The Other Ts: Tamdhu 8 year old 2005 Signatory cask #346

Tamdhu isn't exactly one of the unknown T distilleries, in fact it has a pretty large production capacity of 4 million liters of alcohol, but the vast majority of its output has been dumped into White Horse, VAT 69, Famous Grouse, and Cutty Sark.  While it was under Highland Distillers Company / The Edrington Group it lived in the shadows of its stable mates Macallan and Highland Park.  That ownership even mothballed the distillery thrice.  It was during its third closure that Tamdhu was sold to Ian Macleod Distillers in 2011.  Since then, Macleod has been actively pushing the Tamdhu single malt, first in a 10 year old form with a fancy bottle (which looks like the offspring of a St. Germain bottle and a Coca Cola bottle), then as an NAS Batch Strength bottling.

This particular Tamdhu was released by independent bottler Signatory in the United States a couple years ago.  They, along with a few other indies, have been putting young sherry cask Tamdhus on the market recently.  I've been wondering why these companies are in such a hurry to bottle these babies.  Let's see what the story is with this one.

Distillery: Tamdhu
Ownership: Ian MacLeod Distillers
Region: Central Speyside
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 8 years (Jan 27, 2005 - August 22, 2013)
Maturation: first fill ex-sherry butt
Cask#: 346
Bottle count: 615
Alcohol by Volume: 60.6%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
This sample arrives courtesy of a sample swap with Chemistry of the Cocktail.  Thanks, Jordan!

NEAT
Its color is dark gold.  The nose has one of the boldest fresh-brewed coffee notes I've ever sniffed in a whisky.  Then there's beef brisket, prunes, and dried currants.  It ends with bread pudding and cinnamon raisin bread.  Now that's a meal to fill the tummy.  The big ABV does sing out a bit in the palate numbing the tongue a little, but not too bad considering it's mostly poison. 💀  But tasty poison! 😸  Sorry, where was I? It starts with sea water, hazelnuts, and burlap.  Then salted caramel ice cream and baking spices.  It finishes sweetly and salty, with hazelnut liqueur and roasted almonds.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
In the nose, the coffee becomes toffee.  Newly split vanilla bean.  Salty beach air and a hint of fresh donuts.  The bread pudding note moves to the palate, topped with raisins.  There's also that sea water note, along with cayenne pepper.  A late note of gingerbread moves forward.  It finishes all gingery gingerbread and spicy cashews (whatever recipe my wife makes).

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose gets more syrupy and oloroso-y.  There's a hint of the coffee, then vanilla bean and cherry pie.  Lots of ginger in the palate now.  Then vanilla, caramel, marzipan, cayenne pepper, and salt.  It finishes with fresh ginger, salt, and cookie dough.

COMMENTARY:
This is anything but a shy whisky.  The nose, as you may gather from my notes, is a delight.  The palate is good too, but needs some water to push back the ethyl and youth.  While the flavors in the finish are nice, I wish they'd stuck around longer.  But for an 8 year old sherry butt, this is quite a whisky.  I can see why they'd bottle it now, firstly to please an audience looking for young yooge whiskies, but also because this sort of active cask can become too oaky/winey quickly.  I still liked it a lot, and would be happy to recommend it if you've had enough of subtlety already and can find the bottle for whatever price you deem reasonable.

(For a pair of differing opinions on this whisky see these two Reddit reviews here and here.)

Availability - it was US release in early 2014, but it may be difficult to find now
Pricing - $???
Rating - 87

The Other Ts: Tullibardine 500 Sherry Finish

I have to keep looking up who the heck owns Tullibardine distillery.  Currently it's the Picard family, ascendants of the great Jean Luc.  Before them it was the generic sounding "Tullibardine Distillery Ltd", a company who released a number of well-aged whiskies (like a '88, '92, and '93) for bargain bin prices.  A few years after the new ownership took over they decided the range needed sexying up.  Now there are four whiskies without age statement or vintage -- Sovereign, 225 Sauternes finish, 228 Burgundy finish, and 500 Sherry finish -- as well as pricey 20 and 25 year olds.  The odd looking numbers on those finished whiskies represent the general volume size (in liters) of each type of wine cask they use for the finish.

We selected the Tullibardine 500 for an OC Scotch Club event last year.  Even though it was the second cheapest whisky of the bunch, a number of attendees liked it the best.  Their enthusiasm for it motivated me to give it a try too.  While I can't say that I loved it, I remembered it being a decent step up from Glenmorangie Lasanta.

Distillery: Tullibardine
Ownership: Picard Vins & Spiritueux
Region: Mid-Highlands
Type: Single Malt
Age: ???
Maturation: first ex-bourbon casks, then ex-sherry butts
Alcohol by Volume: 43%
Chill filtered? ???
Caramel Coloring? probably not much

Unlike what the official notes say, its color is not a "dark, rich brown".  It's light gold, which is a good sign to me.  The lightly rosy nose is full of golden raisins and roasted nuts.  Some fresh stone fruits, rather than the dried ones found in many sherried whiskies.  Then vanilla bean, brine, cherries, and potpourri.  The palate is mild and malty.  Again, no dried fruits.  Roasted and slightly tart notes mingle with a light bitterness.  Hints of pepper, salt, and lemons.  Subtle dry sherry.  Totally inoffensive.  It finishes roasty and toasty.  Pepper and malt.  Light on the sherry.  Pleasantly dry.

And yeah, I didn't try this with water because I casually drank up most of my sample without realizing it.  Which is a positive, actually.  Again, to disagree with the official notes, I must say nothing about this whisky is "intense".  May I also repeat my own "Totally inoffensive" note from above.  It's clearly a thing one can drink and forget.  What I don't see is the quality that would make it worth $60+ in the US.  It's actually less than $40 in much of Europe, a price at which I would recommend it.  But if you're looking for something to drink and forget, and you want something better than Lasanta, and you have an extra three score dollars just lying around, Tullibardine 500 is not a bad option.

Availability - Some specialty retailers
Pricing - $50-$70 (US), $35-$55 (Europe, minus VAT, w/o shipping)
Rating - 81

The Other Ts: Tomintoul 14 year old (2014)

In yesterday's review of Tomintoul 16yo I wrote, "Tomintoul waters almost all of their whiskies down to 40%abv".  This includes their 10yo, 16yo, 21yo, 27yo, and even their 36y distilled in 1976.  That means they can accurately label themselves "the gentle dram" because there's a lot of water in their whisky.  A company will do whatever it wants with its products, but it's seems a shame to soak a product that took so long to produce and mature, like the 36yo.

A few years ago, Tomintoul suddenly plopped two single malts with 46%abvs into the middle of their range, a 12yo Port Wood finish and a regular 14 year old.  The company continued their good habit of keeping their prices down, so rather than charging a premium for the quality presentation, both bottles were priced less than the 16yo in Europe.  It does look like the 14 is more expensive in the US though, if you can actually find it.

I picked up a mini of the 14yo while making a gift shop stop in the Western Highlands last month.  Last week, I tasted this whisky alongside the 40%abv 16yo Tomintoul (which was also bottled in 2014).  Let's see how this uncolored, unfiltered Tomintoul tastes.

Distillery: Tomintoul

Ownership: Angus Dundee Distillers

Region: Speyside (Livet)

Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: minimum 14 years

Maturation: ex-bourbon casks, I think
Bottling year: 2014

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colored? No

NEAT
They're not BSing about the lack of added colorant.  The whisky's color is lighter than pinot grigio.  The nose is more nude than the 16's.  Lots of barley and fresh herbs.  Basil candy.  Slightly floral.  A toffee-like note floats in and out.  With time in the glass, the nose picks up a vanilla bean note and the flower blossoms get stronger.  Some fun notes of grape candy and lemon cleaner appear.  Lots of not-so-gentle heat in the palate.  There's a big roasted barley note that reads almost like coffee beans.  There are some white peppercorns, along with hints of caramel and butter.  The caramel note grows with time, as does a notebook paper note.  More heat in the dry finish.  Peppercorns and vanilla.  Not much else.  Reminiscent of a Canadian blend.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
Moments of lime candy and peaches in the nose now.  Barley and a sugary glaze.  The palate has a sharper bite; bitterer with more pepper.  More caramel, less malt.  Nillas.  A pre-distillate wash note appears after a few moments.  It finishes lightly sweet.  Corn syrup, wash, peppercorns, and Nillas.  A better, more herbal bitter note than the palate's.  Still sort of Canadian-ish.

COMMENTARY:
This feels younger than its stated age, but not in a bad way.  The barley and blossoms and herbs and wash are a nice experience, for those of us who dig that sort of thing.  Like the 16, there's something quirky going on late in that palate, but it's less of a deal breaker here.  The nose is the best part, and if the palate had matched it, I'd happily recommend this whisky and then go find a bottle for me.  It finishes unremarkably as well, like (as I mentioned above) a Canadian blended whisky.  Because I like this flair-free presentation, I would recommend this over the 16, especially if you find it priced less than its thinner older sibling.  But overall, I think I'm done with Tomintoul for the time being.  Onto another one of the Ts...

Availability - Short supply in the US, easier to find in Europe
Pricing - $60-$80 (US), $40-$60 (Europe, minus VAT, w/o shipping)
Rating - 82

The Other Ts: Tomintoul 16 year old (The Re-Review!)

I'll be taking a short break from the Scotland 2016 series as I structure the remaining posts.  In its place this week, I'll be taking a look at The Other 'T' Distilleries.  Who are the other T's?  Not Talisker, who gets all the love, and plenty of action on this site.  Hell, there's going to be another Taliskravaganza in 2017.  Not big ol' Tomatin, since I just did a week of Tomatin stuff recently.  And not Tobermory, who has been getting some serious love recently due to the success of their heavily-peated single malt, Ledaig.  I'm talking about the other guys.

---

First up is Tomintoul, a medium-sized Speyside distillery that's been around for all of fifty-one years.  They had six different owners, including a former Hitler Youth, in their first thirty five years.  It's been sixteen spins around the sun since Angus Dundee PLC took over and they haven't given up the reins yet.  The Malt Whisky Yearbook states (on page 173) that Tomintoul's 10, 14, 16, and 21 year old single malts are all kosher-certified.  If true, then these whiskies were all aged in ex-bourbon casks, unless they dug up some kosher sherry barrels somewhere.  For devout Jews who keep strictly kosher, the moment whisky touches a barrel that held non-kosher wine, it violates the Kashrut (kosher laws).  Now why wine made by goyim is considered not kosher, while whisky made by goyim can be is something you'll have to ask someone else.  I do not keep kosher, so bring on the Pancetta cask Caol Ila (redundant!)!

There are two Tomintouls I'm reviewing this week and I tried them side-by-side.  Today, it's the 16 year old.  It's true reviewed this whisky almost five years ago, for my third-ever whisky blog post.  I gave the whisky 90 points.  Please don't read that review.  Read this one instead.

My own bottle!
Sample taken from about this spot.

Distillery: Tomintoul

Ownership: Angus Dundee Distillers

Region: Speyside (Livet)

Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: minimum 16 years

Maturation: ex-bourbon casks only (confirmed)
Bottling year: 2014

Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? Yes
Caramel Colored? Yes

NEAT
Its color is of filtered apple juice.  The nose is grassy and very malty.  Big notes of anise and butterscotch sing throughout.  Smaller notes of spearmint leaves, cotton, cherry Jolly Ranchers, confectioner's sugar, and cucumber skin mingle and peek out here and there.  The palate holds apples, pears, and cracked black peppercorns.  Mild notes of vanilla and tart berries sit in the midground.  It becomes bit drying and picks up a quirky bitter note after 20 minutes in the glass.  It finishes tangy and lightly sweet with vanilla and malt.  A little bit of that bitterness too.

Though that already felt a little light, let's do what the blenders do (supposedly) and water it down further to see if it swims.

WITH WATER (~30%abv)
The nose's anise note expands further, making this feel Sambuca-ish at first.  Then comes some whole wheat crackers, mint, barley, and maybe even a little yeast.  The palate is very blendy with vanilla, sugar, and pepper, but no fruit.  Some bitter oak rolls in and stays through the finish, joined by citrus and vanilla.

COMMENTS:
Like Diageo's Singleton series, Tomintoul 16 really is a single malt for blend drinkers, because it tastes like a blend.  It can be compared favorably with the always smooth Chivas 18.  What Chivas 18 has that this malt lacks are the fruit notes (courtesy of Longmorn and Strathisla?).  Meanwhile the Tomintoul has a not-always-enjoyable bitter note which feels too oaky, while the Chivas does not.  Take away that bitter thing, and this makes for an unremarkable but wholly drinkable single malt.

It's a shame Tomintoul waters almost all of their whiskies down to 40%abv.  It would be interesting to try this one at 46%-48%abv, but I believe it'll still have a lot of youth to it, feeling younger than its 16 years, even at that strength.  What this whisky does have going for it is its price (as of today), selling for less than $50 in a few of the The States, and less than $60 in most places.  A 16yo for less than $60?  Yep, but you're going to get what you pay for.

Availability - Many specialty retailers
Pricing - $45-$70
Rating - 81 (neat only)

Single Malt Report: Glenlivet 33 year old 1981 Signatory for K&L Wine Merchants, cask 9459

Let's finish off this three-fer with one last big hit.  Much older than the previous two whiskies, 33 vs 19 vs 19, this Glenlivet comes from a refill sherry cask rather than a first fill.  And it's from a hogshead, rather than a butt.  A hogshead holds approximately half the volume of a butt, so there's more oak-to-spirit contact but since this is a refill it'll be interesting to see if that balances out the cask influence.

Ah ha! An actual bottle pic.

Like Wednesday's whisky, this Signatory was sold exclusively through K&L Wine Merchants.  The hoggie's bottle count is down to 115, so either this cask was split with another retailer or the angel's did some fair work over 33 years.

Like Wednesday's whisky there aren't many reviews online (aside from LAWS this time). Again, there's no listing for it in Whiskybase.  On a curious note, casks 9454 (34yo) and 9463 (33yo) are from the same distillation year (one with the same distillation date) have the same exact ABV.  What's the chance of that happening?  Is it a conspiracy or totally meaningless?  I'll go with the latter.....for now.  ;-)

As with the 29yo Longmorn I reviewed in June, this sample came into my possession via my installation as the substitute LA Scotch Club host for the K&L Strikes Back event at Lost Property in Hollywood on April 10th.  It was the most desired whisky that evening.  I'm first trying it now.

And, of course, a sample pic.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 33 years (November 5, 1981 - July 8, 2015)
Maturation: refill sherry hogshead
Cask#: 9459
Bottle count: 41 of 115
Alcohol by Volume: 51.1%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants

Its color is a dark orange gold, the lightest tone of the three whiskies.  The nose starts off with molasses chews, York Peppermint Patties, orange peel, and toffee pudding.  A slight seaweed note wafts in sometimes.  There are baked pears (a la old Calvados Domfrontais), sugar cookies, and perky fresh ginger.  After 30+ minutes in the glass, it picks up cherry liqueur and a subtle mizunara-like sandalwood note.  The palate is very pleasant at this strength, so I won't be adding water.  There are cherry candies and mango candies balanced by bitter baking chocolate.  Fresh raspberries, coffee beans, and a mild oak note.  After 30 minutes, the palate gains a lovely orange note and some of the nose's cookies.  It finishes with lollipops, strawberry jello, maraschino cherries, and bitter chocolate.  A moment of the good orange note too.  It more spicy than sweet, really, overall.  After a lot of time in the glass, the bitterness grows and some American oak shows up.

Winner Winner Whisky Dinner!  As good as the nose's notes may sound, I think the palate's even better.  It's merely very good until the oranges and cookies jump in, and then...yeah.  It never reads as a sherry bomb, so the refill choice served the whisky very well.  There's a grace in its age that one can't fake by trying to squeeze in more oak over a shorter period of time.  I'm guessing that American oak was used for the hogshead, which is not a problem.  I do think the wood eventually gets a bit invasive in the finish after awhile, keeping this thing from soaring even higher.  But it's a still an excellent cask and a great selection by K&L.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $400
Rating - 91

Single Malt Report: Glenlivet 19 year old 1995 Signatory for Binny's, cask 166947

The Glenlivet three-fer started out oddly yesterday.  In order to get some perspective, I tried that whisky alongside this one, which highlighted the differences between the two.  Though this is also a 19 year old first fill sherry butt of Glenlivet from Signatory's warehouses, it's its own creature.

This single cask was sold exclusively through Binny's, of Chicago fame.  Rather, it IS being sold at Binny's and remains in stock as of today.  This sample comes from the bottle purchased by My Annoying Opinions, as seen in his own review.  Thanks, MAO!

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 19 years (1995-2015)
Maturation: first fill ex-sherry butt
Cask#: 166947
Alcohol by Volume: 58.3%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: Binny's

NEAT
It's the color of Willett rye, a good color.  The nose is dense, tough to sort out at first.  Sort of reminds me of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bourbon for a few moments, also a positive thing.  Plenty of dark chocolate, cigar tobacco, soy sauce, burnt cherries, mint leaves, and honey.  Whereas yesterday's whisky was hotter than expected, today's nose shows less ethyl than anticipated.  Toffee, honey, and molasses.  Cherry cordials, almonds in dark chocolate.  Not sweet, but calmly dry.  Its long finish has chocolate, walnuts, dry sherry, and a little bit of tangy acidic citrus.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose clears up a bit, starting with sherry that's short on fruit, but big on nuts.  Um, good writing?  Then cocoa, tobacco, wood smoke, and a hint of prunes.  The palate is spicier, and more peppery, followed by black cherry gelato and an herbal digestif.  It finishes fruiter than before, with some fresh stones fruits (from the spirit?).  Toffee, bitter smoke, tart rhubarb?

It keeps on tickin' at that strength.  How about a little more water?

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose still pretty big.  More stone fruit and flowers.  Tobacco and leather.  The palate reminds me of a younger Glenfarclas.  Dry sherry, dried cherries.  Milk chocolate, black pepper, tart berries.  The sweetness remains in check.  The finish still has a good length.  Very dry, woody, and peppery now.

SOME MORE WORDS:
While yesterday's Glenlivet was full of tongue stripping tannic dryness, today's Glenlivet's dryness comes from the sherry, rendering it more palatable.  It's a solid sherry cask whisky that will appeal to those of us with dry preferences.  Nothing about it really wowed me, but it was much better than its dancing partner.  What did impress was how well it took to water, and that probably wins it a couple more points.  Ultimately my opinion of the sits somewhere between MAO's and WhiskyMusings's.

Availability - Exclusively at Binny's
Pricing - $120
Rating - 86

Single Malt Report: Glenlivet 19 year old 1996 Signatory for K&L Wine Merchants, cask #83265

Though I just did two posts about Edradour distillery, I won't be doing any Edradour whisky reviews this week.  I have no Edradour or Ballechin samples with me because 95% of my sample collection lives in another state (for just a few more weeks!).  But I do have three sherried Glenlivet samples bottled by Signatory!  (For those not in the know, Signatory Vintage owns Edradour Distillery.)

Each of these three sherried Glenlivets were sold exclusively through an American retailer. This first one was sold via K&L Wine Merchants.  I think K&L has had at least five ex-sherry Glenlivet casks from Signatory over the past few years with this cask (I think) being the most recent one.

My sample comes from an OC Scotch Club event I hosted last year.  I didn't try it at the event, so this is my first poke at it.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 19 years (May 20, 1996 - September 30, 2015)
Maturation: first fill ex-sherry butt
Cask#: 83265
Bottle count: 127 of 521
Alcohol by Volume: 50.9%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants
(Also to note, I tried this side by side with the whisky from tomorrow's review.)

NEAT
Its color is the darkest of the three whiskies this week.  The nose leads with toffee and caramel.  Then a mix of plum wine, dried currants, and creme de cassis.  Furniture polish, Cow Tales candy, and raisins.  Meanwhile the palate is hotter than I expected from the ABV.  It's floral, mouth drying, and tannic.  Some cherry candy, though more burnt butter and halvah.  It finishes with a little bitter coffee.  No, wait.  Bitter green oak.  A curious amount of vanilla meets a slight sourness.  Lots of heat and tannins.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The water blends all the parts together in the nose.  The sherry notes eventually come forward, while the oak is in the midground, and the spirit sleeps in the back.  Dried berries, caramel, orange peel, and burlap/hessian.  The palate is floral and bitter.  Strange combo.  Very bitter oak, sour lemons, with some mild oloroso notes in the background.  The finish is bitter, sour, floral, and long.

SOME MORE WORDS:
Though I find Signatory to the most reliable indie bottler when it comes to quality, they're not perfect, nor should anyone expect them to be.  (Though I have to say they're still batting about .900 for me.)  There was a '92 Strathmill that's one of the blandest whiskies I've tried.  One of K&L's single cask Imperials was much too soapy for me.  And then there's this Glenlivet.

Thanks to the fruits, the nose was enjoyable and vibrant.  It had me anticipating the palate would be similar.  The palate was not even remotely similar.  And the finish was unpleasant.  With water, the palate and finish actually got worse, leading me to spill the final sip down the sink.  My senses tell me the sherry butt was made from American oak, as the caramel, butter, and vanilla are plenty loud.  That's not a bad thing, it's actually pretty common.  But something feels cockeyed about this cask, with the aggressive tannins and bitterness in the mouth to the somewhat low ABV for the whisky's age.  What saves the whisky overall is that I found no oak problems in the good nose, and the whole thing works better when neat.

Once again, there's a dearth of reviews for this cask, something I often find with K&L exclusives.  It seems like Sku, MAO, Jordan, and I are the only bloggers who post reviews of their stuff.  Anyone else?  There isn't even an entry for this whisky in Whiskybase.  I bring this up because I wonder if anybody found this tannic/bitter issue.  So I ask you, my lovely readers, to weigh in via the comment section below.  Am I crazy (about this particular thing)?

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $90
Rating - 75 (neat only, 5-10 points lower with water)