
June 5, 2025

WF’s Little Duos, today Tamdhu OB vs IB

Not the first time we’ve done this, but it’s always a pleasure. We also appreciate that Tamdhu seems to avoid maturing all its younger or mid-aged malts in unlikely wine casks, as has become the norm elsewhere—much to our dismay at times.

Tamdhu ‘Quercus Alba Distinction Batch 1’ (48%, OB, 2021)

Here we are once again a little behind the times; I now realise we’ve already tasted more recent batches of this variant matured in ‘American Oak Oloroso Sherry Cask’. I’ll take the opportunity to remind that the vast majority of sherry casks used in actual sherry production (not whisky seasoning) have been made of American oak since the 18th century, and that Spanish or European oak remains the exception to this day (I believe it’s still under 10%). Colour: gold. Nose: very much on cider and apple juice to start, then drifting towards walnuts, buttered popcorn, nougat, and once again very ripe apples, almost apple compote. One might toss in a blueberry muffin for good measure. Mouth: rather more sherried than on the nose, fairly soft for an oloroso, but green spices, bay leaf, cherry leaves and a touch of rosehip infusion all provide definition before it veers into classic green walnut liqueur (nocino) territory, and hence some unmistakably ‘oloroso’ notes. Finish: rather long, pleasantly sour, still focused on fresh walnuts with little sparks of sorrel and English mustard. Comments: I get the impression each batch of this expression shows a distinctly different personality. Cracking level for a modest NAS.
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Tamdhu 16 yo (51.4%, A Dream of Scotland, Space Girls, 1st fill ruby Port finish, 268 bottles, 2025)

People sometimes think that oxidative sherry is a red wine (it’s dark indeed but in fact it’s made from white grapes), and therefore assume there’s little real difference between sherry and port, when in truth, there’s rather a lot, especially when it comes to ruby port. Ruby is a young style, often matured in stainless steel to preserve its fresh fruitiness, quite unlike the more oxidised tawnies. Oh, and we do enjoy the pin-up artwork, it brings back the good old days, doesn’t it (ha). Colour: salmon or onion skin. Nose: strong impressions of red fruit jams and liqueurs, but nothing vulgar, mind you. It leans notably towards well-mannered cherries, shall we say. There’s also plenty of strawberry jam, blackberry jelly, and a touch of cranberry sauce that would pair nicely with a bit of venison. With water: little change, though a combo of cinnamon, mild bell pepper and cherry stalks gently emerges. Mouth (neat): spicy red fruit jam galore—green pepper, cinnamon, clove, caraway… With water: citrus bursts from the woodwork, bitter orange, pink grapefruit, a dab of green oak honey… Finish: fairly long, always led by the young port, but the meeting seems to have been carefully arranged. Comments: in the end, the clash we half-expected never quite arrived. But ruby, my dear! (well, that was clever, S…)
SGP:561 - 84 points.

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