Tamnavulin

Tamnavulin is a single malt distillery located in Speyside whisky region, Scotland. The name translates as 'mill on the hill' from Gaelic and refers to an old water mill that is located within the distillery grounds. This is home to one of Scotland's largest bat colonies. Tamnavulin was built solely to supply whisky to its owner's blends. However, it has recently started making a name for itself as a Scotch single malt brand.

Tamnavulin is known for a grassy, floral and fruity style. This exhibits notes of hay, meadow flowers and green orchard fruits, especially apple and pear.

This style matures well in American bourbon whiskey casks. Recently, an experimental finishing policy has seen the spirits matured in different sherry and red wine casks. Some of these have started to come through in the product range.

The core range kicked off with the Double Cask - a marriage of bourbon and sherry cask matured whiskies - in 2016. These have since been joined by the Sherry Cask Edition and three red wine casks. These feature Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Pinot Noir finishes. There are also four limited edition expressions with year vintages ranging from 1970 to 2000.

The distillery is home to some of the most eco-friendly equipment in Speyside. In 2018 a new bioplant was installed to clean up the production process environmentally, along with other modifications.

Tamnavulin has an 11 tonne mash tun and operates 22 mashes per week. These feed nine stainless steel washbacks with a 60-hour fermentation. There are three pairs of copper pot stills (3x wash for the first distillation and 3x spirit for the second). Water for production is drawn from underground springs close to the distillery.

The annual production capacity is 4.2 million litres.

Tamnavulin was founded in 1966 by the Tamnavulin-Glenlivet Distillery Co. This was a subsidiary of Invergordon Distillers Ltd. It is located in the hamlet of Tomnavoulin, which sits deep in the Livet Glen, Speyside. The company was taken over by Whyte & Mackay in 1993. They purchased the distillery to secure a consistent supply of its highly regarded malt for their famous Whyte & Mackay blended range.

However, the distillery ran into financial issues almost immediately and eventually closed in 1995 due to a terrible slump in Scotch whisky sales. Tamnavulin did not reopen for 12 years, bar a six-week production period in 2000. Distillation restarted in July 2007. Whyte & Mackay remain as owners, albeit as part of the larger Emperador Inc since 2104.

A single malt range was launched to commemorate the distillery's 50th anniversary in 2016. This represented the first time that Tamnavulin had been made commercially available in any quantity. The whisky is also highly regarded amongst independent bottlers. Notable releases include those from Douglas Laing, Gordon & Macphail, Hunter Laing and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS).