Tamnavulin – Double Cask (70cl, 40%)

A Speyside single malt from Tamnavulin, bottled at 40% in a 70cl bottle. The distillery moved from Invergordon Distillers to Whyte & MacKay, closed a few years later and reopened in 2007. Much of its output has gone into blends, with only occasional independent bottlings, so this is the distillery's own expression. The whisky is first matured in American oak barrels, then given a finishing period in sherry casks. The nose offers chocolate mousse, thick double cream dusted with brown sugar, stewed apples and blackberries. The palate brings Christmas pudding, chocolate brownies, yellow plum and toffee-coated barley, and a spiced rum sweetness lingers in the finish.