Tamdhu 15 Years Old 2007 Cask #DL 16954 (Old Particular)

Douglas Laing bottled this Tamdhu single malt matured to 15 year old from 2007, drawn from cask DL 16954 and bottled at 48.4%. A release of 349 bottles. Founded in 1897 in Knockando, Speyside, Tamdhu is a sherry led Speyside malt. Tamdhu ran the last Saladin box maltings in Scotland, the boxes still standing on site.

The spirit was made in copper stills and filled into sherry seasoned oak, for a fragrant, fruity spirit with weight for the cask. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, gentle American oak beneath the fruit. Around the mid teens the malt gains a fuller dried fruit over the orchard fruit. Long ageing turns the orchard fruit towards fig, raisin and a warm spice. Tamdhu was built in 1897 by a consortium of blenders led by William Grant. The arrival of the Strathspey railway in the 1860s made the distillery possible. For decades its malt fed blends such as the Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark.

At its natural 48.4% it is concentrated. Honeyed vanilla and apple come through from the oak. The mouthfeel is rich, the fruit carried on a sherried body. A long, sherried finish carries a nutty depth. This is a rich, sherried Speyside single malt.