Tamdhu 10 Year

Nose: Distant sherry, raisins and cereal. Palate: A light malty arrival that moves on to a sherry, dried fruit, citrus and brown sugar development with a little spice. It’s very laid back and on the whole I felt that the palate lacked presence. Finish: Short. The spice note in the palate trails off, quickly. I'm at a loss to understand the generally high ratings I see for this whisky, here and on other sites. For my taste it’s much too thin and nondescript and I could not find any of the aromas or flavours described in the official tasting notes. In fact, I was so puzzled I poured a dram of Highland Park 12 to taste just to check that my sense of taste was not haywire today. No, the HP was just as usual. I don't know if I should rate this at all - perhaps I have a bad bottle? I can't believe that it is meant to be so feeble and distant. It’s not actively unpleasant or bad, just the definition of average. “Average" : 75/100 (2.5 stars)

I got this bottle through a mistake. I had ordered the Batch strength after hearing such great things about it, but received this instead. After getting a refund for the difference in the price as well as a $15 credit to my account for my trouble, I decided to give it a go. That was at Christmas and I’m still trying to decide what to make of this whisky. This review is based on several tastings over the last couple of weeks. In the glass it’s a beautiful copper color. It clings to the glass with a thick oily coating that develops very slow legs. It’s bottled at 43% ABV. My first impression on opening the bottle was not good. There was a significant alcohol burn and the most noticeable scent to me was something I can only describe as “stinky peat”. A strong earthy, wet, organic odor. I thought “what the hell have I got into here?” After some time in the glass the alcohol faded and I could pick out some dark fruits, but that was it. Fortunately, two weeks after opening the nose has improved immensely. The “stinky peat” has faded to an earthy tone revealing raisins, plums, and cherries. Sweetness like burnt sugar. Dark chocolate and orange peel. A light smoke and rum soaked fruitcake. Much better than the initial impression. The palate did not evolve as much over time as the nose did. At first it seemed a little hot, but that has calmed down. There is brown sugar sweetness, light smoke, and a floral peat tone. Some chocolate and sherry and red fruits. Water seems to help bring out the fruity/sherry notes for me. The finish is fairly long, with more brown sugar and dark honey. Water improves the finish as well, adding a malty cereal note that lingers quite a while. Overall this is a pretty good whisky that greatly benefitted, for me at least, from some time in the bottle. It can be found online for about $65 which makes it an average value in my opinion. 4.25/5.0. Cheers!

Possibly 5 stars. No peat, vanilla.

gelb. Im Geruch flach, sprittig. Geschmack warm und voll, fruchtsäure. Abgang fruchtig süß.

Waiting for flavor to arrive.