Tamdhu 15 Year Old 1990 Dun Bheagan Port Finish

Dun Bheagan is a series of malts marketed by Ian MacLeod. Today I will try a Tamdhu, incidentally a distillery currently owned by this bottler. This 15 Year Old got a finish on port casks, was distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2005. I am putting it head to head with a 13 Year Old, also from 1990, but finished on sherry casks.

The nose has a sweetness as if from candied sugar. Hardly any fruit, bar some red fruit. Strawberries, I would say. This Tamdhu also has a green herbal side, although that stays in the background. Then loads of butterscotch and chocolate kick in. I do not think this was a very active port cask, but it is quite a pleasant nose.

It is very soft as it arrives on the taste buds. Hardly any spices to speak of. The fruit returns, but now more berries from the forest. It becomes very sweet. Nevertheless it becomes drier the longer it stays in the mouth. Now the spices do show themselves. Cloves, nutmeg and a pinch of saffron.

The finish is medium long and holds the middle between sweet and sour. The mouth is left parched.

This one is better than the sherry finish, but still not quite up there. Nowhere to be found anymore and even if it were, it would not be worth tracking down.

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