Thompson Bros North Highland Blended Malt & Thompson Bros Tamnavulin 15yo

Thompson Bros North Highland Blended Malt

Region: Highlands

ABV: 44.5%

Price: £35.00 

This blended malt from Thompson Bros combines various casks from Clynelish and Glen Ord as follows:

• 37.0% from a Clynelish refill bourbon hogshead distilled on 8th February 2016
• 36.1% from a Glen Ord refill bourbon hogshead distilled on 12th April 2016
• 12.3% from another Clynelish refill bourbon hogshead distilled on 8th February 2016
• 12.3% from another Glen Ord refill bourbon hogshead distilled on 12th April 2016
• 2.4% from a Clynelish PX cask distilled on 12th February 2015.

All components were married in a refill sherry butt before bottling.

Nose

The nose opens with a bit of earthy funk, quickly moving into tinned peaches in syrup, lemon water, custard cream biscuits, alongside more cereal notes, honey and seed granola with a splash of milk. There’s also a touch of new make, but it’s not too prominent. Going back, we’re finding a hint of antiseptic, light honey-butter, then some more floral, apple scented fabric softener aromas.

Palate

The palate opens with lemon water, digestive biscuits, cornflakes, honeycomb, buttery crumpets, with a mocha coffee backbone. There’s a little spice here, but overall it’s fairly tame. The mouthfeel is a bit watery in places, but as you swirl it around in your mouth, there’s some texture that comes through. Going back, we’re getting some candied walnuts, sawn wood, cocoa beans, and ginger snaps. We’re getting a lot of richer notes alongside some warm oak spice and a bit of fresh ginger heat.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has richer sherry aromas coming through, some cinnamon and cocoa powder alongside those peach notes we got before. There’s a bit of lemon rind, highland earth, and beeswax coming through now.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate maintains the mouthfeel, but we’re getting a fair bit more oak appearing. It’s now got a mixture of dry wood and brown sugar, golden syrup and honey nut cheerios. Going back and the wood is even more prevalent, pencil shavings and the feeling of being in a carpenters workshop.

Conclusion

A very quaffable dram, with some interesting notes imparted by the sherry finish that round out some of the rougher edges. It’s not likely something we’d reach for too often, but we enjoy what Thompson Bros (and a lot of other IBs) are starting to do with their small batch blends. We’re between a 6.5 and a 7, we’ll go with 7/10.

Score: 7/10

Value

As usual Thompson Bros are putting out good quality whisky at a good price.

Thompson bros Tamnavulin 15yo

Region: Speyside

ABV: 57.1%

Price: £65.00

Today’s other review features a 2009 vintage Tamnavulin that initially matured in a refill hogshead before being transferred to a first-fill PX (Pedro Ximénez) quarter cask for a 12-month finish.

Nose

The nose opens with creamy almond paste, strawberry shortcake, vanilla fudge, toffee crisp bars, and some raspberry preserve. There’s a lot of the initial bourbon cask here, but the PX finish has definitely added some red fruits, currants, raisins and dates, albeit not overpowering. The alcohol feels in good balance, there’s something there but you’re able to get your nose fairly deep into the glass.

Palate

The palate opens with zingy raspberry jam, actually maybe like a glaze. There’s a real red fruit-forward flavour here, macerated strawberries, plums, red grapes, backed up with some warm chocolate pudding and a little balsamic vinegar too. The mouthfeel is a touch lacking, but some of that PX maturation has helped to give body to the dram. There’s also some fresh citrus, lemon, orange.. actually we’re reminded of a slightly watered down old fashioned cocktail. The spice really isn’t too prevalent, there’s a bit of ginger heat but overall it’s quite a tame palate.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose is slightly richer in chocolate and cocoa, we’re still getting the raspberry and strawberry, some maple syrup, and dates. Again, very balanced alcohol, rich and sherry forward… more sherry forward than before.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has pickled ginger, candied almonds, cherries and a slightly earthier profile. We’re finding some of the original bourbon cask shining through, some typical vanilla and caster sugar too. It doesn’t need the water, but it isn’t destroyed by it either.

Conclusion

A well balanced sherry finished Tamnavulin. Lots of PX goodness, it’s one of the few PX matured whiskies that we feel show off the PX specifically, with all the syrupy sweet dried fruits, as opposed to a more generic sherry profile. It’s a tad thin for us in places, but it’s a dram we could drink multiple of through an evening with no problem.

Score: 7/10

Value

Another great value release from Thompson Bros. We’re a little surprised this is still in stock.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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