Tamdhu Whisky
Tamdhu Whisky
I chat to Gordon, international brand ambassador for Tamdhu, telling a tale of sustainable forest to bottle sherry cask Scotch, from sunny Spain to Speyside.
The story of Tamdhu is a story of wood. Oak, specifically. For it is the oak barrels that house and mature Tamdhu’s whiskies that have the most influence in shaping the flavour of this high-quality spirit. They are the only distillery to fully mature their whisky in exclusively Oloroso sherry casks. They primarily get their wood from northern Spain, a mixture of European and American oak, the latter being imported into Spain for centuries.
The American oak (quercus alba, for the arborists and etymology fans) contains vanillin, which is the main component of the extract of a vanilla bean, ensuring regular vanilla flavours you might find in bourbon. The European wood (quercus rober) packs a richer, darker quality of dried fruits and chocolate, turning the spirit a warm wicked brown.
While the sherry has its influence on the final product, over the twelve, fifteen or even eighteen year period of maturation, it is the wood that dictates the flavour, compounding its tanins into whisky. All the wood is processed, toasted, and dried at the same level, using the same sherry, the length of the tree determining the sizes of the cask. It is the origin of the oak which determines Tamdhu’s unique expressions. With three bottles in their core range and a couple special editions, it is quality over quantity with Tamdhu. Their 12-year-old is their entry bottle, on 43% and light with American wood, whereas their 15-year-old is matured in the richer European oak, giving a richer, oilier, fruitier expression.
Tamdhu gets the finest sherry casks money can buy – quite literally, at up to £1400 per cask. They aren’t taking any risks with the products here. They work with the bodega Williams and Humbert, sherry and brandy producers. They provide Tamdhu with the sherry which coats their casks. Effectively they rent their sherry out to have a holiday in the casks, take it back, re-blending back into vinegar or brandy. With the sheer quantity of sherry in demand to season not only Tamdhu’s casks, producing officially approved sherry for the Scotch whisky industry is now an entire industry in itself.
Lugo in the north of Spain is where Tamdhu’s casks begin their journey, as trees cut into logs, then structured into staves. The locals were surprised by a bunch of Scotsmen interested in their trees – having no idea the importance of them to the production of Scotch! However, further south in Jerez, where the staves are sent for further drying. and the casks are seasoned exclusively with top quality Oloroso sherry. There the local people understood how important wood is to whisky. The Spanish wood is perfect for Tamdhu, the European oak technically encompasses trees from Hungary, Romania and even Scotland (apparently producing a surprisingly spicy flavour!) – but although the same species, the wood varies enormously from region to region. Using the very best of everything, producing gorgeous natural colours in the final product, why do anything differently?
The sustainability of the oak is now the biggest challenge facing distilleries. The trees being felled are around a century old, and before now there wasn’t much planting going on to replace them. Working with the best suppliers means that costs are rising due to a fresh effort for sustainability. This process is heavily controlled by the government, who decides where and what is cut down. Renewing resources is monitored but natural, acorns growing in their usual place, rather than agriculturally planted and farmed. Gordon recognizes that keeping the forests going is vital not just for the whisky industry, but for everyone. After the trip they attempted to bring an oak sapling back to Speyside, which sadly didn’t survive the treacherous journey home. That glorious Spanish wood – and the flavour it imbibes - will have to be a souvenir alone.
Only open to the public a couple days of year, tours get booked up very quickly for this small but rapidly growing brand. With all their money spent on making quality whisky, there isn’t a visitor’s centre but fans can get a tour inside the working distillery, where they can learn about Tamdhu’s unique aspects and casks. Tickets went on sale in early March but a savvy whisky connoisseur might still be able to find some available for this popular and special event.