Tamdhu Winter Fruits (The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd.)

From The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd comes this Tamdhu, drawn from cask 9522 and bottled at 59%. Just 762 bottles were filled. Set on the banks of the Spey in Speyside, Tamdhu has distilled since 1897. Water comes from the Tamdhu Spring, the distillery set on the banks of the Spey.

Distilled in copper onion stills on Tamdhu Spring water, for a rich Speyside spirit built to take sherry wood. Maturation in a fortified cask lent red fruit and a soft spice. No age is given, but the sherried depth points to good years in oak. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and spice deepening with age. A full, fruity spirit gives Tamdhu the weight to carry active sherry wood. An in house cooperage was set up in 2019 to manage its sherry casks. Tamdhu sits among the great sherried Speysiders, a sister to Macallan in style. The Spey valley's cool air gives a slow, even maturation in the warehouses. Tamdhu was built in 1897 by a consortium of blenders led by William Grant.

Bottled at a cask strength 59%, it is intense. The wine cask adds plum and red berry over the malt. Soft orchard fruit and raisin sit behind the spice. It finishes rich, fruity and warming. This is a sherry matured Speyside single malt.