Tamnavulin Port Cask Edition Cask #Batch 010668

This Tamnavulin, an official release, drawn from cask Batch 010668 and bottled at 40%. Tamnavulin, founded in 1966 by Invergordon Distillers on the River Livet in the Livet glen, is the mill on the hill. It is now owned by the Philippine Emperador group, through Whyte and Mackay.

It was worked through purifier stills for a clean, fruity spirit, for the light, fruity Speyside make Tamnavulin is known for. A wine cask finish shaped it, the berry fruit meeting the light spirit. Without an age statement, the malt is clean, fruity and smooth. Racked warehousing on site gives a steady maturation in the glen. It is one of the few distilleries to sit right on the River Livet. For decades the malt fed the Whyte and Mackay blends rather than single malt. Mothballed in 1995, the distillery reopened in 2007 and launched its single malt in 2016. Purifiers on the spirit stills keep only the lightest vapours, for a delicate spirit.

At 40% it is clean and smooth. The Port cask adds plum and red berry, and orchard fruit and a grassy lift sit alongside a quiet vanilla from the refill oak. A ripe pear and a gentle spice lift it. A fruity, lightly spiced finish lingers. This is the smooth face of Speyside whisky.