Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 57%ABV
Ageing cask: Finished in ex-Bourbon First Fill
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Dram Mor Group
Average price: € 65.00
Official website: drammorgroup.com
Vote: 77/100
We conclude our sampling of the Scottish bottler’s summer releases with the second of the single casks from the Highlands, this time the 140 always filled in 2015 and finished in a first-fill ex-Bourbon single cask which produced 263 bottles at cask strength.
The sister in ex-Sherry convinced me, let’s see how Tullibardine fares with the ex-Bourbon.
Tasting notes
Behind an initial alcoholic sting, it offers all its youthfulness on the nose: malt, yeast, vanilla and lemon express a brazen vivacity, not without softness. With time and patience, fruity (apple, pear, unripe plums) and sugary notes emerge, with the sour part remaining pre-eminent.
The palate is bursting with pepper and ginger, picking up on the youthful traits of the nose, where the sugary notes combine with impressions of malt and yeast dipped between fruit (apple dominant) and slightly bitter and vegetal notes. Alcohol rather exuberant without ever becoming excessive.
Not very long finish with apple, malt, slight vanilla and vegetal notes.
Decidedly more naked than its twin bottling in Sherry, the influence of the cask here appears somewhat timid, leaving much room for the distillate to reveal the understated personality of its origin.