy is a hero and rolemodel for many 1malt and fine liquior connoisseurs. He has contributed a lot, and sacrificed a lot. But we must acknowledge unheralded heroes in Ralfy's victorious campaigns. Ralfy's organs. Ralfy's liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal system, tongue (especcially taste bud nerve endings), and central nervous system. All of which must hav ebeen taken a walloping , like London Blitz or Drezden Bombing, intersperced with a Belfast IRA and Provo blast here and there, from alchohol, and impurities in the spirits he has reviwed , partaken in. It is one thing to sacrifice one's time and effort in pursuit of idea. Quite another to sacrifice health and welfare of one's vital organs in pursut of 'wisdom'.
I humbly ask for a secondings, with much respect to honorable gentleman and his organs. Ralfy.
Just an FYI, but Ralphy has been hitting the gym pretty hard for years. He's much more fit than I am!
Ralfy in the past has vlogged about teaspoon blending to improve a mediocre dram. Can anyone recommend a malt that would enhance this Tammy?
the sherry cask finish benefits from a shot of Glenfarclas 105, it helps with the sour taste i get with Tamnavulins
Thanks for that, I think the brother has a few drams of that left, time to visit to return his Makita me thinks.
Whether it's whisky or wine people get phycology anchored to 2 things, price and age, neither is a logical metric of quality but it's a learning process
I'm still waiting for Ralfy's opinion on Wireworks whisky from White Peak Distillery in Derbyshire.
I have their Stout casked expression and am sitting on their very special Amarone cask.... as yet, unopened.
Fascinating distillery, amazing building and dripping with integrity.
Yes White Peak are making some great stuff! I've had the stout cask (Necessary Evil finish I believe it was) and the Amarone, both lovely although I think the cask was a little too dominant with those. The spirit really shines in the Alter Ego and Bourbon Barrel releases, the latter is actually a nominee in the OSWA's at the moment!
@@simonsherratt1484 I'm lucky to live quite close so that I can visit them, it was a real pleasure to sample them and meet Max and the team.
Beautiful location.
i was very lucky to visit a few years ago as they were drawing out some new make spirit that had just spent 3 monthsnin the first barrels... interesting to sample. This was around the time of the flood that nearly blew the whole operation
Things will only get better and better
@simonsherratt1484 As I say, I'm sittingnon the Amorone expression, they only had the one barrel and they can't use it a second time..
So, I may call that my first investment bottle... even the distillery don't have a bottle now.
Thanks Ralfy, but I'll pay a little extra for 46%🥃 NCF & no colour added as you all drummed into us, so mission accomplished Sir😇
I guessed that you would give it 75. It’s hard to reconcile and normalize all these different scoring systems so I generally look at each reviewer independently and consider the score relative to their average or typical score. In this case, Tamnavulin is solid no way. Regarding your opinion of Ledaig Rioja I have also heard extremely good things about the Bordeaux finish AND the Bruichladdich Micro-provenance series. I’m not a huge wine finish person but if the base distillate is attractive I’ll certainly give it a go. Cheers
Ledaig Rioja is worth a buy, did it twice yet.
The only red wine whiskys which worked for me were the Longrow Red. As far as I can say these never disapointed me.
I bought a sample pack of Tamnavulin last month just to have tried the brand. Double Cask, sherry finish and three different red wine finishes. Let's just say I'm done with Tamnavulin...
In France we haven't this one but its "brother" : TAMNAVULIN Red Wine Cask Spanish Grenache.
Did you taste it ?
Nice Ralf, here in holland its getting more rainy and i like it.
I would like a good sweet young laphroaig from an independent bottler that knows its casks.
mmmmmm
I found this one a little too metallic for my taste. With Loch Lomond and Ledaigs wine finishes at a similar price, I'll stick to those.
Also Ralfy, while I agree that a name on the bottle does increase the price, I really want more openness and integrity from the whisky world. I've a couple stellar Caol Ilas aged in Chateau Latour barrels. I'm glad Loch Lomond and Ledaig specify it's Rioja and Deanston's clear about using bordeaux cask. That says a lot more than just red/white wine finished. And even then, they're just types of wine, there's nothing said about the quality of the wine, nor the barrels.
Hello Ralfy,
This Bottle is on sale regulary for 24€ without Discount here in Germany. 😅
So i guess your Discount was only Marketing, which you probably already knew 😅.
He lives on the Isle of Man, all costs more there. Plus his Majesty's excise and duties for the UK❤
I've seen Tamnavulin on sale just about every time I check out the Whisky isle, but never onece have I been tempted to even try it. I don't know why, I guess I always felt a bit sus.
Hi Ralfy have you tried the new Port Cask Finish ? it was on sale in Tesco for £25, there are no reviews of it yet on youtube, its a okay everyday sipper.
These Tamnavulins are quite ubiquitous around spanish and italian supermarkets under the 30 euro markup where basic malts compete. They must be distilling quite an amount of whisky to fill all those bottles, on Caol Ila volumes I'd say.
Does anybody know Tamnavulin's capacity?
4.3m litres of alcohol a year according to Whiskypedia
What happened to the colour between the previous pour and the current one? I didn't know that colour from a cask finish could fade. I've never tried this, but it retails in my market for around $65-70 NZD (approx. 30-32 pounds). Cheers!
He's mixed his whisky up.....there's no way it's the same liquid in both glasses......
So you’re saying that this won’t replace my Australian Shiraz Longrow Red? 😏 Sláinte, Ralfy!
My own.personal tastes mind you, but I've not been overwhelmed by Tamnavulin and wouldn't go out of my way to try it again.
Crazy considering I just got a glengoyne 12 for a tenner more - ridiculous jump up in quality
Jello shots. Ralphy, please review jello shots. They could be made with whisky.
The Deanston Kentucky Cask has a similar price point but is a much better whisky. I do like seeing these reviews on cheaper whisky and cheaper whisky does have its place. I would rather introduce a newcomer to a dram of this, then say Red Label, Grants or Bells
Definitely a drinkable dram. Good in cocktails as well.
Those two glasses do not contain the same whisky.....cmon guys get real!!!!!
How can a dark mahogany liquid turn to straw overnight?!?!?
Repeatedly commenting your same replies to other replies randomly wont get you anywhere. Lol what a loser
Well, no surprise here.
Hmm yes so a whisky with a superficial finish, the 2 flavours arnt intergrated. Its a struggle to find a whisky with decent just ex bourbon maturation. A few distillerys come to mind.
Would be interesting to know what TamnaVulin means in Serbian language. Tamna means Dark, while Vulin is a surname, diminutive of Wolf, kind of DarkLittleWolf.
LagaVulin, Laga diminutive of Lie, so LittleLieLittleWolf.
Had the Tamnavulin Sherry Cask Edition earlier this year and have to say it was the most unimpressive single malt i have had all year. So the price in my opinion is justified. Not worth more than a 25 pounds.
I hate to be rude. But i think perhaps it best if ralfy stick to opining on what he knows best. Some of what he says here about wine borders on misinformation. Rioja not an especially tannic wine when young. Young Rioja can be very plush. And rather than being better when young it is famous for its wines aged for many years in cask before release in bottle. It is in fact one of very few red table wines that are often released after long cask aging like whisky! And... most young fine french wine is very tannic so why wouldnt its casks work for aging whisky? Perhaps Rioja cask work well because they make use of American oak casks to age the wine, you know like bourbon casks or sherry casks...
And to be honest its a bit disappointing to hear what amounts to little more than prejudice against wine enthusiasm. I love both and know fans of both. There is plenty of pretension all round. And at least you might see some women at a wine tasting! Its whisky that is becoming exclusive and very poor value for money. Good wine (£10+) is far far more affordable and accessible than a good single malt (these days? what can you find for £50?) and if people think its not for them thats a real shame. They are missing out. I recently purchased a case of 6 bottle of Ch Courac a Cote du Rhone for £58.50. It is delicious now and will improve for at least 5 years. Good lucky finding anything as accessible as that in whisky world.
I have always shied away from Tamnavulin and Singleton due to the reviews I've read on them.
Having already had a really flat bottle of Bunnahabhain 12 and a poor bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail which was all semi-flat sherry and no peat, I am in no mood to even attempt to jump in on bad quality low cost bottles. It is bad enough when you get a bad batch of well established distilleries.
Yes, these others may be cheaper, but if I am going to go cheap, my bottles are going to be ones like Arran 10, Ardbeg Wee Beastie, and Deanston 12. At least I know they will still taste good.
Never been a fan of Tamnavulin anyways.
Look at this Dacia, it's basic and does the job.
Look at this BMW, its high quality and is better. It's also 3x more expensive.
This is basically what's been said here.
Awful stuff, occasionally appears from indie’s but often very bland. Cadenhead’s did a Manzanilla Finish not long ago that was solid
I'm pretty sure Tamnavulin was the worst whisky that I ever had.
Remember when our pound was nearly 2 dollars worth.... this country is fkd