Tullibardine 2012 Oloroso and Amontillado casks “Firkin 49”, 48.9% Abv.

THE ONLY THING BETTER THAN ONE SHERRY IS TWO SHERRIES.

This is a soft and somewhat creamy whisky. We paired this Tullibardine with two styles of sherry: nutty Amontillado and a rich Oloroso. Edgar Alan Poe made Amontillado sherry famous. It is a fascinating evolution of the Fino sherry style. 

The 50 /50 combination of Amontillado and Oloroso sherries gives you a unique profile. It’s creamy, rounded and nutty, with elements of dried fruit. The sherries, combined with our custom-made double oak casks, results is a stunning new take on Tullibardine. It’s an excellent combination of creamy malt, nuttiness and richness.

Firkin Whisky Company

This bottling was tasted with the Firkin whiskey Company and Ed Leigh on 23/05/2021.

Appearance

Just a touch deeper than white wine in colour, super syrupy swirl line with medium and thick legs.

2nd Dram Of The Night Is
The Firkin 49 Tullibardine 2012
Oloroso & Amontillado Finish
48.9%

Very Similar In Colour (White Wine)
First Initial Nose – Cider Vinegar, Touch Of Vanilla @thewhiskeychaps @FirkinWhiskyCo #TheWhiskeyChaps pic.twitter.com/f9w3ciLMNn

— RestlessNative (@RockNRolla60) May 23, 2021

Nose

First off, the ABV is punchy here, it’s the same strength as the Benrinnes, but you wouldn’t know it. i initially find myself outside with this dram, cut grass, juniper, and wild meadow flowers. As its developing old style glazing putty, linseed oil, and wood waxes come forward.

Given more time a light nuttiness, perhaps hazelnuts slowly emerges, dunnage and earthiness slowly appear. By the end of the palate its menthol and juniper again, a real forest walk now for me.

#thewhiskeychaps Tullibardine nose :- dusty sugar fondant clotted cream fudge , getting a bit of wriggles spearmint chewing gum coming through at the back .

— gordon smith (@gordonsmith63) May 23, 2021

Palate

Straight away a lovely oily mouthfeel, and now we get the Sherry spiciness, but its not a Sherry bomb, i’d have to say that it’s well balanced. Dates, figs and raisins are all here, as you’d expect from sherry casks. The nuttiness from the nose comes through on the palate, definitely hazelnuts, and again some tropical/stoned fruits bring a sweetness to the basket.

As the palate develops, the warming and spicy elements really come together, and are very nicely married. Spicy cinnamon, cumin, black liquorice, anise and dark chocolate wrap up the palate.

#thewhiskeychaps Definitely makes the sherry influence known late in the palate

— Phil (@ingo74) May 23, 2021

Finish

The finish is long side of medium in length, and it’s lovely and warming, and gently spicy, much like the palate. The end of the finish is different to the palate though, cask char, dark chocolate Orange, cranberries and dates are here, a super end to the dram.

It’s definitely a builder isn’t it, I could sit with this for an hour tbh, to taste it develop.#thewhiskeychaps

— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) May 23, 2021

My thoughts

This is the first Tullibardine iv’e tasted in a while, sadly i can’t remember it from before, it was some time ago now. So it was approaching this as a completely new whisky. I’m pleased that the sherry cask influence here wasn’t too strong, they would have easily swallowed up the aromas and flavours of the Tullibardine Single cask malt whisky. I say this as the whisky in here is a slow developer, i could very easily sit with this one for an hour or two enjoying its evolution.

Would i buy a bottle?

It’s another yes from me. This whisky is quite different from the Benrinnes we had just tried before it, and i really enjoyed the differences between them. This is definitely a whisky that’s not to be rushed, if you like to sit and savour a dram for a good while this could be for you.

Notes – This whisky is presented in its natural colour and is non chill filtered.