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!