This week, discover a couple of under-the-radar scotches—Tullibardine and Wolfburn—a series of new whiskeys from Texas, and if you’re feeling flush, a five-figure, half-century Tamdhu.
Tamdhu 50 year old
Style: Single malt scotch
Origin: Speyside
Proof: 55.6% ABV
Price: $20,000
Release: April 2017
Availability: 100 bottles for the world
Need to know:
A single cask whisky that matured for 50 years in a first-fill European oak sherry butt, this is the oldest Tamdhu ever released and celebrates the distillery’s 120th anniversary. It was distilled in November 1963 and bottled in March 2017.
Whisky Advocate says:
Yes, the price is rather eye-popping, but it’s still less than half-century bottlings from Balvenie ($38,000 at time of release) and Glenfiddich ($26,000)—and it’s a pretty high cask strength to boot.
Tullibardine The Murray
Style: Single malt scotch
Origin: Highlands
Proof: 56% ABV
Price: $75
Release: Spring 2017
Availability: Nationwide
Need to know:
Distilled in 2004, this is a roughly 12 year old whisky and Tullibardine’s first cask-strength release in over a decade.
Whisky Advocate says:
The Murray scored a 85 in our Winter 2016 Buying Guide, where reviewer Gavin Smith noted its rich and sweet palate and long cinnamon, licorice, and oak tannin finish.
Wolfburn Aurora
Style: Single malt scotch
Origin: Highlands
Proof: 46% ABV
Price: $63
Release: Spring 2017
Availability: Nationwide
Need to know:
Wolfburn is one of Scotland’s newest distilleries—it just launched its first whisky last year—and Aurora is the second U.S. release, a combination of whiskies aged in bourbon and sherry casks.
Whisky Advocate says:
This unpeated, uncolored, and non-chill filtered whisky is just three years old, but if our review of Wolfburn’s first release is anything to go by, it shows a lot of promise. This is a permanent core expression and will be consistently available.
Devils River Whiskey
Style: Bourbon
Origin: Texas
Proof: 45% ABV
Price: $30
Release: April 2017
Availability: 30,000 bottles for Texas
Need to know:
Distilled in pot stills, this high-rye bourbon ages in char #4 oak barrels and is finished off with a proprietary chill-filtration process.
Whisky Advocate says:
Devils River only available in Texas for now, but with such a large initial release, we’re betting it will soon expand to other states.
Ranger Creek .36 Texas Bourbon
Style: Bourbon
Origin: Texas
Proof: 48% ABV
Price: $35-$40 (375-ml.)
Release: March 2017
Availability: Limited, and available only Texas, New York, and New Jersey
Need to know:
Ranger Creek is a “brewstillery”—combination brewery and distillery—located in San Antonio. They’ve been producing whiskey since 2010 but are only just expanding beyond Texas. The initial allocation for New York and New Jersey is small—only 360 bottles of each of these three whiskeys.
Ranger Creek .44 Texas Rye
Style: Whiskey distilled from rye mash
Origin: Texas
Proof: 47% ABV
Price: $35-$40 (375-ml.)
Release: March 2017
Availability: Limited, and available only Texas, New York, and New Jersey
Need to know:
Made from 100% rye, this whiskey was aged in used bourbon barrels, so technically it’s a “whiskey distilled from rye mash” per TTB regulations.
Ranger Creek Rimfire Mesquite Smoked Single Malt Whiskey
Style: Single malt
Origin: Texas
Proof: 47% ABV
Price: $35-$40 (375-ml.)
Release: March 2017
Availability: Limited, and available only Texas, New York, and New Jersey
Need to know:
Smoked over mesquite rather than peat, this whiskey is an homage to scotch. It was smoked in a rather unorthodox way—in a shipping container.
Whisky Advocate says:
Note that anything from Ranger Creek that comes in a 375-ml. bottle was aged in small, 5-gallon barrels. Full-size bottles indicate full-size barrel aging.
