"Whisky by Whisky Whisky" Whisky Review!

I know, that's a terrible title, but I promise it's not my fault! As you'll see from the label below, the proprietor of this new independent bottling is testing the limits of how many times the word "whisky" can appear on a bottle of whisky!

This new arrival is an independent bottling of single malt Scotch whisky, sourced and bottled for the organisers of the annual Brisbane whisky show / event dubbed "Whisky Whisky". In a fit of madness - possibly after many, many drams - head honcho Shaun decided to both label & brand his independent bottling as "Whisky by Whisky Whisky". I'm still cringing each time I type the words, but I'll get over it. Maybe. Anyway, nomenclature aside this is a single cask bottling that is exclusive to Australia, bottled at cask strength from a refill ex-bourbon cask without any added colouring or chill filtration. This first bottling is from the Highland region, but that's as much information as you'll find on the label. It's not much of a mystery to those "in the know" since the this Highlander is peated, which leaves a few options, but only a couple that are realistic possibilities for a small independent bottler right out of the gate. Shaun's asked me not to name the distillery involved, and he didn't tell me in the first place, rather I pieced it together in around 2-seconds flat, and I'm sure many readers will. I'll also tease you with the fact that I'm not a huge fan of this distillery, particularly in their official bottlings but also in many independent examples. It's just not a name I'd normally reach for. Yes I should know better, but I can't drink 'em all! That said, I have come across a couple of excellent independent examples over the years, and yes, this particular cask is a winner. Considering that this is the first foray of "Whisky by Whisky Whisky" (sorry, still cringing) in the arena of independent bottlings, they've set the bar quite high!

Whisky Whisky is an annual whisky event in turn organised by Brisbane-based whisky club Supping Club, who hold monthly social catch-ups for dinner & drams. Whisky Whisky is a more casual affair than the likes of Whisky Live or the QLD Malt Whisky Expo; it's actually held outdoors, under cover thankfully (although Shaun has placed yours truly in the path of blaring sunlight for two years in a row now. Hmm...), and has a growing following and a great list of both small & large vendors presenting their wares. So how & why did this lawyer by trade go from organising relatively small whisky & spirits events in Brisbane, Australia, to becoming an independent bottler of single malt Scotch whisky? That came about through Will Pitchforth, who looks after commercial operations for Bladnoch Distillery from Australia, and dabbles in independent bottling & cask brokering in his spare time. Who wouldn't jump at this chance if it was presented to them! 

Starting with a cask strength, single cask peated single malt is a great sign for the future of this little outfit. This is a peated single malt Scotch whisky from the Highland region, and it's from the mainland rather than the islands. That only really leaves a few distilleries as viable options; Edradour's Ballechin, Glenturret, Loch Lomond, or Ben Nevis, discounting newcomers Ardnamurchan and Wolfburn, who as far as I'm aware aren't selling casks externally. But there's one more distillery that is owned by a large Japanese corporation, and doesn't appear very often in official bottlings - and is usually lacklustre when it does - but is relatively easy to find in independent bottlings. Being a mainland operation this distillery's style of peat influence is quite distinctive, being more earthy & leathery rather than peaty & smoky like you'd expect from the big brands of peated malts. Then again this spirit does often find its way into refill casks that were previously used at a sister distillery over on Islay, although I don't think that's been the case here. This is an 8-year old refill bourbon barrel, bottled at a cask strength of 57.3% ABV and in 750ml bottles - that's right, 750ml bottles here in Australia, take that America! There are only 200 bottles available, and pricing is going to be quite reasonable at $199 AUD for Supping Club members, and $229 for general sale. For those playing overseas this is about the going rate for a cask strength single cask in Australia, so this is a reasonable offer. This whisky officially launched this week, November the 25th to be exact, so it's available here (Australia only) and probably won't last long. Let's get into it!

"A Whisky by Whisky Whisky" Cask #001, 8-year old, 57.3%. Highlands, Scotland.

Peated single malt distilled at unnamed distillery in the Highlands region. Matured in a refill ex-bourbon barrel. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 200 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Sweet pastry (e.g. pie crust), soft ashy smoke, and lovely dry maltiness. Old coarse leather, touch of dry earthy peat, hot wood embers. Slight hints of yeasty acidity & floral spirit (acetone) around the edges, with touches green chilli flakes & under-ripe banana. 

Texture: Medium weight. Builds quickly. Earthy & dry, malty & smoky. Slight touch of heat but it's well-integrated. 

Taste: More sweet pastry / pie crust, dry, ashy smoke with some vanilla bean & chilled butter underneath. Growing earthy peat & dry spiciness (smoked chilli flakes this time) heading into the finish. 

Finish: Medium length. Malty & earthy, slight touch of acetone, then that big leathery, spicy, dry & smoky punch comes back through. Hints of peanut butter & chilli chocolate, then black pepper, malt, and old leather to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: There's really no mistaking this distillery, especially when it's presented at a young age and in a refill cask so the spirit character shows through. This cask is certainly youthful & spirit driven, but it carries itself well with lovely doses of dry earthy peat, coarse old leather, soft smoke & dry maltiness. And that's exactly what you want from this Highland distillery, which shall remain nameless. It's quite a unique flavour profile that is almost completely neglected by the distillery owners, and if you've only tried their ~$60 NAS bottling you'll be hard-pressed to recognise the distillery character in it - but that's entirely the fault of the lacklustre official bottling, and not the independents. I get the impression that they only keep it running for the sake of Teacher's, to the point where they now make a high proportion of unpeated spirit there that is destined to become blend filler. Which is a shame, but we have to remember that blends are still the name of the game for all of the larger corporations. Thankfully we have independent bottlers to save some of the good examples before they're blended into oblivion! 

This is a great example of that situation, even if the distillery shall remain nameless. Well done Shaun & team on this first independent bottling! 

Cheers!

Ardbeg Hypernova Whisky Review!

Take the idea behind Ardbeg Supernova, add some extra peat and an extra dash of hype, and you get Ardbeg Hypernova!

Just when we thought Ardbeg's Supernova had conceded the phenolic ppm cold war to Bruichladdich's Octomore, the south coast Islay giant has launched a late counterattack with a 170+ ppm single malt, aptly dubbed Hypernova due to the amount of internet hype that its announcement generated. No, not really! A hypernova is an astronomy term for a particularly large & energetic star explosion, a.k.a. supernova, which if you'll recall was the name for Ardbeg's sporadic releases of super-heavily peated whiskies that debuted in 2009. The 2009 and 2010 releases were distilled from barley peated to "over 100 ppm", and both but particularly the 2009 were excellent whiskies. The next Supernova was released in 2014, and another in 2015, then most recently in 2019. Crucially, those three latter releases were a mix of the "over 100 ppm" spirit and casks of regular 55 ppm Ardbeg spirit that were "found to be particularly peaty". While that fact alone does not make them inferior to their predecessors, in my opinion the quality of those three releases was not on par with the first two Supernovae, they were much more tame and less complex, and you could certainly argue that they were less authentic compared to the original two. Thankfully, that doesn't appear to be the case with Hypernova, as far as I can tell it's wholly distilled from barley that was peated to over 170 ppm phenols. Supposedly those last three Supernovae also had some older casks thrown in and also had a slightly higher proportion of sherry casks in the vattings, although you'd be hard-pressed to find evidence of either point on the nose or palate. The ABV was also getting consistently lower with each release, following a similar pattern to the Ardbeg Day bottlings. To strengthen that authenticity argument, Ardbeg's marketing department kept that 55/100 ppm fact very quiet, deciding instead to sprout some bullshit about a space experiment which had nothing whatsoever to do with the whisky. Yep, that sounds just like Ardbeg's marketing department to me! Punks, pirates, hippies, dragons, cryptocurrency, and now comic books & meat pies. I love you Ardbeg, but where will it end!?! 

That said, Ardbeg's usually ridiculous level of marketing has been toned down for Hypernova, they've only given the ppm figure and tasting notes, there's no highly imaginative story this time, the "artistic license" has been restrained. But while I'm being cynical about marketing, let's talk about the whole ppm thing. Firstly, those three letters mean "parts per million", a measurement which can apply to just about anything but is mainly used in chemistry. When a whisky distiller or brand talks about ppm, they're generally talking about the level of phenolic compounds or phenols that were measured in their malted barley. Not the new make spirit and certainly not the mature whisky, but the freshly-malted barley itself; the grain, the base ingredient. Most smoke and/or peat aromas & flavours are members of the phenolic family, but there are many, many others, all included in your shiny little ppm figure. More importantly, since that measurement is taken from the malted barley itself, said barley then goes through milling, mashing, fermentation, distillation, and maturation, before coming out the other end as whisky. The general rule of thumb that most peated whisky distillers agree on is that up to 60% of phenolic content will be lost during the production stages prior to maturation. Obviously that loss varies massively depending on your grist settings, fermentation times, distillation speeds, the size, shape and design of your stills, your spirit cut points, the type of cask/s you're using, how long you're ageing for, and the type- and location of your warehouse/s, among many other factors. It's important to remember that despite Ardbeg being an overtly peaty whisky, it's actually relatively light compared to some others, despite using a higher ppm barley than most. That's down to a couple of factors that we can point to; chiefly the relatively long fermentation times used and the design of their stills, including the purifiers on the spirit stills (more information on both points here). But there are also many other factors that we can't point to; the alchemistic, mysterious, unquantifiable & unpredictable ones that make whisky so fascinating. So yes, this is going to be a peaty whisky, that's really all these phenolic ppm figures tell you. But I'll tell you right now, it's not going to taste three-times as peaty as Ardbeg 10, or five-times as peaty as Lagavulin 12. Even if it was, our senses wouldn't be able to detect it. Sure, ppm figures are a nice thing to know, but they're now more of a marketing weapon than anything else. 

Which brings me to the most obvious comparison that most people will make here, Bruichladdich's Octomore. Sure, both Octomore and Hypernova are super-heavily peated Islay single malts, but there's much more to the story. Bruichladdich have turned ppm figures into marketing gold over the years, but if anyone has compared a 5-year old _.1 Octomore, particularly one from the 9-series onwards, with a Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength or a Lagavulin 12, you'll already know that those ppm figures are of no help whatsoever when it comes to inter-distillery comparisons. Keeping it brief, Octomore barley is smoked with mainland peat in Inverness (yes, even the Islay Barley variants), which instantly rules out any direct comparison with the likes of Lagavulin or Laphroaig which use Islay peat. Then you need to consider Bruichladdich's long fermentation times, their tall stills with narrow necks, and their high & narrow cut points. Then you need to consider the casks used, which in the _.1 Octomores are all first-fill bourbon barrels, which have plenty of input over the short maturation periods. Sadly & predictably we have no age information or cask information on Ardbeg Hypernova, but it's obviously going to be young for maximum peatiness, and there will have been some/mostly/entirely refill casks in the vatting for the same reason. Or at least partly for the same reason. What we do know, and what I had guessed from the start, is that like Octomore the barley used for Hypernova was peated on the mainland. As far as peat levels that basically rules out direct comparisons with the Ardbeg core range, which uses peated malt sourced from Port Ellen Maltings, who use Islay peat to smoke their malted barley. Quick digression, that situation could change soon given the restrictions that owners Diageo recently put on Port Ellen Maltings' supply to external customers, which is likely to impact all non-Diageo Islay distilleries aside from Bruichladdich, plus more distilleries further afield. But that's a scary thought for another day!

One more slight point of cynicism before we get into the review - pricing. Given Ardbeg's roller coaster (pun intended) of a limited release track record over the last five years or so, and despite being a self-confessed peat-head and Ardbeg fan, I was dubious about Hypernova from the word go. To the point where I purposely didn't buy one, something that would've been unthinkable a few years ago. And I'm sure many other Ardbeg fans are in the same boat. While price wasn't the only factor in that decision, it was the final decider. Here in Australia the asking price on launch, untested and with nothing but the official tasting notes and ppm figure to go on, was $370 AUD. It could've been even higher of course, Octomore _.2 and _.3 releases are now hitting over the $300 mark on these shores - and let's not forget that most of those are 5-year old whiskies. I'm probably being naïve now, but I can't ignore the fact that those same dollars spent on one Hypernova could buy three - yes, three - bottles of the delicious Ardbeg 8-year old 'For Discussion' which is still readily available, is probably a similar age to (or older than) Hypernova, and is bottled at almost exactly the same strength. My Hypernova decision could've been reversed if there had been some external reviews available prior to release, and/or more transparency from the distillery on casks & ages. But that's not realistically how special releases from Ardbeg or other popular distilleries work these days. If you don't buy a bottle on release, or prior to release in many cases, then you miss out. So there's no need for a brand to put in extra effort in order to sell their new product. Some might say that this situation gives the brands some extra wiggle room when it comes to quality...

So, no cask information, no age information, not cask strength, but a decent ABV at 51.0%. It'll be young, of course, to retain maximum peatiness. Malted barley peated to 170+ ppm phenols, non-chill filtered and natural colour, an unknown number of bottles, and a hefty but not stratospheric price. The sample for this review came my way in a sample swap from a generous fellow whisky lover, there was no PR firm involved. Let's find out if I'll regret my decision...

Ardbeg Hypernova, NAS, 51.0%. Islay, Scotland.

Peated to 170+ ppm phenols on the malted barley. No age or cask information available, but presumed refill bourbon barrels and sub-10-years. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Very pale gold. 

Nose: Definitely very young & completely new make driven. Definitely peaty as well, but more measured than you might expect. New plastic, warm tar, and big chunky, earthy peat. Touches of brine, dried lemon, and seaweed. Hot bitumen, clean rubber, and dried green chilli flakes. Really quite industrial. Flashes of burnt bacon, green pears, and damp sand in behind.  

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Young, industrial, peaty, mildly briny. Slight touch of heat but well integrated. 

Taste: Big sweet & malty spirit, touch of pear again, with those plastic & tar/bitumen notes as well. The big chunky, earthy peat slowly surges in, plus some burnt bacon, aniseed & sweet lemon. Make that lemon balm actually (slightly waxy). Brine around the edges. 

Finish: Medium-long length. More plasticky & tarry/bitumen notes, more aniseed & lemon balm. Spent ink cartridges. Burnt bacon & dried green chilli flakes again. Touch of white pepper. Gristy, malty spirit and warm ashy smoke to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Not miles away from a 4, though. 

 

Notes: A very youthful new make spirit Ardbeg here. There are flashes of both 'Still Young' (yay!) and 'Wee Beastie' (boo!) to it, but thankfully it's far more mature than the 5-year old beastie. This is still an immature whisky though, make no mistake. Maybe "more integrated" is a better way of putting it than "more mature". Both Hypernova and Wee Beastie have plenty of plastic notes & pear notes to them, but the Hypernova is a far better whisky in my opinion with much more to offer (ignoring the massive price difference). 

As expected, Hypernova is not as insanely peaty & smoky as the marketing team would lead you to believe, while the peat is impossible to miss it actually builds over time and doesn't overshadow everything else. There's also a nice gristy maltiness to the spirit, which is why it reminds me slightly of 'Still Young', but with the industrial & plasticky notes added to this one. Frankly, I'm enjoying this new Hypernova more than I thought I would. Some have made comparisons with mezcal, and I definitely agree. That does happen with some young Islays, and it's a fairly divisive style that might require patience. But I'm a fan, as are many others. 

While I don't quite regret skipping this purchase, and it's absolutely too expensive, I'm glad to have tried it and I'd definitely do so again. Which is not something you'll hear me say about Wee Beastie, Ardcore, Fermutation, or some of the other recent releases. 

For those who skipped all of the above writing and only came for the score, you probably want two questions answered before you close your browser. Fine, here you go: Is it peatier than Octomore? Yes, but only some Octomores, and in a different way. Is it better than Octomore? No, because there's no direct comparison between the two. See above if you want to know more!

Cheers!

SMWS 115.22 AnCnoc 28 Year Old Whisky Review!

An SMWS bottling of a 28-year old single cask, cask strength AnCnoc single malt from Speyside's Knockdhu Distillery. 

The AnCnoc brand of single malt is produced by Knockdhu Distillery, with owners Inver House wanting to avoid any possible (and already unlikely) confusion with Diageo's Knockando Distillery that is relatively close-by. Speyside distillery Knockdhu was built in 1983 by Diageo-predecessor DCL in 1893 and is located around 25-miles south-east of Elgin near Keith. Like many DCL/SMD distilleries Knockdhu was closed during the low-point of 1983, and in 1988 was sold to Inver House Distillers, with production resuming in 1989. That company is now owned by a Thai corporation, and boasts a very respectable portfolio of Scotch whisky distilleries including Balblair, Pulteney, Speyburn and Balmenach distilleries, in addition to Knockdhu - pronounced "nock-doo", and meaning "Black Hill" in Gaelic, named after a local landmark. The distillery's single malt was first released under the name Knockdhu, but was renamed to AnCnoc (pronounced "an-ock" and meaning "The Hill") in 1994, and to add to the confusion it's labelled as a Highland single malt rather than a Speyside one. Which is fine, the Speyside whisky region is in the Highlands geographically, and it probably does help the brand stand out from its many neighbours. 

As far as production goes the distillerys most interesting point would be the worm tub condensers that are fitted to both pot stills, but with the two separate condenser pipes/worms actually sharing one cooling tub, which is very unusual and would likely give a slower condensation than individual tubs due to the added warmth - provided both stills were running simultaneously. The distillery also produces a heavily peated spirit, first distilled in 2003, which initially bucked the trend by measuring & declaring the phenolic content of the whisky itself rather than that of the malted barley like almost every other whisky brand. Unfortunately this has since been reversed since it caused confusion with consumers and probably ended up costing the brand sales in the race for ever-higher ppm figures, which is really more about marketing than anything else. I still think that change is a bit of a shame, but I can understand their reasoning since your average buyer is not going to read the fine print, and is unlikely to understand / care about the difference between the two measurements anyway. A similar thing happened with the vintage releases from Balblair and Glenrothes rather than age statements, with both brands eventually reverting to regular age statements to avoid confusion amongst the punters. 

The AnCnoc that we're looking at here is an independent bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a.k.a. SMWS or "the Society", and is part of their "Premium Bottling" range - essentially this means it's an older whisky with a black label rather than their usual white, and also comes packaged in a cardboard box. These are not as rare and/or as old as their "Vaults Collection" range of bottlings, which have a different label again and are packaged in a rather nice wooden box. The pricing for these is generally quite high, between $500 and $1,500, with most 25-year old or older bottlings now sitting around the $900 mark. I must admit though that while I've only tried a few examples to date, quality has been very high in those cases. This SMWS single cask AnCnoc, code 115.22 (meaning the 22nd cask the SMWS has bottled from distillery 115, which is Knockdhu) was released in Australia in October 2021, and the pricing was actually quite reasonable for a 28-year old single cask at $595. This bottling was distilled in June 1992 and bottled in mid-2021, and was fully matured in a refill ex-bourbon barrel prior to being bottled at a cask strength of 49.6%. The cask only yielded 148 bottles, and it is of course non-chill filtered and natural colour, as with all SMWS malt whiskies. Given the distillery's closure it's quite rare to find an old example of Knockdhu, and the oldest official bottling that has been seen to date, a 35-year old bottled at only 41% ABV, is priced at a whopping $1,600 AUD. So $600-ish is actually cheap in comparison, particularly for a sort-of-similar age and at cask strength, although that price would certainly jump up if it was being released today. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd. Let's see how it goes!

SMWS 115.22, 28-year old AnCnoc, 49.6% ABV. Speyside, Scotland.

"Shimmering Beauty of Butterfly Wings", distilled June 1992, matured in a single refill ex-bourbon cask, bottled mid-2021 at cask strength. 148 bottles, released October 2021 in Australia.

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Nice dry, malty, spicy old dram. Malt biscuits, musty old books, antique wooden furniture. Slightly yeasty, think sourdough starter, plus a little desiccated coconut & fresh green apple. With more time green banana dusted with icing sugar, and white pepper. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich & oily, malty & spicy. No heat at all. 

Taste: Oily, malty, spicy entry. Slightly sweeter here. Roasted almonds, malt biscuits, white pepper, touch of vanilla fudge, and a little sweet tropical fruit. That musty old book & dusty antique furniture again (yes, we're on the palate here), and that touch of icing sugar again. 

Finish: Medium length. White pepper again, more desiccated coconut & vanilla fudge, malt biscuits, and yeasty sourdough bread. Roasted almonds, soft old leather & drying wood spices. Spent malt (draff) and browning (oxidising) green apple to finish. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely old school Speyside malt. There's quite a bit of wood influence, the cask hasn't been lazy, but it's not been forceful either. I'd say there's clearly been a nice slow-paced maturation where the cask has been left alone to do its thing. This AnCnoc does drink slightly above its strength, but not in an aggressive or harsh way by any means, just in a more expressive, more accessible way in terms of flavour - which is what you want in a 28-year old whisky. Having tried a 22-year old AnCnoc official bottling from a similar era (i.e. bottled a few years earlier than this one) this SMWS single cask is much more expressive, much more "old school" and really quite charming. A great example of a patiently aged Speysider that doesn't do anything unexpected, but isn't lacking in any department. Again, exactly what you want in a 28-year old whisky. 

It'd certainly be nice to go back to mid-2021 whisky pricing!

Cheers!

Highwayman 2.7 & 3.3 Whisky Reviews!

Two recent releases from Dan Woolley's Highwayman Australian Single Malt Whisky; Batch 2.7, an unpeated red wine cask, and the latest release Batch 3.3, a peated red wine cask that was finished in a refill ex-bourbon cask. 

Since these are Highwayman whiskies, before you ask, Batch 2.7 sold out in early October through the Australian Whisky Appreciation Society (AWAS), and Batch 3.3 was released on Halloween just this week, with only a small amount available from the Highwayman HQ / cellar door in Byron Bay (pictured above, open by appointment only). Essentially with these tiny batches if you're not smashing your browser's refresh button on the Highwayman website at the time of release, you've missed your chance. Dan isn't silly though, he's now holding back small amounts of each release for the cellar door as a reward for those who book in for one of his masterclasses and make the trek to Byron Bay in Northern NSW, roughly 2.5-hours south of Brisbane. Or alternatively, for those who attend one of his excellent events at the cellar door, which are really not to be missed! The most recent was held in August and was dubbed "Winter Whisky Fest", featuring multiple one hour-long masterclasses held by Dan, followed by a hefty serving of three different spit-roasted BBQ meats and an absolutely epic pecan tart made with ex-Highwayman barrel-aged honey. There was also an exclusive single cask release to mark the occasion, hand-filled straight from the cask on the spot, and also the release of a local hot sauce that had been barrel-aged in an ex-Highwayman whisky cask. As you can see, Dan certainly knows what he's doing with these events and collaborations, I've never seen anything like this in the Australian whisky industry outside of larger events like Tasmanian Whisky Week down south. In fact these events are more like what you'd expect to see at an Islay distillery's Feis Ile day, albeit on a much, much smaller scale! Events like this, and the time & effort he puts into them, is what made Dan stand out during his long tenure as the National Brand Ambassador for Beam Suntory, and he's now putting the same time & effort into his own whisky! 

Speaking of which, there's another event coming up on Saturday the 3rd of December (2022). This "Summer Mash-Up" event will see multiple masterclass sessions featuring three different Highwayman whiskies paired with three different sliders (miniature burgers) from a local gourmet burger producer. But that's not all, attendees will also receive a tailor-made chocolate paired with a tawny (Australian port) fortified wine that was aged in an ex-Highwayman whisky cask, and there'll also be Highwayman highballs (whisky & soda) and "peated coladas" (I'll report back on that one!) available from the bar. But even that's not all! There's actually a "hot wing challenge" contest to close out the festivities on the day, which should make for great fun! Grab your tickets here for this awesome event, it's limited to fifty people in total, ten per session, and is very reasonably priced at $69 per head. To give some perspective on pricing for those further afield, that is a similar price to what many whisky bars in Australia will charge for a single dram of Highwayman whisky - which is a subject for another day - while here you're getting three drams paired with three sliders during a bespoke masterclass led by the man behind the whisky, plus chocolate & fortified wine for dessert. Quite the bargain really! Needless to say these events are not massive money-making marketing exercises for Highwayman, they're just fun events, designed to get people down to the cellar door, and to get some Highwayman whisky in their glasses. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of these in the future!

For a quick recap, Highwayman is Dan Woolley's single malt whisky brand. While the first ten releases were distilled elsewhere and matured & bottled in Byron Bay, most releases since then (as declared on the labels) have been distilled at the Restall family's Lord Byron Distillery. Lord Byron primarily make rum as their own product, but their distillery plays host to Dan's own mash tun, fermenters, and his own copper pot still which previously lived at Tasmania's Adams Distillery. Dan's production equipment is only used for malt whisky, made entirely separately to Lord Byron's other products. This is part of what separates this arrangement from your typical contract distilling / non-distilling producer (NDP) operation, not to mention the fact that Dan himself is helping to make the whisky, with some help from the Lord Byron team. Essentially he's utilising Lord Byron's production license, distillery premises and staff to brew his wash and distill his spirit, which is then filled into his own casks. Once filled the casks are transported to the Highwayman bond store / warehouse and cellar door, although more accurately they're rolled there - the Highwayman bond store and cellar door is around five-metres away from Lord Byron Distillery, literally separated by a wall. So the Highwayman spirit, after being mashed and fermented on site at the distillery in Byron Bay (sadly not a legal requirement for Australian single malt whisky), is distilled in Dan's own equipment right next door to the warehouse where it's matured, and when ready it's bottled on site. Hardly your typical contract distilling/NDP operation, and a far cry from most independent bottlers.

On to the whiskies at hand, starting with the unpeated Highwayman Batch 2.7. This one has been aged for 2-years & 8-months in a 100-litre French oak ex-red wine cask that was put through a "super-heavy charring" process (beyond level four / 'alligator' char) at Seppeltsfield Cooperage in South Australia. Being unpeated Lord Byron Distillery spirit means that this whisky was made from NSW-grown malted barley, and was mashed, fermented, distilled, matured and bottled in Byron Bay. Total yield from that 100-litre cask was just 130 x 500ml bottles at 55% ABV - those are some thirsty angels! As mentioned above this one was sold through the Australian Whisky Appreciation Society (AWAS) website in September/October, whereas most releases are sold directly through the Highwayman site.

Highwayman Batch 2.7, NAS (See Below), 55% ABV. Byron Bay, Australia.

Unpeated spirit from Lord Byron Distillery, aged 2-years & 8-months in a 100-litre "super-heavy charred" French oak red wine cask. 130 x 500ml bottles. 

Colour: Rust red. 

Nose: Dry (savoury) with toasted oak, roasted nuts (walnut & almond) & dried stone fruit (apricot). Touch of fresh earthy & mushroom savouriness. Black cherry jam on lightly burnt toast. Dark chocolate, red grape skins (mild tannins), cinnamon stick, and a little ginger. 

Texture: Heavy weight. Syrupy in texture but dry & savoury in flavour. Very slight heat on the back palate. 

Taste: Savoury with more toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dried stone fruit - apricot again. Ginger, cinnamon stick, and dark chocolate. Soft & mild tannins (red grape skins), and black cherry jam. 

Finish: Short-medium length. More black cherry & apricot, slightly burnt toast & roasted nuts - walnut & almond again, plus hazelnut here. Touch of astringency showing through now with more grape skins & soft ginger. 

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: The wine & wood influence is certainly throwing its weight around, but it's kept in check by that charring process, keeping any excessive sweetness in check. Probably helped by the larger (in comparison with some Australian brands) cask as well. I'm sure red wine lovers would adore this dram, but it's not heavy enough to put everyone else off. Really quite easy drinking as well.  

Co-owner Louis keeps a close eye on Dan in the tasting room.

And next up, the latest release, Highwayman Batch 3.3. This one is a peated whisky (denoted by the black & red label), distilled from 75% peated Scottish barley and 25% unpeated NSW barley, which again was mashed, fermented, distilled and matured in Byron Bay. Ageing this time was over 2-years in another 100-litre French oak ex-red wine cask that was "super heavily charred", but this batch was then transferred into a 200-litre American oak ex-bourbon cask for a further 7-months. So initial maturation was in a smaller 100-litre red wine cask, prior to finishing in a full-size 200-litre ex-bourbon cask, which is essentially the reverse of the typical finishing / secondary-maturation process. This isn't Dan's first use of full-size / larger format casks and there are more on the way, but it's great to see them being used more in Australian whisky, particularly the ex-bourbon variety. Let's hope the dark (pun intended) days of the Australian industry's 20-litre wood monsters are numbered! Yield this time was 150 x 500ml bottles, mostly sold out directly through Dan's website this week, but with a few stragglers still available from the Highwayman bond store / cellar door in Byron Bay. 

Highwayman Batch 3.3, NAS (see below), 55% ABV. Byron Bay, Australia.

Peated spirit from Lord Byron Distillery, mix of 25% unpeated NSW barley and 75% peated Scottish barley. Aged over 2-years in a 100-litre "super-heavy charred" French oak red wine cask, finished for 7-months in a 200-litre ex-bourbon cask. 150 x 500ml bottles. 

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Fresh & lively with a fizzy / effervescent peatiness and a good pinch of sea salt. Coke bottle lollies (cola cubes to the Brits), fried mushrooms with melted salted butter. Pine needles, pumpernickel bread (dry & dark), and burnt orange peel. Soft warming smoke wafting underneath. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Heavier than the nose suggested, with that fresh & fizzy peatiness. Savoury & buttery. Very slight heat. 

Taste: Big wave of ashy smoke & hot embers, more coke bottle lollies, some vanilla essence, and caramel fudge. Soft wine tannins, blackberry jam. Earthy & spicy peat underneath adding more savoury elements. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Grape must, earthy & fizzy peat, touch of treacle, and mild chilli salt. Touch of oily smoked fish in the background, i.e. hot-smoked salmon. Burnt orange peel, and even a touch of amaro (bitter herbal liqueur found in negroni cocktails), plus a touch of that dry pumpernickel bread again. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: More complexity, more character, and a better balance of wine influence - no doubt thanks to that full-size ex-bourbon cask finishing period, and also the addition of a good whack of peat, which is adding more depth and adding more savouriness. Some very interesting notes in there too to keep the synapses firing!

Overall Notes: It's probably no surprise to anyone, but the peated release is more to my taste, although both are very enjoyable, good quality drams. Dan has always said that his unpeated releases will be big, cask-forward whiskies, driven by the wood & the previous contents, while his peated releases will be more balanced between cask and spirit. And that's exactly what we have here. That said, I've had plenty of Australian whiskies that were far more cask-driven than the unpeated Batch 2.7, and plenty that were entirely one-dimensional. Which is not what you're going to get with any Highwayman whisky! 

Thanks to Dan Woolley for the samples for this review, and also for the bottle images. I hope to see some locals down at his Summer Mash event next month, and those further afield will just have to put Highwayman on their list when they're travelling down under!

Cheers!