Back when I became a deranged whisky person, there was a store in Burnsville, MN that had a pretty interesting collection of malts at quite fair prices: Blue Max. Well, they’re still around, but under new ownership for a while now and the old magic—to say nothing of the old stock and the old pricing—is long gone. I took chances on a number of independent releases there more than a decade and a half ago, whiskies about which very little information was available. Among them were several releases from the old Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection series in dark green bottles (including this Ardmore that I just adore). I don’t actually recall purchasing this young Tamdhu (Tamdhu-Glenlivet on the label) and it’s sat hidden in a corner of my whisky hoard for a long time now. I found it while looking for a non-peated bourbon cask whisky to round out my current lineup of open bottles (I like to have a spectrum of profiles on hand). I was a bit nervous while opening it. It was bottled in 1999 and there’s always a good chance a cork will come apart after 26 years. Thankfully, that did not happen. I’m also happy to say that I quite liked the first few pours from the bottle. It’s been open now for a few days and here therefore are my notes.

Tamdhu 9, 1989 (59.5%; Cadenhead; from my own bottle)

Nose: Toasted wheat with a bit of icing sugar and some lime. On the second sniff there’s some wet wool and some olive oil. Very nice indeed. Continues in this vein as it sits. With a squirt of water it picks up some bready/yeasty notes and the citrus edges towards citronella. Some plum here as well after a bit.

Palate: Comes in as indicated by the nose but with more of the lime. Quite hot at full strength; oily texture. More of the wet wool as it sits and the olive oil turns quite peppery. Water pushes the alcohol burn back and opens it up nicely. Some hints of stone fruit (plum) now with the citrus (some orange now with the lime).

Finish: Long. The citrus expands here and has the last word even as some oak makes its presence known. With more time there’s a bracing bitterness at the end that’s equal parts lime zest, pepper and oak. The bitterness recedes with water but it gets zesty again at the end.

Comments: A whisky with a very old-school austere Highlands profile that comes across as older than it is.  Very glad I picked up a bottle back in the day and that I’ve finally opened it. I’ll be interested to see how it changes as it mellows in the bottle.

Rating: 87 points.