Two times Murray McDavid bottled expressions
Murray McDavid was founded back in 1996 by, amongst others, Mark Reynier. The big man who also put quite a stamp on the resurrection of the Bruichladdich Distillery, went on to make a mark with Waterford Distillery in Ireland. Sadly, this adventure ended in financial hard times. We hope all will lands on its feet, because the industry needs these love-‘em-or-hate’em people that stirs things up. To me, Murray McDavid was – in the early days of my whisky hobby – just another independent bottler. They did release some belters back in the day. Just browse the Whiskybase for their Springbank and Clynelish releases, and let us not forget about “Leapfrog”, which probably helped establish 1987 as a great vintage for Laphroaig Islay malt. I drank my fair share of (young) Rosebank out of Murray McDavid bottles.
Murray McDavid at one point was acquired by Aceo Limited. I visited their location during the Spirit of Speyside Festival of 2019. This location for maturing their stock (and of others) is actually the old Coleburn Distillery in Speyside, not too far from the Benriach and Longmorn distilleries. It was a sight to see. Big news last year was that Aceo is now involved in reviving the classic Dallas Dhu Distillery.
Their whisky at that time (2019) … left me quite underwhelmed. And so this bottler drifted out of my view. Somehow, in current days, they seem to make waves again and they appear on my radar quite often; always a good sign of being relevant. Recently, I already tasted a 1991 Braes of Glenlivet, and I decided to round up my remaining “MM” samples for today. Enjoy!
Glenallachie 2014, 9 years old, bottled at 57,7 % abv by Murray McDavid
First things first: This Glenallachie was bottled in the Benchmark Series, and was taken from oloroso sherry hogshead # 9900287. The whisky was distilled in 2014 and in 2024 the cask produced 320 bottles. This bottle was released exclusively in the Benelux.
Upon Sipping: Glenallachie used to be one of the best hidden secrets in Speyside, until, of course, Billy Walker revealed there is something more to this malt production machine. My first encounter was actually a heavily sherried one in those Chivas Brothers 50 cl bottles that you could get at Strathisla, Aberlour or The Glenlivet visitor centres. Sticking my nose in the glass, I am reminded of those heavy sherry examples. Nothing subtle about it, this is a hard hitter and it is simply lovely. On top of the classic sherried notes of raisins, red fruits and some smoke, there is a note of some kind of cake that I cannot name. Certainly some rum in there! Taking a sip, the pleasure continues even though I feared it would be very dry. It is dry, but not over the top, and there is enough bitterness to create a hunger for chocolate. Some cherry liquor bursts on your tongue, like biting in a bonbon that is filled with the liquid and catches you by surprise.
In a way, this has a strong Mediterranean note to it, with luscious things you would buy after safely doing an excursion out to the desert. All sensations seem enlarged. With water, more dades and plums on the palate, and it takes away some of the sting of the alcohol. The finish lingers for a long time. Wonderful.
Word to the Wise: Yeah, this has all the classic elements of a good sherry whisky. Compliments to Murray McDavid for bottling this at its peak. A few more months and the sweet spot would have passed us by and left only bitter notes. This is exactly fine as it is.
Score: 88 points.
Tamdhu 1987, 31 years old, bottled at 50,4 % abv by Murray McDavid
First things first: This Tamdhu was bottled in the Mission Gold Series, and was taken from cask # 6000006, which feels almost like a made-up number. The whisky matured first in a bourbon barrel, only to be finished in a Koval Bourbon cask. The whisky was distilled in 1987 and bottled in 2018.
Upon Sipping: Beautiful fresh nose, and a rare treat to sniff on a Tamdhu that has no sherried influence in its DNA. Lots of freshly sawn wood notes, with a strong vanilla signature. Underneath that you will finds loads of apricot and peach, in the latter case more the peach gummy candy than the real fruit, so imagine some sugar on top of it. Taking a sip, the apricot pushes on, but there is also a hotness that is difficult to place. On the finish is where the worries start. There is a distinct soapy note here. One has to wonder what the second maturation did, how long that finish was in months or years, and what it was trying to mask. A flaw, for sure, but no need to throw the rest of the glass in the sink. Quite the contrary, there are a lot of redeeming factors. The exuberant fruit on this Tamdhu is just great. With water, it turns more complex on the nose, with more wood notes. Like walking in a pine wood forest on a late summer’s day.
Very enjoyable. The taste turns even more sugary now, but the soap is automatically also enlarged. Only on the finish, but there is where it hurts the most. Pity.
Word to the Wise: If you are very sensitive to soapy, lavender notes in your whisky, this might be a bottle you want to avoid. Still, all in all this is a very decent and fresh offering. Just no gold medal.
Score: 84 points.
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