A pair of new drams from Tamdhu honour the past

Tamdhu Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky is celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Speyside distillery.

Selected by the 15-strong Tamdhu distillery team and bottled un-chill-filtered at cask strength, only 603 individually numbered scarce bottles will be released to mark the event.

Matured in a European oak first-fill sherry butt, the single malt has a smooth, long-lasting finish and a deep natural colour.

To find the cask best suited to mark the momentous anniversary, a range of ages and cask types were selected, including European and American sherry oak, and blind-tasted by the expert distillery team.

Sandy McIntyre, distillery manager at Tamdhu Distillery, said: The distillery team had a lot of fun nosing and tasting nine samples and voting for their favourites. The final top three were then selected for a blind nosing and tasting and ranked by each of the team members to agree on the winning cask.

The victor was a European first fill sherry butt, which boasts an exceptional natural colour from years of maturing in Tamdhus traditional dunnage Warehouse Number Five.

Sandy continued: This cask is something to savour and enjoy over a prolonged period. I would expect this bottle to be opened on special occasions when you would share a dram, or two, with close friends and family or even just to keep for yourself – selfish, perhaps, but who can blame you!

Tamdhu is owned by one of Scotlands leading, independent family-owned distillers, Ian Macleod Distillers. Tamdhu Single Malt is matured exclusively in the finest Oloroso sherry oak casks from Spain, nothing less. This scarce wood bears two great gifts; colour and taste. Tamdhus deep natural amber is developed by the cask and each dram owes its rich, complex taste to the wood.

Tamdhu 120 Anniversary Single Cask Distillery Team Edition is a distillery exclusive, RRP £250/70cl bottle.

Tamdhus Dalbeallie Dram

There has been another exclusive limited edition malt, the Tamdhu Dalbeallie Dram, which has been launched at this years Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.

The bottling honours Dalbeallie train station, and the part the Victorian railway played in receiving Tamdhus precious sherry oak casks from Spain.

Dalbeallie Dram is 100% matured in Oloroso sherry casks from Jerez in Southern Spain, bottled un-chill-filtered at cask strength (62.1% ABV). Only 1,000 individually numbered bottles will be made available of Collectors Journey 01 with future limited edition Dalbeallie Dram Collectors Journey releases planned annually for each Speyside Festival.

Carefully chosen by a team at the distillery, Tamdhu Dalbeallie Dram has notes of blackcurrant jam, mint tea and Bakewell tart on the nose, with sherry oak, cream soda, orange and nutmeg on the palate – then a finish of malt biscuit, dark chocolate and cinnamon. Like every bottle of Tamdhu, the rich natural colour comes from sherry casks alone.

Sandy said: Having a new expression of Tamdhu is always exciting, and launching to guests during the Speyside Whisky Festival makes it all the more special. John Glass, our master blender, prepared a selection of drams for the team to nose and sample before we decided what we thought would best compliment the current Tamdhu range. We are absolutely delighted with the end result.”

Established in 1899, Dalbeallie Station (latterly Knockando Station), which sits next to Tamdhu distillery is a listed building and has been restored over the years to its full splendour – including a ticket office, waiting room and signal box. With finishing touches recently installed, it will host events and tastings at this years Spirit of Speyside Festival.

Sandy concluded: We owe a big thanks to the railway, and I only wish it was still running to return to those splendid days for Tamdhu. I often imagine the signalman in the old signal box on a dark and wintry night, with a blizzard outside, sitting beside the wood burning stove, waiting for the night train to pass – with a hearty dram or two of Tamdhu to warm him up! You can still see the restored signal box with the old hand operated levers if you walk along the platform”, continued Sandy.

The Limited Edition Tamdhu Dalbeallie Dram is a distillery exclusive , with RRP £90/70cl bottle.

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