One-off, so probably no longer out there

For completionists and connoisseurs

For the details…

Several years back, I was on a mission to try at least one whisky from every active distillery in Scotland. I never quite made it, even then (Abhainn Dearg and Daftmill eluded me), and now, with Scotland’s biggest whisky boom since the heady late 19th century in full swing, every time I get my hands on the make of the newest distillery, another new distillery releases something new. So much newness!

Anyhoo, a few years back, in the interests of laying a hand on a whole batch of previously untried distilleries, I ordered a bunch of samples from Master of Malt (alas, they no longer ship to the US), including this 21 year old Tamnavulin from Hunter Laing’s Old Malt Cask range.

Tamnavulin is an extremely obscure Speyside distillery; it was founded in 1966 by Invergordon Distillers, and like most of the distilleries built during the era, it was intended to provide fillings for its parent firm’s blends. Tamnavulin was bought along with its parent firm by Whyte and Mackay in 1993, and closed 2 years later. Production didn’t resume until 2007, when Whyte and Mackay was in turn acquired by India’s United Spirits. 

Although it remains primarily a blending whisky, the occasional indie release slips out into the world, and the owners have made intermittent essays at official bottlings, most recently with a small, no-age statement line with various casks finishes, all bottled at a rather uninspired 40% abv. 

Douglas Laing was founded in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing as a blending, exporting, and whisky brokering house. His two sons Fred and Stewart took over operations on his death in 1982, gradually shifting to independent bottlings. The flagship range was Old Malt Cask, single cask offerings at a healthy 50% abv and natural presentation. In 2013, the brothers decided to divvy up their assets and go their own ways, with Fred Jr continuing to preside over Douglas Laing with his daughter Cara, and Stewart creating a new firm, Hunter Laing, with his sons. The Old Malt Cask range followed Steward into the Hunter Laing portfolio; this Tamnavulin, bottled in 2014, being one of their earlier offerings.

Regrettably, I had only a tiny sample bottle of this whisky, meaning I was unable to do repeat tastings, however, it struck me as a pleasant whisky with lots of rather clean, cereal and underripe fruit notes. I was more generous in my scoring back then, so keep that in mind looking at the score, which would likely be as many as 10-15 points lower nowadays. 

Tamnavulin 1993 21 years old (Hunter Laing – Old Malt Cask) 50.0% abv

Nose: Sharp, with a huge hit of semi-ripe pear. Lots of oat and grain dust, like dry, plain oatmeal. Under-ripe green bananas. Freshly sliced lime; cilantro; linseed oil.

Body: Quite light.

Palate: Again, sharp, dusty and rather minty. Limeade. Ginger root. Sarsaparilla. Mint chocolate–like one of those old Hershey’s cookies and mint bars. An interesting intermixture of sweetness and a woody, varnish-like bitterness.

Finish: The bitter-sweet elements come into balance for a drying finish that is like a lightly sweetened, crisped pie-crust. Medium to longish.

Score: 85/100

Who should buy it?: Can’t really recommend this, since your chances of finding a bottle are slim to none. If you’re really a Scotch completionist and you see a bottle for the $90-120 range at an auction, it could be worth picking up. Other than that, skip on down.

Overall thoughts: A pleasant whisky that shows what happens when you age something in the lighter, orchard fruits vein of Speyside for a good while. Nothing to knock your socks off, by any stretch, but nice and somewhat interesting for the well-traveled taster.

Bottling Information:

Expression: Tamnavulin 1993 21 years old 50.0% abv

Bottler: Hunter Laing

Range: Old Malt Cask

Bottle Code: Unknown

Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color

Details: Distilled 1993, bottled 2014, ~21 years old

Price: Very hard to say. For what you’re getting, a reasonable price would be somewhere in the $90-120 range.

Availability: Auction only, if even there.

Distillery Information:

Region: Speyside

Location: Tomnavoulin, Southern Speyside

Geography: Inland

Date Founded: 1966

Owner: Whyte & Mackay

Website: https://www.tamnavulinwhisky.com/the-distillery/

Capacity: 4,200,000

Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Lauter; WASHBACKS: ; STILLS: 6; HEAT SOURCE: Steam; CONDENSER: Shell and Tube

Total expressions sampled: 2

Overall distillery score: n/a

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