As a cask comes to maturity, Finn curates sampling sessions in interesting and relaxing environments, with friends, whisky experts and trusted partners to discover the personality of each cask and gauge the experience each dram evokes.
All the best distillers pride themselves on crafting whisky with a distinctive flavour, which is determined by the water source, grain and barley, the peat and malting, and their distilling processes. High quality original spirit is integral to every cask we bottle.
The cask itself interacts with the whisky over time. The type of wood plays a big role, as do treatments such as the whiskies are aged in a variety of types of casks. The whiskies are aged in former sherry or bourbon casks, augmenting the cask influence. External conditions such as air temperature, pressure and humidity also interact with the cask producing a knock-on effect that makes the spirit inside unique.
Finn uses these factors to balance each FT whisky experience. He may sample a cask and decide to leave it on the rack, allowing age to further develop its personality. He might decide to re-rack a whisky in a new cask to add a finishing touch. Or, he might simply deem it ready. When Finn decides the flavour is perfectly balanced, it’s time to bottle the whisky.
Few distilleries tell the modern story of scotch whisky better than Tamnavulin. Built in the height of the blended whisky boom in the 1960s, much of its production was destined for the expanding American market. The style of the distillery represented the consumer tastes of the time: malty and light, this was a malleable whisky and a blender’s dream.
With the fall in fortunes of the industry in the 1990s, Tamnavulin was one of many distilleries victim to closure. Indeed, this very cask was filled just a few years before the distillery was mothballed and not opened again until 2007. With the reopening of the distillery came wholesale changes in production style. It was out with the old stills and in with the new - a move towards a fruitier style of new make spirit.
That old style of Tamnavulin is almost lost, and what makes this cask so special is that the character of the original distillery shines through. Over thirty three years, a refill hogshead has allowed the malty and cereal notes to develop gradually with honey and brown sugar playing amid the cereal nuttiness. Childhood memories of eating bowls of Golden Grahams come flooding back. This is a flashback to the best of the 1990s, sadly never to be repeated again.
The style of Tamnavulin represents the consumer tastes of the 1960s and 70s: malty and light, this was a malleable whisky and a blender’s dream. That old style of Tamnavulin is almost lost, and what makes this cask so special is that the character of the original distillery shines through.
Over thirty three years, a refill hogshead has allowed the malty and cereal notes to develop gradually with honey and brown sugar playing amid the cereal nuttiness.
Childhood memories of eating bowls of Golden Grahams come flooding back. This is a flashback to the best of the 1990s, sadly never to be repeated again.
Few distilleries tell the modern story of scotch whisky better than Tamnavulin. Built in the height of the blended whisky boom in the 1960s, much of its production was destined for the expanding American market. The style of the distillery represented the consumer tastes of the time: malty and light, this was a malleable whisky and a blender’s dream.
With the fall in fortunes of the industry in the 1990s, Tamnavulin was one of many distilleries victim to closure. Indeed, this very cask was filled just a few years before the distillery was mothballed and not opened again until 2007. With the reopening of the distillery came wholesale changes in production style. It was out with the old stills and in with the new - a move towards a fruitier style of new make spirit.
That old style of Tamnavulin is almost lost, and what makes this cask so special is that the character of the original distillery shines through. Over thirty three years, a refill hogshead has allowed the malty and cereal notes to develop gradually with honey and brown sugar playing amid the cereal nuttiness. Childhood memories of eating bowls of Golden Grahams come flooding back. This is a flashback to the best of the 1990s, sadly never to be repeated again.
The style of Tamnavulin represents the consumer tastes of the 1960s and 70s: malty and light, this was a malleable whisky and a blender’s dream. That old style of Tamnavulin is almost lost, and what makes this cask so special is that the character of the original distillery shines through.
Over thirty three years, a refill hogshead has allowed the malty and cereal notes to develop gradually with honey and brown sugar playing amid the cereal nuttiness.
Childhood memories of eating bowls of Golden Grahams come flooding back. This is a flashback to the best of the 1990s, sadly never to be repeated again.