Not the distillery but the whisky itself. Usually I have some more information in the title, like age and bottler. None of that is available here. Today’s whisky is the regular € 25 bottle of Tamdhu, no age, distillery bottling.

There’s not much to tell which hasn’t been told before. Mothballed in 2010, sold by Edrington to Ian Macleod in 2011. Quite some independent bottlings released around the date of sale of which several were very good.

Sniff:

Image from WhiskyBase

Dusty barley, raisin. Soft wholemeal bread, white pepper but very very thin. Some cotton pillow cases like those you find in a hotel (the stiff ones). The young age becomes more apparent if you smell it for a while with a spirity and cleaning product-like scent.

Sip:
Peppery at first and there’s some bite at least. Chaff from barley and wheat, soft cereal. Some anise and less thin than expected.

Swallow:
This is the point that this young dram starts to break apart. There’s a weird sharpness to it that’s not very nice and the finish is almost gone instantly after that. There is some barley but that’s about it.

At first I thought this was going somewhere, but the further you got along, the quicker it started to fall apart. The age of the whisky is not too apparent at first (probably some sherry casks giving some wood and fruity flavours) but after that it’s all down hill.

Luckily it’s cheap and still a step up from the cheaper bulk blends. A good introductory whisky into the single malt world, but not one I’d quickly recommend anyone. Even at this price there is better whisky to be found, like Glenfiddich 12.

Tamdhu, OB, 40%, about € 25.