Following on from last week's review of the four Rye spirits in the range from Copper Fox, here's the other half - the Malts!
I covered most of the details on Copper Fox Distillery in the previous write-up (see here), so I won't repeat them all here. In summary, these are American whiskies (not whiskeys) produced in Virginia on the east coast of the United States, and they are distilled from floor-malted grains that are kilned with fruitwood smoke, before being aged in refill ex-bourbon barrels with added wood chips - usually a mix of oak, cherry wood & apple wood. This second part of the two-part write-up will be looking at the four single malt whiskies produced by Copper Fox, all double-distilled in pot stills from locally-sourced 100% floor-malted barley which has been lightly wood-smoked (to 12-18 ppm) using apple wood and cherry wood. The maturation process is similar to the rye whiskies, where they're filled into refill ex-bourbon barrels with added wood chips from a combination of both oak and fruitwoods, before then being finished in more refill ex-bourbon barrels. As with the ryes these are non-chill filtered whiskies, and no e150a colouring is added. The range includes the Original single malt, which is bottled at 48%, the Peachwood single malt, where the barley is smoked using only peach wood and the wood chips added to the maturing casks are a mix of peach wood and oak. Then we have an Apple Brandy Cask finish and a Port-style Wine Cask finish, both bottled at 50%.
The Copper Fox range is imported into Australia by Perth WA-based NTD Spirits, headed by whisky industry and whisky scene veterans Nathan & Thao DeTienne. As with the rye whiskies in the previous post, rather than giving each a full review and score in my usual style I'll go with shorter, quick-fire reviews since there are quite a few to get through, and since they are quite a departure from the whiskies that I usually review. Instead we'll go through the specifics of each whisky, then the tasting notes, and then my general thoughts on each expression. Let's get to it!
Distilled from 100% floor-malted barley that has been lightly smoked with apple wood & cherry wood. Aged in refill ex-bourbon casks with added oak & apple wood chips, finished in another refill ex-bourbon barrel.
Colour: Amber.
Nose: Light, syrupy sweet and fruity. Some overt wood spice, almost a fresh timber. A little sweet stone fruit, melted butter and vanilla biscuit-y malt.
Texture: Medium weight, syrupy and sweet. Warming, no raw / spirit-y heat.
Taste: Sweet syrup, tinned fruit salad in more syrup. More melted butter and strong sweet vanilla essence. Some more spicy, fresh & quite juicy timber.
Finish: Short length. Still very sweet, with more stone fruity and vanilla essence behind that fresh wood. A slight puff of soft wood smoke towards the end.
Notes: You'll need to like strong sweetness for this one, as you can probably guess from those tasting notes. The wood influence is quite overt as well, but it doesn't dry things out like you may expect, instead it just boosts the spice and vanilla while the syrupy, almost cloying sweetness carries on. Certainly no rough edges here or obvious youthfulness here though, this Original Malt drinks like significantly older whisky - thanks to the 'chipping', no doubt.
Distilled from 100% floor-malted barley that has been lightly smoked with peach wood. Aged in refill ex-bourbon casks with added oak & peach wood chips, finished in another refill ex-bourbon barrel.
Colour: Copper. Considerably darker.
Nose: Slightly drier and spicier. Hint of tea tree oil which is interesting, plus some fresh wood and a distant BBQ smoke. Cream and lightly floral notes behind.
Texture: Medium weight, still sweet but more relaxed with more character. No heat again.
Taste: Cream, more tea tree oil, sweet stone fruit - I'd say nectarine more so than peach, but both are there. A nice spicy wood smoke balancing things out and keeping that sweetness in check.
Finish: Medium length. More robust here than the Original, wood spice and that soft smoke adding depth again. Dying wood fire embers and caramel sauce to finish.
Notes: That smoke and spice has really added depth to this one, and has helped balance out that sweetness and also the wood influence. The tea tree note is interesting, almost like a eucalyptus but not as sharp or "forest-y", for lack of a better word. That could possibly be coming from the spirit itself, or perhaps those peach wood chips since I haven't had much to do with peach wood. Aside from knowing that it works well in BBQ smokers, anyway! Once again this is quite a mellow, mature whisky, but with more character and better balance than the Original.
Distilled from 100% floor-malted barley that has been lightly smoked with apple wood & cherry wood. Aged in refill ex-bourbon casks with added oak & apple wood chips, finished in apple brandy casks.
Colour: Copper.
Nose: Buttery, cinnamon spicy and malty, with a dollop of cream and a slightly sour green apple note - like sour green apple chews / lollies.
Texture: Medium weight, more spicy and smoky first, then turning sweet. Slight touch of heat to this one.
Taste: Sweet creamy arrival, then wood spice - cinnamon again. Thick and spicy wood smoke, and a touch of spearmint. More of those sour green apple lollies.
Finish: Short-medium length. That spearmint and a touch of hot cinnamon & clove first, then sweet cream again and some spiced apple pastries (streusels).
Notes: I would've expected more apple here, but it's a relief to find it quite subtle. That sour 'green-ness' is quite refreshing too, while that thicker and spicier smoke adds more character. There's a little more spirit-y heat here, but the sweetness is dialled down so that works in it's favour.
Distilled from 100% floor-malted barley that has been lightly smoked with apple wood & cherry wood. Aged in refill ex-bourbon casks with added oak & apple wood chips, finished in port-style fortified wine casks.
Colour: Dark bronze, almost red.
Nose: Rich and decadent. Plum and cherry, spent coffee grounds and a little grape syrup. Sweet cream and ginger caramel fudge.
Texture: Medium weight, spicier and richer, smokier too but only for a moment. Touch of heat again.
Taste: More cherry, a little plum and peach. Sweet cream again and what reminds me of those Asian-style coffees spiked with sweetened condensed milk. Slight grape tannins and wood spices too.
Finish: Medium-long length. More Vietnamese / Asian-style coffee, turning into spent coffee grounds. Wood spices, more sweet cream and a little grape must. Slight wood smoke in the background.
Notes: The port influence is definitely there, but it feels like the influence of the wood itself is kept in check - no bad thing. The smoke is heavier here on the nose, but is fleeting on the palate. Certainly the richer of the four, probably the more 'conventional' as well.
Overall Notes: Four very different whiskies here! All are quite sweet, particularly the Original which was a little too cloying for my tastes. My personal pick of these four single malts would be the Peachwood, with that stone fruit and smoke working well, and without the massive sweetness. The Apple Brandy Finish and Port Finish aren't far behind though. In fact these are all enjoyable whiskies, provided you like wood-forward and sweet malts - if not, I'd say that you'd be better served with the rye whiskies from Part One. All are quite easy-drinking too, although I do miss that dry spiciness that the Rye whiskies showed.
So the overall winner, in my book, would be the Cognac Finish Rye whisky. It was one of the better cognac cask-finished whiskies that I've tasted, and I think the more assertive rye grain helped with that, again keeping the sweetness and wood influence balanced which is the name of the game. That said, Copper Fox certainly seem to know what they're doing, and it's great to see this brand making its way to Australian shores - like I mentioned at the beginning, I'd normally be very wary of whiskies that have undergone this sort of 'modified maturation'. But these were quite reassuring, they aren't trying to cheat the system so much as give it a hurry-along. Which isn't so different from those who are taking advantage of hotter and drier climates to do the same thing. Nothing to be wary of here - they're definitely worth seeking out, in my book.
Cheers!
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