Tullibardine 1993-2019 - 26 Year Old - Cadenheads Whisky Shop Vienna - Single Cask

Like many of the other T distilleries, with the honourable exception of Talisker, Tullibardine is not a single malt that sets many hearts a-flutter. The distillery suffered under Whyte & MacKay’s chaotic management in the 1990s and was mothballed between 1994 and 2003, when it was sold to a private consortium.

Tullibardine’s new owners recommenced production and moved from supplying only blends and own-label bottlings to launching a range of Tullibardine official releases. Crucially, they also reracked a large proportion of the maturing stock from tired refill casks into fresh wine barriques.

Following the 2009 financial crisis, Tullibardine was sold in 2011 to French company Picard, who have done a good job expanding and repackaging the single malt range to raise the distillery’s profile. Long-aged official and independent bottlings of Tullibardine are good value at auction, particularly sherry-aged 1960s and 1970s vintages.

In 1842 George Duncan established a wine merchant and distillery agency business in Aberdeen. Duncan was joined in the early 1850s by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead, who took over the business after Duncan’s death in 1858, changing the company’s name to Wm. Cadenhead. When Cadenhead died in 1904 the company passed to his nephew Robert Duthie, who developed the spirits side of the business.

Duthie died suddenly in 1931, and employee Ann Oliver was put in charge of Cadenhead’s. Sadly, Oliver’s tenure ended in financial difficulty and on her retirement in 1972 the business was forced to sell its entire inventory. Cadenhead’s was acquired soon afterwards by J & A Mitchell, proprietors of Springbank distillery, who relocated the business to Campbeltown. Cadenhead’s has flourished under Mitchell’s stewardship, releasing many legendary single malt bottlings in the 1980s and 1990s and now has outlets in Edinburgh and London as well as Campbeltown.