Recently, a previously little-known distillery in the Speyside region has garnered widespread attention in the whisky world. The distillery has launched a series of whiskies and become a participant in the annual Spirit of Speyside Festival, gradually entering the public eye.
Driving along the B9008 from Bridge of Avon towards Tomintoul, after passing Glenlivet distillery, you'll find Tamnavulin distillery on the left side of the road. Tamnavulin's signage and distillery stand here, though there is currently no visitor center.
Tamnavulin distillery is equipped with 1 full-lauter mash tun (with a capacity of 11 tonnes of mash), 9 stainless steel washbacks (fermentation time is 54-60 hours, increased from the previous 48 hours), and 3 stills. Among them, the wash still with a horizontal lyne arm is equipped with a condenser, while the spirit still with a descending lyne arm is equipped with a purifier. Since September 2018, to protect the environment, Tamnavulin distillery has begun using LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) instead of heavy oil as fuel, and has also installed biological treatment facilities to handle post-distillation residues. In 2019, the distillery performed 18 mashes per week, producing 3.5 million liters of new make spirit annually. From 2010 to 2013, approximately 5% of the weekly new make was heavily peated whisky, with a malt peating level of 55ppm. However, after 2013, the distillery ceased production of heavily peated whisky. The distillery also has 2 dunnage warehouses, which can hold 40,000 casks.
Before collecting the heart of the spirit, Tamnavulin distillery first discards the heads for 25 minutes, then collects the heart with an alcohol strength between 75% and 60%. The characteristic of the new make spirit is a slightly grassy flavor. Nowadays, Tamnavulin's new make is first matured in first-fill bourbon barrels, and then some are further matured in sherry casks, though there are occasional exceptions. Additionally, the distillery has recently implemented a re-racking programme for matured whisky casks, which has greatly improved the quality of Tamnavulin whisky.
Tamnavulin's regular release is the Double Cask (sherry cask finish) launched since 2016. In 2019, Tamnavulin launched the Sherry Cask Edition, matured in three types of Oloroso sherry casks, and also launched a whisky matured in Tempranillo wine casks in the duty-free channel. Limited edition whiskies include four different vintage whiskies from 1970 to 2000, available exclusively in Taiwan.
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