Tamdhu 8 Years Old 2014 Cask #DL 16342 (Old Particular)

This is a Tamdhu single malt, chosen and bottled by Douglas Laing, an 8 year old Speyside malt from 2014, drawn from cask DL 16342 and bottled at 61.3%. Only 294 bottles were released. Tamdhu was founded in 1897 by a group of blenders in Knockando, in the heart of Speyside, and it was revived by Ian Macleod Distillers in 2013. For decades its malt fed blends such as the Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark.

The spirit was run through the distillery's onion shaped stills, and laid down in Oloroso casks for its sherried depth. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. At a youthful age the fruit is vivid and the sherry clear. The full bodied make carries the sherry cask well across long maturation. Sherry casks, both Spanish and American oak, define the modern Tamdhu. 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.

Bottled at a cask strength 61.3%, it is intense. The Oloroso brings a fruity, sherried depth. A baked apple and a warm ginger lift it. The close is warm, dried fruit over soft oak. This is Ian Macleod's sherry led Speysider.