Tullibardine 15 Years Old 2007 Cask #800114 (van Wees)

This Tullibardine was from the independent bottler van Wees matured to 15 year old from 2007, drawn from cask 800114 and bottled at 46%. Tullibardine was founded in 1949 by William Delme-Evans in the southern Highlands near Gleneagles, and it stands on a site with five centuries of brewing. Mothballed in 1994, the distillery was revived in 2003 and bought by the French wine house Picard in 2011.

The spirit was run through the distillery's compact copper stills, to build a honeyed, malty character. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, with vanilla under the malt. Around the mid teens the malt gains a fuller honey and a riper fruit. The soft, fruity spirit takes a wine finish particularly well, in the Picard house style. Under French wine ownership the distillery has leaned into its cask finishes. The Murray and Custodian's Collections gather its older and rarer bottlings. Blackford's spring water has drawn brewers and distillers to the village for centuries.

At 46% it is clean and honeyed. Oats, honey and a touch of ginger sit alongside soft vanilla and honey from the cask. It is gentle and honeyed, the soft spirit shining through. It closes soft, honeyed and warm. This is a wine finished Highland malt from Blackford.