Hellyers Road 20 Year Old Whisky Review!

A 20-year old single ex-bourbon cask from Tasmania's Hellyers Road, who have executed a perfect 180 in the last few years. This particular cask will win fans of rock band The Presidents of the United States for one simple reason: millions of peaches!

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!

AD Rattray Orkney 18 Year Old Single Cask Whisky Review!

Another anonymous Highland Park from an independent bottler - as many have said, they're never Scapa, so that only leaves one other distillery in Orkney! Some of these bottlings can be fantastic though, and the anonymity can - on some occasions - keep the pricing more reasonable in comparison.  

This bottle was a bit of an impulse buy for me, and that is not how I usually do things. Something about it caught my eye, being a cask strength single cask of Highland Park at a reasonable $199 AUD, from an independent bottler that I haven't had much experience with, and promising to be a more spirit-driven example of Orkney's main distillery since it was from a refill hogshead. Apologies to Pernod Ricard's Scapa Distillery, but we rarely see any of their whisky in Australia - there's still no local sign of the "new" official bottlings which have been available in Europe for over 15-months now - and with the amount of independently bottled unnamed Highland Park single malts around you'd be easily forgiven for forgetting that Scapa even exists. Those rebranded & relaunched official bottlings of Scapa did receive some good reviews and a little attention online, but apart from one fantastic 19-year old single cask official bottling that was bottled for The Whisky Exchange - which was way too expensive at roughly $500 AUD plus shipping and duties - I've personally never had a Scapa that was memorable. And that's including the couple of independent bottlings of Scapa that I've tasted, which I believe were from Gordon & MacPhail. On paper the distillery sounds interesting, using a Lomond still as its wash still, albeit with the plates removed from the neck, and using a purifier on the spirit still. So hopefully if/when those newer official bottlings arrive in Australia that situation changes for the better and Scapa's slice of the pie gets a little larger, and whisky enthusiasts will be reminded that there's more than one distillery on Orkney!

The reason that there are so many unnamed Orkney single malts around from the independent bottlers is that most of these have come from cask brokers, and Highland Park does not want these casks wearing the distillery name. You'd think they'd be too busy coming up with new spins on the tired old Viking marketing spiels or quietly bumping up their pricing in line with packaging updates to worry about such things, but apparently not! This is of course Edrington, the same company behind Macallan and Glenrothes, and they don't often let those names appear on independent bottlings either. The old spin on the rationale here was that the distilleries sold off casks that didn't quite fit the flavour profiles required by their blending customers and/or their own proprietary blends, so they didn't want the distillery name being associated with those different flavour profiles. But these days we can safely say that it's more about brand protection & marketing since you don't want an independent bottling out there with equal or better quality than your (generally) more expensive official bottling. Especially if that official bottling has some ridiculously overdone packaging and the "luxury goods" price tag to match. That's enough ranting for now...

Orkney's Highland Park produces lightly peated malt whisky, consisting of roughly 20% peated barley and 80% unpeated barley, where the peated component is floor-malted at the distillery using local peat and measures in at 20 ppm on the freshly malted barley, whereas the unpeated malt is purchased commercially and shipped to the distillery. The distillery has an annual capacity of over 2.5-million litres of spirit through four pot stills, and is owned by Edrington who also own Macallan and Glenrothes. After years of heavy Viking-themed marketing and "luxury" positioning they do seem to have calmed down a touch, but most whisky lovers are still turning to the independent bottlers for their Highland Park fixes. This particular independent bottling is from A.D. Rattray, one of the lesser known indy bottlers, and as far as I'm aware the company doesn't have an official Australian importer. The company's more recognisable brands would be the Cask Islay and Cask Speyside anonymous single malts, and the Stronachie bottlings of unnamed Benrinnes. Rattray was originally founded in 1868 as a grocery store, when like many of the blenders & independent bottlers in Scotland they began blending and bottling their own whiskies for their customers. The company eventually wound up under the ownership of the Morrison family who owned Islay's Bowmore Distillery, Highland distillery Glen Garioch, and Lowland distillery Auchentoshan for a few decades, before they were sold in the early 1990s to current owners Suntory. The Morrison family launched the A.D. Rattray "Cask Collection" independent bottlings in 2004, and in 2017 opened Clydeside Distillery in Glasgow, who's inaugural single malt release hit the shelves back in 2021. 

This single cask of unnamed Orkney single malt is from that Cask Collection. It was distilled in April 2006, fully matured in a single ex-bourbon hogshead (250-litre cask), and bottled in December 2024 at a cask strength of 58.4% ABV. Cask (lucky) number #13 yielded 288 bottles, and there's no chill filtration or added colouring to be found here. Rattray do produce a core range batch product named Cask Orkney 18-year old which is bottled at 46%, not to be confused with a cask strength single cask. Let's see if this impulse buy has paid off!

A.D. Rattray Orkney 18-Year Old, Single Cask, 58.4%. Orkney, Scotland.

Unnamed Highland Park, distilled 20/4/2006, single ex-bourbon hogshead, bottled 20/12/2024. Cask #13, 288 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Sharp citrus, biscuity malt, runny honey. Slightly nippy (alcohol nip) initially. Lemon & lime drops (hard-boiled lollies / confectionary), burnt leafy herbs, soft ashy wood smoke. With time it softens and gains milk bottle lollies (chewy vanilla lollies) and some marzipan. Quite maritime too, oyster shells, and salt-laden driftwood. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, malty, slightly creamy. No heat. 

Taste: Malty, lemony, lightly herbal & earthy. Lemon oil, touch of sea salt, marzipan again, and those burning herbs on a wood fire. Hints of aniseed, milk chocolate, and sharper citrus with lemon & lime drops (lollies) and a touch of grapefruit rind. 

Finish: Long length. Aniseed, sea salt, and lemon curd. Biscuity malted barley, flaky pie crust. Some lime zest and oyster shells to round things off. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Nice example of the dryer, more austere, unadulterated side of Highland Park that never shows up in official bottlings, but is fairly common in spirit-driven refill cask independent bottlings that have a decent amount of age to them. Loads of citrus, malted barley, and burning herbs. Quite maritime too, which again rarely shows in official bottlings but does on occasion in independent bottlings. We're talking subtle mineral & coastal touches here, nothing like an Islay or Talisker level of salt or seawater. This 18-year old Orkney may not be the most complex dram around, but it's a satisfying one, and offers good value at $199 AUD for a cask strength single cask. I'm still yet to have a Highland Park, official or independent, that has really "wowed" me, with one delicious independent bottling from the late 70s being my standout example so far. But it's nice to see the HP spirit shown in its natural light without makeup, and without assertive casks getting in the way. Long live the independent bottlers!

Cheers!

Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley Golden Promise Whisky Review - Plus A Bonus!

It's a bit of a long-winded name, but for those of us who know what the words "Golden Promise" mean, it's a very exciting one! We'll get into more details below, but let's just say this new series from Ardnamurchan is very... promising!

This is the first bottling in a new series from Ardnamurchan Distillery; their Heritage Barley releases promise - OK, I'll stop now - to be very interesting bottlings! This series is going to consist of sporadic releases distilled from superseded and/or renowned barley varieties, starting off with what is easily the most revered variety among whisky geeks like us; Golden Promise. The Golden Promise barley strain was developed in the late 1950s and commercial use began in the late 1960s, and through the 1970s and 1980s it made up the majority of spring-grown barley planted in Britain through the 1970s and 1980s.Spring barley is preferred by brewers & distillers over winter-grown barley thanks to higher levels of starch and lower levels of nitrogen, resulting in better yields or spirit per tonne of malt. The popularity of Golden Promise began to dwindle in the early-1990s when it became more specialised, and then all but disappeared from commercial whisky production. Over the last decade it has been distributed by one malting company, Simpsons, who acquired the exclusive rights to the plant variety in 2015. Thanks to its flavour and textural differences Golden Promise is rumoured to be largely responsible for the success of big names like Macallan and Glengoyne, who historically both used this barley variety exclusively, but reduced their use gradually and now don't use it at all. It's worth noting too that both distilleries were exclusively using ex-sherry casks at the time, which is also no longer the case. Golden Promise is now quite rare in whisky in general, and is more common in the craft brewing industry, aside from the occasional special release from distilleries such as Benromach, Yamazaki, and now Ardnamurchan. Apparently the latter has been using Golden Promise barley for one month of each year since 2018, so we'll be seeing more Golden Promise Ardnamurchan in future!

The main reason that a barley variety falls out of favour is being superseded by newer strains that have been developed to give improved alcohol yields per tonne, and/or that have been engineered for better disease & parasite resistance and therefore better survivability. For the farmers Golden Promise typically yields 30% less tonnage per acre than more modern varieties, meaning less income for the farmer, although older barley strains like Golden Promise and Maris Otter do attract higher prices. Golden Promise is more susceptible to fungal parasites than newer varieties of distiller's barley like Concerto and Optic, which have more recently been superseded by Sassy and Diablo which have improved disease resistance in comparison. These more modern varieties generally offer higher alcohol yields (litres of spirit per tonne of malted barley) for the brewer & distiller, meaning less grain is required overall. Commercial (particularly corporate) malt whisky distillers typically aim for 400-litres or more of spirit per tonne of malted barley, and a distiller choosing to settle for a lower yield, whether that is by choice of barley variety, yeast variety, choice of equipment, or distillation methods, is essentially only doing it for one reason: flavour.

The big barley-in-whisky question is just how much difference the variety used actually makes in the final bottled product. It's a hotly debated topic and a controversial one; those who only use the cheaper & more readily available barley varieties say barley variety makes very little difference, while those who specifically use more expensive & specialised varieties say they do make a worthwhile difference. And much like chill filtration and added colouring, most of those who choose to employ these practices don't openly talk about it, while those who avoid them are happy to discuss it with their customers. Barley varieties are still quite a niche subject in whisky, much like yeast, but both are becoming more widely discussed and experimented with at the smaller, more flexible, and more progressive distilleries. Obviously there will be less discernible differences in barley variety in a whisky compared to those found in beer, since the un-hopped "beer" (wash) used in whisky must be distilled at least twice, and must then be aged in casks for years before it actually becomes whisky, so the impact of the grain itself may be diminishing at each stage. The counter-argument is that both the brewing stage and first distillation run are creating flavours, while the second distillation run is selecting the desired flavours and capturing and concentrating them, and the cask can then subtract undesirable compounds (subtractive maturation), add desirable compounds (additive maturation), and alter & evolve other compounds (interactive maturation). Regardless it seems logical that any step where more and/or different flavours can be created will always be beneficial. Just like the old catchphrase "whisky gets 60-70% of its flavour from the cask" (another contentious subject where most modern distilleries disagree), that certainly doesn't mean that the remaining 30-40% isn't important and the quality of your new make spirit doesn't matter. It is absolutely crucial, especially when bottling younger or when a more spirit-driven flavour profile is desired.

Which brings us to Ardnamurchan. The Ardnamurchan Peninsula is as far west as you can go on the Scottish mainland, and it's almost the same travel time to drive north-west from Glasgow to Ardnamurchan than it is to drive from Glasgow to Oban and get the ferry to the Isle of Mull, and then another ferry to Ardnamurchan. The distillery opened in 2014 under the owners of independent bottlers, and the first whisky release was officially launched in September 2020. That first release was a breath of fresh air at the time, being a large batch of 16,000 bottles and priced very reasonably. This is a small distillery with an annual capacity of 500,000 litres of spirit, although they aren't yet producing close to that number. Of that spirit output 50% is unpeated and 50% is peated, generally to 30 ppm using mainland peat, but there is some 80 ppm spirit maturing in the warehouses. This first release in the Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley series is entirely unpeated, and was distilled from 100% Golden Promise barley grown in Fife and malted at Bairds in Inverness. It was distilled in 2018 and matured in ex-bourbon casks, and bottled at 59.2% ABV at 6-years of age. Naturally it's non-chill filtered and natural colour. Aside from a couple of older Macallans and Glengoynes that I've been lucky enough to try years ago, which were from a different era so there are other factors involved, this is the first contemporary 100% Golden Promise single malt that I've tried, and it'll certainly be the youngest and the most spirit-driven. Exciting stuff! 

Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley Golden Promise, 6 Years Old, 59.2%. Highlands, Scotland.

100% Golden Promise barley, unpeated, distilled 2018, bottled 2025, matured in ex-bourbon casks. 10,290 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Very pale gold. 

Nose: Young, fresh (verging on raw), dry-ish, totally spirit driven as it should be. Dry cereal grains: oats, barley flour, touch of floral notes. Sweet pear juice, sugared almonds, fresh sweet stone fruit - nectarines, peaches, apricots. Breathing time brings porridge, lime cheesecake, and malt biscuits. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, creamy, a little raw, but sweeter on the palate than the nose. Slight heat. 

Taste: Syrupy entry with those sweet stone fruits (nectarine, peach, apricot), green chilli flakes, sweet pear juice, green peppercorns, lime cheesecake, malt biscuits. The lime gets sharper as it breathes, turns into lime marmalade (which is delicious, by the way!). 

Finish: Medium length. Green peppercorns, oat cakes, candied lemon peel, lime marmalade. Syrupy sweet with slight floral notes, touches of yeasty & creamy (lactic) notes. 

Score: 3 out of 5. Close to a 3.5 though. 

Notes: It's a bit "rough & ready" and a bit raw, definitely not one to pick as an introductory dram to Ardnamurchan, or for an introductory dram in general. This one is for the geeks & nerds like us, purely showing off as much of the unpeated & unadorned golden promise barley, and the distillery's spirit character, as possible. Can I tell the difference that the golden promise has made? Probably not, but experience of this barley variety is limited - and most of the "classic" examples like older Macallan & Glengoyne were sherry cask matured anyway. But this one is certainly very oily & sweet, and very malty, quite fruity too which I don't think is coming from any cask influence since there isn't much at all here!

The bonus dram!

This second review is the second release of a 10-year old official bottling of Ardnamurchan, which is now going to be an annual small batch release with some variations in the recipes. This latest 10-year old is very different from the first AD/10, which was released in late 2024. That was an unpeated single malt matured in both ex-bourbon and ex-Paul Lanois sparkling wine casks, bottled at 50% ABV, and consisting of 16,700-ish bottles. This second iteration was released in late 2025 and is down in ABV to 46.8%, has been matured in 98% ex-bourbon casks (54 barrels) and 2% ex-sherry casks (2 hogsheads), and consists of 16,380 bottles. But the crucial difference here is that this second release of a 10-year old official Ardnamurchan is peated, with 48% of the vatting being distilled from barley peated to 30 ppm, and the remaining 52% being unpeated, so this is a completely different whisky to the first 10-year old. Australian pricing on this second 10-year old release is substantially lower at $135-140 AUD while the first was $160-170 AUD, although there's recently been a change of local importer which would also be a factor in Australian Ardnamurchan pricing. Both 10-year old bottlings have been labelled as AD/10, but the first had a white label while the second has the dark blue label pictured below, plus the lower bottling strength of course. This just happens to be the oldest peated Ardnamurchan official bottling released so far!

Ardnamurchan 10 Year Old Second Release, Peated, 46.8%. Highlands, Scotland.

Distilled 2014 & 2015, 48% peated spirit, 52% unpeated spirit, matured in 98% ex-bourbon and 2% ex-sherry casks, bottled 2025. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 16,380 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Sweet, bright, citrusy & peppery. Loads of lemon oil, candied lemon peel, icing sugar, touch of rock melon (cantaloupe) around the edges. Malty too. Earthy peat poking through, dry, earthy & ashy peat. Coconut ice fudge, melting salted butter, honeycomb (cinder toffee). 

Texture: Medium weight. Syrupy, earthy, no heat. 

Taste: Surprisingly peaty after the nose, with a dry, earthy, ashy peat. Very "mainland" peat but less of the wood smoke element. Black pepper & roasted spices underneath. Burnt honeycomb (cinder toffee), lemon oil again but slightly less citrusy here as the peat is more assertive. Coconut ice fudge again. 

Finish: Medium length. Coconut ice, pinch of sea salt, more candied lemon peel. Icing sugar, biscuity malted barley, and white pepper to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: More balance and complexity than the Heritage Barley, also lighter in flavour though despite the 10-year old having half peated spirit in the batch. I have to say to my tastes this second iteration of a 10-year old Ardnamurchan doesn't hold a candle to the first, which was unpeated and bottled at 50% ABV. But this is an annual small batch release now, so it's not a fair comparison to the first 10-year old which was a special dram, and it'll be great to see what the distillery comes up with for each release. The amount of character in the Ardnamurchan spirit is just fantastic; I've certainly never had a boring Ardnamurchan, and I don't think such a thing exists. Despite these regional terms meaning less & less these days, there's undeniably something very highland & very coastal about these whiskies, and despite the relatively young distillery their products are always readily identifiable. Which is exactly what we want in a single malt! 

On a slight side note, I hope Connal, Alex, Jenny, and the team keep up their current style of social media posts and marketing activities - along with the quality of the whisky of course. They're both brilliant, and they're both working! 

Cheers!

Chichibu Distillery II Whisky Review - Plus a Bonus!

It's finally here! The first official release from the second Chichibu Distillery which began distilling back in 2019. Direct-fired stills, French oak washbacks, and a larger capacity compared to the original - Chichibu II is definitely one to watch!

Image from whiskyadvocate.com

Chichibu II is a separate second distillery to the original Chichibu Distillery, but the two sites are only a few minutes from each other, on the northern outskirts of the beautiful town of Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture, north-west of Tokyo. Since Chichibu II began distilling in 2019 both Chichibu distilleries have operated simultaneously, with the newer distillery producing around five-times that of the original, but still being very small - annual production is currently around 250,000 litres, less than a tenth of what many Scotch whisky distilleries would produce. The main differences between the two Chichibu sites are a much larger mash tun at the newer distillery, French oak washbacks rather than the Japanese oak (Mizunara) washbacks at the original distillery, and direct fired stills at the new site rather than steam coil heating. The larger mash tun is mechanical rather than hand-stirred, and while the French oak washbacks may sound less exotic than Mizunara they're still very unusual - oak in itself is an unusual choice here, let alone the French variety, with most whisky distilleries using larch, pine, or fir woods. But the big news in production at Chichibu II is of course the direct-fired stills. Direct-firing refers to the stills being heated by direct flame from underneath, usually by gas burner, as opposed to indirect heating via steam coils that are inside the stills. While internal steam coils are much more common now, there are a few distilleries in Japan using direct-fire heating, and obviously quite a few in Scotland as well, particularly in their wash stills where the first distillation takes place and where direct-firing has the largest impact. There are two pairs of stills at Chichibu II, and each still been made to the same proportions as the stills used at the original distillery, just upscaled to approximately five-times larger in capacity. 

This NAS bottling is the first release of Chichibu II as a single malt official bottling, and as far as I'm aware there haven't been any independent bottlings of Chichibu II so far. Chichibu II does now make an appearance in Ichiro's Malts 'Double Distillery' blend which contains malt whisky from both Chichibu distilleries, but that's only a recent change - it used to be a blend of malt whiskies from Chichibu and dead distillery Hanyu. This first release single malt from Chichibu II is lightly peated, and was distilled between 30/9/19-20/7/20 which makes it 4-5 years of age, and the chosen bottling strength is 55.5% ABV. There were 95 total casks in the batch, but we don't know the total number of bottles released. Naturally it's non-chill filtered and natural colour as with all single malts from Ichiro's. Local pricing on this one is $295 AUD, which is a substantial amount of money for a young single malt, but relatively reasonable considering that this is the first release from Chichibu II. For those playing overseas that's a similar price to what some retailers are asking for Yamazaki 12-year old, which if you ask me is absolutely not worth that sort of money particularly at 43% ABV and chill filtered. Yoichi 10-year old costs around 10% less than the Chichibu at roughly $260, but is only 45% ABV, bottled in far larger quantities and as far as I'm aware is chill filtered. 

Before we get into the review, as a Christmas bonus there's another one further down the page! An Australian exclusive small batch bottling from Chichibu I, the 2025 edition which was released at Whisky Abbey 2025 in early November. Should make for a fun comparison!

Chichibu II, First Release, NAS, 55.5%. Chichibu, Japan.

Distilled 2019-2020, lightly peated, matured in first-fill & refill ex-bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Malty, fresh, a little nippy & sharp but not aggressive. Light earthy & ashy peat, cigar smoke, candied lemon, freshly ground malted barley grist/flour, touch of clean fresh sawdust. Lime juice, vanilla pods. Honeydew melon and white peach around the edges. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich, syrupy, oily, sweet, fresh. No heat here. 

Taste: Rich, fresh, and malty. Vanilla custard, malted barley, candied lemon, runny honey. Lime juice again, white peach, and under-ripe banana. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Light earthy & ashy peat and cigar smoke again, more barley, vanilla pods, and runny honey. Touches of white peach & sweet coconut. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Tasty young whisky with plenty of character. For a first release at a relatively young age, Chichibu II certainly shows real promise! It's worth noting that this first release from II is 4-5 years old, unlike the first Chichibu which was 3-years old. Thankfully that bit of alcohol sharpness on the nose in this one isn't present at all on the palate, and there's a nice oily weight to it, plus a great balance of malty & fruity flavours underpinned by acidic and lightly earthy/smoky tones. I would say there's some more weight & texture to the Chichibu II spirit thanks to the direct fired stills and it doesn't seem as bright & floral as Chichibu I spirit, but then this is a first release that is also lightly peated, so it's too soon to say. The first release from Chichibu II is great stuff and offers relatively solid value for money, which can't be said about many younger Japanese whiskies released these days. I recommend getting your hands on one of these - but only if you can get it for RRP!

But wait, there's more! As the Christmas bonus review we have a single malt from the original Chichibu, a small batch release exclusive to Australia. Chichibu Australia Edition 2025 was released in November '25 and is limited to 480 bottles at 52.5% ABV. This one is unpeated and aged between 5-7 years in a mix of ex-bourbon, ex-Californian red wine, and virgin French oak casks. Local pricing on this one is substantially higher at $450 AUD, not cheap when you consider the similar age to Chichibu II, but the latter is a much larger release while this is an Australian exclusive consisting of only 480 bottles. So a similar age to the first release from Chichibu II Distillery but a very different mix of casks, and with no peated spirit or direct-fired stills involved. Let's do it!

Chichibu Australia Edition 2025, NAS, 52.5%. Chichibu, Japan.

Australian exclusive, vatting of 5-7 years of age, matured in ex-bourbon, Virgin French oak, and ex-Californian red wine casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 480 bottles. 

Colour: Amber gold. 

Nose: Drier & less expressive initially, malty & fruity, lightly floral. Lemon & lime peels, dried flowers, and drying oak with light tannins (black tea). White pepper, tropical fruits - pineapple in particular, plus a touch of mango. Leafy herbs, roasted nuts, touches of liquorice and milk bottle lollies.  

Texture: Medium weight. Syrupy feel, clean, floral, lightly drying tannic grip. No heat. 

Taste: Fruity & clean. Floral sweetness, yellow tropical fruits - pineapple in particular again, plus mango and a bit of pawpaw around the edges. Milk bottle lollies, lemon & lime peels again but sweeter this time. White pepper, touch of drying oak, and those black tea tannins. 

Finish: Medium length. Tannins carry through with that black tea note, maybe a touch of red grape skins? Plus those leafy herbs again. Floral sweetness with pineapple, white pepper, and drying woodiness. 

Score: 3. 5 out of 5. 

Notes: Another nicely fruity Chichibu with plenty of pineapple, white pepper, and nutty oak. The tannins are adding dryness though which I'm not a huge fan of in a whisky like this - that would have to be coming from the virgin French oak and possibly also the red wine cask components. But it's less dry now than I remember from Whisky Abbey a few weeks ago, probably thanks to a bit of air exposure helping out. There's decent complexity here for such a young whisky at 5-7 years old, but personally I'm not sure I'd pay the $150 AUD extra for this one over the Chichibu II release - as mentioned above, local pricing is $295 for the latter and $450 for this Chichibu I. But this is a small batch Australian exclusive compared to a much larger global release in the Chichibu II, so that's not really a fair comparison. Bottom line is; you can't really go wrong with a Chichibu!

Cheers!

Glentauchers 10 Year Old Distillery Reserve Collection Whisky Review!

A single cask ex-bourbon bottling of the workhorse distillery Glentauchers from Chivas / Pernod Ricard's "Distillery Reserve Collection" of cask strength 500ml bottlings, which are available from any of the company's visitor's centres. Plus the occasional appearances on the usual auction sites...

Even among other "workhorse" malt whisky distilleries in Speyside, Glentauchers is easily one of the lesser-known. These workhorse distilleries produce malt whisky that is destined for blended whisky brands, either those owned by the same parent company, or for contract fillings owned by other companies. Many of these distilleries wouldn't exist without the blenders, and often don't release any single malts under their own labels, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they don't or can't produce good quality single malt. Pernod Ricard have a few of these quiet workhorses under their ownership, mainly used for their two largest blended Scotch whisky brands; Chivas Regal and Ballantine's. The most widely known of these would be Miltonduff, Braeval (a.k.a. Braes of Glenlivet), and Glenburgie, and they're only known at all because of the independent bottlers. Glentauchers - pronounced "Glen-tock-ers" - is an even quieter example of these quiet workhorses, only really producing for the Ballantine's and Chivas Regal, and only known at all thanks to the work of the independent bottlers. This is quite a large distillery, with an annual production capacity of over 4-million litres of spirit, and is located in the middle of the Speyside region, roughly halfway between the towns of Craigellachie and Keith. But there's no visitor's centre, and there have only been three official bottlings (i.e. sold by the distillery's owners under the distillery name) of Glentauchers single malt since Pernod Ricard acquired the distillery in 2005 when they purchased Allied Distillers. Glentauchers was originally founded in 1897, and wound up being owned by Diageo until they mothballed the distillery in 1985 and sold it to Allied in 1989. Glentauchers has six wooden washbacks and six large pot stills, and is the only Scotch whisky distillery owned by Chivas / Pernod that is not automated, being kept relatively traditional and hands-on so the owners can use it as a training ground for their production staff. 

Glentauchers is mainly seen as a single malt from independent bottlers like Gordon & MacPhail or Signatory Vintage, plus a few smaller examples, at a variety of ages and in a variety of cask types, and is known for producing malty and floral style of whisky thanks to relatively long fermentation times and low fill levels in the pot stills for increased reflux. The example that we're looking at today isn't an independent bottling though, it's one of the few Glentauchers released as a single malt by the parent company, although I'd only call it a semi-official bottling. This bottling is from the Pernod / Chivas Brothers "Distillery Reserve Collection", which are 500ml bottles of cask strength single malts, either single casks or small batches of a few casks, that are only available from the company's visitor's centres. Sort of distillery exclusives then, except the range of Pernod distilleries are available from each site. For example you can visit the Strathisla Distillery visitor's centre and buy a Distillery Reserve Collection bottling of a Glen Keith, a Miltonduff, or a Glentauchers. Many of the Chivas sites do not have visitors centres or aren't open to the public at all, as with many of the corporate-owned workhorse distilleries in Speyside, so this is a good way to get some of these lesser-known distilleries a tiny bit of attention, rather than letting the independent bottlers be the only examples of these distilleries' whiskies bottled as single malts. 

The example that we're looking at today is a single cask 10-year old Glentauchers; distilled in October 2008, fully matured in a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, and bottled in June 2019 with a yield of 348 x 500ml bottles at a cask strength of 52.6% ABV. I nabbed it for a reasonable price from an online auction, since the only Chivas distillery I've visited so far was Aberlour back in 2017, and they didn't have any of these Distillery Reserve bottlings available at the time. This is the youngest Glentauchers that I've tasted to date and also the most spirit-driven, with most of the few being aged in the teens and coming from Gordon & MacPhail and Signatory. The flavour profile here is typical Speyside really, but more on the malty end of the spectrum rather than fruity, and they can also be slightly floral as well, which is a slightly unusual combination. Let's get to it!

Glentauchers Distillery Reserve Collection 10-Year Old, 52.6%. Speyside, Scotland.

Distilled Oct 2008, matured in single first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, bottled June 2019. Cask #95106, 348 x 500ml bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Fresh, malty, balanced. Biscuity, malted barley, runny honey, lemon drops (boiled sweets/lollies), and a touch of spearmint. Passionfruit cheesecake with biscuit base, floral with lavender-scented hand soap (in a pleasant level), lime juice, and some ground white pepper. 

Texture: Medium weight. Malty, floral, clean, balanced, easy-drinking. No heat at all. 

Taste: Malty, rich, balanced, cleanly flavoured. Oat biscuits with a touch of golden syrup mixed through, malted barley, passionfruit curd, runny honey, and a touch of lime juice. Hints of dried lavender & aniseed around the edges. 

Finish: Medium length. Malted barley, tea biscuits, and lime juice carry through, then that floral lavender hand soap returns, along with the passionfruit cheesecake (with sweet biscuit base), and runny honey. Touch of aniseed around the edges. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Just a tasty easy-drinking ex-bourbon Speysider with a great malty, clean, unadulterated flavour. Great balance with the sweeter malty, honeyed, biscuity notes countered by the passionfruit & lime juice acidity. This isn't the most complex or challenging whisky out there by any means, but that's not always necessary or even wanted, sometimes you want a (relatively) spirit driven, clean, refreshing whisky with no real rough edges. A whisky that won't steal your attention away from a conversation, but also isn't boring or forgettable by any means. Which is exactly what we have here! 

This is certainly the best semi-official bottling of Glentauchers that I've had to date, not that there are many to choose from!

Ardbeg Day 2012 Whisky Review!

The inaugural 'Ardbeg Day' release, the one that started it all over 13-years ago. The rarest of the Ardbeg Day bunch, the only one without a silly marketing story, and the one that everyone forgets about!

This wasn't the first Ardbeg Feis Ile release, there were single cask Feis Ile bottlings released for each festival around a decade or so prior, the first being released in 2002, and we shouldn't forget the legendary "El Diablo" PX cask release of 1,200 bottles from 2011. But this 2012 'Ardbeg Day' release was the first to be branded as an 'Ardbeg Day' bottling rather than a Feis Ile release, and it was the first of these to be distributed outside Islay during the festival rather than an actual distillery exclusive. Which is something they've done every year since, albeit now in larger quantities with higher prices, and with lower bottling strengths. This 2012 Ardbeg Day bottling, with 12,000 bottles released at a cask strength of 56.7% ABV, retailed for just £65 (roughly $130 AUD). It was followed by 2013's delicious "Ardbog" bottling (the only Ardbeg Day bottling with an age statement), 2014's lightly peated and diluted (not cask strength) Auriverdes, and 2015's Perpetuum, which celebrated the distillery's 200th anniversary. From 2015's "Perpetuum" until 2023's "Heavy Vapours" there were two versions of each Ardbeg Day bottling, a higher strength version 'Committee Release' bottling sold without a box, and a more numerous boxed release at a lower strength - generally 46% ABV. For 2024 & 2025 there has only been one version of the Ardbeg Day bottling, the 46% ABV one, the latest of which is priced at $200 and is still readily available on the shelves and sites - as are many of the recent releases. The highlights of the Ardbeg Day releases over those ten-ish years were, in my opinion, the Dark Cove Committee Release from 2016, and... err... that's probably it. Maybe an honourable mention for 2020's Blaaack Committee Release and 2021's Scorch Committee Release, I suppose. Some of the others have been enjoyable of course, but others have ranged from average, to downright disappointing. 

In more recent years Ardbeg have also released other limited edition whiskies in addition to the Ardbeg Day bottling, such as the very lacklustre Fermutation, the pretty good BizzareBQ, the very good 8 Year Old For Discussion, and the solid Eureka release from early 2025 - if you ask me those latter three have been the sweet spots of the Ardbeg line-up over the last few years, easily beating each year's Feis Ile / Ardbeg Day release, which have been steadily dropping in both quality and value for money. On the other end of the pricing scale there have also been older releases like the five different batches of 19-year old Traigh Bhan, the 21 Year Old, the 25-year old, and the three releases in the 'Twenty Something' series, plus a few others that were less notable - including a ridiculous cryptocurrency / NFT bottling that you couldn't buy with real money. Great idea there, coked-up marketing executives at LVMH... While these shenanigans were going on and the supporting marketing rubbish was getting all the attention, Ardbeg's core range of the Ten Year Old, Uigeadail, and Corryvreckan, have been quietly doing their thing, while easily surpassing the majority of the distillery's special releases in terms of quality and value for money. Unfortunately both Uigeadail (first released in 2003) and Corryvreckan (first released in 2009) have jumped up significantly in terms of pricing over the last few years, and batch quality has been up & down, but both are still bottled at the same high strengths of 54.2% and 57.1% respectively, while Ardbeg 10 (first released in current guise in 2000) remains one of the best bang-for-buck Islay single malts on the market. Unfortunately the extremely undercooked 5-year old Wee Beastie has since also joined the permanent line-up, which initially made us all concerned about the future of the flagship 10-year old, but so far, so good! 

All three of those original core range releases were already well-established when this Ardbeg Day bottling hit the airwaves in early 2012, with the major claim being that it was finished in ex-Uigeadail sherry casks. Supposedly this bottling is comprised of two different styles & vintages of ex-bourbon matured Ardbeg that were married together and finished in refill Oloroso sherry casks that were previously used for the sherry component of Uigeadail. The back label states that the finishing period was only six months, and while it's worth noting that some of the earlier vintages of Uigeadail used older ex-sherry casks, it's unlikely that this was still the case in the early 2010s. However, Uigeadail in this era was an excellent whisky until there seemed to be a change in style around 2014 - to a younger whisky with less sherry influence. With no age statement on this Ardbeg Day bottling - 2013's Ardbog is still the only Ardbeg Day release to have an age statement - it's hard to gauge ages, but based on taste I'm going to guess that this whisky is mostly on the young side, probably around 8-years. But there's nothing wrong with that when the right casks are used, like the 8-year old "For Discussion" has proven. 12,000 bottles of Ardbeg Day were released at a cask strength of 56.7% ABV, and it is non-chill filtered and natural colour. Let's get stuck in!

Ardbeg Day 2012, NAS, 56.7% ABV. Islay, Scotland.

Inaugural Ardbeg Day release, June 2012. Finished for six-months in refill sherry casks, rumoured to be ex-Uigeadail casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Bright gold. 

Nose: Rich, peaty, creamy. Big muddy peat, very salty (sea salt flakes), ground aniseed, salted limes, and some dried herbs. Plus a couple of honey-eucalyptus / honey-menthol cough drops. Dark chocolate with lime zest, sweet seaweed, black pepper, and jalapeno (smoked green chilli) flakes with more time. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Oily, creamy, peaty, sweet, salty. No heat at all. 

Taste: Big oily entry, creamy vanilla, , brown sugar caramel, and sweet fruits in syrup. Then big sharp peat comes through, muddy & chunky, followed by a big pinch of sea salt, some seaweed, and dark chocolate. And those honey-eucalyptus cough drops, plus a slight touch of burnt bacon. A couple of dried currants, raisins, and coffee grounds around the edges heading into the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Still sweet, syrupy & peaty, a creamy & ashy peat smoke now with seaweed, brown sugar caramel, jalapeno flakes, and some warm powdered ginger. The currants, raisins, and coffee grounds come through, along with some herbal honey, lime marmalade (far superior to the orange stuff), and some dark chocolate. Touches of burnt bacon and ashy peat smoke to finish things off. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Delicious whisky, and a delicious Ardbeg. One of the best Ardbegs that I've had in quite a while, in fact. That sweetness, peatiness, saltiness, and creaminess - plus the lime and dark chocolate notes, point this out as a great "classic" Ardbeg, from before they started trying to fix what was never broken. I've read some reviews over the years that pegged this dram as hot & rough, but they mustn't have let it breathe properly - I'm not getting any of that, and this bottle has only had a few drams out of it after opening about a month ago. The short sherry cask finish does make itself known, but they were refill sherry casks, so the balance is pretty much spot-on in this Ardbeg Day bottling. I'd say they've just added some extra sweetness, some more fruitiness, and a few of those "darker" notes that show up around the edges. Plenty of flavour, plenty of character, and good balance. It's whiskies like this that put Ardbeg on the map for us Islay whisky fans back then, and, well... Sadly, they don't seem to make 'em like they used to. 

Please, Ardbeg, just give us a cask strength 10-year old. No playing with the recipe, no excessive marketing, no graphic novels bullshit, and no cryptocurrency ridiculousness. Just a cask strength ex-bourbon Ardbeg 10-year old. Don't muck with it, just skip the dilution down to 46% and give us the eau naturel version, and we'll all love you for it. You've let the independent bottlers have all the fun for a long time now, it's high time that your official bottlings got back in on the action. Rumour is that Laphroaig are dropping their 10-year old Cask Strength because their corporate overlords don't think it sells well enough, so it's time for Ardbeg to take up the mantle and give the fans what they want. Pretty please Dr. Bill, if you're reading this; you can do it, we believe in you! **EDIT: It looks like this might actually be happening! Labels are circulating online for a potential 10 Year Old Cask Strength committee release next year!**

Cheers!

Highwayman Tokyo Nights Whisky Review!

A small batch Highwayman single malt bottled in collaboration with Tokyo's outstanding Aloha Whisky Bar and Japan-based whisky personality & consultant Armando Sandoval. Half of the 240 x 500ml bottle batch stayed in Australia, while the other half travelled all the way from Byron Bay to Tokyo! 

Almost sounds like the opening to one of those "walks into a bar" jokes, doesn't it? A bald-headed Australian man named Dan and a bald-headed Mexican man named Armando walk into a whisky bar owned by a Hawaiian man (with a full head of hair) named David, and they decide to bottle a whisky together... But it's certainly not a joke! This is a Highwayman single malt whisky distilled and matured in Byron Bay, NSW, Australia, which was bottled as a share between Highwayman Whisky proprietor Dan Woolley, Japan-based whisky personality & consultant Armando Sandoval (@armandrinksss on Instagram), and Aloha Whisky Bar proprietor David Tsujimoto. Highwayman Tokyo Nights features Dan's trademark Grim Reaper theme on the labelling, but with unique artwork to mark this special occasion. Dan also travelled to Japan to launch the whisky at Aloha Whisky Bar - it's a tough life, hey Dan? Someone has to do it I suppose...

I've had the pleasure of visiting Aloha Whisky Bar a couple of times now, and it's an absolute must-do for any whisky fan visiting Tokyo. Aloha is located in Ikebukuro in north-western Tokyo, an easy walk from Ikebukuro Station on JR's 'Yamanote' train lines that loop around Tokyo's main districts. Owner & operator David Tsujimoto is from Hawaii and famously doesn't speak fluent Japanese, despite having run a popular bar in Tokyo for many years now! But he's an absolute gentleman and a true hospitality professional, and his knowledge of whisky, rum, and spirits in general, is beyond reproach. The extremely well stocked and organised back bar consists of mainly Scotch whisky, but also packs a huge variety of Japanese whiskies, American and Irish whiskeys, and a carefully selected range of quality rum and other spirits. I'm yet to meet Armando, but a few chats over Instagram and his general reputation in the whisky world has me regarding him highly, and having tasted his private bottling of Shizuoka Japanese single malt, I have no doubts about his taste in whisky! That Shizuoka was cleverly named "MexicaNOH" with artwork featuring the masks worn by the Luchadores in Mexican wrestling as a nod to the legendary 'Noh' series of Karuizawa bottlings which featured the masks worn by the actors (and latterly also actresses) in traditional Japanese theatre. The connection is deeper than that however, since one of the pot stills used at Shizuoka Distillery was originally used at Karuizawa Distillery which closed in 2000 and was demolished in 2016, and Armando's private cask was distilled on that still. Most importantly, it was a delicious whisky!

Highwayman of course needs no introduction here, and you'd struggle to find an Australian whisky fan who isn't aware of the stuff! But the international audience may be a different story, and it's been a couple of years since the last review regardless, so we're overdue for a refresher! Highwayman Single Malt Whisky is fermented and distilled on Dan's own equipment which (for licensing & practical reasons) is housed at the Restall family's Lord Byron Distillery in Byron Bay. Once distilled and filled into Dan's own casks, the spirit then travels a whopping 10-metres to Dan's Bond Store - Australian industry speak for maturation warehouse - and Cellar Door pictured above, aptly named Highwayman HQ. Since the spirit is entirely made literally next door Dan has full control over the production and maturation, while Lord Byron produces their high quality rum and other spirits on their own separate equipment. Highwayman's unpeated spirit is produced from NSW-grown malted barley, while the peated spirit is a combination of Scottish peated malted barley and the NSW-grown unmalted barley. More recently though Dan has been upping the percentage of the peated malt to create a heavily peated spirit, and having tried a couple of different cask samples so far - and begging him to bottle one straight away, which sadly fell on deaf ears! - they're quite special. When it comes to casks Dan comes into his element here, playing around with a multitude of different & unusual cask types like ex-stout, ex-rum, and ex-tequila, and different cask sizes ranging from 20-litres to 200-litres, with many of his whiskies going through multiple different cask types. In the heat and humidity of Byron Bay, those casks often don't need long to make their presence known!

As usual with Dan's whiskies, the details behind this 'Tokyo Nights' bottling are quite the mouthful! Highwayman Tokyo Nights is comprised of 2/3rds peated single malt that was initially matured in a first-fill fino sherry cask and finished in a second-fill apera (Australian sherry-style fortified wine) cask, and 1/3rd unpeated single malt that was fully matured in a second-fill bourbon cask fitted with virgin (new) American oak heads. Naturally it's bottled at Dan's standard strength of 55.0% ABV, and is non-chill filtered without added colouring. As mentioned above, half of the 240 x 500ml bottles went to Japan, and the other half remained in Australia for sale on the Highwayman website , where a small quantity are still available at $249 AUD. 

Highwayman Tokyo Nights, NAS, 55.0%. Byron Bay, Australia.

Vatting of 1/3 unpeated single malt aged in second-fill ex-bourbon barrel with virgin American oak heads, and 2/3 peated spirit aged in first-fill Fino sherry cask and finished in second-fill Apera (Australian sherry-style fortified wine) cask. 

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Nutty, rich, sweet & savoury. Salted caramel, fizzy lemonade soft drink, salted peanut brittle, with a few salted brazil nuts & smoked almonds thrown in. Cola bottle lollies (not the sour kind), meat-y mushroom-y earthiness, toasted oak. Touches of ashy smoke & soy sauce around the edges. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Silky, rich, warming. Salty, not overly sweet, no spirit heat. 

Taste: Big salty entry, with rich salted caramel and more salted nuts - peanut brittle, salted brazil nuts, and smoked almonds. Cola bottle lollies, soy sauce, and that meaty mushroom-y earthiness again. Buttery oak and oily furniture polish around the edges. 

Finish: Medium length. Ashy peat smoke (especially on the exhale), more cola bottle lollies and soy sauce, then the salted nuts come back through with the savoury earthiness. Buttery oak around the edges. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Very tasty and nicely savoury, salty, rich whisky. Fans of salted caramel, peanut brittle, or cola bottle lollies, will love this one - and who isn't a fan of all of those? Highwayman whiskies are always rich, but in peated form - and particularly with fortified casks involved - they tend to have this earthy, mushroom-y, forest floor sort of savoury character which is very different to both the unpeated ex-bourbon casks and particularly the unpeated ex-fortified or wine casks, which can swing way over to the sweet side in comparison. That earthy mushroom-y savoury character helps balance out cask influence and add complexity, which when combined with the big saltiness and nuttiness in this 'Tokyo Nights' bottling, is delicious! 

We need to see more peated Australian whisky spending time in ex-Fino sherry casks if you ask me, or maybe ex-Fino casks married with ex-bourbon casks. For that matter, we also need to see more peated Australian whisky in general! 

Cheers!