Tullibardine The Murray – Cask Strength 13 Years Old 2013

This Tullibardine, an official release, aged 13 year old from 2013 and bottled at 56.1%. Just 9800 bottles were filled. Set in the southern Highlands near Gleneagles, Tullibardine has distilled since 1949. It was founded by the distillery architect William Delme-Evans, the first new distillery in Scotland after the war.

The spirit was run through the distillery's compact copper stills, to build a honeyed, malty character. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, gentle American oak beneath the fruit. By this age the soft spirit rounds into honeyed fruit and a gentle oak. Soft Ochil Hills water gives a clean, malty make. Picard is a Burgundy wine family, and their casks come from vineyards across France. The name comes from the Gaelic for lookout hill, after a hill once used to watch for strangers. It is one of few distilleries to distil, mature and bottle entirely on the one site. Delme-Evans, a noted gravity flow designer, also drew up the Jura and GlenAllachie distilleries.

At its natural 56.1% it is concentrated. A malty, honeyed sweetness sit alongside soft vanilla and honey from the cask. A baked apple and a gentle ginger lift it. The close is soft, fruit over gentle oak. This is Tullibardine, the lookout hill malt.