So I decided to open an official Tamdhu distillery bottle, and a Tamdhu from an independent bottler to see how the two stacked up. Would they be completely different or share much of the same characteristics? This 12 year old single malt was matured in 100% Oloroso sherry casks, as all modern Tamdhu are, is bottled at 43% ABV, is natural color of golden amber and is chill filtered. Strong and sweet raisins on the nose with lots of berries: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and cranberries. Lovely sherry, plums, tangerines, apricots and oranges and peaches. A mixed berry pie with honey and nutmeg on the top. Vanilla cream, custard, cereal malt and Grape-Nuts cereal. Green apples, Concord grapes and orange marmalade. Brown sugar and rich caramel. A touch of lemon oil and leather, with more vanilla and a bit of damp/musty earth aromatic note. The palate is malt forward with honey and oak. Sherry but not what I’d call a sherry bomb. Less sweet than the nose, a bit tannic even. A mix of berries, but cranberry seems to stand out the most. Grapes, apples, tangerines, orange citrus/peel. Confectionary, walnut brownies (first time I’ve ever had brownies in a whisky), just the right amount of wood spice; ginger and nutmeg, pie crust. Leans more towards the malty the malty/wood spice side than fruity. A medium to light bodied mouthfeel that is creamy and dry. The finish is medium length with oak, light sherry, malty and dry. A very sugary sweet nose that shifts gears on the palate to malt heavy wood spice all while being fruity throughout. I enjoyed this Tamdhu, though it was a bit of a challenge at times. More of a sherry presence would really have made this whisky shine. Still, I would come back to this one any time. A solid 4. Next up is the 13 year old. Cheers