Aims: We attempt to detect starlight reflected from the hot Jupiter orbiting the main-sequence star τ Boo, in order to determine the albedo of the planetary atmosphere, the orbital inclination of the planetary system and the exact mass of the planetary companion. Methods: We analyze high-precision, high-resolution spectra, collected over two half nights using UVES at the VLT/UT2, by way of data synthesis. We interpret our data using two different atmospheric models for hot Jupiters. Results: Although a weak candidate signal appears near the most probable radial velocity amplitude, its statistical significance is insufficient for us to claim a detection. However, this feature agrees very well with a completely independently obtained result by another research group, which searched for reflected light from τ Boo b. As a consequence of the non-detection of reflected light, we place upper limits to the planet-to-star flux ratio at the 99.9% significance level. For the most probable orbital inclination around i = 46°, we can limit the relative reflected radiation to be less than ɛ = 5.7 × 10-5 for grey albedo. This implies a geometric albedo smaller than 0.40, assuming a planetary radius of 1.2 RJup. Based on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the Paranal Observatory under programme ID 079.C-0413(A).