Highwayman Batch 3.0 (Peated) Whisky Review!

It's here! The first peated release from Bryon Bay's Highwayman single malt whisky!

Since launching roughly two years ago in the midst of the pandemic, Byron Bay's Highwayman Australian whisky has gone from strength to strength. Each release sells out in record time, even the relatively large batches of 300-ish bottles, and since the first few batches which launched with the Australian Whisky Appreciation Society Facebook group, all sales have been directly through the Highwayman website, going straight to the man himself, Dan Woolley. Woolley has a huge & well-earned following in the Australian whisky scene since putting in a huge amount of air & road miles (hence the brand name "Highwayman") over a long career as Brand Ambassador for countless major brands, latterly and most famously Islay's Laphroaig. Since launching his own whisky brand in mid-2020, all of his releases (approx. 17 to date) have been unpeated, with the first ten batches distilled elsewhere, mainly in Tasmania, but all were fully matured in Dan's own casks in Byron Bay. See here for more information on those earlier releases. Distillation began at Byron Bay back in early-2018, and the first release of Dan's own Byron Bay-distilled spirit debuted in May 2021 with his first single cask release. But with a resume like Dan's, not to mention his insatiable thirst for peat, there has always been smoke on the Highwayman horizon. Now the first peated release is finally here! Highwayman Batch 3.0 is titled "Fires to Floods" to mark the truly disastrous flooding that hit northern New South Wales and southern Queensland in February-March 2022, not long before this whisky was bottled. Dan has also taken it upon himself to implement a huge fundraising effort for Northern Rivers Flood Relief, including a recent whisky auction and a number of Highwayman whisky tastings generously hosted by some of Australia's best whisky bars, with all proceeds going to said charity fund. It's a great cause. 

Mashing, fermenting and distilling for Highwayman happens at Lord Byron Distillery, run by Brian Restall and his family and located on a small industrial estate in Byron Bay in northern New South Wales, less than two hour's drive south of Brisbane. But don't take that to mean that Dan is just sitting back and letting Brian & his team do all of the work by contract distilling - far, far from it! All Highwayman production takes place in Dan's own equipment including the mash tun and the copper pot still itself, both of which are only used for Highwayman whisky since Lord Byron produce their products - chiefly rum, gin & vodka - on separate equipment. Dan is also heavily involved in every step of the process from the mashing to the spirit cuts, and if you take a few steps to the left from Lord Byron Distillery and literally enter the next door in the complex you'll find Highwayman "HQ", which is Dan's bond store and cellar door. This thoughtfully designed and thoroughly decked out unit is open by appointment only, and the group tasting sessions and one-on-one masterclasses, all run by Dan himself, are highly recommended! As it happens, visiting the bond store & cellar door for one of these experiences will also give you the chance to buy some of the sold out releases from Dan's archive that are now only available from the cellar door. 

Highwayman's peated releases - and there are many more in the pipeline - are denoted by a change of artwork, from the sand/beige & black colour scheme in the unpeated releases to the red & black colour scheme in the peated releases - which looks awesome! So far the mash bill for the majority of the peated Byron Bay-distilled spirit has been 2/3rds peated Scottish barley and 1/3rd local unpeated barley sourced from NSW, fermented for over two weeks and double-distilled in Dan's own copper pot still, then - importantly for Byron Bay's temperate climate - slowly diluted from still strength to 55% ABV before being filled into casks. This crucial step, coupled with the sub-tropical climate and some smaller cask sizes, helps the whisky soften and come of age in a shorter amount of time than it would otherwise, and if you ask me it's something that more Australian producers should be looking at or at least experimenting with to help counteract our aggressive climate. In many cases Dan is also charring, re-charring and/or re-seasoning casks prior to filling them with his spirit, rather than the "wet fill" casks that many of our whisky producers use where the casks are simply emptied of their previous contents and are immediately filled with new make spirit, which tends to result in the spirit being flooded with the "in drink", which is the previous contents that has soaked into the wood and is drawn into the spirit as it matures.  

Speaking of casks, Highwayman Batch 3.0 "Fires to Floods" is a vatting of peated and unpeated whisky, all distilled & matured in Byron Bay, with the peated components being distilled from 50 ppm Scottish peated barley and the unpeated components being distilled from local NSW (Australian) unpeated barley. This single malt whisky is from a mix of different cask types including Pedro Ximinez sherry, tawny (Australian port), red wine and bourbon casks, with the youngest component being 2-years old , which is the minimum age for Australian whisky, and the oldest being 3.5-years old. The total outturn was 320 x 500ml bottles at a natural cask strength of 53.9% ABV. Remember the 55% ABV filling strength mentioned above, so this release is one of the first to actually drop in ABV during maturation, albeit only slightly. Let's see what we're in for!

Colour: Dark bronze. 

Nose: Rich, dense & complex. Earthy, with soft dry peat and dried mushrooms - umami then, but also leaning towards rancio. Black cherry syrup with couple of freeze-dried raspberries thrown in. Some thick balsamic vinegar / balsamic glaze, Turkish delight coated in dark chocolate, and blow-torched coconut shavings. Dried herbs behind that - sage? - with some treacle coming through as it breathes. 

Texture: Heavy weight, thick & syrupy. Earthy, sweet & sour (lifting acidity). No heat at all. 

Taste: Big syrupy arrival with that earthy dried mushroom (umami) and a lovely soft, subtle peatiness underneath it. Cherry cola syrup, with the two freeze-dried raspberries thrown in again, and that balsamic glaze adding a nice subtle acidity. Leathery / dried tobacco hints doing the same. 

Finish: Long length. Dried herbs coming back through, touch of strong syrupy coffee (think bittersweet Turkish coffee) and that balsamic glaze adding depth. Soft earthy peat running underneath the black cherry cola syrup, with a hint of those burnt coconut shavings to round things out.

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely big, rich whisky that completely belies its age. It's right on the balance of heavy cask influence, but with some intriguing savoury & acidic notes adding depth & complexity. Really enjoy that balsamic acidity in particular which is something that I've found in a couple of Highwayman releases so far, and it helps to balance out the wood influence and keep the taste buds interested. The peat is relatively subtle, I'd equate it to a Benromach or maybe Ardmore level in this case, but with a different style and character of peat influence. So the peat-averse should have no issues here since the peat is very well integrated, in a light & earthy style, but it's certainly there, holding up against some big assertive cask influence. Those earthy, savoury notes are intriguing as well, I'm guessing they're partly due to the peat being so well integrated in the finished whisky and also working with the casks, rather than fighting against them and potentially losing - which is often the case with peat vs. assertive sherry / wine casks, even with much more heavily peated whiskies. 

It's great to see Highwayman's first peated release finally bust through the warehouse doors and hit the virtual shelves, although like most of Dan's releases it's already sold out - but as I mentioned above, if you're heading to Byron Bay NSW anytime soon, make sure you book in here for one of Dan's masterclasses, which will also get you access to his stash of "archive" bottles if you time it right - and if you can convince him to sell you one! As always, I can't wait to see what Dan comes up with next. There are some epic and "out there" Highwayman releases in the works, so stay tuned!

Cheers.

Iniquity Flustercluck Whisky Review!

A great Australian name for a great Australian whisky. One of the rarer styles of Australian whisky too - peated single malt matured in a bourbon cask! But there's much more to this dram than the name might imply. 

Iniquity is the single malt whisky produced by South Australia's Tin Shed Distilling Co., which is located in a former flagpole factory in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, SA's capital city. This is not a ritzy, glamorous distillery by any means; and you won't find a fancy visitor's centre or fine dining restaurant attached to it either. But what you will find is a couple of people making tasty whisky in their own quiet way, without cutting corners and without shouting their own praises from the rooftops. Tin Shed is not a newcomer to the industry either, in fact the first iteration of this small distillery was one of the first built on the mainland of Australia. It was then known as Southern Coast Distillers (see here for more information), but after a disagreement between the business partners that company was dissolved in 2012. Ian Schmidt, one of the original owners, along with his business partner Vic Orlow saw the distillery reborn as Tin Shed Distilling Co. in 2013, and they now produce vodka, rum and more importantly, single malt whisky under the label 'Iniquity' - which essentially means naughty or wicked behaviour. Importantly, Iniquity single malt is mashed and fermented/brewed on site prior to distillation - which is sadly not a legal requirement for single malt in Australia - and is then double-distilled in a copper pot still. 

Being located in one of Australia's main wine-producing states has its advantages, and Ian & Vic are able to source red wine, white wine and fortified - tawny (Australian port) and apera (Australian sherry) - wine casks, but also brandy, rum and bourbon casks from further afield. I've prattled on about this before, but more Australian distilleries should be looking into bourbon casks to help their spirit stand apart from the rest, rather than the "standard operating procedure" route of 20- or 50-litre French oak tawny/apera casks. If you ask me, going for a lighter cask influence in our climate - whether that be ex-bourbon casks, or full-size rather than smaller casks, or refill casks, or all of the above - is even more beneficial when you're looking at making peated spirit to avoid the peat influence being overwhelmed by the wood and/or the previous contents. Most peated Australian whiskies are only very lightly peated by Scotch whisky standards, and many of them have a peat influence that is barely detectable in the completed whisky. Thankfully a couple of our producers have been doing this for years, but there are now more options on the shelves when it comes to ex-bourbon cask Australian whisky and peated ex-bourbon cask Australian whisky. Unfortunately a large proportion of Australian whisky drinkers still believe that darker means better, which is absolutely not the case, but thanks to that misguided belief the darker your whisky is, the faster it will sell. Although to be fair that's still a common train of thought all over the whisky world. A pale whisky is nothing to be afraid of folks!

Which brings us to today's review: Iniquity Flustercluck. If you haven't picked up on it already, this name is a play on words, relating to the series of errors that went in to producing this particular whisky. Error isn't really the right word though, so let's quote Bob Ross instead. These "happy accidents" started with the malted barley itself, which is peated, but not in the usual way. Iniquity's peated barley is commercially malted and brought in to the distillery unpeated, but is then "re-wet" with water and then dried using peat smoke. A couple of other Australian distilleries do this, and it's mainly because most of our commercial maltsters either don't produce peated barley at all, or they won't produce peated barley in small enough quantities to suit the size of most of our distilleries. Naturally this method does not give you the same effect as using peat in the actual malting process, and as always it also depends on where the peat itself was sourced from, just like it does in Scotch whisky. So far, Iniquity's peated barley has been re-dried using South Australian peat. But in the case of this Flustercluck release, the first "happy accident" happened when the distillery instead used some old Tasmanian peat that had been gifted to them by an agricultural research institute. And when I say old, I mean it was cut long ago - this peat was cut from the Tasmanian Highlands in 1932! Pre-World War II, and pre-atomic age. 

The second "happy accident" happened when there was a misunderstanding when it came time to fill the new make spirit into a cask - rather than being reduced from still strength to 60% for filling, it was reduced down to 48% before going into cask. They filled this spirit into a 200-litre ex-Heaven Hill bourbon cask, which was a complete departure for Iniquity at the time - hence it being part of their "Anomaly" series of limited bottlings that show a different side to the distillery! The cask was also "temporarily" left in a high spot on the distillery's racking - which I'm guessing means that they forgot it was up there! Given that low initial filling strength, cask strength in this case was 49.1% ABV, so it's actually increased slightly over its 2-3 years of maturation (because more water has evaporated than ethanol), and is natural colour and non-chill filtered. Pricing was reasonable at the time of release at around $180 AUD in a 700ml bottle, and stock did seem to last for quite some time, although it seems to have almost dried up now. So let's see if these "happy accidents" have paid off, shall we? 

Iniquity Flustercluck, NAS, 49.1%. Adelaide, South Australia. 

Distilled from malted barley dried with Tasmanian peat cut in 1932, filled into cask at 48%, matured in a 200-litre Heaven Hill bourbon barrel for 2-3 years and bottled at cask strength. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Creamy, smoky, lightly musty. Melted salted butter, creamy vanilla custard and dusty, dry & earthy peat. Touch of strong aged cheddar, lightly acidic too. Touch of cinnamon around the edges and a little fizzy effervescence as well. 

Texture: Medium weight. Creamy, dusty, musty & smoky. No heat at all. 

Taste: Dry, earthy peat and ashy smoke with creamy vanilla custard running underneath. A lovely dank, dusty mustiness and a touch of that salted butter again. 

 

Finish: Short-medium length. That dry, earthy peatiness follows through, plus some bitter smoke, touch of warm oak and some white pepper. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Adelaide goes to Islay!?! There are certainly shades of Caol Ila or Bowmore-level peatiness with a dry, earthy style of peat that is totally different from the lighter, floral peat influence found in the Tasmanian whiskies that also use the state's peat and the same "re-wetting" smoking method. Although few of those use 100% peated malted barley like this Iniquity, they're usually a mix of peated & unpeated barley for an extremely light, often undetectable, peat influence. That more prominent peat in this Iniquity is helped by the lighter impact of the bourbon cask, which is giving a lovely creaminess and a balanced sweetness without dominating the spirit or the peat. 

A great young showing from Iniquity, very different to their usual output - which is why it's part of the "anomaly" series of course! I also don't see much wrong with that lower cask filling strength - that's something that a few Australian distilleries are going towards now, and all the better for it! Whiskies like Melbourne's Starward and Byron Bay's Highwayman are purposely filled into casks at around 55% ABV rather than the natural still strength or the Scotch whisky standard of 63.5% ABV. And that helps both with wood influence but also with volatile alcohol compounds, which in many Australian whiskies survive the (admittedly short) maturation periods and give a hot & harsh spirit as a result. Particularly when they're matured in small casks - another great point of this Iniquity, with just 2-3 years in a full-sized bourbon barrel doing the trick nicely. So keep an eye out for a bourbon cask peated Australian whisky!

Cheers!

Old Master Spirits 51-year old Cognac Review!

Something new for Peated Perfection - my first cognac review! But we're setting the bar quite high with a forthcoming 51-year old cognac from 1970, followed by a sold out 36-year old cognac from 1984! 

Cognac! I've tried some of the standard, entry-level big brands, and also some older, but heavily-coloured and artificially flavoured spirits (more on that later) that have left me wondering what all the fuss is about. But when it comes to properly & naturally presented, quality cognac, armagnac or brandy, I've only had two encounters to date. But I enjoyed those, and now I'm about to dive much deeper with two new cognac experiences, thanks to a newcomer in the Australian spirits industry - Old Master Spirits. Old Master Spirits is a new importer and independent bottler based in Melbourne that is focussed on importing quality cognac, whisky & rum, and is run by two hardcore whisky & spirits lovers; Deni Kay and his brother in law David. Their first batch of releases arrived in late 2021, consisting of a 63-year old single cask cognac, a 36-year old single cask cognac, and a Spanish PX sherry that had been used to season both an American oak ex-bourbon cask and a European oak ex-port cask prior to bottling. That first release is entirely sold out of course, in fact it sold out completely in around 5-minutes, but the second batch of releases is not far away! Due to arrive in the first week of May (2022), Old Master Spirits is bringing us another single cask cognac, this time a 51-year old. And it's this 51-year old that we're looking at in this review, followed by a little teaser of the 36-year old cognac from the first batch of releases, just for posterity's sake! 

First, a quick rundown on cognac. In the very, very simplest of terms, cognac is a brandy (fruit spirit) or eau-de-vie that is distilled from grapes which can only be made in the Cognac appellation (region) in south-western France. The Cognac region is an "appellation d'origine controlee" or AOC, a legally protected production region, and it has held this status since 1909. Much like the similar protected status of champagne, sherry, and port, brandy made outside of this region cannot be sold as cognac. Essentially, all cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac. Cognac can only be made from a small number of white grape varieties, mostly the Ugni Blanc variety, which after a fermentation period of 2-3 weeks produces a dry & highly acidic white wine that is not suitable for consumption. The wine must then be double-distilled in copper pot stills, and the resulting spirit must be aged in French oak barrels for a minimum of two years before it can legally be labelled as cognac. Diving a little deeper, distillation takes place in Alembic stills, also referred to as brandy stills, which are often direct-fired over a gas flame, with onion-shaped heads and very narrow necks for high reflux, then running into worm tub condensers. Slight digression here - Sullivan's Cove actually make their Tasmanian single malt whisky in a brandy still, including a worm tub condenser which is a very rare thing in the Australian whisky industry, more so since Lark replaced theirs with a modern shell & tube condenser. 

The "brandy still" / Alembic still at Sullivan's Cove

Most new spirit / eau de vie ("water of life") is initially matured in 300-350-litre casks, and if ageing for long periods it is then transferred into older 500-litre casks that are often on their third- or fourth-fill. Which brings us to a few interesting points of discussion. The vast majority of cognac is blended, with each brand often combining spirits from hundreds of different vineyards taken from some or all of the six different growing areas of the region that are known as "Crus" ("growths" in English) - the most highly lauded Cru is "Grande Champagne" region, which is not related to the sparkling wine of the same name. There are around 270 different cognac producers, known as cognac houses, in the AOC, and it's very common for larger companies to trade casks between producers and between companies in order to keep their blended product as consistent as possible. So finding an unblended Cognac from one producer, let alone a single cask bottling like these two examples, is a very rare thing, and it's really only the territory of independent bottlers - much like it was in whisky in the past. Interestingly, provided the spirit met that legal minimum of two years maturation in French oak, cognac can be transferred to inert glass vessels known as demijohns to continue ageing without any further input from wood, and to essentially store the spirit until it's ready for bottling or blending. These inert vessels also prevent the alcohol evaporating and thus avoids the strength dropping below the minimum ABV of 40%. Old Master Spirits' cognacs have not been stored in glass vessels as part of their maturation, they were taken straight from the wood - so unlike many cognacs out there, their age statements do reflect the actual amount of time that they spent in casks, rather than their total storage time regardless of the type of vessel. 

Unfortunately, there's also a darker side (pun not intended) to the cognac industry that we need to discuss: additives. In Scotch whisky, as we know, plain caramel colouring is the only permitted additive. But in cognac, producers can add not only caramel colouring, but also sugar, and a wood extract known as "boise" which is made from boiling wood chips and reducing the liquid down over heat. The vast majority of commercially produced cognac on the market contains all three of these permitted additives, including even the older, mega-expensive "luxury" cognacs made by the biggest names in the industry. And yes, most cognacs are also chill filtered for the same aesthetic reasons as the whiskies that are put through this unnecessary step in the bottling process. The two cognacs from Old Master Spirits that we're looking at today do not contain any of these additives - no added colour, sugar, or wood flavouring - and they are non-chill filtered. These cognacs are bottled "au naturel", just as any spirits aficionado would want them! 

On to the reviews! First up, the upcoming 51-year old cognac that is landing soon as Old Master Spirit's second release. Now, I know what you're thinking. A 51-year old single cask cognac must be prohibitively expensive, right? I mean, that's over half a century of maturation, and a similarly aged single malt whisky sells for tens of thousands of dollars - for example, Glenfiddich 50-year old is circa AUD$40,000! Well, cognac is a very different thing, and it doesn't tend to suffer from the same levels of "exclusive" and "luxury" marketing angles as whisky does at these advanced ages, nor the huge profit margins and high demand that go along with those angles. This 51-year old single cask cognac, distilled in 1970, is going to retail for just $365 AUD in a 500ml bottle. That bottle size is a more common practice in cognac, and isn't an issue if you ask me since it allows more people to purchase a bottle, and at a lower price. Even with that bottle size taken into account, aiming the same funds at malt whisky would get you as little as the likes of an 18-year old Macallan (at 43%) or the latest batch of 19-year old Ardbeg. Old, quality cognac certainly looks to be something of a bargain! 

This 51-year old - denoted on the label by the A.51, as in age - Old Master Spirits cognac was distilled in 1970 - denoted on the label by the V.70, as in vintage - by Mr. Jean Michel Tribot at Maison Tribot, the cognac house that has been skilfully illustrated on the bottle's label. Maison Tribot is located in the Grande Champagne Cru, considered to be the premier Cru in the Cognac appellation, the best of the best. This single cask cognac was sourced by Domaine Pasquet for Old Master Spirits, after spending a whopping 51-years of maturation in a French oak cask, and it was the oldest cask in the Tribot family's traditional stone-walled cellar. This cognac has been slowly reduced from cask strength over a period of months to the Old Master team's desired strength of 50.3% ABV, and as mentioned above it is non-chill filtered, natural colour, and additive free. This 51-year old cognac will be released in the first week of May 2022, and subscribers to Old Master's mailing list will get early access - sign up here. There are only 120 bottles available, so don't delay. Let's see how it tastes!

Colour: Amber gold. 

Nose: Immediately smells mature. Not quite "old" as in tired, boring or one dimensional though, but rounded and mellow, relaxed and inviting. It's lively though with dried & fresh stone fruit - I'd say fresh peach and dried apricot, maybe a touch of nectarine. Pineapple in behind that too. Dried herbs and a touch of mint, soft wood spices, roasted nuts with some brown sugar. Soft old leather comes out with more time. 

Texture: Medium weight. Lightly spicy & softly oaky. No heat whatsoever.

Taste: Stone fruit again, but more tropical fruit here. Pineapple, touch of white grape. Strong dark tea without milk (lightly bitter). Touch of charred wood and more brown sugar. Dried herbs coming through leading into the finish. 

Finish: Medium length. Earthy & spicy (wood spices), touch of cured meats and more roasted nuts. Lightly astringent with ground ginger and cinnamon spice warmth. Touch of mild (light roast) coffee grounds and creamy milk chocolate in the background. 

Score: 4 out of 5 (bearing in mind my limited cognac/brandy experience). 

Notes: Lovely soft, mature & rounded spirit with a lively, bright fruitiness that belies its age, and a nicely balanced wood influence with only milder tannins - e.g. those tea and coffee ground notes. I would not have guessed it had spent a whopping 51-years in French oak - which is handled with care in whisky circles for its spicy, tannic assertiveness - and clearly the wood influence has been carefully managed over that massive period of time. No doubt helped by that dark & cool stone cellar that this cask slumbered in for over half a century. Certainly not as sweet as I was expecting either, which is a good thing! That's no doubt helped by the natural presentation in this Old Master Spirits bottling, with no added sugar, colouring or wood flavouring. 

Those bright tropical fruit notes were a surprise also, and that's not something I remember finding in any of the cognac or brandy that I've tasted previously. I'd assume that's coming from a combination of the (very) advanced age and the careful management of the wood - much like in whisky, it seems that refill casks are often where the magic happens! This 51-year old is by far the finest cognac or brandy that I've ever come across, and it was a real treat. Don't miss this one when it lands! 

With that, on to cognac number two! This sample is from Old Master's first batch of releases, and is completely sold out. This is a 36-year old single cask cognac that just happened to be distilled in my "birth year", which is not something that happens every day! This 36-year old was distilled in 1984 -  again denoted on the label by the V. and A. figures, for vintage and age - by Mr. Claude Hillare in the Grande Champagne Cru in the Cognac appellation, and it was bottled in March 2021 at its natural cask strength of 53.8% ABV. Again, this cognac has been fully matured in French oak prior to bottling, no glass demijohns, and it is non-chill filtered, natural colour and additive free. So significantly younger than the forthcoming 51-year old, but 36-years of maturation is still very, very old for any aged spirit. This should make for a great comparison!

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: Richer & bolder. Fresh cinnamon scrolls / buns with butter icing, strawberry syrup and dark tea leaves. Touch of dried orange peel and leather. Raspberry bubble gum around the edges, but without the artificial sweetness. Floral & minty further in as well. 

Texture: Medium weight. Buttery & warm, richer, more oaky & spicy. No heat again. 

Taste: Strawberry gum, dark tea leaves, spearmint. Baked sweet bananas with a touch of brown sugar (almost banoffee). Oak spices, more fresh cinnamon buns / scrolls. Dried orange peel & leather again. Spearmint again around the edges heading into the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Touch of bitter herbs and more strawberry gum, strong dark tea and leather. Orange peel again but it's sweeter this time. Buttery cinnamon scrolls/buns again but with a few currants thrown in.

Notes: 3.5 out of 5 (again, bearing in mind my limited cognac & brandy experience). 

Overall Notes: Deeper, richer and more "up-front" than the 51-year old, this one jumps straight out of the glass in comparison. There's more wood influence and less complexity, and less balance. Bear in mind though that I've just recently tasted a 51-year old cognac, so this 36-year old had some big shoes to fill! Prior to this review I had expected to prefer this younger example, since I often prefer younger spirits for their vibrancy - not that it's a spring chicken at 36-years of age, and I should know seeing that it was distilled in my birth year! But that's proven not to be the case, although that's more of a credit to the previous 51-year old cognac rather than a critique of this 36-year old. 

Thanks to Deni & David from Old Master Sprits for the samples for these reviews, and for bringing these tasty cognacs to Australia at very reasonable prices. I also have to add that the level of professional communication and the passion shown by Deni is something that many large corporations should be striving for!

Cheers!