This Tamnavulin was taken away from its bourbon maturation to hang around in a PX Quarter Cask for 12 months which produces a beautifully balanced Speyside Spirit with a little more edge.
The nose opens with creamy almond paste, strawberry shortcake, vanilla fudge, toffee crisp bars, and some raspberry preserve. There’s a lot of the initial bourbon cask here, but the PX finish has definitely added some red fruits, currants, raisins and dates, albeit not overpowering. The alcohol feels in good balance, there’s something there but you’re able to get your nose fairly deep into the glass.
The palate opens with zingy raspberry jam, actually maybe like a glaze. There’s a real red fruit-forward flavour here, macerated strawberries, plums, red grapes, backed up with some warm chocolate pudding and a little balsamic vinegar too. The mouthfeel is a touch lacking, but some of that PX maturation has helped to give body to the dram. There’s also some fresh citrus, lemon, orange.. actually we’re reminded of a slightly watered down old fashioned cocktail. The spice really isn’t too prevalent, there’s a bit of ginger heat but overall it’s quite a tame palate.
This is a large plant whose sign rather baldly states ‘NO VISITORS’ rather than ‘WELCOME’. This is not unfriendliness, simply a manifestation of the reality of the whisky business. In fact, there used to be a visitor facility nearby. The majority of distilleries are there to make spirit for blends, not to entertain tourists.
Its half dozen stills are large, the fermentation short and the make is light and cereal accented.
Tamnavulin was one of the distilleries built in the whisky boom of the early 1960s when demand was so far outstripping supply that new facilities had to be constructed. It was built by Invergordon Distillers (whose portfolio also included a grain distillery, Bruichladdich, Tullibardine and Jura). It had six stills and, for a period, Saladin maltings.
Invergordon was in turn bought by Whyte and Mackay In 1995, with the whisky market in steady decline, it was mothballed, only reopening in 2007 when Whyte & Mackay was purchased by Indian giant United Spirits. Its function as a supplier of fillings however hasn’t altered. It changed hands once again in 2014 when Whyte & Mackay was sold to Philippine-based Emperador.
