Three single malts from Australian independent bottler Whisky in Isolation! One from Southern Tasmania's Hobart Whisky (Devils Distillery), one from Northern Tasmania's Launceston Distillery, and one from Victoria's Kinglake Distillery, all with a unique twist to set them apart. This'll be fun!
Justin Farmer's Whisky in Isolation is a tiny independent bottler based in Melbourne, Victoria. Justin started out during the pandemic - hence the name - with his first release hitting the shelves in 2022. Independent bottling of Australian whisky is still quite a rare thing, largely because unlike in the "old world' whisky industries our distilleries are already ticking a lot of boxes with their official bottlings; i.e. single casks, cask strength, natural presentation, and a myriad of different cask finishings. This doesn't leave much room for an indy bottler to stand out from the distillery's official products, unless they either a) buy new make spirit rather than mature casks and go the distance on their own, or b) go even further apart from the distillery's own products to differentiate themselves. Justin does a bit of both, but mostly goes for a distinctive point of difference in the spirit and/or maturation to give his bottlings another unique selling point. Case in point, all three (yes, three!) Whisky in Isolation bottlings that we're looking at today are things that the respective distilleries' have never done before in their official bottlings!
First-up, a forthcoming release sourced from Launceston in Northern Tasmania, around two hours north of Hobart. This is the first triple distilled whisky from Launceston Distillery, but not only that, it's also the first non-malt whisky from Launceston Distillery; being 50% malted barley with the remaining 50% comprised of unmalted barley, corn, and wheat. A similar approach to an Irish single pot still whiskey then and technically a single grain whisky by the Scottish definitions, but also what you could call a "single blended whisky", being a mix of both grain and malt whisky from one single distillery. Once it had been distilled three times in Launceston's copper pot stills this unique new make spirit was filled into a custom-made 61-litre American oak ex-bourbon cask, but an ex-bourbon cask that had been seasoned (or rather re-seasoned) with Oloroso sherry. That's three very unique points of difference in this one whisky; triple distillation, mixed mash bill of malted & unmalted barley, corn, and wheat, and an ex-bourbon cask that had been re-seasoned with sherry. Justin has really outdone himself here! Launceston Distillery was founded in 2013 at Launceston Airport in the heritage-listed former Ansett Airlines hangar, and began distilling in 2015. The distillery was founded by a team of five friends, headed by Chris Condon who was also the original Head Distiller at Nant from 2008-2011. This is a very small operation doing everything in-house, including mashing and brewing where they ferment for a whopping 7-days, followed by slow distillation in their two copper pot stills. This Whisky in Isolation release from Launceston Distillery has been named "Good Things", and was bottled at 52.0% ABV with a yield of 112 x 500ml bottles. Retail pricing is $185 AUD, launching during Tasmanian Whisky Week (4-10 June 2025) and then available here from Justin's website.
Whisky in Isolation "Good Things", Launceston Distillery, 52.0%. Launceston, Tasmania.
Triple distilled from 50% malted barley, 50% unmalted barley, corn & wheat. Matured in 61-litre American oak ex-bourbon cask that was re-seasoned with Oloroso sherry.
Colour: Light amber.
Nose: Grain-led sweetness, icing sugar, toasted coconut, banana toffee (banoffee) fudge. Very bourbon-like which makes sense. Wood spices drying things out before tinned stone fruit in syrup, charred oak, sweet toasted raisin bread. Honey-roasted nuts and burnt orange peel around the edges.
Texture: Medium weight. Lightly oily, soft, sweet. No heat.
Taste: Sweet & nutty, with more gooey toffee fudge, runny honey, hint of sweet banana. Vanilla caramel, burnt raisin bread. Wood spices, toasted coconut, more sultanas, touch of pear juice around the edges.
Finish: Short length. Walnuts, raisins, fruit syrup, powdered ginger. Touches of honey & orange peel before the wood spices and toffee take over.
Score: 3 out of 5.
Notes: One for the bourbon lovers I'd say, but with that sherry re-seasoning adding more complexity & the wood spices keeping that sweetness in check - just! This would have to be the most bourbon-like Australian whisky that I've tried to date, although it's been a long time since I've tried a Whipper Snapper (basically bourbon-style Australian whisky) from WA. And that's despite the cask for this Launceston being re-seasoned with Oloroso sherry - which just reinforces that the wood is the driving factor in maturation in this country, especially with a small 61-litre cask. For reference, a traditional "rundlet" cask is 68-litres, and that's basically the smallest cask used in Scotch whisky, while here in the much warmer Australia climate 50-litre casks are very common, and 20-litre casks are still widespread in younger distilleries. Still, in the case of this Whisky in Isolation bottling the wood hasn't completely overwhelmed and the whisky hasn't become dry or overly tannic as can happen in some Australian whiskies. That cask has clearly been well managed! Nicely done.
Round Two!
Next up, the current Whisky in Isolation release, from Southern Tasmania's Hobart Whisky. Hobart Whisky is made at Devils Distillery, which was founded in 2015 in the Northern Hobart suburb of Moonah. This is a small distillery that also produces gin and moonshine, as well as whisky, with the latter distilled from commercial wash (beer) in the early days until they switched to in-house brewing in 2017 - this is becoming much more common in Tasmanian whisky distilleries, which is great to see! Distillation at Devil's Distillery takes place in a single 1,800-litre copper pot still, with the spirit mostly filled into American oak ex-bourbon casks and often finished in other cask types. This Whisky in Isolation bottling was matured initially in a virgin French oak cask sourced from Bordeaux, and was then re-racked into a third-fill ex-Tennessee whiskey (Jack Daniel's) cask for a further 20-months of secondary maturation. That virgin French oak cask was a first for Hobart Whisky, and is uncommon in Australian whisky in general, and it's obviously quite unusual to mature in virgin oak and then finish in a third-fill American oak cask as opposed to going the other way. This "You Don't Know Jacque" - the name is a nod to both casks, being French and then Jack Daniel's - Hobart Whisky was bottled at 52.5% ABV with a yield of 92 x 500ml bottles. Retail pricing is again $185 AUD, available here from Justin's website.
Whisky in Isolation "You Don't Know Jacques", Hobart Whisky, 52.5%. Hobart, Tasmania.
Distilled by Devil's Distillery (Hobart Whisky), initially matured in virgin French oak cask, re-racked into third-fill ex-Jack Daniel's cask for 20-months of secondary maturation. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 92 bottles.
Colour: Bronze.
Nose: Sweet, leathery. Tea leaves, tobacco, warm oak, cinnamon-spiced caramel. Warm waffle cones (ice cream cones), vanilla, touch of sugared almonds. Hint of popcorn in the background.
Texture: Light-medium weight. Oily, sweet, grippy. No heat at all.
Taste: Spicy oak, leather, over-brewed tea (light tannins) gripping the palate. Stone fruits in syrup, rich tea biscuits (made with golden syrup, currants, and vanilla). Orange peel & dark chocolate heading into the finish.
Finish: Medium length. More rich tea biscuits, honey-sweetened black tea, and tobacco. Touch of sweet strong coffee, maybe even Vietnamese coffee (sweetened with condensed milk), and more stone fruit to finish.
Score: 3 out of 5.
Notes: I can see why Justin called on that refill ex-JD cask to round this one out! The virgin French oak was definitely getting a little big for its britches and would've become too much if it was left to its own devices. Virgin oak is a dangerous game in the Australian climate, virgin French oak even more so, and Hobart Whisky / Devil's Distillery make a very clean new make spirit that could've easily been clobbered by wood. That's the case with a lot of Australian distilleries of course, and a lot of them do get clobbered by wood. There's no shortage of flavour in this Hobart Whisky, it's oak-led of course and lightly tannic, and it's "typically Tasmanian" and also the most conventional of the three whiskies we're looking at here. Very easy drinking too!
Round Three!
Last but not least is a sold-out release from central Victoria's Kinglake Distillery, located in the namesake town around 90-minutes north-east of Melbourne. This is a small distillery using four different types of malted barley in their mash, including 25% peated malt imported from the UK, 4% chocolate malt (heavily roasted barley), 20% a brewer's barley called Vienna Schooner, and the remainder being another brewer's barley that is similar to Maris Otter. This bottling is the sequel to last year's "Mull it Over" release which was also from Kinglake Distillery, and both releases have used the same cask for their final maturation; a mulberry wood cask! Yes, that's right, not oak. That wouldn't be legal by the Scotch whisky regulations, but the regulations here in Australia - if you can even call them regulations - only specify "storage in wood", so essentially any timber vessel can be used for maturation. A few of our distilleries have played around with different types of wood, including redgum wood casks which I've tried previously and was not particularly impressed by. If memory serves that was the only example of non-oak matured "whisky" that I've tried to date, so this one should be interesting! So far nobody else in Australian whisky has played around with mulberry wood, which makes these two Whisky in Isolation bottlings quite unique, and while I've heard of mulberry jam and and mulberry wine, I've never heard of the tree/wood being used. Google tells me that it's mainly used for fenceposts and furniture, so I'm guessing making a whisky barrel from mulberry wood is quite the unusual choice. This mulberry wood cask was sourced from a boutique cooperage in Italy, which was then re-sized and lightly charred here in Australia before being filled with Kinglake's whisky. While the earlier release was matured in a first-fill ex-bourbon cask then finished in that virgin mulberry wood cask for 3-months, this second release "Mull It Over Again" was matured in a second-fill ex-bourbon cask then finished in that same mulberry wood cask (now a second fill virgin oak cask) for just short of 7-months. While "Mull It Over" was bottled at 55.0%, "Mull It Over Again" was bumped slightly to 58.0%, with a yield of 75 x 500ml bottles. Both iterations of this Kinglake bottling are already sold out, which is great to see!
Whisky in Isolation "Mull It Over Again", Kinglake Distillery, 58.0%. Victoria, Australia.
Matured in second-fill ex-bourbon barrel, finished in second-fill virgin mulberry wood (not oak) cask for 6-months. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 75 bottles.
Colour: Amber.
Nose: Sweet & fruity, slightly earthy. Cola cubes / coke bottle lollies, vanilla bean, and a lightly-tropical sugarcane rum-like sweetness. Thick milk chocolate fudge, and an interesting acidic fruitiness - green papaya?
Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Lightly peaty & effervescent (fizzy), earthy. No heat at all.
Taste: Light earthy peat, fizzy cola. Tropical fruit, fried bananas in the background. That sugarcane rum sweetness again, and that acidic fruitiness too - green banana & green papaya? A touch of over-ripe pineapple too.
Finish: Medium-long length. Milk chocolate fudge, over-ripe pineapple, fried banana. Touch of burnt caramel too.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: It's a little weird, but I like it! There are some slightly odd notes in here that I can only assume came from the Mulberry wood, and this is a lightly peated spirit, which is an odd combination. But it works! This is officially the first non-oak aged spirit that I've actually enjoyed - the previous unnamed experience certainly didn't go as well as this! King Lake do make a good whisky, and it seems to work well in a number of different casks - even crazy ones like a second-fill mulberry wood cask!
Overall Notes: Three very different drams here! The Launceston is the sweeter of the three and also the most spirit-driven, despite the big wood influence, the Hobart gives the more conventional "Australian whisky" experience, and the King Lake is the wacky & tasty wildcard entry. The common threads in all three are quality spirit, interesting flavour, and easy-drinking experiences that hide their strengths very dangerously. Justin goes to great lengths to make it clear that he doesn't just pick casks from distilleries and bottle them, he goes the extra mile with unique cask treatments that we wouldn't normally see. But he's clearly also good at picking casks, and at picking which distilleries to work with!
Going into this three-way I expected the "Good Things" from Launceston Distillery to be my clear winner of the three, but it's ended up being the wildcard King Lake with its mad mulberry wood treatment that has won me over. I didn't see that coming!
Cheers!
