To talk of Tamdhu is to talk sherry, and for those who love the rich, raisin-like flavours of sherried whisky, Tamdhu is the ‘Real McCoy’. But it swims in a sea of single malts that have somewhat diluted the sherry category, reports Tom Bruce-Gardyne.

In 1975, the country’s top-selling wine was Harvey’s Bristol Cream, according to Jancis Robinson, who began her career as a wine writer at the same time. In her Weekend FT column this September, she wrote of how the syrupy sweet sherry enjoyed annual sales of 12m bottles, though the UK’s moment of ‘peak sherry’ was only four years away.

She went on to write that “unfortunately, sherry today has become a niche wine beloved, like Alsace wine and Riesling, by professionals but spurned by the mass market.” Thinking of crisp, salty Manzanillas and nutty, savoury Amontillados that are a million miles from Bristol Cream, she makes a good point.   

But in the world of single malt Scotch, the word ‘sherry’ is anything but niche, as it appears on countless labels as the go-to extension for brands. The industry rather blithely assumes that consumers naturally understand what it means.

The sherry cask finish 

In practice, the word is essentially a short-hand for a whisky that has been matured in a Bourbon barrel before spending a final year, or perhaps just a few months, in a sherry cask – a process known in the trade as ‘finishing’. 

If we are talking of an active, first-fill cask and the whisky spends sufficient time there, it will help shape its character. If not, it is more just a marketing wheeze. In either case, distillers often add a dollop of spirit caramel, or ‘fake tan’, to give its sherry veneer a nice amber glow. 

Whiskies that are fully matured in sherry casks are much rarer. The Macallan was the classic example until it strayed into Bourbon with its Fine Oak range, now discontinued, and today talks of ‘sherry seasoned’ casks. 

A 2025 bottling, released to support The Atlantic Salmon Trust

There are distilleries that release great examples like Arran with its Bodega Cask, and others that lean heavily into sherried whiskies like Dalmore, Glenfarclas and Glenallachie. But, according to Iain Weir, marketing director of Ian Macleod Distillers, there is only one that is 100 per cent sherry – namely Tamdhu.

Tamdhu’s unique sherry nature 

This makes the Speyside distillery unique, in his view. Tamdhu was in the same stable as The Macallan as part of the Edrington Group. It was mothballed in 2010, sold to Macleod’s a year later and fired back to life in 2012. 

“The stocks we inherited were pretty good, though predominantly ex-Bourbon,” says Iain. “When we tried them, it was a no-brainer. It was good in Bourbon, but exceptional in sherry, and Leonard (Russell – the MD) said; ‘Right, from now on, everything that goes into a bottle of Tamdhu single malt must be matured in sherry’.” 

For Iain, it reconnects the distillery with its roots. “I’ve got some old, quill pen-written ledgers from 1898, a few months after the distillery opened, with mention of Spanish oak sherry casks coming in by train,” he says. “The founders thought sherry-maturation was best for Tamdhu and we’ve brought that back.”

The distillery dates from the late Victorian whisky boom on Speyside. “Its founders were entrepreneurs – sixteen businessmen, one of whom was Tommy Dewar and another Alexander Walker,” he says of two of the most eminent whisky barons. “They raised about £20,000 and hired Charles Doig to build it with his signature pagoda roof. He was tasked to build the most efficient distillery of its time and create the best whisky.”

Within a few years Tamdhu became part of Highland Distillers – a forerunner of Edrington – and for the next century its role was to supply its well-regarded malt for blends, especially after the 1970’s when it trebled in size to a capacity of 4m lpa (litres of pure alcohol).

A token Tamdhu single malt without an age statement did appear, but it would have been mainly from ex-Bourbon barrels. 

Better than Macallan?

What was in sherry casks was better than Macallan, reckons Iain, not that he’s biased. He wonders if it partly explains why Tamdhu was sold with Edrington’s directors thinking, ‘what’s the point of having two Macallans in the portfolio’. 

But maybe it was just Edrington selling off the family silver once again. The company had already shed Glengoyne and Bunnahabhain, the former to Macleod’s, and has since disposed of Cutty Sark and Famous Grouse, seemingly to focus on its beloved Macallan.

What is sometimes unkindly dubbed ‘the Man United of single malts’ is being challenged, at least on substance, by Tamdhu. 

As well as the quality of its liquid and the strength of its sherry story, Tamdhu is also rather more accessible. In Royal Mile Whiskies, its 12 YO is currently around £40, compared to £74 for the equivalent Macallan. While Tamdhu 18 YO at £174 is half the price of its Big Mac rival.

But in style and brand recognition there’s a way to go. “I think people are beginning to talk about us,” says Iain. “We haven’t got anywhere near the awareness of a Dalmore or Macallan, but we’re beginning to get more of the conversation.” 

Meanwhile there are all those malts that have been to finishing school to compete with. “It’s something that frustrates me somewhat,” he says. “The word sherry does get bandied around.” It certainly does. 

Getting the message across is challenging however. Obsessing about sherry might delight an aficionado, but be less compelling for your average malt whisky drinker. It also gets more complicated because you have to explain the differences between European and American oak.

Tamdhu is determined to try and enthuse drinkers about the benefits of being fully matured in Oloroso casks. Iain talks of the “richness” and “integrated character you get from having your whisky in a sherry cask from day one right through to bottling.”

Next year is the distillery’s 160^th birthday, and it will see the release of a 63 YO Tamdhu, its oldest expression yet. To widen its appeal, Iain and his team hope to connect with consumers on a more emotional level as they tell their ‘Spain to Speyside’ story.

Award-winning drinks columnist and author Tom Bruce-Gardyne began his career in the wine trade, managing exports for a major Sicilian producer. Now freelance for 20 years, Tom has been a weekly columnist for The Herald and his books include The Scotch Whisky Book and most recently . This content has been produced for Whisky Business in collaboration with , the Scotch whisky trading platform for distillers, independent bottlers, and private investors.