Bellwether Cask Strength Whisky Review!

Bellwether? Yes, Bellwether! A small Australian single malt produced by a very small Australian distillery that has actually been around for nearly 10 years. And it's a good 'un!

Bellwether Australian single malt is produced by Geographe Distillery, which is part of the Old Coast Rd. Brewery located in the tiny rural town of Myalup in Western Australia, around 1.5 hours drive south of Perth. The distillery first opened in 2008 and their first release was bottled in late 2015, but you'll be hard-pressed to find any Bellwether whiskies on the shelves, even in Western Australia. Most releases sell out very quickly from the distillery's own website, despite the fact that the distillery is basically unknown outside of the more serious Australian whisky enthusiasts and local supporters. They're only released sporadically (when they're ready) and in tiny quantities, with the largest batch so far (Release 4) consisting of 300 x 350ml bottles. And that was a much bigger release than the previous three regular-strength releases, which totalled 520 half-sized bottles combined, so we're talking about a very tiny output here. The distillery currently produces around 100 litres of new make spirit per fortnight (one double-distillation run), with proprietor & distiller Steve Ryan doing the vast majority of the work himself.

Bellwether malts are generally made from imported Scottish barley, from Bairds maltings in Inverness, which is generally medium peated, to around 15-20 ppm, although there have been heavily peated releases. Since there's also a brewery on-site, the distillery obviously does its own mashing, brewing and fermenting, which is not always the case with small Australian distilleries, many simply source their wash "pre-made" from local breweries, albeit to their own specifications. The distillery is equipped with a single column still, but all whisky (they also make gin and limoncello) is double-distilled without the plates installed in the neck of said still, making it function like a pot still would. So far all Bellwether releases have been matured in French oak ex-port casks that were re-coopered in South Australia to a smaller size, typically 50-100 litres. There are currently over 40 different casks maturing on-site, including red & white wine, bourbon and fortified wine casks, with ex-cognac casks on the way, ranging from 50-litre re-coopered casks through to full size 228-litre hogsheads. Bellwether has so far released relatively young whiskies, often bottled at 3-5 years of age, but because of the smaller casks, and no doubt the roller-coaster Australian climate, they're quite mature for their age. All releases are non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, and have been bottled at anywhere from 40.8%-46%, with two tiny releases at cask strength getting up to 70% ABV.

I'm lucky enough to have a sample of the first Bellwether cask strength release, and there have only been around 85 x 350ml bottles of cask strength Bellwether released to date, so it's a pretty rare thing! This particular release consisted of just 45 x 350ml bottles taken from French Oak ex-Tawny (Australian Port) casks at approximately 5 years of age, and bottled at a cask strength of 61.3%. It was distilled from medium-heavy peated (30-50 ppm) Scottish barley from Bairds maltings in Inverness, and as mentioned above is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. I'm sure the 350ml bottles may raise a few eyebrows, but I can completely understand why the decision was made, and frankly I think it's a great idea. Since they're such small releases if they were full-sized bottles they'd be near impossible to get a hold of, and the half-sized bottle also helps keep the prices down to a very reasonable $80-ish for the non-cask strength releases, and around $100 for the cask strength bottlings. That may sound expensive for the sized to those reading from Europe or the U.S., but even at double the price (so equivalent to a full-sized bottle) that's very reasonable for a very scarce Australian single malt. Releases from many other Australian distilleries often command far higher prices, even with much larger outputs and much larger releases. So this is a great approach!

Bellwether Single Malt Cask Strength 1st Release, NAS, 61.3%. Myalup, Western Australia. 
Produced at Geographe Distillery. Medium-heavily peated to 30-50 ppm from Bairds maltings Inverness, matured in 50-litre first-fill French oak ex-Tawny port casks, approximately 5 years of age. Bottled 9/2016, 45 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Rust red.

Nose: Sweet, spicy and juicy port. Dark, sweet caramelised stone fruit, cough syrup, sweet grassy malt behind. Some powdered aniseed, slightly smoky toffee and white pepper. Juicy toasted oak and a little citrus.

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, juicy and spicy. A little heat, but not what you'd expect for 5 years and 61% ABV! Small cask ageing at work here.

Taste: Soft entry, then more cough syrup, warm toasted spices, a big pinch of white pepper. A little ashy peat in the background, like cigarette ash, more smoky toffee, a little menthol and citrus behind.

Finish: Long, warming and spicy. More dark caramelised stone fruit, cough syrup again, and white pepper. Hints of bitter coffee grounds and more citrus, and more smoky & thick dark toffee. Grassy malt again towards the end.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Very impressive indeed. For such a young whisky at such a high strength it's surprisingly drinkable and disarming. I've certainly had much older malts and similar strengths that were far less approachable. The cask influence is certainly the dominant factor here, and it's hiding the peat quite well, so they must have been very fresh casks when you consider how relatively young this malt is. But then they're also smaller casks, which has obviously made a big difference. That's not a bad thing of course, just a different angle. It's quite a unique whisky actually, I wouldn't say it's close to any other Australian whiskies that I've tried. I'd say that's down to the Scottish peated malt and those fresh port casks, which makes for a unique combination, and it works. Keeping the pricing at a reasonable level certainly helps too, even considering the half-sized bottles, which means that this can be a whisky for drinking and enjoying, not squirrelling away or coveting.

For those reading from overseas this may not be the easiest malt to find, in fact it's probably impossible, but I suggest keeping an eye out for it if you venture down under any time soon. When you consider the size of this distillery and the number of whiskies it's released, and the very reasonable pricing, this really is a great product. I also remember tasting another cask strength release that was bottled at 70%, and I recall it being even more "easy drinking" than this one, so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of Bellwether and Geographe in the future! In fact the distillery's tenth anniversary is approaching this year, and the word on the grapevine is that there's something special in the works to mark the occasion. I look forward to that!

Cheers!

Octomore 7.2 Whisky Review!

A travel exclusive Octomore which like all of them, and unlike plenty of other travel exclusive whiskies, is absolutely delicious, and is well worth making the extra effort to obtain!

There have been a few travel (duty free) exclusive Octomores now, all with the _.2 suffix, dubbed the "Cask Evolution" releases by Bruichladdich. The first was the 5-year old 167 ppm Cognac cask matured 6.2 that was initially released way back in late 2013, and the second that we're looking at today: a 5-year old 208 ppm release that is a marriage of first-fill ex-bourbon casks and first-fill Syrah French red wine casks. The third travel exclusive release, 8.2, doesn't seem to have hit the shelves of many of the world's duty free stores just yet, but it promises to be very interesting. It will also be quite different to the usual Octomore MO, being significantly older than most at 8 years of age, and resulting from quite a complicated cask recipe: second-fill French Mourvedre red wine, second-fill French Sauternes dessert wine, and second-fill Austrian sweet wine casks, all matured for six years before coming together for 2 years of further maturation in first-fill Italian Amarone dry red wine casks. That's quite a mouth-full! I was lucky enough to try a small pour of the 8.2 at the distillery during my visit in 2017, but it was immediately following both a fantastic warehouse tasting and a few different drams in the shop, including this fantastic 7.2 that I'm reviewing here, so I'll reserve judgement on the new addition until I've had a chance to give it my full attention!

As frustrating and restricting as the whole "travel exclusive" thing can be for those of us who don't travel internationally on a regular basis, at least it tends to mean that stock of those releases last quite a bit longer than the other limited editions. At least it certainly does in Australia, and the distillery shop also had quite a few bottles of the 7.2 release still on the shelves during my visit. I do notice though that unlike its predecessor 7.2 doesn't declare what the size of the release was (6.2 and 8.2 were both 18,000 bottles), so perhaps it was also a larger release this time? Regardless, it was because of that little fact that I was able to pick up a second bottle of this excellent whisky through a travelling family member, and it was promptly cracked open a couple of days later! If memory serves me correctly Octomore 7.2 was actually the last Octomore release to be bottled under the reign of Bruichladdich's legendary former master distiller Jim McEwan, since both 7.3 and 7.4 were released under Adam Hannett's leadership following Jim's retirement.

So as I mentioned, this bottling is a marriage of 5-year old ex-bourbon casks and 5-year old French Syrah red wine casks, both first-fill. It was distilled from Scottish barley peated to 208 ppm, and was bottled at 58.5%. Being a Bruichladdich whisky it's also free from added colouring and chill filtration. Syrah wine is known as Shiraz in Australia, and is a dark savoury red wine that tends to be quite heavy, although apparently most European Syrah tends to be lighter and less tannic than the Shiraz we're used to in Australia. Which suits me just fine! In the case of this Octomore the casks were sourced from the Rhone Valley region of France, one of the most prolific Syrah producing regions in the world. Pricing has hovered around the $250 AUD mark in Australian duty free stores, which puts it roughly in the middle between the 'standard' 7.1 and the 7.3 Islay barley. But that's enough talk, it's time to take a closer look!

Octomore 7.2 (Bruichladdich), 5-year old, 58.5%. Islay, Scotland.
208 ppm. Marriage of first-fill ex-bourbon and French Syrah red wine casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Deep gold.

Nose: Soft and refined for a young Octomore, but there's plenty going on. Fresh, herbal and meaty with hints of Bruichladdich's trademark sweet & sour lactic notes. Wood smoked pork with lots of sea salt, licorice, dried herbs (sage?), golden barley, dried red berries, and a few blueberries. Sweet buttery pastry, creamy vanilla and salty smoked bacon with time.

Texture: Absolutely beautiful. Medium weight, silky and voluptuous. No heat either, despite being just 5 years old. The magic of Octomore!

Taste: Soft, fruity and sweet entry, then building spicy & ashy smoke, more hints of 'laddie lactic notes, like a sweet & sour berry yoghurt. Wood spices, licorice and a little burning herbs. Chewy dark milky toffees, more red berries and vanilla, and hints of iodine.

Finish: Long length. This is where the peat shows itself in full - big earthy, spicy peat with lots of spicy smoke vying for attention. More sweet dried berries and creamy vanilla, slight wine tannins. Then more salty smoked meat, more burning herbs and lightly smoky golden malted barley hang around for quite some time

Score: 4 out of 5. But it's very close to a 4.5.

Notes: Absolutely delicious dram. To be honest I struggled with the scoring on this one for quite some time, in fact I had to have a second glass to help decide, but in the end the slightly restrained nose sealed the deal. Although I'm nitpicking really. Overall 7.2 is quite softly spoken for a 5-year old Octomore, it's certainly more approachable and perhaps also more complex than most. It's very, very easy to drink actually, which is remarkable for such a young whisky at high strength. Should we be thanking those Syrah casks for that? Or is it just the usual Bruichladdich distillery magic? I'm thinking it's probably a combination of both.

I really like the berry & vanilla notes in here, plus that lovely Bruichladdich lactic milky note, all combined with the peat and smoke which take a while to show their hands, but when they do you'll know about it. Also, the fact that the malted barley itself can still be detected in a 208 ppm peated Octomore is pretty amazing when you think about it. It's a little unfortunate that the "travel exclusive" thing means that even some hardcore Octomore fans may not get the chance to taste this expression, but I imagine that stocks would not have lasted this long if it were otherwise. Another great whisky from a truly great distillery with a great team.

Speaking of which, I was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Carl Reavey, Bruichladdich's head of communications. Carl was responsible for the distillery's web content and was behind the vast majority of official social media posts and PR and blog activity, and had been involved in a number of other successful projects during his 20+ years on Islay. While I never met Carl personally, I was a regular reader and admirer of his informative and passionate writing on the (excellent) Bruichladdich website, and I'm sure the distillery, the island and the industry will be feeling this loss for quite some time. Here's to you Carl!

Cheers!

Springbank 12 Cask Strength Whisky Review!

It felt like it took years for the re-packaged Springbanks to turn up in Australia, and for that matter we still haven't seen any sign of the newer bathes of the 10-year old. And as it happens, since the batch of 12-year old Cask Strength that I'm reviewing here finally arrived down under late last year, the superseding batch has now been out & about in Europe for almost six months, with another due shortly. We don't keep up with the rest of the developed world in many ways, and it's a little sad sometimes...

I had the pleasure of tasting both Batch 15 of the 12-year old and the newer batch of the 10-year old during my pilgrimage to Scotland in September 2017, and they were both excellent. In fact I'd probably rate them quite similarly based on that first impression, despite the older dram being over 10% higher in strength. But we're a little slow in this part of the world, so we'll just have to make do with Batch 14 of the 12-year old for this review. Not really the end of the world of course! As good as all of Springbank's whiskies generally are, the 12-year old Cask Strength has long been my pick of the bunch. It consistently offers excellent value for money, and while there is some batch variation, both in quality, strength and cask types, all that I've tasted to date have made for very enjoyable drinking. By the way you won't find any batch numbers on the bottles or packaging, so the best reference is the ABV, which being unadulterated cask strength has - so far - been unique to each batch. There are generally two batches released each year, and most don't last very long.

Batch 14 that we're looking at today is a mix of 30% ex-bourbon and 70% ex-sherry casks which was released in January 2017, and was the first to sport the distillery's new updated packaging. Some older batches were all-sherry casks, but Batch 9 seems to have been the last of those. I've reviewed an even older release back in 2015, which was Batch 5, here in case you'd like a comparison with that one. I don't know this for a fact, but I'd have to assume that the introduction of ex-bourbon casks into the mix was mostly due to the increasing cost and scarcity of sherry casks in the whisky industry.

This release was bottled at a cask strength of 54.2%, and being a Springbank single malt of course it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, and is lightly peated and 2.5-times distilled. Springbank's Hazelburn brand is un-peated and triple distilled, and the Longrow brand is heavily peated and double distilled. It's worth a quick reminder too that Springbank Distillery floor-malt all of their barley in-house, they still use a direct-fired wash still, and they mature and bottle all of their whisky on-site in Campbeltown. The distillery suffered through a little negative feedback on their new label designs and the new outer boxes, but I don't mind them at all, I just wish they would have finally covered up that gaping bloody whole in the outer boxes!

Unfortunately I missed out on Campbeltown during my pilgrimage to Scotland in 2017, since despite my love of the region's malts I just couldn't spare the extra time. But I'm going to make up for that in late 2018 with a tour at both Springbank and Glengyle (Kilkerran) distilleries, and hopefully a quick visit to Glen Scotia, all of which I'm very much looking forward to. Let's see if this dram will be enough to keep me going a little longer...

Springbank 12-year old Cask Strength, 54.2%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Batch 14, bottled January 2017. Lightly peated, 2.5 times distilled, 70% ex-sherry casks, 30% ex-bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Amber. 

Nose: Malty, fruity & quite fresh, but still has the Springbank musty-ness to it. Spearmint, sweet vanilla, golden syrup, stewed stone fruit, red apples. Damp earth and nutty wood spices, some musty old wood (pine?), light farmyard notes but they're subtle. 

Texture: Medium weight, malty, musty & syrupy. No heat. 

Taste: More farmyard-y up-front, with damp hay, light earthy peat, musty old barns / sheds and a little brine. Vanilla butter icing, damp barley and a little clean machine oil. Cinnamon sugar and white pepper. 

Finish: Short-medium length. More brine and light earthy peat again, creamy sweet vanilla icing and more damp old wood, and a little leather. More of the stewed stone fruit and musty malt to finish up. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: A delicious dram of course, it's not the best batch I've tasted, and certainly not as good as the Batch 15 that I tried in Scotland, but it's still a tasty cask strength Springbank, so it could be much worse! The finish in particular is where this one seems to fall a little short, it just doesn't quite have the staying power and volume of flavour that others did. The addition of those ex-bourbon casks is quite evident too, that's not a negative really, just a point of difference. That creamy vanilla does add sweetness and the whisky seems a little more malty overall, so perhaps this is a more approachable take on Springbank 12 that might suit the Campbeltown-novice a little better?

That said, I still love that oily, musty character in these Springbanks. I don't find it in Hazelburns or Longrows either, at least not to the same extent, which is why Springbanks are my pick of the three, although it's a little less up-front in this particular bottling but it's still there! It's what I assume to be a very "old school" malt, and I can't wait to see where it comes from!

Cheers!

Deanston 12 Year Old Whisky Review!

My first Deanston, and another distillery ticked off the list! This brand hasn't been particularly high on my list of priorities in the past, and we're about to find out if that was a mistake...

Deanston is a relatively young distillery, but the site dates back to the late 1700s when it was a cotton mill. Which is why the buildings look very much like the factory that they once were. It was converted to a distillery in 1965, with malt whisky production began in earnest in 1969. After a couple of changes of ownership the distillery was closed down in 1982, and was then rescued in 1990 by Burn Stewart, who also own Tobermory and Bunnahabhain distilleries, and Burn Stewart is now owned by South African drinks company Distell. The distillery is located in the Scottish Highlands, around an hour's drive north-west of Edinburgh on the banks of the River Teith, next to Deanston village which was originally founded by the mill owners as accommodation for their workers. Interestingly the distillery has its own hydro-electric turbine power generators that were installed in the mid-20th century, which means Deanston distillery produces its own electricity! Those turbines actually produce much more power than the distillery needs, and the excess is sold back to the Scottish national electricity grid, which is a nice little side-venture for a business to have!

Deanston had a few minutes in the spotlight in the 2012 movie "The Angel's Share" when the main characters toured the distillery, although the distillery's visitor's centre didn't actually open until the month after the film premiered. The vast majority of Deanston's 3,000,000 litre annual production capacity goes into blends, and only around 15% of the distillery's output is bottled as single malt. Those single malt whiskies are naturally presented without chill filtration or added colouring, are bottled at 46.3% and above, are traditionally made without any computer assistance or automation, and all are made from Scottish-grown barley (albeit sourced from commercial maltings). Deanston were also among the first of the Scottish distilleries to produce a certified organic whisky, along with Benromach, which is a very complicated and painful process.

The Deanston expression we're looking at today is their entry level 12-year old bottling, which is matured in ex-bourbon casks, and bottled at 46.3% without chill filtration or added colouring - like the label says, "as it should be". There's not a lot of other useful information on the packaging, and I don't really like the little marketing tidbit that they've added to the front label: "nothing added but hard work and determination". Maybe I'm nit-picking here, but if that were true it'd be bottled at cask strength, wouldn't it? Still, kudos must be given for the 46.3% bottling strength and lack of chill filtration or added colouring, that's a great starting point for an entry level expression. Time for a dram...

Deanston 12-year old, 46.3%. Doune (lower Highlands), Scotland. 

Matured in ex-bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Nice, but a little run-of-the-mill. A lot of honey and red apples, some acidic white wine-like sour tropical fruit, a little creamy vanilla and dusty / gristy malted barley.

Texture: Medium weight, almost medium-heavy. Really quite nice actually. Rich, soft & creamy.

Taste: More honey and creamy vanilla, a little nutty toasted oak, more red apples, a slight hint of spice, and a little grain-like raw alcohol nip.

Finish: Short. More vanilla & red apples, a little cocoa powder, a little less sweet here overall. That raw alcoholic nip returns here too, but only briefly. Honeyed dusty malt and some powdery apples finish things up.

Score: 3 out of 5.

Notes: It's certainly a pleasant drop, but it doesn't really offer anything that your average Speyside dram can't. Actually scratch that, the mouth feel / texture here is pretty remarkable for such a gentle style of malt, which was definitely the highlight of the Deanston 12 show for me personally. But aside from that, there's not a lot to write home about, it's just a nice crowd-pleasing whisky with enough character to get it over the line. And I'm sure the higher bottling strength and lack of chill filtration can take a bow for that. It does drop off in the finish though, and becomes a little raw in fact, which is a shame.

Regardless it's an impressive entry-level expression, and I'll be keen to try some of Deanston's other bottlings now. I can see this 12-year old going down very well with a Speyside drinker that is looking for a little more flavour and a little more character, without going too far out of field. If that sounds like you, this is definitely a dram that's worth giving a go.

Cheers!