Tamnavulin Red Wine Cask
Official Bottling | 40% ABV
Score: 5/10
Average. In a good way.
TL;DR
While the palate doesn’t match the pleasant nose, this is a solid and fruity malt
A supermarket sweep can surprise you with a decent wee bargain now and again
Recently, I've taken a step back from too many whisky pours and writing reviews for Dramface.
My work life went a bit crazy at the end of 2022 and I don’t think I’ve ever been so busy and stressed in relation to work before in my career. So I tended to enjoy samples from the lovely whisky community for sheer enjoyment rather than delving into a dram, just taking notes for reviewing purposes.
My weekends were full of ways to forget about work: Spending time with friends and family, scheduling time to enjoy delicious food, watching a new movie or enjoying a relaxing trip away. These were vital ways to switch off and create good memories. These times would often involve some type of alcoholic drink, albeit enjoyed responsibly. I wouldn’t say I’d be one to enjoy a whisky if out with friends or at a restaurant. Maybe I’d have a whisky based cocktail – and I’m on the lookout for anywhere that has a Rod Roy on their list. I’m definitely the type of person who enjoys the craic while consuming my drink in hand quite quickly. I’d find the night going in a bit too fast if I tended to drink a tumbler of whisky that fast.
November, December and into January brought plenty of parties and get-togethers. Family visits and some whisky gifts too. Among the wines, beers and Baileys, I enjoyed healthy pours of Famous Grouse, Cotswolds Single Malt and Johnnie Walker Black: Easy sippers in company where you don’t have to pay much attention to the whisky in hand. Alongside these, I found myself with a glass of red or white wine, something that paired with the mountain of food consumed over the past couple of months.
Like my whisky curiosity, these delicious wines sparked another liquid curiosity and I thought: “Oh no, here we go again.” Another slippery slope of geekdom and enjoyment. My heart will always be in exploring whisky and all its wonderful nuance, but I'm now looking for wine-finished whisky and hopefully a wine finish I’ve tried at least once before.
Wine influences in the whisky I’ve tasted so far have sadly not been something where I've been able to try the wine independently. Thinking back to some of the Spot range of Irish whiskies (Green, Yellow and Blue), I’d love to be able to tell you what a Marsala wine can offer, or if a glass of Madeira is something you should seek out. The internet is an ally here, where I can search what type of flavour profile a certain wine should present. While some bottles and wines will be atypical, it helps understand what to look for when you’ve picked up a bottle of malt that indicates some type of wine maturation or finish. Hopefully the whisky producer can be a transparent and inform us of the duration of a wine finish so we can begin to understand a bit better if the influence is strong or subdued.
So while visiting the supermarket for the weekly grocery shop, there’s always a bit of space in the trolley for some alcoholic purchases. These days the wine aisle seems quite extensive, and nicely laid out by country of origin. I’ve been picking a few random bottles of red that have been enjoyable. Some wine from Rioja region in Spain, bottles containing a good ratio of tempranillo grape and the odd bottle of French Bordeaux red wine.
As a result of my wine explorations, I’ve been curious to see what supermarket malts were available with wine finishes and if there were any bargains to be found. I remember once picking up an Ardbeg 10 at my local Tesco supermarket, which was rare - and some Tesco stores on the mainland occasionally sell Lagavulin 8. So apart from grabbing a bottle of Bruichladdich’s The Classic Laddie for £35, I came across this bottle of Tamnavulin red wine edition which had been reduced from £35 to £23. I’d previously tasted an 11 year old single cask Tamnavulin which had been matured in ex-bourbon casks courtesy of a work colleague, and I remember it being very strawberry forward.
So at this low price, I decided to take a punt and see how this 40% ABV malt would taste with its French Cabernet Sauvignon cask finish. I also grabbed a random French Cabernet Sauvignon wine from the shelf for a wee comparison and headed on home to enjoy a tasting. There’s no mention on the bottle what vineyard the red wine casks are from, and an online search was no help either - so the bottle of red I bought might differ from the wine that was once in these maturing casks. However, it would still give me an indication of what I could expect .
Review
Tamnavulin Red Wine Cask , French Cabernet Sauvignon Finish, 40% ABV
£23
So a little bit about the Tamnavulin distillery.To my amazement it was built in 1966 (or 1965 as stated in Dave Broom’s World Atlas of Whisky), by Tamnavulin-Glenlivet Co Ltd. on the side of the River Livet. Its development was to meet the growing demand from whisky blenders at the time. I genuinely thought the distillery dated back to 50-60 years previous to this date.
Having changed hands since its inception from Invergordon Distillers, to Whyte & Mackay finally to today's owners Emperador (a food and drinks subsidiary of Alliance Global), Tamnavulin as we know it today was only introduced as a single malt whisky in 2016, marking the 50th anniversary of the distillery. The distillery was also notably closed between the years of 1996 and 2007.
This French Cabernet Sauvignon expression was released in 2020, alongside a Grenache and Pinot Noir bottling. Now on to the liquid in question.
Nose
Soft honey and a hint of malt to begin with. Fruity and sweet, very approachable and no initial sharpness you’d think from a NAS 40% malt. Some spice, maybe cinnamon with a light touch of ground ginger. The first sniff of fruit turns into raspberry jam with cranberries. It’s quite fresh and that’s surprisingly nice. Last poke around searching for a wee bit more and I could tease out pear drop hard sweets and soft honeydew melon. Really nice nose.
Palate
Quite thin on initial sip and arrival on the tongue. Sharper than I'd anticipated given how nice and approachable the nose was. Second sip brings forth the fruit and spice from the nose. The spice lingers on and turns a little oaky toward the end. Dare I say turning bitter from the wood? Fruitiness turns into red berries, red grapes and vanilla custard. Indicates a decent amount of cask influence on the overall taste. I anticipated some plums, blackberries, cherries and vanilla notes, having consumed some Cabernet Sauvignon red wine before. I kept searching for some of that strawberry-ness I'd had previously. Nice enough transition of the wine cask to the liquid here.
Back end of the sip brings plenty of fruit sweetness and it’s a little prickly on the tip of the tongue. Decent enough mouth feel and tongue coating. The flavours don’t last too long with a short finish, but it’s decent enough for you to go back and sip some more from a healthy pour.
The Dregs
For £23, I really didn’t have much expectation for this malt. I was after an easy sipper to pour while watching Match of the Day on a Saturday night, and the interest in the bottle peaked with my recent enjoyment of red wine. While this expression didn’t blow me away, I was surprised at how enjoyable it was. Very approachable, mellow and rounded. I got a fruit forward malt you can appreciate. The price may have pushed this to a 6, but the original price is a bit steep for me for the contents in the bottle. The whiskies I'd score a 6 are a step above this in quality and experience.
Some of the Cabernet Sauvignon was noticeable on the palate, with those vanilla and dark fruit notes showing themselves and coating the tongue nicely. There’s an interesting note in Broom’s World Atlas of Whisky from master blender Richard Paterson when this was owned by Whyte & Mackay: “You have to be careful not to over dress it… it’s very good in American oak, light sherry, but heavy clothes will weigh it down.”
For me, there was enough influence from the cask here, where it wasn’t subdued or quiet and thankfully not completely overpowered by the French red wine.
I’m quite keen to try the other wine cask finishes from Tamnavulin if they’re on offer. The original retail price of is a bit steep for a budget malt. Value for money was decent and I'd recommend it if you can get it on offer like I did. Perhaps there’ll be another supermarket malt on offer soon that I'll take a punt on. I’ll report back to the Dramface readership in that case.
Now a different kind of recommendation. While this Tamnavulin was a whisky with hints of red wine, I’ve really enjoyed a white wine that has a similar taste to a whisky. The wine in question is aged in oak barrels of different toasting levels for 30 days, with more American oak used than French/European oak. I think this oak influence adds a delicious element of creaminess and flavour that immediately reminded me of whisky. The wine is Rioja Vega Tempranillo Blanco, with Tempranillo grape being a classic red grape. This white variety was such a pleasant surprise when I tasted it, I found it to be a good accompaniment with food before going on to a dram later in the evening. If you come across this, grab a bottle and enjoy.
Score: 5/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF
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