Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

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Tamnavulin

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Tamnavulin distillerie
Tamnavulin Distillery
Ballindaloch
Banffshire
AB37 9JA
+44 1807 590 285
Owner: Whyte & Mackay Ltd
Creation date1966

Tamnavulin is the only distillery to be situated on the river Livet, even if the latter has given its name to lots of distilleries in that production area.
Recently created, Tamnavulin has produced its own malt with a "Saladin box" until its mothballing in 1996.
The buildings have partially been used for wool carding.
It has been created in 1966 by Invergordon and acquired later by Whyte and Mackay.
Since 1996 the distillery is mothballed.
Tamnavulin is part of many blends, amongst others, the Mackinlay blends.

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

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 Tamnavulin: independent bottlings
 

Tamnavulin
Provenance
10 years old
Autumn distillation

Age
 10 years
Alcohol
 46%
Bottler
 Douglas Laing
=25 euros< 25 euros
 
The nose is first rather light, with cut grass hints, with some smoke notes on the background.
The body is light and oily and reveals some malt in the palate, with dry fruit and spice hints.
The impression in the mouth is confirmed by a lingering finish.
Hints of cut grass remind a Lowland whisky. This impression of cut grass is confirmed in the palate, and is rather fresh and very pleasant. Besides the cut grass, some hints of spice and menthol are present as well. A lingering and pleasant finish, and the whole makes a bottle I really recommend.  

The second tasting confirmed the first one. A great freshness and a rather complex whisky.

Again, the nose misleaded me, as I was quite sure this was a Lowlands whisky, sith its fresh cut grass and pear smells. The mouth is somewhere between pear and coffee.... Nice fruity hints, with touches of chocalate and some bitterness. Some discrete spices as well.
The finish is pleasantly lingering and rather warm, and the pleasure of the mouth is nicely prolonged for a while.

The nose is clearly marked by the freshness of cut grass mixed with smoothness of pleasantly perfumed flowers. Hints of hay and marshmallow as well and last but not least, a very nice complexity.
In the palate, quite a fruity taste (ripe pear) and some very discrete touches of walnut. Sweetness is clearly dominating, and the nice complexity promised by the nose has disappeared.
The finish is smooth also and relatively long, but never spectacular.
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Tamnavulin
10 years old

Age
 10 years
Bottler
 Official

Comment by Henrik Johansson

Appearance: Very pale with a slightly greenish tone and a soft sparkle. Nose: Freshly aromatic. A very fine iron tone. Paraffin-like. With water it becomes nutty. Reminds me of an old wooded house with old wooden furniture. Wet tarmac, sour fruits and aerosol spray.
Flavour: Quite dense and mouth filling but fine and pleasant at the same time. English bitter lingers in the finnish. Well balanced but weak. Development: After an hour it has still got a feeling of rain on hot tarmac. Not as complex, feels even weaker than before. A paper dry mouth feel has set in.
Comments: A refreshing dram with a clean feel.

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Speyside

Speyside Map

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

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