Review #390 - Claxton's Exploration Series - Tamnavulin 5 Year

Written By Me, My Wife & Whisky

Claxton's is an independent bottling brand based in the Lowlands of Scotland, near Dumfries and Galloway. A relative newcomer to the IB scene, they focus on single cask releases and small scale blending, especially when finishing and cask re-racking is involved in their bonded warehouses.

Their Exploration Series is a line of single cask whiskies from varying distilleries - this is meant to be a more accessible product line, price-wise; accordingly, many of these whiskies are younger, often with single-digit age statements. Essentially all of these releases come with some sort of wine finish or unusual cask choice - there's very little ex-bourbon barrel usage.

This example comes from Tamnavulin distillery, a Speysider that's often underappreciated. Established in 1966, this distillery generally focuses on the budget single malt market, and in line with Claxton's Exploration Series, most of their whiskies employ a finishing cask, often ex-wine casks. This 5 year age-stated bottling was matured in a refill Pedro Ximenez hogshead, and it was bottled at 50% ABV without chill filtration or added coloring.

Claxton's Exploration Series - Tamnavulin 5 Year

Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt

Current Locally Available Price: USD 94 (2024)

Age Statement: 5 Years

Strength: 50% ABV

Cask Makeup: Refill ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry hogshead

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled April 18, 2016; bottled October 7, 2021

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle at 80% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: Somewhat soft, but quite fruity - oranges, strawberries, white grapes. There's a bit of a musty character, like a sherry funk - then, white pepper adds a kick, and there's some malty character, too.

Palate: A medium-thick mouthfeel, oily and syrupy. It leans sweet, with white grape juice and some candied orange slices; nicely warming and cozy, and there's a hint of dark fig in the background. It's surprisingly rounded for the age, lacking sharp edges that young spirit sometimes shows.

Finish: The warmth from the palate lingers, as does some of that oily texture. White grape is again a strong flavor, and now we find sweet vanilla extract or vanilla bean; dried fruits are soft, in the background again, and we also get some overly sweet purple grape. It's a medium length finish.

Final Note: A decent whisky, if a bit one-dimensional with the heavy fruit notes. Because of the age, a more active cask was almost definitely used (despite the fact that it's a refill cask) to round off the flavor profile and give it some quick maturity - it does have that cask-heavy influence, a bit unbalanced between distillate and barrel. Still, a tasty sweet whisky, so it's fun to try if you like that style.

Claxton's is still making its way into the US market, and availability is a bit challenging - because of that, the cost at this point isn't cheap. Value here is okay, a little below average.

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: 5.28

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.

Me, My Wife & Whisky
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