Tamnavulin 1991-2010 - 18 Year Old - Douglas Laing - Old Malt Cask - Single Cask 6044

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.

Founded in the late 1940s by Fred Douglas Laing Sr, the Douglas Laing company spent decades as whisky blenders and exporters before Fred Laing’s sons Stewart and Fred Jr introduced the highly influential Old Malt Cask single malt range in 1998. The McGibbon’s Provenance and Old & Rare Platinum series followed soon afterwards, establishing Douglas Laing as one of Scotland’s finest independent bottlers.

In 2013 Stewart Laing left the business, taking Old Malt Cask and Old & Rare to his new company Hunter Laing, while Fred Laing Jr was joined by his daughter Cara and her husband Chris Leggatt from Morrison Bowmore, who left the business in 2023. The Old Particular and Extra Old Particular ranges were introduced to replace Old Malt Cask and Old & Rare, and the company has since moved into distilling with the purchase of Strathearn distillery in 2019 and the construction of Clutha distillery in Glasgow.