Tamdhu 2002 Single Cask #7389

Recently I created a poll on the Tamdhu Appreciation Society page on Facebook asking which of my many bottles of Tamdhu I should open next. This won hands down. Cask #7389, a first fill European oak sherry butt, was distilled on 12/12/2002, then 15 years later was selected by the 15 employees at Tamdhu to be released as part of their 120th anniversary and bottled in April 2018 at cask strength of 59.3% ABV, free from chill filtration and artificial colorant. The color is a deep dark reddish brown. The cask yielded 603 bottles. This review is from bottle 238. The nose is powerful, an intensely rich sherry bomb. Strong sherried oak with lots of wood spices, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger. Dense fruitcake, dark berries, raisins, cranberries, cherries, plums and baked apples. A thick, dark sweetness, caramel, toffee and pancake syrup. Rich chocolate sauce, milk and dark chocolate, vanilla, coffee and mocha. Leather, tobacco, black licorice and a whiff of smoke (smoke but not peaty). Orange oil, almonds, pecans, walnuts and a light mint. Cough syrup, cherry hard candies, a faint amaretto note and a trace of the barley DNA that spawned this wonderful dram. Water brings out more toffee, caramel and cherry, and it becomes slight ashy. An intense arrival on the palate with plenty of heat, but the burn is oh so good. Plenty of sherry and oak to go around. Raisins, cherries, dried cranberries and orange peel. Brown sugar, vanilla, lots of wood spice. Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, anise and pepper. Pecans, almonds, walnuts and hazelnut. Caramel, chocolate, chocolate oranges, black licorice and fennel. Dark berries like blackberries and mulberries. Everything is turned up to 11 and feels like it just came out of an oven set to broil, but it’s too good to wait until it cools down. Water reduces much of the heat, but amplifies the oak and wood spice, becomes slightly ashy and tannic. A full bodied mouthfeel that is oily, mouth coating, mouthwatering and then dry. The finish is very long with sherry, oak, berries, cherries, chocolate oranges and tobacco. Cask strength Tamdhu is really special stuff. A wonderful sherry bomb with power, complexity and tons of flavor. The Dalbeallie Dram that I had a while back was another shining example of CS Tamdhu (though it wasn’t a single cask). I can’t say this was better or worse than that one, just different. This bottle cost me around $350. Was the whisky in the bottle worth that much? No, but the significance of what the bottle represents sure is and I’m glad I bought a second bottle to save. It’s a real shame that Tamdhu is charging so much for their single cask releases, because they are damn good and should be more accessible. This one gets a near perfect 4.75. Cheers