Country: Scotland
Region: Highland
Brand: Tantallan
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: 10 Years
ABV: 40 %
Date: 01/02/2014
Colour: Golden Amber. I would suspect a generous helping of Caramel.
Nose: Lots of Malt, a bit of Oak and Sweet Toffee and not much else at the start. Later I find some Nuts and Dried Fruits, light Honey, light Vanilla, light Citrus, Toast and Margarine, light Spices (Cloves), light Fruit (Apricot, Figs) and tones of Dusty Country Roads. The Alcohol is not fully integrated. When I compared these impressions to my Blend notes I found them similar to Grand Old Parr that is said to contain amounts of Cragganmore. So who knows!
Palate: A bit Thin and quite Sweet with Malt, Toffee, Sugared Almonds, light Orange, Brown Sugar, Pepper and light Cinnamon.
Finish: Short and Sweet with Barley, Toffee, light Vanilla, Oak, Pepper and a hint of Cinnamon.
With Water, the Fruits, Malt and Honey on the Nose are enhanced. On the Palate and in the Finish however it starts to taste like Sugared Barley Juice!
Rating: 78.5
Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 19.5 - Finish: 19 - Overall: 19.5
Could the Tantallan have been distilled here?
General Remarks: The Tantallan 10 Years is a Highland Single Malt bottled by The Vintage Malt Whisky Co. Ltd. It's popular in Italy, Australia and New Zealand. The name is taken from the 14th Century Tantallon Castle, located close to North Berwick on the Southern Coast of the Firth of Forth. Tantallan is another one of those Mystery Malts. No one knows for sure where it is distilled although it is believed it could be Cragganmore. If you have any clues please let me know in the Comments Sector! It sells at around 40 US Dollars.
Drinking Experience Neat: Okay
Conclusion: This Tantallan 10 Years is dominated by Malt and Toffee while all the other Aromas and Flavours play second fiddle. It's not really bad but quite unimaginative. It's one of those Malts that you drink and have forgotten about in five minutes. I would think that Re-Fill American Oak Casks were used to mature this Single Malt. It's not expensive of course but there are more interesting (Blended) alternatives available at this price level.
Jan van den Ende February 2014
