UK. Tullibardine Distillery is poised to distil its first spirit since the facility was mothballed in 1994. The move comes after a consortium of four businessmen purchased the premises in June, and set in motion an ambitious programme to open a £10 million (US$17 million) visitor centre and 50,000sq ft (4,664sq m) mixed-retail attraction, in tandem with the re-commissioning of the distillery – and the renaissance of the Tullibardine malt whisky brand by summer 2004. Accordingly, various new expressions of the brand – complete with new packaging – will be introduced in the year ahead.
The re-commissioning of Tullibardine Distillery has taken place under the guidance of distillery manager John Black, who started his career in Cardhu before becoming an assistant manager at Ardbeg. Black has also held the role of distillery manager at Tormore, Milton Duff, Scapa, Imperial, Ardmore, Glenburgie and Pulteney Distilleries.
Tullibardine will celebrate its first distillation by offering for sale personalised casks of the new spirit – described as an ideal indulgence for the person who has everything, or for personalised corporate gifts. This offer will be available with every bottle purchased and via the website
www.tullibardine.co.uk from the end of November.
“It has always been at the heart of our development to bring Tullibardine back into production,” commented director of Tullibardine Michael Beamish. “We also plan to launch a newly packaged expression of Tullibardine Single Highland Malt Whisky to the market shortly.”
