LeeEvolved
Tamdhu Dalbeallie Dram
Single Malt — Speyside , Scotland
Reviewed
October 5, 2018 (edited August 20, 2020)
Here it is- the last dram I have a review for from our little Scottish distillery sample exchange. The Tamdhu Dalbeallie Dram was an extra pour from @Generously_Paul and on his recommendation I saved it until the very end. He loves him some Tamdhu, and I admit I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve had to this point. But this dram, well this one is special. It’s a cask strength offering that Tamdhu released as part of the Speyside Malts Festival. It’s a NAS, but boy can you sure tell there’s some old whisky inside here- and probably lots of it.
It’s bottled at 62.1% and is a beautiful copper/Amber in the taster. Very oily with heavy legs and large, slow-forming droplets. The sherry cask hits you hard as soon as you start pouring it.
The nose was hot cinnamon at first, but a little time really opened this thing up like a well written novel. Big time Oloroso sherry notes, grapes, nutmeg and roasted almonds all stood out. There was a great, fresh cut oak flavor permeating the entire dram as well.
The palate was a showcase of beautiful, deep & rich sherry. There was also some chocolate notes that cut the heat at just the right time. It was still hot, cinnamon and peppers hot, almost unrelenting. But it burned so good. I immediately recalled a pour of the old Macallan Cask Strength bottle I had earlier this summer. It was intensely sherried, but you could just tell there was a lot of 18 year old (or possible older) stock used. It added depth and serious complexity to a hot and spicy dram. It was wonderful. This offering from Tamdhu does the same thing. Amazing stuff.
The finish was long and blazingly hot. The sweet chocolate and sherry notes lingered on and on and finished with a hearty almond note, albeit quite dry.
Overall, this is a wonderful Tamdhu- easily the best I’ve tried. I should’ve bought myself a bottle when I found these for Paul. They are long gone now and you’ll have to resort to scanning European auctions in hopes of landing one. It was a good deal at $170, too. The Macallan Cask Strength bottled are fetching $500+ on the secondary market and at auction now, too. Save yourself $200-300 and seek out a bottle of this. Sadly, there were only 1000 bottles created- so you’ll have to look high and low. But, trust me, you’ll love every drop of this fantastic scotch. This is a 5 star beast- no doubt. Thanks again, Paul. It was a heckuva way to put the SDT to bed. By my count- 106 different distillery samples and 60 mostly glorious bonus extras. What a trip it was! Cheers, my friends.
170.0
USD
per
Bottle
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Good details - thanks
@PBMichiganWolverine lol. Sounds about right.
@LeeEvolved that’s my boy. You know, the liver is the only organ that can heal itself.
@PBMichiganWolverine lol that’s a fitting epilogue to our story.
@PBMichiganWolverine- in a few years? I’m drawing up plans for it now and expect it to roll out after Christmas. This is your official notice.
@LeeEvolved in a few years you should consider starting up SDT2. Hopefully by then, my collection will have not grown, @Telex will have sold his show to Diageo for millions, @Generously_Paul will have a picture of him in Tamdhu’s hall of esteemed patrons, and @Scott_E will have just finished SDT1
@Soba45 - yeah, I’m looking at about $18 per bottle shipping, but it’s still selling for $95-100 here in the US.
@LeeEvolved They will but the shipping costs duty etc would make it way more expensive than here. And I have a full bottle, plus I've filled by 2018 quota :-)
@Soba45 - yeah, I had to buy at least one. I’ve had a bottle for the last 2 years that I’ve avoided opening because I didn’t want it to be gone. Now I have a safety net bottle. If thewhiskyworld.com will deliver to you, I recommend you all jump at this chance. It’s a great deal.
@LeeEvolved Wow that's cheap for a Lore
@PBMichiganWolverine - it’s a Diageo money grab. The 8 is cask strength, though so maybe that’s why it’s so pricy.
@LeeEvolved probably a good move on the Talisker 8...those seem to be selling quite fast. I just can’t seem to fathom how a Talisker 8 is priced about the same as 18. Seems counterintuitive
@LeeEvolved sweet Christmas.
@LeeEvolved the ultra rare and closed ones, probably not—-kinda got emotionally attached to those. I got a feeling I’ll never get to taste them, and my son will probably find them when he’s in his teens or 20s, mix them with Pepsi and share with his Bud Light drinking friend. Like what I did with the 1982 Macallan Gran Reserva
@PBMichiganWolverine - I ended up buying 2 Dalbeallie, 2 more Talisker 8’s, a bottle of Laphroaig Lore on sale for $65, a bottle of Talisker 18 on sale for $75 and I just had to replace the bottle of HP25 I drank last fall. The HP core collection is again fully complete (until the 50yo hits shelves...sigh). And yes, I have a problem.
@Generously_Paul oh. I thought it suddenly increased 5x in few weeks. Never know with these things
@PBMichiganWolverine they are $170, he bought 2, plus a few others he had been eyeing
@LeeEvolved @Generously_Paul wait...I thought these were $200. How did you get to $1100?!?!
@PBMichiganWolverine - are some of your more collectible bottles going up for sale later on? Not the ghosted stuff I’m sure, but say your Laphroaig Cairdeas set? I might be interested after the first of the year on a deal for the whole set...
@LeeEvolved @Generously_Paul not me. I’ll pass. I have a lot to get rid off.
@PBMichiganWolverine - @Generously_Paul just found me a store that has some in stock. Naturally it turned into an $1100 order. Jeez!
I was actually really surprised by this. Because I generally don’t like Tamdhu, I wasn’t expecting much. But I stood corrected...this was damn good.
@Generously_Paul - if it were mine I think I’d have to revisit this one at some point. It’s just too damn good not to.
Happy to hear it didn’t disappoint! I was very pleased with myself for having the foresight to buy 2 bottles. Perhaps one day I will flip this for a big payday, or I will pop it open and savor it one more time.