The Birth of a Lion

It is a great day for SGwhisky when a whisky with a strong claim to fame. It is even better when the claim to fame is unique to the Singaporean context! A while back, SGwhisky was lucky enough to get such a whisky from Tullibardine, the Birth of A Lion 1965 expression for Singapore..

As mentioned many a time before, SGwhisky prides itself on all things Singaporean, and I have been lucky enough to try both the 1990 and 1988 BenRiachs that were bottled for the Singapore market. The elusive one however has been the much more exclusive 1965 Tullibardine Birth of A Lion whisky that was bottled in 2010 to commemorate Singapore's 45th year of independence. Well the time has now come and here is the review for that particular whisky! To the readers of this blog, SGwhisky proudly presents to you the 1965 Birth of a Lion!

As mentioned earlier, the 1965 Tullibardine was a single cask whisky bottled in 2010 to commemorate Singapore's 45th birthday. It is of course all the better that the whisky was a 1965 vintage, adding to the historical feel of the whisky, as Singapore itself gained its independence in 1965. It is, hence, quite a spiritual experience when the history embodied in this cask parallels the history of our beautiful young nation!

At the back of the bottle, Tullibardine states how this whisky is specially bottled for Singapore, and the name Birth of a Lion is shown as well. For those who aren't too sure why such a phrase is used, Singapore is known as the 'Lion City', with the image of a Lion synonymous with the historical fabric of the state. It is on our Coat of Arms, it is nickname for our Soccer team, and yes, our Singapore icon is of course:

Credit: newvisitarea.com

That of course is our beloved Merlion, a mythical creature, half fish, half lion, and it is one of the national icons. Another of course is the Durian, which is commonly embodied by the Esplanade (our National Performing Arts Theatre and Concert Hall), which oddly enough is in the background of the photograph with the Merlion.

But we digress, weren't we supposed to be talking about the whisky! So here it is, the 1965 Birth of a Lion!

Name: Tullibardine 1965 (Birth of A Lion)

Distillery: Tullibardine (Highland)

Type: Single Malt Scotch (Single Cask)

Age Statement: 45YO

Serial No: 104/208

Alc/Vol: 47.9%

Nose: Loads of unripe fruits: plums, peaches and fresh red apples. Citrus and a faintest hint of smoke come in as well. Very fruity and refreshing! (23)

Taste/Palate: Malty, oaky and rich with the notes of fruits playing a major role again. Orange peel, unripe tannic notes, cinnamon and ginger spice. Still has quite a bit of bite to it despite the prolong period in the barrel. (22)

Finish: Red fruits and Wolfberry (Goji) and some dried longans. Taste a bit like the Chinese dessert soup (Cheng Tng, Qing Tang) Interesting... (22)

Overall: The whisky is good for what it is, but does not really hit the highest of heights. Nevertheless, the story behind it really does push it to prominence, at least to this true blue Singaporean here. If I had the chance, I'll definitely buy one of these and keep it for my future generations! (23) 90/100

Found at: The Auld Alliance, Drinks Fellas

Tasting Two Tullibardines

For the next review on this blog, sgwhisky proudly presents to you a lesser known distillery that has been making a name for itself with a set of impressive 'boutique' whiskies, Tullibardine distillery. Not very well known in Singapore and indeed around the world, Tullibardine has started a slow but steady rise to prominence with a few amazing bottlings, including a famous 1966 World Cup Vintage to commemorate England's FIFA World Cup success, which garnered critical acclaim from the whisky world. Tullibardine, too, has also experimented with various different finishes to their whisky, one of which will be reviewed later on in this post.

In Singapore, Tullibardine is marketed by Drinks Fellas, who are the people behind the exclusive Singapore only bottlings of BenRiach and Tullibardine, the latter being an extremely precious and raved about 1965 vintage, commemorating the independence of our great nation. In the interest of full disclosure for the blog, sgwhisky would like to inform all readers that Drinks Fellas has kindly granted sgwhisky access to all the whiskies that they have available to them so as to write reviews on these whiskies. Sgwhisky, however, would like to stress that this in no way affects the impartiality of this blog, and all whiskies regardless of their origin will be graded in an objective manner.

So without further ado, let us have a look at these two interesting whiskies, the 1988 Tullibardine and the Tullibardine Port Wood.

Name: Tullibardine 1988
Distillery: Tullibardine
Region: Highland
Type: Single Malt Scotch
Age Statement: Nil
Vintage: 1988
Alc/Vol: 46%


This 1988 bottling is one that steeped in history. Bottled to commemorate the 500 year anniversary of King James IV's coronation, this quincentennial bottling is arguably one of the most clear examples of the light, clean and pleasant style that is Tullibardine.

Nose: Notes of butter, malt and vanilla are very clean and evident (20)

Taste/Palate: Instantly honey sweet with touches of saltiness and refreshing maltiness. A bitterness then kicks in with a nice warm spicy sensation lingering in the throat. Clean, simple yet very pleasant (23)


Finish: Fairly floral finish of rose flavoured chocolate and butter cake (22)

Balance: An almost gentleman-like dram. Simple, balanced and well-mannered (21) 86/100

Name: Tullibardine Port Wood Finish

Distillery: Tullibardine
Region: Highland
Type: Single Malt Scotch
Age Statement: Nil (But bottled in 2007 so it is around 14YO)
Vintage: 1993
Alc/Vol: 46%

The Port Wood finish is a highly recommended expression of Tullibardine that combines both the pleasant style of the distillery with a rich kick afforded it by the Port Pipes. This was the slightly more preferred dram of the night, and a very good after dinner whisky.

Nose: Rich malty and honey notes with a load of vanilla. The sweet fruity influences of the port come in with notes of berries and oranges. Unfortunately, the flavours don't seem to gel and are very distinct (21)

Taste/Palate: Very oily and medium-bodied. Initially honied with a fruity sweetness before a nice hit of cocoa and cinnamon come to the fore with a hint of creaminess and nuttiness (21)

Finish: This works though! A truly pleasant finish brings up the rear as should any good port wood finish (in my humble opinion though!). Light creaminess is complemented with a really light and pleasant sweetness and nuttiness that lingers on... and on.... and on.... (24)

Overall: Sadly for this dram, its finish is amazing but the rest of it don't seem to have the legs to catch up. A real pity though! (21) 87/100

Found At: Drinks Fellas