Tamdhu 23 Year Old 1988 Malts of Scotland

This is the second Tamdhu released by the German Malts of Scotland, after the 20 Year Old that was released last year. The name of the distillery, which was taken over from Edrington by Ian McLeod Distillers in July 2011 after it had been mothballed for six months, is Gaelic for Black Hill. As far as I know, she is not yet back in operation.

The nose is creamy with hearty, salty aromas and even some gravy, that give the sweet sherry its come-uppance. Do not laugh, but I cannot help but think of sweet vegetable soup. A horrible thought, to be sure, but it works in this case. Of course the sherry sweetness then kicks in with dades and candy sugar. Make that candy syrup. Roasted pine nuts. Slightly bitter from the wood. Well, all aromas are present.

It is very spicy and bitter at the onset, but then immediately turns honeysweet on candied fruit, fresh figs and, again, candy syrup. Very drying. Salt licorice candy. Very nice! Does not need water.

In the long, somewhat bitter finish (even though it started sweet), the salt rears its head once more. Special.

It is pretty similar to the previous release, that I also enjoyed very much. Around 95 EUR.

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