Tullibardine Distillery
Stirling Street, Blackford
History: Founded in 1949 by the architect William Delmé-Evans and CI Barrett, Tullibardine is a relatively new distillery by Scottish standards. However, alcohol has been produced on this site for over six centuries. A brewery was operational here in 1488 when James IV stopped to buy a barrel of beer after his coronation at Scone. Which means that it could lay claim to be the oldest "public" brewery in the kingdom. The distillery was mothballed in 1995 by then owner Whyte & Mackay. In 2003, it was sold to Tullibardine Distillery Ltd, who resumed production then. In 2011, the distillery was sold to the French firm Picard Vins & Spiritueux, who have put in a big investment to try and establish Tullibardine as a quality single malt.
Where is it: Located just off the A9, this is one of the most visited distilleries in Scotland because of its location. In recent years it has gone through a huge refurbishment after moving into the retail units which sat next door to the distillery.
The whisky: Like other "relaunches" such as Benriach and Bruichladdich, Tullibardine has released a load of different bottlings in recent years. That makes most of their bottlings very limited releases by definition – and it's hard to discover a "house style" within a portfolio because of this. But they are diffidently getting the reputation for creating some interesting and delicious single malts.
Favourite dram: There are loads to choose from, but if you want bang for your buck then go for the Tullibardine 225 bottling, which has been finished in Sauternes casks giving the whisky a lovely sweet and light flavour. You can pick this up for around £40.
Geek alert: Independent bottlings of Tullibardine are extremely rare, although a Connoisseur's Choice bottling from Gordon & Macphail was recently released. Michael Jackson (not that one, the whisky legend) describes the house style as "winey, fragrant with bags of honey flavour".
Why visit? If you are not up for travelling all the way into the Scottish Highlands to get a distillery experience then this may be the one for you. No, it's not the most authentic of distilleries but it is interesting and gives you a great insight into the process from start to finish. There are have four tours to choose from.The classic tour, a 45-minute experience which includes a tasting of two of their single malts, costs £8 per person. The Whisky and Chocolate tour is a more in-depth 90 minute experience tour with a chocolate and whisky matching at the end of the tour at the dramming bar, priced at £25 per person. The bonded tour is more in-depth still, but this time you get the chance to sample straight from selected casks for £27 per person. Their ultimate visit is the connoisseur tour which brings in a bit of everything from all the previous experiences and is priced at £45 per person. Give yourself time on this one, which can run for over two hours.
Interesting fact: The new additions to the distillery, including the bottling plant, make Tullibardine quite unique as one of the few distilleries in Scotland to distil, mature and bottle their single malt all on one site.
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