Tamdhu 13, 1989 (Lombard)

tamdhulombardTamdhu is a not-particularly-storied distillery located in the Speyside region. Until recently, it was part of the Edrington group, which owns the far more storied distilleries of Highland Park and the Macallan, but was mothballed in 2009. It has since been purchased by Ian MacLeod, who own the Glengoyne distillery and release various lines of independent bottlings and blends. It is not clear what form the output of the distillery will take under the new ownership, but in its previous incarnation Tamdhu was known in the US for its 10 year old whisky, which was (and where still available, continues to be) one of the great values in malts, often available in the vicinity of $20. Not a remarkable malt but far, far better than the price might indicate and better than many priced far higher. Independent bottlings of Tamdhu are not difficult to find, however, and my review today is of one of those. The bottler is Lombard, whose presentation generally outstrips the reputation of its bottlings–at least from what I have read; if your experience is different please make some recommendations in the comments below.

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