A couple of days ago I celebrated my birthday with a special dram… Incidentally we’re also celebrating post n°5000 on this blog! In fact this equals well over 6500 reviews since we’re often reviewing more drams at once.
I’ve had one Tamdhu 1971 but other than that, most of what we know about Tamdhu is based on their modern releases. Now let’s add a Tamdhu 1973, a single sherry cask bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in their Reserve series in 2008.
Tamdhu 35 yo 1973 (56%, Gordon & MacPhail 2008, first-fill sherry butt #3230, 481 btl.)
Nose: an elegant mix of plums, cranberries and raisins, with tobacco and a hint of sour cherry. Some caramelized nuts and leather. In the background there is apple pie with cinnamon, as well as a volatile varnished note, maybe a few drops of raspberry vinegar as well. Then a little cocoa or cold coffee as well.
Mouth: a lot of tobacco notes again, now coupled to cinnamon and herbal tea. Quite intense, leading up to some oak polish and subtle resinous notes. Drops of clove oil. Then back to toffee and forest fruit jam, along with some refreshing minty notes. Classic leathery notes and orange peels as well.
Finish: long, with a significant oak influence. Still sour berries, more tea leaves, tobacco leaves and dark cocoa.
This is the old style of sherry, quite outspoken yet elegant. Even though the oak spice is getting a little loud at times, the overall experience is pretty great. A truly classic example of what sherry casks used to deliver.