Tamdhu 12 Year Vs. Tamdhu 15 Year Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky : Side By Side Comparison

[@p____p4tel]

I enjoyed your break down of these Tamdhu bottles. Keep up the great work. Subbed.

[@sandymacdonald8485]

I have the 15 which I really enjoy and the 18CS which is very pricey but I haven't opened it yet. The Distillery is in a beautiful location, on a hill overlooking the Spey. Cap score 8.3

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

The Distillery setting sounds magnificent. Would love to fish the River Spey in the morning, then visit Tamdhu in the afternoon. Sounds like a perfect day. My instinct is telling me that the Tamdhu 15 could be the sweet spot in the range but next month I'll be trying the 18 and Batch Strength so we'll see. That 18CS sounds like a special bottle. Cheers 🥃

[@GrahamGreenwood-q3r]

Thank you, loved the 12… may have to open my 15 :-)

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Thanks for watching! That 15 does take things up a couple notches on the 12. I'm opening the Tamdhu 18 soon so I'm hoping it keeps going in that direction. Cheers eh! 🥃

[@allisonsmith9050]

im going on an africa hunting safari in 3 months and we ordered a bottle of the 15 and it was delivered yesterday. i am beyond excited to try this! thank you for the info.

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

That Tamdhu hopefully is a delicious companion to that Safari. It's a whisky I've really enjoyed. Enjoy that safari, wow that's a trip!

[@Rohit_M]

Great comparison of the 12 & 15 in the same lineup. I feel 12 is a bit of a crowded space given the number of distilleries that have 12 in their core range. I picked up the 15 in early 2022 I think and yet to open but it sounds promising. There were some comparisons drawn up by some of the channels between the elusive Glendronach 18 and Tamdhu 15.

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Thanks Rohit! Interesting to hear the comparison to the Glendronach 18. I don't have that on hand but could compare it to the Glendronach 21. Hope you like the 15 once you get around to cracking it. Cheers 🥃

[@Gunnerzfan79]

Nice reviews Matt. The Tamdhu 15 has become a staple in my bar. It's expensive here in Ontario, but you can usually find it for a good price ($100 -$115) in Alberta. To put it in perspective, even my wife likes it and she only likes top quality drams. Not that she's an expert, just won't drink something so-so like us real dram heads will. I have an 18 but haven't cracked it yet. It was expensive, but it was on my 2023 hit list so I got it. Will let you know my thoughts once I taste it. Tamdhu 12 is a good poor, but a shame they don't present it properly at 46% and non-chill filtered.

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

The wife has good taste 😄 The Tamdhu 15 really seems like The sweet spot in the range. Definitely let me know when you try it, I'll likely be trying a sample in a month or so here. Like you said it would be a real plus if they lifted the 12 year to 46% and did away with the CF. Cheers 🥃

[@dgunnut6550]

I have an IB by Old Malt Cask of a 15 yr. Tamdhu open on the shelf now and it’s amazing! I’ve never had the OB so not sure how it compares.

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Tamdhu seems to be a bit of a hidden gem 💎 Not surprised that IB is a good one! What IB is it?

[@McIntyresMalts]

Good info man, thank you!

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Thanks again MM for checking out the video! Keep up the good content! Cheers 🥃

[@DayKlight]

Tamdhu 15 is here around 77-80€. About the chillfiltration, i didnt have a bottle of Tamdhu (not very far up on my list^^) yet but would be interested how hard "unchillfiltered" it is. as so many bottles are suspicious of not chillfiltering but cool filtering or hard barrier filtering. Also id guess that the american oak part will rise as its cheaper than european. nowadays im always a little hesitant and annoyed when its a wine maturation or sherry maturation and vanilla is in the tasting notes...

[@DayKlight]

and wow tamdhu 18 is 160+€... You can get so much good stuff for this money, also older or in CS. Even Bunna 18 is cheaper

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Yeah, I would suspect that proportion of American oak will creep up. Ralfy has talked alot about degrees of filtration, down to the lowest levels like Black Adder Raw Cask. Actually he just talked about this again in his last 2 videos. It is something I wish we had more disclosure about. I was tempted to reach out to a rep like the Ardbeg rep, as I suspect it is filtred harder these days than we may have thought And yeah, that Tamdhu 18 is ul there in price. Yikes. I'll stick with the 15(unless my 18 sample blows me away).

[@DayKlight]

yap, as he stated that in winter they dont even need to chill the whisky that much since its already cold, and theyd just cool filter it instead and write unchillfiltered on it, despite its very very close to it. With experience you can kind of get around which distilleries or IB bottle in what way. Who filter to what degree. But more transparency would be great

[@ironmantran]

SO, secret sauce of Tamdhu is fish water, got it ! --- LOL ---- DId not return to Ontario since 2021, the Batch strength is now also sold out. In the olden days (pre2010), Tam malts serve as "slave-alternate" to MacAllee . . . it may be a case of peeps chasing Weller for Pappy here...

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Only the finest Scottish Speyside fish water to best exact. 👌 "slave alternate" to Macallan 😂 Love that Macallan has become a parody of themselves. Cheers 🥃

[@canal-do-guga-namura]

I have the 12 and the 15... I have to say, I don't understand why so many reviewers mention this is sweet... Neither of these are sweet at all, they're super dry sherry. Absolutely different than the likes of GlenDronach or GlenAllachie. I'm not sure I love this being this dry... should have more sweets to balance it out.

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

That is a fair take for sure Bruno. I certainly do think they are a more dry style than GlenAllachie. But I do find most sherried whiskies fairly sweet unless coming from refill casks. It's been a couple months but I believe they use first fill oloroso casks so they should profile a bit drier than PX or some others. For what it's worth, when a did a blind comparison of these two whiskies against the GlenAllachie 12 and 15, the GA 12 and 15 both placed higher than the Tamdhu's. That could be because of the sweeter profile of those GA's. Thanks for checking out the video and the comment. Cheers 🥃

[@canal-do-guga-namura]

@@whiskyonthewestcoast thanks for the reply! I’m in that moment after you spent a premium on a whisky and you don’t love it. Just hoping for something to click (it wouldn’t be the first time). I love my glenallachies 12 and 15 btw. Cheers!

[@canal-do-guga-namura]

@@whiskyonthewestcoast tried it again today (the 12). Something changed. The sweets were more prominent. Definitely an improvement. Just need to give these whiskies time to understand them (and to oxidize). Cheers!

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Glad it's improving and more in line with your palate now! Sometimes it just takes that extra time and oxidation! I've got some whiskies that have been open 2 years I'm still hoping improve. You never know!

[@canal-do-guga-namura]

@@whiskyonthewestcoast I haven't tried the 15 again since then but I'm suspecting my palate was off for some reason when I tried it. I'm recovering from a cold and will try it again when I'm 100%, I'll let you know if my perception regarding the 15 changed. Cheers!

[@jameswrightesq]

$50 CAD for the 12 yr old?!? 🤯 That is a screaming deal mate! It's $121 CAD here in Victoria, BC. Which is obviously plain ridiculous. Why do the prices fluctuate so much, even within the same province??

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Yeah I knew I had to buy it at that price. Was suspicious with the 43% but was happy with the bottle once cracked. I would skip it at $121, B.C. can be brutal with prices sometimes. That said, some private stores heavily discount bottles to clear shelf space. This bottle was purchased from Alberta. The store that i purchased from(Sierra Springs) used to have the best sales in the country but not so much anymore.

[@jameswrightesq]

@@whiskyonthewestcoast Nice! Do they ship to BC? Whisky in the Six often mentions Kensington Wine Market, but from what I can tell on their website they don't ship. A real pity as their selection is off the charts, and some very good prices on my favourites

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

If you send me an email I think I can help you out with sorting that part of things. I am at work so the response won't come quickly but I think It would be worth it.

[@Watchman999]

@@whiskyonthewestcoast I’m actively boycotting Sierra Springs. They are highway robbing on most of their whisky now and they are hiding allocated bottles inside sets of three where the other two are crappy.

[@Watchman999]

@@jameswrightesq Hey James I have family in Victoria and intend to head out there later in the spring. Happy to mule some bottles out to you if you want to trust a stranger. No strings attached. I’m just happy to help people avoid paying huge money at government controlled liquor stores…..and Sierra Springs. LOL. There are much better places here in Calgary to get decent pricing.

[@silverfox108]

Where did you get it for 50 dollars in Canada? Wow

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

I know, right? It feels like antiquated pricing but it went on sale at Sierra Springs for $45CAD, but that was when they still had incredible sales, like Nikka Yoichi for $55. Not so really anymore. Anyways, hope you can find a good deal on it too. Cheers 🥃

[@JoelKorytko]

What about the 18? Tried it yet?

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

I've yet to try the 18 Year yet though I do have a sample to work my way around to. The price on the 18 year compared to the others scared me off a bit though the reviews have been good. Cheers 🥃

[@DileepB]

Tamdhu 12 is quite pleasant, but overpriced at $75 USD for a 43% ABV chill filtered Scotch. The 15 is a steal for $115 Canadian ($85USD?)! Try the Redbreast Lustau for $65.

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Yeah pricing would be Tamdhu's biggest weakness. When it goes on sale it seems a good pickup, but otherwise priced a bit extravagantly. I've been eyeing up that Lustau, runs $115 up here.

[@canal-do-guga-namura]

The Tamdhu 12 isn't chillfiltered, surprisingly. It wouldn't have that mouthfeel if it was. Easy to check, just add a bit of water and check for that mist.

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

That's really good to know! No wonder it comes off so well even at 43% I usually am very shy with water at that percentage. I'll definitely be giving this a shot to check for that Scotch Mist. Cheers 🥃

[@canal-do-guga-namura]

@@whiskyonthewestcoast I researched a bit more after posting this and now I'm not too sure. couldn't get the source from the people who said it wasn't filtered. Mine is arriving between today and tomorrow, gonna test it myself. Cheers!!

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

Hmm. So I see points for both arguments right now. One such is that Whiskybase seems to indicate that it is not chill-filtered, though that information is crowdsourced like wikipedia so grain of salt is required. It seems strange to me that the packaging on the 15, 18, batch strength, ect indicate its non-chill filtered status but that the 12 does not. If it is not and you already make a habit of including that info why omit it unless it is? It's a strange one.

[@cdnmember]

Sadly, zero Tamdhu available in Ontario

[@whiskyonthewestcoast]

What a whisky wasteland 😔 Sorry friend, hope it gets better.

[@Sodchucker]

They have the 18 year now. It’s $285, but I am still tempted. Cheaper than the Macallan by 3x!