Tullibardine

The story of an epic golf trip 10 years ago.

July 2016. I’d been retired about a year and had been planning the golf trip of a lifetime with my younger son David and my good golfing buddy Rich and his very good golfer wife Carol. We were off to St. Andrews. Trip goal was to play the very best courses and come home broke.



10 July. First stop for David and I was Edinburgh. We walked the town, hiked up to the castle and met an old friend for a pint. Or two.

11 July. The next morning, we were in a cab to St. Andrews.

First stop was our quarters for the week, The Old Course Hotel. We then headed over the Dukes Course for a much needed warmup round. I shot a 95. David’s score is undetermined. 😉

We then met up with Rich and Carol at The Jigger Inn, an establishment overlooking the Road Hole, #17 on the Old Course. We tipped a pint and cheered on the golfers who passed us by.

12 July. Was a lot of golf, especially walking. Kingsbarns I shot a 94 and was happy with the round. In the afternoon we climbed up to the Castle Course. Very very hilly. And walking. I think I quit after 9 holes. I have no scorecard for the round. It would have been ugly.

At night we ventured into historic St. Andrews, with a plethora of fine restaurants and great selections of scotch.



13 July. We headed north to Carnoustie. Site of the 1999 British Open where Jean van de Velde blew a 3 stroke lead on the 72nd hole. I had played there once before (~1994?) in gale force winds. I played well and shot 108. The senior British Open was due in town in 1-2 weeks, so we had to use mats in the fairways so they’d be pretty for the Open. I was in the fairways most of the day and shot a very nice 91. Course played much easier out of the wind.



14 July. Thursday we stayed in town and played the Jubilee Course and the New Course. Rich & Carol ready to play!



While walking 36, the courses are thankfully flat like the Old Course. Shot 98 at Jubilee and 105 on the New Course.

15 July. The day we’ve been looking forward to for a year. The Old Course.



My Driver had been wonky so I set it aside and stuck with my fairly reliable 3 wood. Until the 17th hole, which requires a drive over the southeast corner of the Old Course Hotel. (You only live once!) I went out in 48, but closed with a 45, with a par on 18. 93. Just missed a birdie putt. 4 pars on the 18.

David had a birdie and shot 94. A great day all around.



That afternoon we went golf shopping in town, stocking up on St. Andrews garb. That night we had dinner in the Old Course Hotel, and then ventured up to the great bar room on the 4th floor. It overlooks the Old Course and the North Sea.

We had already sampled a good many Scottish adult beverages. Carol called it a night and Rich followed after another tasting.



It was David and my last night in Scotland. The next morning we were headed for a day in London and a show.

Before long it was just David and I and the Scottish lad behind the bar. We asked him what the best Scotch he had in the bar. We had noticed a private tasting room out towards the back deck. He said for Americans it’s Macallan’s 25 year. But he added that most Scottish think it’s “shite”. He noted that it is formulated for the American palate. So I asked again, what the best he has. As a Scotsman, he replied quickly. “Tullibardine”.



The Tullibardine 1964 is one of those whiskies that scotch enthusiasts talk about with a bit of reverence. It was distilled in 1964 at the Tullibardine Distillery in the Scottish Highlands and then matured for decades before bottling in very limited quantities. Some releases spent over 50 years in cask, making them among the oldest whiskies the distillery has ever produced. The bartended said only a few hundred bottle were ever produced.

I asked what a glass of such a scotch would cost us. The price was £80 a pour, about $110 US. But the bartender we’d been chatting with, and closing his bar, as it was approaching 1am, said he could it for £40 a glass. Done!

An incredible scotch. I will never drink anything quite like it again. A great way to end a golf trip to Scotland.

The next morning David and I were packing up while Rich and Carol were headed for one more round of golf. I shared with Rich the story of our final pour with Tullibardine.

“What did it taste like” he asked.

He was expecting maybe “notes of honey, leather, oak, perhaps a hint of citrus and spice”.

I told him it tasted like Jennifer Aniston.

He understood immediately. “That good!”

David, unfortunately, cannot confirm or deny my tasting notes because he remembers absolutely nothing about the best Scotch he ever drank. Maybe we’ll get there again some day.



One helluva trip!