Tamnavulin was initially arrange in 1966. It’s located within the tiny village of Tomnavoulin, within the Speyside area of Scotland. Tamnavulin initially produced malt whisky for blenders resembling Whyte & Mackay, Crawfords, and Mackinlay’s, however in 1995 the distillery was mothballed because of an oversupply of whisky on the time and declining demand – a destiny shared by many distilleries in the course of the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties.
Yet with renewed international curiosity in whisky (and Scotch specifically), they reopened once more in 2007, they usually now retail a spread of their very personal single malt whiskies. The identify “Tamnavulin” interprets to “mill on the hill” in Gaelic, and is a reference to a historic previous mill situated on the positioning of the distillery.
One of many extra uncommon issues about Tamnavulin that I’ve seen is their lack of releases bearing an age assertion. Whilst you would possibly be capable to discover the odd limited-edition launch with an age assertion, I’ve by no means seen one myself, and there don’t appear to be any listed on the distillery’s web site. I did come upon the existence of some classic releases which sound very attention-grabbing, however these seem to solely be obtainable in Taiwan.
As a substitute of specializing in age, Tamnavulin look like intentionally releasing no-age-statement (NAS) whiskies that place an emphasis on a spread of several types of cask finishes (a large number of these being wine-cask finishes). Each NAS whiskies, and unique cask finishes, have turn into more and more commonplace, and I believe there are some professionals and cons for each of those attributes.
Given the present Scotch whisky laws, in the event you put an age assertion on a bottle of whisky it must be the age of the youngest whisky within the bottle. Whereas NAS whiskies can actually include whisky with spectacular age statements, this will not all the time be the case. Some sceptics have argued that NAS whiskies are merely a manner for distilleries to chop prices by promoting immature whisky that they can provide a elaborate identify. As there is no such thing as a details about the age of the whisky you’re getting in your bottle, there will be some concern in regards to the potential complexity (or lack thereof) one can anticipate finding in a NAS whisky.
But I’ve tasted plenty of NAS whiskies which were each advanced and wonderful, so age clearly isn’t the whole lot relating to producing good whisky. Younger whisky needn’t be unhealthy both. Most newly opened distilleries will initially launch NAS whiskies whereas they wait for his or her shares of whiskies to mature, and once more, I’ve tasted a number of wonderful examples of those too!
A number of the professionals of NAS whiskies are that distillers arguably have better freedom to experiment relating to mixing some youthful and older whiskies collectively. If they aren’t overly centered on sustaining an age assertion, they will as a substitute think about attaining a selected flavour profile with none age-related constraints. In principle, at the very least, this might result in some inventive and attention-grabbing whiskies.
Since NAS whiskies typically include youthful spirit, in addition they are usually a bit of extra reasonably priced than their age-statement counterparts. I regard this as one thing of a professional, as this will make some high-quality whisky extra accessible to a broader viewers (though it needs to be famous that there are many very pricy NAS whiskies on the market too).
With regards to cask finishes, and the sheer quantity of whiskies now completed in new and unique cask varieties, concern has been raised that this observe could also be extra of a advertising gimmick than a significant addition to a whisky’s character. In some circumstances there could also be one thing to this thought. By ending a whisky in an uncommon cask, one can pretty simply give one’s whisky a brand new twist, and in doing so one can doubtlessly improve gross sales with out the brand new end essentially including something of actual worth to the whisky.
But it have to be stated that providing whisky fanatics one thing new needn’t be thought-about a adverse. Like NAS whisky, attention-grabbing cask finishes provide distilleries an opportunity to experiment and innovate. And strange cask finishes (like wine or tequila casks, for instance) may genuinely add a complete new layer of flavour complexity to a whisky, so actually shouldn’t be dismissed proper off the bat.
Tamnavulin’s two most outstanding releases embody the Double Cask (which is matured in American oak and completed in sherry casks) and the Tamnavulin Sherry Cask Version (which is matured in American oak and completed in three several types of sherry casks – precisely what these three forms of sherry cask are just isn’t specified). My focus right here is on Tamnavulin’s Sherry Cask Version. It’s formally bottled at 40% ABV, however right here in South Africa you’ll discover it bottled at 43% ABV (a quirk ensuing from native whisky laws).
Tamnavulin Sherry Cask Version – Evaluation
Color: Burnt orange.
On the nostril: Contemporary purple apples, ripe banana, and a contact of honeydew melon. Some vanilla and delicate spice. A pointy and tangy candy observe, harking back to lemon meringue, makes an look. Brown sugar. Settles into aromas of wealthy dates and candy raisins, with a dry and nutty observe within the background.
Within the mouth: Initially very candy, heat and spicy – though the sweetness loses a few of its depth over time. Pretty full-bodied in texture. Malva pudding. A touch of almonds, adopted by some chocolate-coated cherries.
There’s a a lot brighter candy observe detectable within the empty glass, which jogs my memory of some strawberry flavoured sweet.
Conclusion:
For a really reasonably priced NAS whisky (I discovered a bottle for simply over $30, a really related worth to Glenmorangie’s Triple cask reserve), this whisky exceeded my expectations. Tamnavulin’s Sherry Cask Version delivers an excellent mixture of candy, spicy, and fruity notes. If you happen to take pleasure in whisky on the sweeter finish of the spectrum, this could possibly be a good selection. I think about it could additionally function an incredible introduction to sherried whisky for anybody unfamiliar with the class. There’s sufficient occurring that, even for extra skilled whisky drinkers, it needs to be an pleasing whisky – and I’d actually be pleased to purchase this bottle once more to maintain as considered one of my common sippers.
