Yesterdas I reviewed cask 28.21, today will be cask 28.22. This isn’t from a sample but from a bottle I bought myself when I became a member of the society. It came from a special series with arty labels instead of the regular SMWS style.

According to the name, this should be a feisty, hot dram. As I say that, it doesn’t sound too attractive but three years ago I must have thought differently. It was, after all around € 90 I believe. Not an amount you blow on a random bottle without having a general idea you’re going to like it.

Tullibardine 19 by the SMWS

Sniff:
Vegetables and a mountain of cereal. Mostly barley but also wheat porridge. A strange combination of warm pound cake and something crisp behind that. Pretty sharp and again, not very special. Barley sugar (not rolled in ash, this time) and mostly just barley.

Sip:
Here I find a touch of vanilla again, but mostly it’s sharp. Razor sharp. Dry barley, again that crispness. White bread, wood, some really default whisky flavours. But the sharpness keeps biting.

Swallow:
It doesn’t become much more friendly but when it starts mellowing, it goes away completely. Barley, bread, sugar are the flavours I pick up.

My general thoughts on this one are very similar to the ones I posted yesterday. It’s not very special, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the cask was a bit tired. To my surprise (and I only find this out as I’m writing this post) it’s from a sherry butt and not a bourbon cask. Didn’t really pick up on that, apart from (maybe) that pound cake note earlier.

Tongue-tingling wasabi wipe-out, Tullibardine, 19yo, 57.8%, 1989-2009, Refill Butt, Scotch Malt Whisky Society.