TTT (Three Times Tamdhu)


April 24, 2025

T.T.T. (Three Times Tamdhu)

A cheap little headline meant as a tribute to the T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune) by the great jazz pianist Bill Evans. A few days ago, we were talking with a very disheartened American friend about the state of his country, and it seems I rather lifted his spirits by saying, “America is also the music of Bill Evans” even though the latter left this world forty-five years ago.
Right, anyway, we do like Tamdhu, that’s a fact, even if we’re generally wary of the little NAS expressions like the first one we’re about to taste. Perhaps the last survivors of the ‘high-tide’ period the market went through for a good fifteen years, right up until the immediate post-Covid months…

Bill Evans, 1929-1980
(publicity photo Steve Schapiro)

Tamdhu ‘Cuatro Reserva’ (41.2%, OB, +/-2024)

Not wildly fond of those slightly daft ABV decimals that seem designed to lull your subconscious into believing this was bottled at natural strength, but let’s not dwell… Colour: light gold. Nose: rather charming, malty and leaning towards brown ale, walnut wine, lightly singed cake, a touch of menthol, dark chocolate, and instant coffee granules… Really quite pleasant, honestly. Mouth: good start, with notes of orange and walnut, more beer, preferably Belgian if you please, even a nod to stout, but the strength is too timid and it lacks a bit of backbone because of that, tending to nosedive and becoming a touch bitter and flattish. Finish: fairly short and dry. Coffee grounds, scorched nuts, dried parsley. Comments: it’s good stuff but a shame really, this would’ve been better even at 43%. Fine, 43.2% if you insist.
SGP:351 - 81 points.

Tamdhu 12 yo (43%, OB, +/-2024)

We rather liked this one the last time, back in 2021. Colour: gold. Nose: drier than the Cuatro and the like, less expressive perhaps but showing greater elegance, closer to barley, fruit, apples, quinces, stewed fruit, wholemeal bread, bitter chocolate, farmhouse cider and a touch of baker’s yeast. Forgot to mention some Oloroso-esque touches as well. Mouth: very much old-school Speyside in natural form, sherry clearly involved here, with walnut cake, orange marmalade, a discreet dab of mustard, gingerbread, a whisper of ginger ‘with elegance’, cider again, and crème brûlée… In short, nothing to complain about, really good stuff in my modest opinion. Finish: pleasantly long, with more spices, ginger, nutmeg, brown ale, a hint of green wood, and yeast. Comments: dry and exactly as I remembered it. That said, I’ve always preferred the 10-year-old, though sadly it’s not on the tasting table this time.
SGP:451 - 84 points.

Tamdhu 10 yo 2013/2014 (57.9%, Alistair Walker’s Infrequent Flyers, PX puncheon, cask #800069, 698 bottles)

No need to panic, it’s only a light PX finish. Frankly, I suspect there’s more PX in our whiskies these days than in all the actual Pedro Ximénez bottles on earth. Well, almost, and to be fair, some of these PX finishes are rather good. Colour: reddish amber. Nose: ah, clever stuff—PX nicely integrated, veering towards almost saline notes, walnut cake, dried bananas and figs, turrón, chicory-laced coffee, and roasted pecans. A pleasant surprise. With water: not a massive change, perhaps a slightly savoury, meaty edge, verging on glutamate, with some very dark, damp earth. Mouth (neat): oh yes, that’s good—dark chocolate with fleur de sel, dark tobacco, a splash of coffee liqueur spiced with pepper, a touch of mole sauce… Cleverly done and structurally sound. With water: roasted walnuts and yet more salt. Impeccable. Finish: long, full-bodied, saline, malty, leaning towards brown ale. Comments: this talks. A lovely range I’m not well acquainted with, though I really ought to pay more attention to it. Good to have goals in life, isn’t it.
SGP:462 - 87 points.

Check the index of all Tamdhu we've tasted so far