There’s a good handful of distilleries in Scotland that have made their name from good sherry cask stocks. Tamdhu is one such name.
Launched back in 2015, the Batch Strength series looks to celebrate the Sherry only maturation of its malts, but delivered without an express age statement and a significant alcohol strength – not necessarily cask strength, but batch strength.
Matured exclusively in Oloroso sherry oak casks, these notes are particularly in relation Batch 3 (stylised as 003) was released in 2017 at £60. Tamdhu are now up to Batch 008 currently, priced at £96 a bottle on their site.
Here Batch 003 was captured at 58.3% ABV, and represents the bottle that started to garner the accolades for the series.
Nose
After the obvious initial plume of strong booze, there’s classic sherry notes of dark fruits but also more subtle flavours managing to poke through including Vanilla, apple, Pear and a smooth buttery toffee underneath but that cinnamon spice is champion
Taste
Whooo it’s big. Big strength. Big sherry notes. (It’s their Ronseal-style approach tbh) give it a mo and the rich dark fruit flavours come through – raisins, orange peel, figs and a slight bitterness and almost herby note that brings rich chocolate and cola cubes to mind.
Finish
The tongue, tastebuds, and tonsils all get bit of a workout on this one as the alcohol, oak, and sherry spices all tingle away with a real zip.
Verdict
It’s Tamdhu through and through. Amped up for sure. Glad they’ve continued the series. Being batch release they don’t have to hold to a single tasting profile, but the core message is consistent: we do Sherry-forward whisky and you’re going to bloody well enjoy it.
The nose into the palate is the whisky equivalent of “When the riff comes back but slower”
It’s big, but not blow your socks off big. Don’t get me wrong, they’re slipping down the ankle for sure. The choice for the batch strength (not cask strength!) seems to get it right. Matching the power of the significant sherry seasoning with the punch and weight of the alcohol strength. I mean… I wouldn’t open the night with it but…
Reaching £100 seems a reasonable price in today’ market / I mean compared to other prices, not in terms of £100 ever being an easy decision to spend on whisky. What I do like is that Tamdhu’s bottles do seem to be premium (oh the P word) and they’re delivering big on Sherry whilst still half the price an equivalent Macallan would be. You certainly get your share of alcohol too, and at those strengths you’d be forgiven for adding water to temper it a little, or even find your preferred strength. What I’m saying is: there’s significant quality and bang for your buck here.
M
Dram disclosure: The sample was received as part of a promotional Tweet Tasting session and celebration of the Spirit of Speyside Festival 2018. The sample was largely untouched and thankfully recently rediscovered. All notes are intended to be an independent, fair, and honest review of the whisky. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.
whisky unplugged 
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