The 15 year old was the whisky I left the distillery with when I visited. I do like to leave with a bottle and while lots of my fellow bloggers hate packaging I quite like to get something interesting which is also in a nice box.

This 15 year old fits the bill just nicely. With its trademark heavy glass bottle giving a nice quality feel married to a patio door style opening cardboard box we have a nice keepsake to remember our visit with. The hill I am prepared to die on is the one where whisky products are more than just the liquid the whole package is part of the value proposition for me and that includes the story, the packaging, the brand values and whisky itself. Not necessarily in that order but all those components need to score well for me to get the most out of the dram. I even see this in my scoring or whiskies I write about. When I get a sample in a test tube with a hand written note I do tend to not engage the same as the full bottles I seek out and find in a shop.

The 15 year old is relatively new out in the range and I think it replaces the 21 year old in the core range of whiskies. At around £50 a bottle it continues the good value for this age statement especially considering it’s all full term 1st fill ex-bourbon barrels in the bottle.

Tasting Notes

This exceptional single malt delivers a nose of delicate dried hay and parma violets, with touches of baked apple, cloves and vanilla ice-cream. Notes of freshly baked scones with hints of strawberry jam and clotted cream, marry with delicate spices, with a finish of subtle nuttiness, this whisky is pleasantly nostalgic of summer days gone by.

Producers Notes

Colour – lightly golden

Nose – fresh baked apple pies and brown sugar, lots of vanilla

Palate – Even for the ABV this has good texture. syrupy with honey but still holding a barley maltiness to

Finish – not the longest of finishes

Conclusions

Not sure on the financials but a cask strength version of this would be a top drawer whisky. For other reviews of age statement Tullibardine though check out Tullibardine 25 Year Old and Tullibardine 24 Year Old 1993 – North Star Spirits