Tamdhu 1994 13 Year Dun Bheagan (Ian MacLeod)

So I chose to open a bottle directly from Tamdhu distillery and one from an independent bottler to compare them. Would they be entirely different or share many of the same qualities? This is a 13-year-old Tamdhu from the Dun Bheagan label by William Maxwell & Co. I did not find much about this bottler, other than they are now Ian Macleod Distillers, the same group that owns Tamdhu distillery today. So, it's kind of circular. Anyway, this single malt was produced in February 1994, aged 13 years in cask #90341 with a Madeira finish, and became one of 756 bottles in 2007. There's no information on the primary maturation cask type or the duration of the Madeira finishing. Pure guesswork here, but I'd assume about 12 years in a refill bourbon barrel and around 12 months in a first-fill Madeira cask. Lots of honey and barley sugar on the aroma with a significant sweetness, both from fruit and savory elements. Plenty of oranges alongside apricots, peaches, and clementines. Salted caramels, brown sugar, and molasses. Cinnamon apples, apple pie, pears, and green grapes. Honey Nut Cheerios, oak, a very light almond and nutmeg with a hint of pistachio. Black tea leaves, green grass, and fresh fennel root at times. A slightly damp earthiness. Chocolate licorice and vanilla at the bottom of the glass. Oranges and apple pie are the main notes here, a very fruity and confectionary aroma. Incredibly strong orange/orange peel notes on the taste. Honey, malt, and a very light peat (more earthy than smoky). Slightly vegetal. Tannic oak and dry white wine; it shifts from sweet to somewhat bitter to a little too bitter. Salty, lightly spiced, almonds, and pistachios. The bitterness becomes more noticeable with each sip, but the fruitiness is never lost. Underripe pears, green apples, overcooked (but not burnt) pie crust, and some pickled ginger. A medium-bodied feel that is creamy and slightly oily, coating the tongue and dry. The finish is medium-long to long with oranges, apple pie, almonds, oak, honey, slightly sweet, and slightly bitter. This must be the most heavily orange-influenced whisky I have ever encountered. Now, I've never had anything else that was Madeira finished, so I can only assume that's the source. It's very different from any other Tamdhu I've tried. The aroma is quite good, and I'd say it's slightly better than the 12, but the palate is too inconsistent. On some occasions, it was great; others, it started off quite good but ended in pure bitterness. On a good night, like tonight, I would score this a 4.25, but on a bad night, I wouldn't rate it higher than a 3.5. Since there were more enjoyable drams than disappointing ones, I'll give it a 4, but I would still choose the official 12-year-old over this one because, although it was a step behind on the aroma, the palate was consistently better than this 13-year-old. The two share many similarities if you just examine individual notes, but the prominence of each note side-by-side could easily give the impression they are from two different distilleries. Cheers