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Kensington Wine Market's 2023 Whisky Calendar UBER EDITION Day 13 - Berry's Tullibardine 1993

Posted on December 13, 2023

by Evan

This Berry’s single cask of Tullibardine is not a KWM cask, surprisingly. Instead, it is a single cask of 1993 Tullibardine that Berry Bros. & Rudd bottled back in 2019. For some reason, it only just came to Canada this year, but still at 2019 pricing. I am not sure what kind of time vortex it was in between 2019 and now, but I am happy that it resulted in us receiving these bottles.

Finding any 1990s Tullibardine is becoming a difficult proposition, because the distillery did not produce any whisky between 1994 and 2003, and most of the early 90’s Tulli has already been bottled. We will get back to that point in a few paragraphs.

Tullibardine Distillery is located in the southern Highland town of Blackford, just north of Perth. Its nearest neighbours include the Glenturret Distillery which is a 25-minute drive north on the A822 and also Deanston Distillery which is a 20-minute drive west on the A9. The distillery sits on the site that once held a series of breweries over the past 500 years. In 1488 King James IV, then aged 14, paid a visit to a brewery in Blackford to purchase beer for his coronation.

Tullibardine Distillery itself was founded in 1949, making it the first distillery to be built in Scotland after the end of World War II. The distillery was sold by architect and Founder William Delme-Evans in 1953 to a company named Brodie-Hepburn LTD. That company was purchased by Invergordon Distillers in 1971, which in turn was purchased by Whyte & Mackay in 1993. The distillery had been operating for four and a half decades but was mothballed in 1994.

Tullibardine remained closed and silent until it was purchased along with some ageing stock in 2003 by an independent consortium of owners. It was quickly revived, and began production once more while much of the older stock was released in vintages. If you have been into whisky for more than a decade, you might remember seeing various vintages including 1988, 1993 and 1994 on the shelves until around 2011 when the distillery once again changed hands: this time to current owner Picard Vins & Spiritueux.

If you have been following the Scotch Whisky scene for more than a decade, you might recall that Bruichladdich Distillery was in a similar situation for a while. Bruichladdich was revived in the year 2000 by a group of investors after the distillery was mostly silent except for some sporadic production over the previous half-decade. During the time after being re-opened, Bruichladdich released a massive amount of special editions and vintage bottles on an even grander scale than Tullibardine was accomplishing at the time. Bruichladdich’s insane amount of releases seemed to dry up around the time when they were purchased by Remy Cointreau in 2012.

Neither ‘Laddie nor Tullie’ could have continued these old whisky releases indefinitely. It is funny how both distilleries were purchased by French companies, and both have fans who remember a heyday of releases before the respective buyouts. I would bet that neither had a vast amount of old stock left in warehouses at the time they were purchased. The good news in both cases is that said French companies have kept the lights on at the distilleries operating. Both Tullibardine and Bruichladdich continue to operate to this day, with seemingly no worry of shutting down any time soon.

That brings us to the Tullibardine Distillery of today - but will this Tulli from the bygone era before its shutdown and revival bear any resemblance to the current official bottles? Let’s give it a taste and see!

Berry Bros & Rudd - Tullibardine 1993 - 26-Year-Old – 48.9%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Starch-driven, nutty and floral up front, with notes of roasted almonds and walnuts, canola oil, hibiscus, fresh parsley and a hint of fresh oregano, dried apple chips, peaches and cream, and vanilla yogurt.

Palate: Five Alive fruit juice, Ovaltine with marshmallows floating in it, camomile tea, and more hints of spicy oregano plus fresh parsnips and celeriac.

Finish: Nutty, juicy and surprisingly spicy with a hint of dryness.

Comment: This is a starch-driven, nutty and floral Tulli with nice light fruit notes. It is one of the best 20 to 30-year-old bottles from this distillery I have ever tasted.

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Facebook & Instagram: @sagelikefool

You can find all blog posts for the UBER EDITION of Kensington Wine Market’s 2023 Whisky Calendar Here

This entry was posted in Whisky, Whisky Calendars, Independent Bottler, KWM Whisky Calendar 2023 UBER EDITION

 

 

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