Tamnavulin ex-wine OB vs IB


June 16, 2025

WF’s Little Duos, today Tamnavulin ex-wine OB vs IB

Let’s see what gives, Tamnavulin is one of those malts that are now mainly finished in wine…

(Those who love wine, love life. French poster, 1960s)

Tamnavulin ‘Red Wine Cask Edition – French Cabernet-Sauvignon Finish’ (40%, OB, +/-2021)

The line goes something like: “Through our Wine Cask Editions, we bring typical flavours from grape varieties around the world to enrich our Single Malt.” Well, at least that’s clear. Worth noting, we’d found the more recent ‘German Pinot Noir’ edition merely passable (WF 75).
Colour: gold.
Nose: blackcurrant, cherry, bay leaf, cherry beer (Belgian kriek), pink grapefruit, kirsch-soaked marzipan, a few fruit pastilles, even a bit of jelly—this smells like a pretty decent winesky, or so it seems to me.
Mouth: things start to clash here, with a bit of red wine, a salty note, bell pepper, minestrone, cherry cake, cassis liqueur, green pepper…
Finish: medium length, herbes de Provence, bay, cherry and blackcurrant liqueurs, and those purple jelly beans…
Comments: a blend that doesn’t crash entirely, to be fair, although the wine influence is arguably more dominant than the malt whisky itself. Still, remember the old adage: “Trends, like horses, are easier to ride in the direction they are going.” And when it comes to malt whisky, the trend seems increasingly to be adding wine…
SGP:751 - 77 points.

Tamnavulin 11 yo 2013/2025 (57.4%, James Eadie, Exclusive to Germany, first fill European oak oloroso butt, cask #373071, 315 bottles)

Colour: amber.
Nose: dominated by hazelnut cream, damp earth, black tea and liquorice wood. Nothing to complain about here, it’s very well put together. With water: stock broth, juniper and clove, along with puffs from a very damp old wine cellar. The best kind.
Mouth (neat): creamy, very spicy, heavily peppered and mustardy, plus bitter orange and strong dark ale. With water: the bitter orange leads the dance. Lovely pepper notes and a spoonful of chestnut cream.
Finish: very long and once again increasingly spicy. Always those lovely peppers, bitter chocolate, and then mocha without the slightest trace of sweetness in the aftertaste.
Comments: a beautifully spiced sauce, quite exotic as a whole. Well, I’m afraid it wasn’t much of a contest.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

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