Port Askaig 9 Year Old New Zealand Exclusive Whisky Review!

A New Zealand exclusive Port Askaig single cask bottled for Whisky Galore / Dramfest. And it's a rum cask finish, which means this is probably a rum cask finished Caol Ila. And that's quite the rarity! 

Port Askaig is one of the independent bottling brands from Elixir Distillers, formerly owners of The Whisky Exchange, which is now owned by Pernod Ricard; and now the owners of Tormore Distillery, which was formerly owned by Pernod Ricard. Funny how these things pan out...Aside from Port Askaig Elixir also brings us independent whisky bottlings like Elements of Islay and Single Malts of Scotland and also Black Tot rum, with their own Islay distillery named Portintruan under construction just outside the village of Port Ellen. The Port Askaig brand only consists of Islay single malts, but is technically one of the "mystery"  undisclosed single malt Scotch whiskies. There is no Port Askaig Distillery, but there is a distillery in the village of Port Askaig that goes by the name of Caol Ila. Not all Port Askaig bottlings are Caol Ila mind you, but the two permanent bottlings in the range, the 8-year old at 45.8% and the delicious 100 Proof at 57.1% ABV (110 Proof and bottled at 55% in the US) are. The rest of the Port Askaig bottlings are limited releases to varying degrees, sometimes Caol Ila and sometimes from other distilleries, even including 45-year old unpeated Bunnahabhain in the past. Since Caol Ila is Islay's largest distillery with a capacity of over 6-million litres (ramped up from 4-million a few years ago) and is underutilised as a single malt by owner Diageo, it is therefore one of the easiest to source for independent bottling and/or blending. So it stands to mathematical reason that the majority of the anonymous & undisclosed Islay independent bottlings will be Caol Ila, regardless of which label they're wearing. That's certainly not a negative though, this distillery produces fantastic whisky, and if it weren't for the independent bottlings it would be difficult to experience "proper" Caol Ila as a single malt. There are rumours that Diageo are going to slow or even stop the on-selling of Caol Ila to brokers and independent bottlers, but let's just hope that isn't true. If it is, they'd better pick their act up and give this distillery the attention it deserves; i.e. bring back the cask strength!

Why am I reviewing a New Zealand exclusive bottling when I'm not in New Zealand? Well, firstly because a generous resident of NZ sent me a sample. But also because this is a rum cask finished Port Askaig, which is the first time I've seen such a thing in the southern hemisphere. Which means there's a strong chance that this is a rum cask finished Caol Ila, which is the first time I've seen such a thing - Google tells me it's been done before by a couple of much smaller independent bottlers, but I'm yet to see any of those examples, let alone try them. We don't see many rum cask finishes from Islay in general, but in my experience it can work beautifully with peated whisky when done well. Ardbeg have dabbled in rum finishes in the past with 2019's (lacklustre) Drum release and the (much better) Committee Release version, while Kilchoman have released some excellent rum finished single casks. Further afield some larger producers have started delving into rum casks recently, including Diageo with their special release Talisker 8-year old in 2020 and more recently the Cardhu 16-year old special release in 2022. With more traditional finishing casks (i.e. sherry) constantly becoming scarcer and more expensive, and with the large corporates now buying Spanish bodegas to secure their own cask supplies, we'll continue to see more unusual cask maturations and/or finishes in Scotch whisky, from mezcal to cognac and further afield. This shift has been spurred on by the changes made to the Scotch whisky regulations back in 2019. Crucially, oak is still the only permitted wood type, and the previous contents must be barrel aged in its traditional production, i.e. you can't throw some vodka or gin in a cask and then finish your Scotch whisky in that cask, because those spirits are not traditionally barrel aged. If you do you can't label it as Scotch whisky, and you can expect a visit from the SWA. Which is a good thing; without these regulations you'd have chaos. Look at what's been happening in Australian whisky with soft drink casks and Christmas mince pie casks for the worst case scenario, let alone just about every producer adding more unnecessary sugar to their whisky by throwing their 2-year old spirit, often already too sweet and too woody, in maple syrup casks...

This Port Askaig rum cask finish is a single cask New Zealand exclusive, selected and bottled in "collaboration" with Whisky Galore in Christchurch - the importer, distributor and retailer behind the biannual Dramfest whisky festival. This is a 9-year old whisky, matured for 7-years in a refill bourbon cask and then finished for 2-years in a first-fill rum barrel, bottled at a cask strength of 58.2% without chill filtration or added colouring. There's essentially no point in talking about price with this one since New Zealand plays by a different set of rules to Australia, but I can't help it. Retail pricing is just $112 NZD, the equivalent of around $105 AUD or $70 USD. That's an incredible price for a cask strength single cask Islay, let alone an exclusive bottling. Other reasons & factors (of which there are many) aside, the New Zealand government charges almost half the amount of alcohol excise on spirits than the Australian government does here - currently $60.54 NZD (around $57 AUD) per litre of 100% alcohol vs. $97.90 AUD (around $104.50 NZD) per litre at 100% alcohol. And the rate there is increased every 12-months there, as opposed to every 6-months here. Sigh. While we're on the subject, in the U.S. according to the TTB site their federal spirits excise rate is just $13.50 USD... per GALLON (that's 3.78L) at 100% alcohol. That's not including any tariffs or state taxes, which are significant, but even so, double sigh. Moving right along, it's time for a dram...

Port Askaig 9-Year Old, Rum Cask Finish Single Cask, 58.2%. Islay, Scotland.

Exclusive to New Zealand. Anonymous Islay single malt (likely Caol Ila), distilled 2013, matured in refill bourbon for 7-years, finished in first-fill rum barrel for 2-years. Cask #4432. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: A little sharp, vegetal, ashy, and sweet. Grassy malt with a touch of smoked ham (Caol Ila's calling card), thick boot polish (paste/cream, not liquid), and slight aniseed. Chilli salt, smoked pork rinds, and sea spray. Bandages and a hint of oyster shells around the edges. There are some subtle tropical fruits - banana & papaya, I'd say - with a light caramel syrup, but the rum cask certainly isn't shouting at me. 

Texture: Medium weight. Syrupy, ashy, sweet & grassy. No heat, nicely warming. 

Taste: More thick boot polish & chilli salt before Caol Ila's sweet grassy spirit comes through, bringing a wave of ashy smoke with it. The light caramel syrup & banana around the edges again. Bandages on the exhale. There's certainly a denser, more syrupy sweetness here than your typical Caol Ila, but it's still quite a subtle influence. 

Finish: Medium length. The ashy smoke and sweet syrup (maybe even cane juice?) continue, then the chilli salt - but it's green chilli now rather than red - and boot polish make a fleeting appearance. Grassy malt and a tough of woody (bitter) herbs & aniseed. There's possibly a slight "rum funk" underneath that syrupy sweetness, e.g. overripe banana and brown sugar, but that could be the power of suggestion. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Well the rum cask influence is certainly subtle, but that's not a negative. In fact this is a great example of a cask finish done well, where it integrates with the spirit rather than dominating it, boosting some aspects (sweetness in this case) and adding an extra flare without becoming distracting or obstructive. Most rum cask finished peated whiskies that I've tried do seem to lean that way, unlike some other cask types that seem to want all the attention for themselves. Casks aside, this is another tasty Caol Ila from Port Askaig / Elixir Distillers who certainly know their way around the spirit from this Islay workhorse. As one of Diageo's dependables the spirit is extremely consistent, but it does need to be handled with care by bottlers. Along with Elixir, Gordon & MacPhail and Signatory Vintage are in that same grouping I think. Diageo are up there too, they just don't want us to know they are. Their Feis Ile bottlings and distillery exclusives tend to be great spirit-driven Caol Ilas. Whereas some other bottlers think it's Laphroaig and end up bashing it over the head with cask influence - especially if first-fill sherry is involved. This rum cask finish Port Askaig is a great example, and it's an absolute steal at the NZ pricing.

Cheers!