Tamnavulin 1989-2010 - 21 Year Old - Duncan Taylor - Rare Auld - Single Cask 3368

A modern Speyside distillery, Tamnavulin was constructed by Invergordon in 1966 and survived the industry-wide slump of the 1980s before being mothballed in 1995 by new owners Whyte & MacKay.  Distillation recommenced in 2007 and following Whyte & MacKay’s subsequent acquisition by Emperador, Tamnavulin has finally been given some investment and marketing spend, with a string of single vintage and NAS official bottlings in updated packaging appearing over the last few years. 

Generally speaking, independent bottlings are still the best way to discover the true potential of this very good but sadly overlooked distillery, although there was an extraordinary Macallan-esque 1966 cream sherry cask selected by the late Matthew Forrest for Japan in 2001 that appeared as a distillery bottling. Notable 1960s vintage editions appeared in the 1980s from Cadenhead’s and Moon Import, and 20-30 years later from The Whisky Agency and Douglas Laing, but Tamnavulin’s auction prices are generally very modest and great value for drinkers.

Duncan Taylor was founded in 1938, originally as a cask broker. The Glasgow-based company was acquired in the 1960s by the American blender and entrepreneur Abe Rosenberg, who amassed a large stock of maturing casks. Following Rosenberg’s death in 1994 the Duncan Taylor business lay dormant until the early 2000s, when the trustees offered some casks to businessmen Euan Shand and Alan Gordon. 

Shand and Gordon were so impressed with Duncan Taylor’s stock that they bought the company in 2002 and began bottling some of Rosenberg’s best casks. A string of extraordinary bottlings of Longmorn, Macallan, Bowmore and Springbank were released under the now defunct Peerless range and today Duncan Taylor, with Shand in full control since 2006, is established as one of Scotland’s most interesting independent bottlers.