KWM Whisky Advent Day 12 – Tullibardine Sovereign

Tullibardine was founded in the old town of Blackford in 1949, a few miles down the road from the storied Gleneagles golf course. Though the distillery is relatively new by Scottish standards, the town of Blackford has been in the drinks business for 6^th centuries. Situated just a few miles from the Ochil Hills, the town has long been blessed with pure, clean water, perfect for making beer. James IV famously made a visit to the town as a teenager in 1488, to acquire a cask of ale for his coronation. Legend holds the town, situated at a ford on the River Allan earned its named when Hellen, Queen to King Magnus, drowned in a storm.

The current Tullibardine distillery is the second to bear the name. The first operated for a year beginning in 1798 and again between 1814 and 1837. Though the distillery didn’t take hold the town remained a prominent brewing center with a maltings and three breweries. The Gleneagles Brewery was the last of these to close in 1927. William Delme-Evans, the mid-20^th Century’s most famous distillery designer bought the old Gleneagles site in 1949 and set about opening Scotland’s first new distillery in half a century.

The distillery was built to supply young malt whisky for blending, and it was brought into service at the very beginning of the 20^th Century’s first whisky boom. Over the course of the next 44 years it served as a workhorse of the rapidly expanding blended whisky market, changing hands a number of times until it was acquired by Whyte & Mackay in 1993. The following year they mothballed it, a decade into the crises which had closed nearly half of Scotland’s distilleries. It would lay silent for just under a decade. In 2004 the distillery and its buildings were purchased by a consortium of investors.

A lot of work was needed to get the distillery and buildings up to speed. Some of the site was sold off for a commercial development to raise cash. Much of the whisky was found to be matured in sub-standard casks, so it was re-racked into an assortment of fresh new barrels. The years between 2004 and 2011 may well be looked upon as the golden age of Tullibardine. Many stunning old whiskies were bottled, all of them at cask strength or at the very least 46%. There was a core range of vintages and young wine finishes. The distillery was seemingly on a roll, and then it was sold!

In 2011 the French wine and spirit group Picard took over. They have done much good for the distillery, including recently opening its own cooperage. The portion of the site originally sold off as a retail park, which had failed by the middle of this decade, was bought back by Picard, and is now being repurposed for the distillery. But they made one crucial decision that has not sat well with me over the last five years. Tullibardine had been a proud proponent of bottling their whiskies at either cask strength or failing that, 46%. The distillery bottled loads of single casks and one off bottlings. They also experimented with different casks types and finishes. Picard dropped all of the single casks and one off in favour of a core range, and cut the strength of all of the whiskies to 43%. The whiskies are still good (especially the 20 and 25 year olds), but it has been quite a while since they were great.

Tullibardine Sovereign – 43% – Matured in First Fill Ex-Bourbon – Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: creamy, floral and nutty; lots of almond, lush tropical vegetation just after the rain and chunky malt; becomes more honeyed as it opens with marzipan and candied lemon. Palate: fresh, floral and crisp; this is the tart sauvignon blanc of single malt whiskies; more dewy tropical vegetation; white pepper, Marcona almonds and French croissants filled with almond paste. Finish: light, clean and on the medium-short side of things. Comment: young but fresh and crisp; I really wish they would go back to bottling at 46%!!! – $65 for 700ml