Tamdhu 14 Years Old 2007 Cask #HL 18819 (Old Malt Cask)

This is a Tamdhu single malt, chosen and bottled by Hunter Laing, a 14 year old release from 2007, drawn from cask HL 18819 and bottled at 50%. 739 bottles in all. Tamdhu, built in 1897 on a Speyside site once known for smuggling, is famed for its sherry cask whisky. For decades its malt fed blends such as the Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark.

Distilled on soft Speyside water in onion stills, building the rich, sherried style Tamdhu is known for. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. By this age the sherried spirit rounds into dried fruit and a nutty depth. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the sherried, fruity core over time. The name Tamdhu is Gaelic for little dark hill, and the architect was Charles Doig. The River Spey runs past the distillery on its way to the Moray coast. Ian Macleod runs Tamdhu alongside Glengoyne and Rosebank. Water is drawn from the Tamdhu Spring on the Speyside site.

Undiluted at 50%, it is layered. The Oloroso brings raisin, walnut and dark sugar. Beneath it run fig, raisin and a warm spice. Raisin and a warm ginger draw out the close. This is Ian Macleod's sherry led Speysider.