Side by side: A Tullibardine flight

A distillery with both a long and short history, Tullibardine distil unpeated Highland single malts.

Previously used at blending stock, they now produces a wide range of single malts.

The current Tullibardine Distillery was founded in 1947 on the site of a brewery that dates back to 1488. Previous distilleries on the site operated between 1798-1799 and 1814-1837 but it was William Delme-Evans who built the current one, the first new distillery in Scotland since 1900.

Blender Brodie Hepburn bought and expanded the distillery in 1953 before being taken over in 1971 by Invergordon and Whyte & Mackay in 1993. The following year they mothballed it.

In 2003 a business consortium bought the distillery with the plan to sell off some of the site as a retail park and then use the money raised to get distilling up and running again. They found that most of the remaining stock had been maturing in old, tired casks suitable for blending but not for release as a single malt. There followed a recasking operation to try and finish the whiskies.

In 2011 the  distillery was sold to Picard Vins & Spiritueux a French wine and spirit group. The 228 is matured in casks from the family owned company's Chassange Montrachet estate in Burgundy.

Tullibardine distil, mature and bottle their whisky on site in Blackford, they have a six ton stainless steel semi-lauter Mash Tun, nine stainless steel washbacks (minimum fermentation of 52 hours) and two pairs of stills.

Let's try some of their whiskies:

Dram	Sovereign	225	228	500
Characteristics	43% ABV 1st Fill Bourbon	43% ABV 1st Fill Bourbon with 225ltr Sauternes cask finish	43% ABV 1st Fill Bourbon with 228ltr Pinot Noir Burgundy Cask finish	43% ABV 1st Fill Bourbon with 500ltr Sherry Cask finish
Distillery notes	Tullibardine’s signature single malt has been matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels. The sovereign is beautifully golden with its floral, sweet barley notes and subtle hints of vanilla. On the finish there is fudge, pear drops and soft spice.	A wonderful, rich whisky that has been matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, and finished in 225 litre sauternes casks. This beautifully golden Tullibardine has hints of citrusy lime on the nose and hints of vanilla and oatmeal. On the palate, there is a touch of tropical pineapple and zingy orange zest. Our 225 finishes with a creamy edge.	The auburn hue of this whisky comes directly from its time spent in the 228 litre barriques that previously held Pinot Noir from Chateau de Chassagne-Montrachet. The nose of the 228 features red cherries and vanilla with hints of chocolate and Turkish Delight. On the palate, there is a real hint of red summer fruit, more chocolate and a sweet spice note on the finish.	Matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and then for a period of time in 500 litre Spanish sherry butts, which gives this Tullibardine its nutty brown colour. There are intense toffee apple notes on the nose with a hint of oatmeal. These notes then combine with a viscous spicy feel and sweet dates on the finish.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, creating thick beads which fall as slow thick legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls leave thin lines which create thick beads falling as slow thick legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls leave thick lines which fall as slow thick legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls leave thick lines which bead up and fall as slow thick legs.
Nose	Barley sugars, orchard fruit, floral, coconut and some vanilla.	Barley sugars, orchard fruit, lemon zest and some vanilla.	Berries, dark chocolate, vanilla cheesecake.	Toffee, strawberry jam, orchard fruit & brown sugar.
Palate	Honey, stewed orchard fruit, nutty toffee and some digestive biscuit. Slightly drying.	Sweet syrupy arrival, orchard fruit, some tropical hints, toffee and dry citrus.	Oily arrival, red berries, milk chocolate, peppery spice.	Toffee, mixed berry jam, stewed orchard fruit, honey and a little spice. Some citrus as the liquid disappears.
Finish	Medium length, honey and orchard fruit notes.	Medium length, orchard fruit and syrup notes.	Medium length, toffee, strawberry jam.	Medium length, strawberry jam, brown sugar and a little citrus.
Overall	A nice selection of drams, the series through the different cask finishes is good - I love the numbering system! The Sovereign gives the distillery character - typical ex-bourbon notes of orchard fruit and vanilla with some nuttiness and sweetness. The 225 Sauternes finish adds more sweetness and a little citrus. The 228 Wine cask is the only one that suggests no chill filtering has taken place - a lovely mouth feel with berries and spice added to the ex-bourbon. The 500 sherry finish adds toffee and jam notes. For me though the whisky needs a little more oomph - 46% should really be the minimum for this range, I can't see anything saying they are non-chill filtered so I'm assuming they are. These are good drams for the price, a good introduction to ex-bourbon and finished casks from the same distillery. Worth a try and then move on to some of their higher ABV bottlings.

Many thanks to @Tullidistillery for the sample pack.