Tasmania's Overeem are certainly one of the quieter Australian whisky producers, preferring to let the whisky speak for itself rather than jumping on the marketing bandwagon like some other brands. This quieter approach is part of the reason for them amassing quite the loyal following - the rest of the reason being that they consistently produce good quality whisky in an industry that struggles with consistency, or in some cases even the concept of consistency. There have been a few hiccups in the last few years, including the sale of the Overeem brand and then the entire operation to Australian Whisky Holdings, the ASX-listed company that is now calling itself Lark Distilling Co. which at one point saw the whole operation including the stills relocated to Lark's distillery in Cambridge, around 20-minutes north-east of Hobart. But thankfully as of early-mid 2020 the Overeem brand is now back in family hands, and I doubt they'll be letting it go anywhere given the warm reception that the "re-launch" of the brand has had!
The original distillery behind the Overeem brand was founded as Old Hobart Distillery by Casey Overeem in 2007, housed in a purpose built shed on the family property south of Hobart. It was only the fourth whisky distillery operating in Tasmania at the time, preceded by Lark of course, and also Sullivan's Cove and Hellyers Road. The Overeem brand of single malt officially launched in 2012. At the time of writing there are over fifty distilleries in this small state of 550,000 people, with many more on the way, which is a massive number. Around half of those are yet to release whisky and are mostly making gin, and the majority of Tasmanian distilleries are making spirits in very small quantities that wouldn't even register on the scale of the Scotch whisky or bourbon industries. The exceptions are Hellyers Road, Sullivan's Cove, Launceston's Adams Distillery, Oatlands-based newcomer Callington Mill, and of course Lark Distilling Co. with it's collection of distilleries formerly known as Lark, Nant and Shene, all of which it bottles under the Lark Distilling Co. label - see here for more information on that unfortunate situation. The Overeem operation was sold circa 2013 when Casey retired, and the brand unfortunately became part of that messy, misleading "Lark Distilling Co." situation from around 2018 when it was fully taken over by Australian Whisky Holdings which was soon re-named as Lark Distilling Co., and the Overeem stills and equipment were moved to Lark's site in Cambridge, TAS. But those darker days are over, since in early 2020 Casey Overeem's daughter Jane and her husband Mark Sawford were given the opportunity to purchase the Overeem brand back from what had then become Lark Distilling Co., and they jumped at the chance. The couple had started their own Sawford Distillery in early 2017, with some mentor-like guidance from Casey, and that distillery, back in family hands, has now been re-named as Overeem.
Right from the start Overeem has done things a little differently from most Australian and Tasmanian distilleries. Larger casks than most, mostly 100-litres in capacity but with full format (200-300 litre) casks currently maturing, and exclusive use of first-fill casks that are generally aged for at least 5-years. That may sound young, and it is young in the larger whisky world, but in Australian whisky 5-years could almost be considered a teenager. For many years they stuck to a tried & true mix of single cask bottlings from sherry (Australian apera) and port (Australian tawny) casks, both at 43% and at 60% ABV. In more recent years they've added ex-bourbon casks to the billing, and they're soon to launch their first finish, a stout cask finish. The Overeem single malt that we're looking at today is exclusive to the Australian Whisky Appreciation Society (AWAS), and is a marriage of two 5-year old sherry (apera) casks, that were blended/married/vatted the Overeem and AWAS teams. So it's a slight departure from the Overeem "norm", which is all about single cask bottlings, but that's no bad thing, not at all. This AWAS bottling is bottled at 55% ABV, and is non-chill filtered and natural colour.
Overeem AWAS Exclusive "Exceptional Marriage", 5-years old, 55%. Tasmania, Australia.
"Exceptional Marriage" of 2 x 5-year old sherry casks, exclusive to Australian Whisky Appreciation Society. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 275 bottles.
Colour: Bright copper.
Nose: Fresh timber, strawberries & cream, bubble gum (natural/unflavoured) and oily furniture polish. Dried orange peel, rose petals, some new leather & powdered ginger further in. Honeycomb (a.k.a. cinder toffee) coated in white chocolate.
Texture: Medium weight. Rich, spicy, oily. No heat.
Taste: Fresh timber again, and strawberries & cream again, but now with mixed / forest berry syrup poured over the top. Vanilla, powdered ginger & melted white chocolate.
Finish: Short-medium length. More powdered ginger, natural (unflavoured) bubble gum, furniture polish. Melted white chocolate and rose petals. Touches of sawdust, tropical fruit & new leather in the background.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: Quite a tasty dram! There's a nice balance of sweet, fruity, woody & spicy flavours & aromas, and it's far less cask-driven than most Australian whiskies are still known for - although thankfully there are a number of older & newer producers that are now moving away from that typecast "Australian style" of under-matured & over-oaked 2-year old whiskies from 20-litre casks. To be fair though I don't think Overeem has ever followed that school of thought, or at least not in the handful of examples that I've tasted. Which is a very, very good thing. Another "Australian style" whisky pigeonhole is that single casks are always the best - which is of course 100% incorrect, as this Overeem 'marriage' and a few other examples demonstrate very well. Yes, single casks can be great or even exceptional, but the good ones are just that: exceptions! Regardless of your views on marriage, there's nothing at all wrong with a small vatting, also known as a blend (but that's a dirty word!), of casks, and they often result in a whisky that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Well done to Overeem and to Niko and his team at AWAS in picking these casks out and marrying them together nicely. This AWAS-exclusive bottling is still available in Australia at the time of writing, for $279 AUD - which is the going rate for a high-ABV Australian whisky, but unlike many this is a 700ml bottle and that price includes both shipping (within Australia) and a 20ml sample of the whisky. So that's not a terrible deal! Thanks also to Niko for the sample for this review, it's much appreciated & much enjoyed.
Cheers!
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