1488 Traditional Ale - Tullibardine Distillery

Shadman

Alberta (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev -10.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

My first foray into the 1488 clan. Nice enough looking brew. Bright copperish brown, large if slightly fizzy head. No ral lacing.

Nice toasted pale malts, some floral vanilla oak from the whiskey barrels no doubt.

Wow. A letdown flavour-wise. Weak and thin pretty much all the way through until the middle end when the toasted malts let on to some slight chocolate-like tones. Slight vanilla oak dryness.

ABV is listed @ 4.5%, so some light body is expected, but this seems overly thin.

@ over $6.00 per bottle it's too sub-par and pricey to be considered much more than a one off unless you're flush with cash and want to show off.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2010 02:05:37 | More by Shadman

4ster

Quebec (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

08-18-2012 17:39:43 | More by 4ster

fizzyted

British Columbia (Canada)

4/5  rDev +9.6%

01-16-2012 02:26:20 | More by fizzyted

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.85/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Half litre bottle.

This beer pours a clear, medium reddish amber hue, with two fingers of dense soapy off-white head, which leaves little in the way of lace around the glass after it settles. It smells of crisp biscuity grain, and floral, earthy hops. The taste is bready, biscuity malt, a bit of toastiness, kind of nutty, and subtle, but drying earthy hops. The carbonation is fairly sedate, the body medium weight, a bit watery at times, but generally consistent and smooth. It finishes off-dry, the toasty biscuit still quite evident.

A fairly typical EPA, flavourful enough, understated and balanced. Any association with the namesake whisky is fleeting at best.

Serving type: bottle

12-06-2010 03:45:40 | More by biboergosum

prosper

Alberta (Canada)

4.13/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Pours a light reddish brown with a light tan head - very dense and creamy with excellent retention.

Smells lightly of dark toffee with an herbal flair, maybe a hint of peat and some flowery hops.

Taste is mainly nutty toasty malts. Not a lot of bitterness. Something fruity/herbal going on there, with some light buttery toffee and faint chocolate.

Mouthfeel is pretty light, bordering on watery.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2010 22:22:49 | More by prosper

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

3.15/5  rDev -13.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

From a 500 ml brown bottle, pours out a deep translucent chestnut brown with a tall tight spongy off-white head.

Pleasant aroma, toffee notes, some wood, but also some crisp metallic detergent which doesn't detract but certainly cuts through the soft rounded malt.

Certainly leans to the malty side in the flavour, toffee and nuts up front, a woody and slightly boozy middle, crisp dry finish that possesses more carbonation than it does flavour. Only after a while does a faint woody aftertaste develop, and lingers on in the shadows of the palate.

The mouthfeel is on the thin and watery side, although not beyond the point of no return. Lots of carbonation all the same that seems more obtrusive than beneficial, crisp and dry but no real body or rounded smoothness to speak of. Would make a decent lager mouthfeel for what it's worth....

Not an unpleasant ale, although not very memorable either. In fact given the texture of the mouthfeel and the muted flavour profile I think this would make a great gateway beer into ales in general for the macro lager drinking crowd who are looking to expand their horizons, as in that regard it's very approchable and unintimidating yet still carries the prestige of being aged in whiskey barrels.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2009 17:41:40 | More by IronDjinn