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History In A Bottle Day 3: Tullibardine 1987 KWM Cask

Posted on December 3, 2022

This post is Bonus Content. It has information on one of the KWM Cask bottles that are featured on the back of our 2022 KWM Whisky Calendar box. You can find the blog post for the mini bottle for Day Three of our Whisky Calendar here.

by Andrew

Tullibardine 1987 KWM Cask

In 2003 the Tullibardine Distillery was purchased by a small consortium headed by a Scotch whisky industry veteran John Black. For a brief 8-year stint, the distillery was a dynamic and innovative player in the Scotch whisky industry. Building on modest legacy stocks from the ’60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s the distillery shifted its focus to single malts. It bottled whiskies at 46% or cask strength, from a range of cask types. There were some incredible releases during those years, especially from 1964 and 1966. But there were also glorious bottlings from 1973 and 1988. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to bottle a couple of single casks of Tullibardine. The second was a 1993 vintage finished in PX Sherry, and the first a 1987 vintage matured 20 years in a Sherry Hogshead. One of our earliest KWM casks, the whisky was a classic example of Tullibardine whisky from the late 80s, balancing delicate sherry notes with the distillery’s chocolate-marzipan profile.

Unfortunately for KWM, the distillery changed hands in 2011, going to a firm which dropped the bottling strength back down to 43% or 40%. There would also be no further single casks, with the exception of a few super premium bottlings. A shame to be sure, but not every producer has the same philosophy or target consumer.

Tullibardine 1987 KWM Cask & Glass - 54.6%

Individually selected from a sample of nearly 30 casks, Andrew Ferguson chose this whisky for the balance of its delicate sherry notes, with the marzipan and milk chocolate that characterize Tullibardine single malt. Distilled in 1987, the whisky was matured in a Sherry Hogshead Cask (#632) bottled in March of 2008 after 20 years at 54.6%. 191 total bottles.

Andrew's Tasting Note

Colour: betrays its sherried heritage.

Nose: white chocolate dominates burnt sugar, fresh cream, light Christmas cake notes and a touch of marzipan.

Palate: burnt sugar and gentle spices, marzipan and fresh cream with crisp oak and a touch of honey towards the back end; a thread of white chocolate traces the entire palate.

Finish: medium to long, starting big and slowly fading with the white chocolate lingering long after any other trace is gone.

Link to archive:

https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/product/731212