Review #202 - Alexander Murray Teaninich 13 Year Single Cask
Teaninich is a lesser known distillery, a Diageo company that produces malt for blends. It's located in the mainland portion of the highland region, and while not a lot of its single malt makes its way into the hands of enthusiasts, it's actually quite a large-scale production: 10.2 million liters of alcohol per annum, placing it comfortably in the top 10 largest malt distilleries in Scotland.
One interesting feature of the Teaninich distillery is its use of a hammer mill and mash filter - this is a relatively unique setup in Scotland. Made to produce extremely clear wort before distillation, this setup first hammers the grain into extremely fine flour before mashing; after the sugars have been accessed and broken down, a series of cloth filters remove the solids from the wort before the liquid moves on to fermentation.
This example from Alexander Murray and Co. has been matured for 13 years in 'oak casks,' specifically a hogshead - there's no other detail concerning the cask type on the bottle, but some digging online points in the direction of an ex-bourbon hogshead. They give us a nice bottling strength of 56.4% ABV, and to go with it, a lack of chill filtration.
Alexander Murray Teaninich 13 Year Single Cask
Scotland/Highlands - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 100 (2022)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 100 (2024 - equivalent bottling)
Age Statement: 13 Years
Strength: 56.4% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon hogshead
Details: Not chill filtered; 2004 vintage, bottled in 2018; cask no. 307468, 272 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 14 months; bottles at 100%, 80% (blind tasting), 70% (blind tasting), and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Light and bright, with some sharpness - lemon citrus, dry vanilla, dry wood, and some spices like cinnamon and star anise. The fruits continue with pear and watermelon; there's a grassy character, before the scents transition to sweetness with more air time. Brown sugar, bubblegum, and sweet biscuits all can be found; there's a spirity side to this, too.
Palate: A medium-thick mouthfeel, with a bit of heat at first; there's definitely a spicy, spirity side to this. Bright, tart lemon, wood char, and a hint of sour malt add to that sharp complexion, but again, more sweetness comes with time. Pears, apples, perfume, and brown sugar arrive, and after a few months of the bottle being open, the bubblegum flavors were much stronger. On the back of the palate, spices of cinnamon, white pepper, and dry vanilla were present.
Finish: Light fruits: unripe peach, green apple skins, apple juice, and pear. Still spirity and warm, and slightly young and simple as it settles on the tongue; spice comes from wood char, cinnamon, and then there's a bit of barley sugar. The finish has a medium length overall.
Final Note: We originally bought this bottle because we wanted to try the distillery, and it came at a bit of a cost - $100, which isn't cheap, although this is a 13 year old cask strength whisky. The taste has a hard time living up to that price point, though - it isn't a bad whisky, but it's not quite living up to its age.
This might point to a somewhat spent refill cask, as 13 years is generally long enough to round off most of the spirit heat and youth notes, but this was still quite a raw, spirity experience. It has nice bright fruit flavors and just a hint of that grassy character that Teaninich is supposedly known for, but this needed either a bit more time to be fully polished, or a slightly more palatable price.
Our Average Rating: 6.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.17
Check out some of our other independently-bottled Scotch reviews:
Review #151 - SMWS 71.83 "Amuse Your Bouche" - Glenburgie 10 Year
Review #129 - The Sovereign Invergordon 50 Year (1964)
