Heartwood Expletive (@#$%^&*) 4 Whisky Review!

Another delicious and slightly mad release from the alchemist Mr. H, and his first PX sherry finish in fact!

I've reviewed quite a few Heartwoods over the years, and each has been - intentionally - very different to the last. Proprietor Tim Duckett (pictured above in his casual summer gear) has in my opinion been responsible for some of the best whisky ever released in Australia. To call Heartwood an independent bottler is selling it a little short, because the whisky that comes out of that nondescript bond store and Hobart office tends to be absolute magic. The world's best independent bottlers offer something that the original distillery does not, by putting their own twist on the product that sets it apart. And Mr. H, as he's known to his ever-growing legion of fans, has become a master of doing just that. From a recent Australian Muscat (sweet wine) cask-matured release, to the Dregs bottlings that are literally vatted leftovers from dozens of previous releases, and from 73.5% ABV monsters to some of the oldest Tasmanian single malts released, Heartwood has never rested on its laurels.

The Heartwood we're looking at today is a great example of that. This is the fourth and final release in the "Expletive" series, or more accurately the "@#$%^&*" series, of Heartwood bottlings. These are, or rather were, whiskies that were not behaving themselves and were not playing nicely with others. Mr. H's remedy for such problem children usually involves smacking them around a bit with a large wooden paddle, subjecting them to verbal abuse, and locking them in the "hot box" where they can reflect on how they've acted. But the four whiskies in this bottling series were even more stubborn than most and did not respond as expected, and had to be re-casked. The first, simply named @#$%^&*, was released in May 2017, and was initially matured in a second-fill port cask before being finished in first-fill sherry casks - twice! Yes, two different sherry casks gave their all over three whole years to whip that whisky into shape. Which would not be an economical thing to do! Hence the name of this series, causing Mr. H "a great deal of grief" and filling a few swear jars in short order.

The three subsequent Expletive releases all originated from the same two ex-bourbon casks, LD813 & 823, which were filled with spirit from Lark Distillery. Since they weren't responding to treatment those two casks were married together and then split into three different sherry casks for finishing, namely a 200-litre Oloroso cask for release number two, a 100-litre Oloroso cask for release number three, and a 100-litre Pedro Ximinez cask for release number four, before being bottled in August, September and October 2018 respectively. All yielded less than 200 x 500ml bottles, meaning that when all was said & done those three releases, less than 600 bottles in total, had used five different casks. Which would not have come cheap by any means. The re-casking had also resulted in dilution, since the finishing casks had been sealed with water prior to filling. So the natural cask strength of each of these releases was around the mid- to high-fifties, which while reasonably high by normal standards is actually relatively low for Heartwood bottlings which are known for their high strength and dinosaur-like flavour profiles.

As usual for Heartwood bottlings the labels of these three releases are not to be missed. The first release featured dinosaurs watching the fatal asteroid heading towards them, with one of the unlucky beasts exclaiming "@#$%^&*". The second release featured the extinct Tasmanian Tiger watching European settlers land on the small island state, exclaiming "@#$%^&*2". The third featured a Dodo watching one of his recently deceased brethren being carted off to become dinner for explorers from a certain European nation, exclaiming "@#$%^&*3". The fourth and final release's label, pictured below, featured something of a role reversal with human's looking on as the last male Northern White Rhino died of old age, exclaiming "@#$%^&*4". As Mr. H said at the time, "we are the ones that need to say @#$%^&*". This final release in the series is the subject of today's review, and is the first Heartwood bottling to spend some time in a PX sherry cask. Exciting stuff! It was bottled in October 2018 at a cask strength of 55.4% ABV, with 181 bottles released. As with all Heartwood releases there is no chill filtration or added colouring nasty-ness to be found.

Heartwood @#$%^&* 4, NAS, 55.4%. Tasmania, Australia.

Spirit from Lark Distillery matured in 2 x ex-bourbon casks, LD813 & LD823, married & filled into single 100-litre PX sherry cask. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 181 bottles. 

Colour: Dark amber w/ rusty red tinges.

Nose: Sweet BBQ plum marinade, dusty stewed stone fruit with a little booze poured over, and a slight dry malty-ness. Musty with dark soy sauce, lightly burnt toast with salted butter, vanilla sponge and a hint of clean rubber (pencil eraser).

Texture: Heavy weight, thick & slightly chalky. Very much like the BBQ plum marinade, but with a little alcohol heat to it.

Taste: Yep, more of that marinade, that dusty & boozy stewed stone fruit and burnt toast with lightly salted butter. Which would be down to toasted oak, I would say. It's meaty & powerful, but it's a little less aggressive than some Heartwoods have been.

Finish: Medium length, with a big pinch of black peppercorns and some cayenne powder. Then that boozy stewed fruit returns, becoming a little drier with more oak and a little Tasmania / Lark trademark eucalyptus forest.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: It's a big whisky with a bit of heat to it, like all Heartwoods, but it's also less aggressive than many of the older bottlings were. Less mongrel, as Tim would say. That could be down to the significantly lower ABV and the extra cask influence from the finishing, but then this whisky is presumably younger than some of the archive releases, so maybe that's not the full story. Aside from that trademark eucalyptus note it is less recognisable as Heartwood / Lark / Tasmanian whisky, but then it's one of very few PX finishes to come out of the state so that's understandable. That BBQ plum sauce note is enjoyable, but it's also quite dominant, and there's still some heat to this one despite the lower strength and added cask influence. I could see it going very well with some BBQ pork come winter time!

Well done to Mr. H for trying something different with this one, and whipping it into shape very nicely. Heartwood fans are going to enjoy this one, as usual the volume of flavour on offer here is not easily found from many other Australian producers. This release was considerably more expensive than most releases to date, with a controversial significant price increase, although I notice that the most recent Heartwood release has come back down again. Let's hope there's some middle-ground in between the two, so we can keep enjoying as many Heartwoods as possible!

Cheers!