Tamdhu 1970 (Mackillop's Choice)

About The Brand: Tamdhu

A single malt Scotch whiskey distillery, Tamdhu is situated in the Scottish hamlet of Knockando in the Banffshire region. The Gaelic word tamdhu means 'small black hill.' In order to start making their own whisky, a group of assemblers established the distillery in 1896. In 1897, the first malt whiskey was made and barreled. It was immediately transferred to Highland Distillers. Despite not having many proprietors during the course of its history, the distillery had a protracted period of inactivity from 1927 and 1947. Between 1972 and 1975, its manufacturing capacity was more than quadrupled. There are currently 3 wash stills and 3 spirit stills at the distillery. It produces 4 million gallons of pure alcohol annually. The Tamdhu distillery doesn't have a roof-shaped pagoda over its malt furnaces as its neighbors do. One of the only distilleries still using a mechanical saladin to malt all of its barley on-site. It was stated that the Tamdhu Distillery, a unit of Highland Distillers, a division of the Edrington Group, will close and be shuttered as of April 2010. Then, in June 2011, it was sold to Ian MacLeod Distillers, who started single-malt production again in May 2013. The creation of blended whiskies like The Famous Grouse, J & B, and Cutty Sark uses nearly all of the Tamdhu whiskey. Tamdhu's bottlings under the present proprietors, Ian MacLeod, comprise a 10-year-old, 100% sherry-matured normal bottling and a 100% sherry-matured, non-age-statement (NAS), 'Batch Strength.' As of early 2017, the 'Batch Strength' is in its second edition. To mark the revival of the distillery, Ian MacLeod first produced a 'Limited Edition' bottling of 1000 bottles. They were matured in new sherry barrels. Tamdhu was bottled by Highland Distillers, the previous owners, in a 10-year-old, 18-year-old, and no-age-statement version. Independent bottlers market other bottlings. Tamdhu 50 was published by Ian MacLeod in 2017. It is a first-fill European oak sherry bottle that is 50 years old (cask 4678). On November 2, 1963, it was distilled, and in March 2017, it was bottled. It produced 100 bottles in total.