
September 9, 2016

A trio of Tullibardine…

… And Tullibardine is never boring!

Tullibardine 2007/2015 (46%, Whiskymax, Spirit & Cask, cask #0035, 294 bottles)

These young indie bottles used to make for budget single malts ten years ago, and usually went for approx 15 to 20€. How things have changed. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: it’s that if you like malt whisky because of the malt part, you just cannot resist a young one that’s pretty flawless. Very young and even immature, perhaps, but when the distillate is characterful – and Tully is characterful – it just works. Despite the chalky, paraffiny, and frankly porridgy side. Now Tullibardine have upped their game, and the very ‘strange’ (to put it mildly) distillates from twenty or thirty years ago are gone. Mouth: excellent, really. Pears and bananas at first, so plain youth, but the muesli and the damp oatcakes work well with the distillery’s very faintly gasoline-y side. In short, I find this good. Too young, but good. Finish: long, a little too rough now (young rum), but it gives you high hopes. Some pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: a pleasant surprise, as they say in magazines. I like naked spirits. SGP:451 - 82 points.

Tullibardine 13 yo 2001/2015 (43%, Jacoulot, cask #C8 B15, 570 bottles)

Funny stuff, this. Jacoulot are one of the well-reputed makers of marc de Bourgogne, and what they’ve done here was to buy and finish some Tullibardine in some of their marc casks. I’m really curious… (while in Alsace, marc de Bourgogne is usually for skiing, you know, in the hipflask…) Colour: gold. Nose: disconcerting, I guess that’s the word. You feel the marc and you feel Tullibardine, and as they say in cinema, not sure they’ve had sex together yet. And yet, this is very far from being unpleasant, but let’s face it, marc is a much bigger spirit than malt. Nice buttery, grape-y, chocolaty and even fudge-y notes, though. And gingerbread from some pretty active oak. French oak, perhaps. Mouth: it’s good. Different for sure, unusual, even deviant, but it’s also kind of ‘metanoic’, even if once again, the marc is having the lead. Did I tell you that I like marc de Bourgogne a lot? Finish: quite long, very ‘marc’. Comments: I’m not sure the poor Scot had much to say, it was rather Single Marc Scotch Whisky ;-). The thing is that this marc was excellent. SGP:461 - 82 points.

Tullibardine 26 yo 1989/2015 (53.4%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 228 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: ah, this is Tullibardine of old. Cardboard, ink, old magazines, nutmeg, mashed turnips, Jerusalem artichokes… It’s a style, it’s a style… With water: midway between some grain whisky and lager beer. Very idiosyncratic! Mouth (neat): really very unusual. Starts like a Canadian, goes on with a lot of sawdust and tapioca, and gets then very bready. In a way, it tastes just like some one-year-old American craft rye whiskey or something like that. Or the first Wasmunds, remember? What’s nice is that it’s also got lemons. With water: some re-racking must have happened, because the oaky/gingery coating does not quite fit the spirit that’s really quite rough and young. But as we say, vive la différence! Finish: short, cerealy, porridgy, and inky. Rather ale and white pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: how to score this? Is it even score-able? What’s sure is that it’s a malt that any taster will remember. No high score, but high interest! SGP:441 - 78 points.

Check the index of all Tullibardine I've tasted so far