Tastes

Nose: Aniseed, sweet, green/hay, fennel, apple Palate: Sweet, gentle, baking spices, Demerara sugar Finish: Medium long finish. Grapefruit, burnt sugar A decent, quaffable and sweet dram. No airs and graces, sweet and caramel. Some herbal and spicy notes. Sour notes on the aftertaste. Overall, an OK dram.

(Tullibardine x No Nonsense Whisky Tasting – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 31 May 2022). Nose: Hairspray, floor polish, Demerara, toffee apples, toasted oats, citrus zest, raspberry Palate: Poached apples/pears, honey, dates, cinnamon, chocolate cherries, sweet. Loads of light sherried fruit. Finish: Medium long finish. Creamy finish, chocolate cherries, nutty/marzipan, figs, berries, butterscotch This is a light, fruity and sherried dram. Sweet chocolate and light berry. An entry level dram - very easy to drink. There's a load of sherry notes, but not a sherry bomb. Light and drinkable.

(Tullibardine x No Nonsense Whisky Tasting – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 31 May 2022). Nose: Hairspray, chocolate orange, vanilla, red berries, oak, char, strawberry kids sweets. Wisps of sulphur / struck match Palate: Spicy, apple skin, redcurrants, honey, nutty, oak, nutmeg Finish: Long finish. Warm and spicy finish. Quite drying, fruity and aniseed. Chilli on the aftertaste. This is very fruity and peppery dram. Sweet at first and moving towards sourness. Not the most complex dram, but a solid, quaffable session dram.

(Tullibardine x No Nonsense Whisky Tasting – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 31 May 2022). Nose: Orange, lemon Pledge, vanilla, cream, icing sugar, kids sweets Palate: Candied orange, sweet, creamy, allspice, pepper, pear drop sweets. There are hints of sour grapes. Finish: Medium short finish. Chilli, black pepper, citrus, sweet and a little oaky. Fruity and spicy. Still has the signature spiced vanilla note you expect from Tullibardine, but sweeter and a little souring. A session dram.

(Tullibardine x No Nonsense Whisky Tasting – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 31 May 2022). Nose: Sweet, vanilla, toffee, fudge, citrus/fruit, baked biscuits, creamy, artificial strawberry Palate: Citrus, pear, black pepper, allspice, mint, clove Finish: Medium short finish. Creamy, orange zest, vanilla, spice/cinnamon. Souring and spicy on the aftertaste. First fill ex-bourbon 6-8 years matured This is a spicy, vanilla heavy whisky - it's all about the ex-bourbon casks. There's a fair amount of well integrated complexity. Definitely an accessible and well rounded entry level session dram.

Nose: Sweet, caramel, toffee apple, vanilla. There’s a dusty, old putty hint and a dry wood note Palate: Caramel, dry wood, vanilla, sweet apple, pear. Exceptionally dry and sweet Finish: Medium long finish. Tobacco, leather, white pepper, brown sugar. The aftertaste is sweet and tannic. This is definitely quaffable, but overly dry and plasticine. It’s a very decent bourbon, but leaves you a little wanting. OK, if a little dry…

Nose: Apple, pear, custard, Victoria sponge, coconut, summer berry jam. Palate: Sweet, fruity and quite rich. This has a load of apple, strawberry jam. Vanilla and lightly floral Finish: Medium short finish. Apple, summer berry and a little citrus. The aftertaste brings some light baking spice / cinnamon. I had this back-to-back with the Robert Burns blended, it has a lot in common but is a step change improvement. Still not particularly memorable or exciting, but I really enjoyed this one. Very warm and easy to drink, fruity and floral. A decent wee dram.

Nose: Alcohol, green apple, pear, grapefruit. Some light spice and a little floral. Palate: Tart, sour and citrus. Very light lime and vanilla. There are wisps and hints of baked goods and a little lemon drizzle Finish: Medium long finish. More citrus and apple. Mild vanilla and a sour on the aftertaste. This is what I’d consider a pub whisky. It’s a little too citrus and sour to be wholly enjoyable for my palate, but it’s drinkable and you wouldn’t feel hard done by after a couple. Generally OK, but not particularly pleasurable.

Nose: Petrol, chocolate, funky rum, honey, coconut, wood chips. There's also something sour that I can't quite place. Palate: Extremely sweet. Honey, golden syrup, liquorice, cereal, butter, malt loaf. Finish: Medium long finish. Honey, buttered popcorn, anise, caramel, vanilla. This is very, very sweet. Herbal, liquorice, with malt loaf and honey. On paper that sounds like it could be quite nice - it's really not, this is very unpleasant. 1 out of 5 might be a little generous for this.

Nose: Woody, BBQ pork, crackling, salt/saline Palate: Wood, wet/damp peat, seaweed, toasted oats, smoky embers Finish: Medium long finish. Damp peat, mint/menthol, sweet, wood chips, salt and saline, seaweed. This is a 5 year old Caol Ila. A simple, gentle and smoky whisky. This is a wee cracker of a Caol Ila. OK, it's one dimensional, but undoubtedly a very drinkable, gently peaty dram. I find I keep going back to this one, more so than the standard 12y/o Caol Ila.