On a balmy California evening, Alexander Murray founder Steve Lipp was enjoying a typically noisy dinner with David Walker and Polly Firestone Walker of the Central Coast brewery when the conversation turned to rare whiskies and craft beer.
Like whisky distillers in Scotland, the Firestone Walker Brewing Company ages their Proprietor’s Vintage beers in oak bourbon barrels, so the question was posed: what would happen if old world met new, and the cycle extended? What would happen if fine single malt Scotch whisky was finished in the same bourbon barrels used to age those beautiful Californian barley wines, stouts and special Imperial bitters? The question deserved an answer, so 60 barrels were shipped across the Atlantic from Firestone Walker to the Tullibardine distillery in the Scottish Highlands.

Meanwhile. 526 years earlier, young King James IV of Scotland grew thirsty on the way to his coronation.

Stopping by local brewery Tullibardine, he made history with the first ‘purchase’ of a pint of beer. So enamored was he of the brew, King James bestowed his first Royal Charter on Tullibardine.

In 1947, Tullibardine was transformed into a distillery and today produces some of the Highlands’ most sought after whiskies. Whether it be beer or whisky, Tullibardine has long made good use of the spring water from the surrounding Ochil Hills – hills formed over 400 million years ago, consisting of layers of basalt and red sandstone. The water that flows through these hills takes 15 years to reach the Danny Burn from which all Tullibardine whiskies are created .

The Firestone Walker Brewing Company was at the vanguard of the American craft beer revolution. In 1996, Firestone Walker created its first beer in a small facility rented from the Firestone Vineyard on California ‘s Central Coast. Now a multi -award -winning, family-owned brewery, the passion for creating some of the world ‘s finest craft beers has never been stronger.

Together, David, Polly and Steve helped fill those barrels in Scotland with extraordinary Tullibardine single malt and left them to age for a further 12 months. The result is truly unique and exceptional limited edition single malt with a hint of the New World: a double-barrelled celebration, a whisky that quite literally has no peers.

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