Tropical fruit notes in whisky is a complex topic. The more commonly found varieties of pineapple, banana, and coconut (yes, coconut is a fruit!), can show at early ages and can be influenced by casks - good quality ex-bourbon, sauternes, and rum casks, for example, can bring out these notes relatively quickly, as can fermentation methods. But the more elusive notes of peach, melon, mango, passionfruit, and lychee, tend to more influenced by age and often require significant ageing of multiple decades to show. Of course, that time must also be spent in right cask. While there are exceptions, the main whiskies one would reach for when looking for this sort of flavour profile would be older Scotch whiskies or Irish whiskies / whiskeys, typically single malts aged for 25-30 years or beyond in refill ex-bourbon casks. Irish single malts can become very fruity when they reach this sort of age, particularly independent bottlings from Cooley Distillery which "only" distils twice rather than the triple distillation typically associated with Irish whiskies / whiskeys, although Irish pot still whiskeys can take this turn as well; particularly Redbreast 21 and Redbreast 27-year old in my experience, despite the latter carrying a lot of (too much!) port cask influence. When turning to Scotland in search of this tropical fruit profile you'll typically want a Speysider - older vintages of Benriach, Glenburgie, Glenlivet, or Tormore, for example. Many other distilleries can turn in this direction in the right circumstances, particularly in refill ex-bourbon casks too. Tropical fruit notes are not exclusive to the Speyside region by any means, some of the Highland distilleries are famous for these tropical fruit notes, e.g. Ben Nevis distilled in 1996-1998, or older Clynelish from before they took the waxiness away from us. Islay whiskies can head in this direction too, most famously older Bowmores but even Laphroaig on rarer occasions. So-called "new world" whiskies can sometimes do the same, generally at relatively young ages due to warmer climates or wider seasonal swings in temperature. Generally, but not always.
So why do some whiskies develop this tropical fruit profile, and why don't all whiskies do it? Even discounting cask type - fortified wine or red wine casks tend to reduce or obscure these notes - it remains very complex, ranging from fermentation and distillation methods and equipment to the interactive stages of maturation which are quite mysterious in their own right. The main factors in fermentation stage seem to be the type of yeast employed (brewers yeast rather than modern distillers yeast, for example) and the fermentation time (not necessarily the longer the better), while in distillation a faster distillation run, a wider cut point, and/or worm tub condensers seem to be contributors, mainly because they give the spirit some rough edges, giving a more robust and more sulphured new make spirit that can be left to mature for longer before it comes under threat of too much cask influence. In layman's chemical terms we're talking about esters and esterification here, but also lactones and the combination & interaction of both, which is also influenced by interaction with the air in a cask during ageing, plus the local microclimate, and even bacteria and other microorganisms. Both esters and lactones are created, captured, and altered throughout the fermentation, distillation, and maturation stages of whisky production, and it's basically impossible to pinpoint where any one particular flavour has originated from. Yeast and bacteria can add esters, oak and microorganisms can add lactones, and both can be boosted during maturation thanks to that mysterious interactive stage of maturation. But it's not even that simple; to add an extra curve ball, other non-malt spirits such as brandies or rums can also develop more tropical fruit notes when they reach sufficient age. So it's an extremely complex subject! Aside from flavour & aroma being a largely subjective thing, this is also part of the magic, the alchemy, the mystery, that is whisky.
It's worth noting that most single malts showing this profile will be independent bottlings rather than official bottlings i.e. those bottled and released by the distillery owners, and those independent bottlings will usually be single cask bottlings too. A lot of the time these casks will be from "workhorse" distilleries which mainly produce malt whisky destined for their parent company's blended whiskies, where the fermentation may be shorter and the distillation may be faster than if the intention was otherwise. As mentioned above, the spirit from these distilleries may be a little rough around the edges if bottled young, which may be intentional or there may be other factors involved like reducing cost and/or time in order to fulfil requirements. But when left alone for long enough in the right cask, particularly an ex-bourbon barrel with its layer charring, see above re: rough edges and (sometimes) sulphur in the spirit, this is where magic can happen.
The tropical fruit-laden whisky we're looking at today isn't from Ireland or Scotland, nor is it an independent bottling sourced from a distillery that mainly produces blended whisky. It's from Tasmania, the small island off the south-east coast of Australia that has almost become synonymous with whisky in this part of the world. It's 20-years old, which is already a very rare thing in Australian whisky, let alone a cask of single malt that hasn't been swamped by wood and/or fortified wine influence from too much time in cask/s in our warmer and more varied climate. That roughness in the spirit mentioned above isn't considered acceptable by most Australian whisky producers since they tend to bottle young for cashflow reasons. For this reason most new make spirit made in Australia is very clean, light, and drinkable straight from the still, which may sound like a good thing until you fill that light & clean new make spirit into a 20-litre first-fill (or even wet fill) fortified wine cask and in two years or less it barely resembles whisky. There are exceptions though, the two more famous of which would be Sullivan's Cove and Hellyers Road. The former uses a brandy still and a worm tub condenser, while the latter uses oversized stills that are largely comprised of stainless steel rather than copper, resulting in more sulphur compounds in the spirit which would otherwise have been reduced by copper contact. Both do also use full-sized casks, another rare thing in Australian whisky. Again, hen left for long enough in the right cask and with enough good luck thrown in, you may just end up with a cask full of tropical fruit at the end of the road!
This 20-year old single cask single malt from Hellyers Road, who have released no less than five 20-22 year old single malt whiskies in the last 9-months or so (22yo reviewed here), is a great example of all that we've discussed above. This is a first-fill American oak ex-bourbon cask, #4253.04, that was filled on the 9th of September 2004. 15 casks were filled on that same day, but this is the only one that has survived the test of time, being earmarked as something special by the distillery team and given the internal nickname "the peaches cask" - and for good reason! This 20-year old single cask was bottled at a cask strength of 52.8% ABV with a yield of 179 x 700ml bottles, and is of course non-chill filtered and natural colour. It was released earlier this week and is available here at an RRP of $1,150 AUD - which may sound like a lot of coin to those playing overseas, and to be fair it certainly is, but in terms of an Australian single malt at this sort of age that's more reasonable than the competition. The obvious comparison is fellow Tasmanian distillery Sullivans Cove, which isn't quite an apples-to-apples comparison in terms of brand or market, this is basically the only other distillery in Australia with stocks at these significant ages - largely thanks to both distilleries making more robust spirit and using full-sized casks, meaning their maturing stocks can better withstand the Australian climate. In Sullivans Cove terms you're looking at $1,100-1,250 AUD for a 17-18 year old refill French oak cask or $2,500 AUD for a 23-year old ex-bourbon cask, so in that context $1,150 AUD for a 20-year old single cask Hellyers Road isn't that crazy. Even less so when it's a freak single cask with this sort of flavour profile. Let's get to it!
Hellyers Road 20 Year Old "The Peaches Cask", 52.8%. Tasmania, Australia.
Filled 9/9/2004, matured in single first-fill ex-bourbon cask #4253.04. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 179 bottles.
Colour: Amber gold.
Nose: Sweet, fruity, delicious. Sweet peaches, yes, and in fruit syrup, but also nectarine, and apricot. Bit of lychee around the edges too. Black pepper and some freshly sawn timber. Jelly bean-like sweetness; I'd say the pink, yellow, and orange varieties. Orange peel, runny honey, some ground ginger, and a slight touch of ground aniseed.
Texture: Medium weight. Oily, fruity, syrupy. Slight spirit heat but helps with balance.
Taste: Sweet, fruity, malty. More sweet peaches in syrup, plus apricots & nectarines, and some marzipan (sweetened almond paste). White pepper and freshly grated ginger. Runny honey and hint of ground aniseed. Marzipan, lychee, and sweet malted barley around the edges.
Finish: Long length. Sweet peaches, nectarines, and apricots again, then more orange peel & fresh ginger. White pepper, lychee, marzipan, and biscuity malted barley underneath that sweet & juicy stone fruit.
Score: 4 out of 5.
Notes: This is certainly the fruitiest and juiciest Australian whisky that I've ever tried! And probably one of the most spirit-driven (as opposed to cask-driven) at this sort of age. There are fantastic amounts of sweet stone fruit and fruit syrup but balanced by the marzipan, ginger, orange peel, and pepper, giving it more depth than it would have otherwise. If tasted blind I could easily be convinced that this was a 25+ year old Speyside or Highland single malt, and there are shades of the 30+ year old independent bottlings of Tormore and Glenlivet that were doing the rounds not that long ago. Which is not something I've ever said about an Australian whisky! Normally there'd be too much cask influence, whether from the oak or the cask's previous contents or both, to get this sort of spirit character through at these advanced ages, which is partly why Aussie whisky is so rare at 20+ years of age.
This 20-year old Hellyers Road is really quite delicious, and it's a great example of what we've discussed above - take a good cask of a more robust, "rough around the edges" spirit, leave it for long enough while keeping an eye on it, and you might just end up with a cask of delicious tropical fruit. If you're lucky!
Cheers!
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