SMWS "Festival" Three-Way Whisky Review!

"Festival Three-Way" actually sounds a bit like an SMWS bottling label, doesn't it? But no, this is a three-for-one review of three different SMWS bottlings from their 2022 "Festival" releases. 

Why am I putting the word "Festival" in quotation marks? Well, because the concept is a bit of a stretch, in my anal-retentive / anorak opinion, and an unnecessary one at that. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a.k.a. SMWS or "The Society" is an independent bottler, who sources casks and/or spirit from distilleries, brokers and other companies from around the world. To be fair, many other independent bottlers also release special bottlings for various whisky festivals, and they often host events during those festivals where they launch or at least feature these particular bottlings. For 2022 the SMWS has released six single malt whiskies as "Festival" bottlings, covering each of the official Scotch whisky production regions, while also doubling-up on Islay. They also departed from their standard operating procedure of (mainly) single cask bottlings by releasing all of these whiskies as vattings / batches of single malt, each consisting of 1,100-2,600 bottles. I have no issue with that myself, although some of the Society's more dyed-in-the-wool members might. Single cask releases are extremely variable since no two casks are ever exactly alike, and while that natural inconsistency forms a large part of the appeal of single cask independent bottlers like the SMWS. Releasing small batch bottlings / vattings of single malts instead gives their blenders a chance to work their magic, and when done well the result can become more than the sum of its parts. A cynic might think that those blenders have just thrown some casks together and hoped for the best, or even that some (or all) of those casks weren't up to the standard required for a single cask bottling. But that's not likely to be the case here given all of these SMWS "Festival" bottlings featured the same cask types, and all carried age statements. So it's more likely that they found / were offered larger parcels of casks from a broker or brokers, were able to play with some of them in the blending room, and then release them simultaneously around May/June 2022. 

The three SMWS bottlings that I'm reviewing here are from two different regions; the Highlands represented by an 18-year old Glen Garioch (a.k.a. distillery 19 in SMWS code), and Islay, represented by both a 17-year old Bowmore (a.k.a. distillery 3) and an 8-year old Caol Ila (a.k.a. distillery 53). All are cask strength, non-chill filtered and natural colour, and with age statements. Unfortunately these "Festival" bottlings don't have cask details printed on the labels like the rest of the SMWS range, but a quick google search remedies that - just like a quick google search remedies the code system that the Society uses! Speaking of which, for obvious reasons these small batch bottlings don't have cask / bottling codes like the single casks do, they only have the distillery code and their typically evocative SMWS names; in this case "Hazelnut Bubble Gum", "Fruity Time Travel", and "Throw The Cork Away!". There's also some rather abstract artwork in place of the usual tasting notes and cask information. Yes, I would've preferred the latter instead. Let's get this three-way underway! 

And my apologies for the whiskybase.com images. 

Glen Garioch, pronounced "Glen Geery" is a largely underrated distillery, particularly here in Australia where Beam Suntory's importer - a tiny little company called Coca Cola Amatil - chooses not to bring any into the country, at least on a regular basis. Just like they don't bring us any Laphroaig Cairdeas or Cask Strength 10-year old, or any age statement Ardmores, or any special release Bowmores... A few enterprising retailers do parallel import some Glen Garioch official bottlings, mainly of the core range, but if you're looking at a Glen Garioch single malt in Australia, it's probably an independent bottling. The distillery actually got some financial investment and media attention recently, both possibly for the first time in its 225-year history, when the floor maltings were reinstated and the wash still was converted back to direct-fire heating. Obviously it'll be at least a few years before we see any of the results in liquid form - if any make it to Australia at all - but it's still exciting to see. This SMWS Glen Garioch release for the 2022 "Festival" is an 18-year old, distilled in February 2003 and matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, and dubbed "Hazelnut Bubblegum". Pricing for this one was around $270 AUD, which I wouldn't exactly call a bargain, but isn't terrible considering what this independent bottler and many others are now trying to charge for "sexier" distilleries at similar ages. 1,128 bottles were released at a cask strength of 55.6% ABV. 

Colour: Medium gold. 

Nose: Nutty, dry, minty & oily. Dry-roasted hazelnuts & almonds, new stone pavers, spearmint bubble gum & fresh grapefruit rind. Hints of clean earth and toasted oak. Time brings out strawberry & cream lollies (Allens), some dry wood spices and a flash of bitter dark chocolate. 

Texture: Medium weight, oily, dry & spicy. No heat at all. 

Taste: Dry-roasted nuts again, but adding a few peanuts this time. Touch of savoury honey and dried mint, unsweetened bubble gum. Fresh grapefruit rind around the edges. Clean malty oils and drying wood spices. 

Finish: Short length. More malty oils, wood spices, and dry-roasted nuts. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: This is actually the second time I've tried this whisky, and while my palate was definitely the worse for wear on the first occasion I also think it's opened up considerably since then. Never forget folks, breathing time, both in the bottle and in the glass, can have a huge effect on many whiskies! This is a lovely spirit-driven, dry & oily dram. It's not hugely complex, but it "does what it says on the tin" - Hazelnut Bubble Gum is definitely a fitting name. The nose is certainly the star of the show, and the palate doesn't disappoint, but the finish does. Unfortunately it just doesn't have the stamina or staying power that I would've liked. Hard to believe this whisky has spent 18-years in first-fill bourbon casks too, there's no vanilla, caramel or coconut to speak of, and it's very much spirit-led. But that's not a complaint by any means, merely an observation - whatever those casks did or didn't do, they've let the spirit shine through nicely. Official bottlings of Glen Garioch do tend to be quite wood- and/or cask-heavy, so this is a refreshing change of pace! 

Next up, Islay's Bowmore. This one is named "Fruity Time Travel", a 17-year old that was distilled in April 2004 and matured in second-fill ex-bourbon hogsheads. There have been a raft of 17-year old Bowmores released recently by almost every independent bottler in the industry, all from refill casks, which makes me think that either the distillery sold off a heap of casks, or a broker released a big 'parcel' of stock at once. That doesn't mean that they're not great casks or great bottlings of course, although they certainly aren't / weren't cheap, ranging from $350-500 AUD on these shores. This SMWS example was slightly more reasonably priced at $350, which is still a good chunk of money, but is just under what now seems to be the going rate for anything decent from this distillery. Bowmores tend to lean into their tropical fruit flavour profile around this age, particularly when matured in first- or second-fill bourbon casks, so once again the name of this SMWS bottling is quite fitting. As they often are, at least when the tasting panel hasn't had too much coffee - or too many drams - that day! This batch bottling consisted of 1,326 bottles at a cask strength of 57.0% ABV. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Medicinal, fruity & buttery. Tiger balm ointment, black pepper, old bandages & voltaren gel (topical gels for muscle pain). Mango skins, coal dust, cold burnt toast and a touch of sweet pineapple.

Texture: Medium weight. Buttery, medicinal, peppery. No heat at all. 

Taste: More juicy mango skins, melted salted butter on burnt toast, briny seawater and more old bandages. Coal dust, black pepper, and more voltaren gel. Touch of sweet & acidic juicy pineapple. 

Finish: Long length. More melted butter on burnt toast, black pepper, coal dust, and acidic pineapple juice (unsweetened this time). Mango skins, and a touch of guava. Medicinal ointments and briny seawater to finish. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Delicious medicinal, peaty, fruity Bowmore. There's a surprising amount of peat still kicking along here, and very little cask influence, letting the spirit do its thing. This would have to be the most medicinal Bowmore that I've tasted, and one of the saltiest / briniest too for that matter. Still expensive, yes, but great stuff. Official bottlings of Bowmore, please take note! Leave your spirit alone, present it properly - higher ABV, non-chill filtered and natural colour - and without a ridiculous marketing story, a stupid-looking decanter or some fancy wine cask finishing (or, god help us, virgin oak), and it can still be magnificent. Or for an easier option, just bring back the Tempest / Dorus Mor series...

And last but not least, the second Islay bottling in the bunch, the Caol Ila. While still not exactly a bargain, at $199 AUD this was one of the cheaper bottlings in the "Festival" line-up, and the equal-youngest at 8-years of age. It was also the only cask finished / secondary cask matured bottling of the six (although another was triple cask-matured), with initial maturation in ex-bourbon hogsheads before being transferred to first-fill American oak oloroso sherry hogsheads for "more than two years". In my experience Caol Ila in first-fill sherry casks is much better served as a shorter finish/secondary maturation rather than full-term maturation, which often overwhelms the spirit and can leave it almost entirely devoid of character. Which shouldn't be the case here! 2,677 bottles were released at 58.4% ABV.  

Colour: Amber. 

Nose: Dirty, deep & rubbery. Soy sauce, beef stock cubes, and bonfire smoke. A big pile of drying kelp and salt-laden driftwood. Fatty bacon, cigar ash, salted caramel fudge. Spicy peat further in, and a touch of ginger. 

Texture: Heavy weight. Dirty, salty & pungent. No heat at all. 

Taste: More soy sauce & beef stock cubes, fried mushrooms, salted caramel fudge, and dried seaweed with extra salt. A little rubber (bicycle inner tubes) and fatty, oily bacon. Salted dried lemon behind. 

Finish: Long length. More salted caramel fudge, seaweed, black olives, and a touch of yeasty bread. Black pepper, bacon rind, and salted dried lemon. Dirty bonfire smoke to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Only just over the line, though. 

Notes: Right on the border of the sherry casks overwhelming the spirit in my amateur opinion, and approaching the line of being a little too dirty, at least for my tastes. Mega salty too, and quite funky. Sherry influenced Caol Ila is often dirty, but I can see this one being quite divisive. At times this one feels slightly too youthful, but then perfectly mature at others, and I wouldn't have wanted any more input from the sherry casks. I don't mind a dirty, funky Caol Ila at all, but I'm not sure I'd be throwing the cork away here. In my book this is more of a final dram to finish a night or to close a session. There'll be plenty who disagree with me there, though!

Overall Notes: Three totally different whiskies, of course, and even the two Islays are worlds apart. I can see why they chose to include both in their "Festival" release line-up. The Bowmore is a clear winner from these three examples if you ask me, and it's a great example of what the distillery / spirit can do when it's left alone, and when it's properly presented. If only the distillery owners would realise that... Oh well, at least we have the independent bottlers to save the day!

Cheers!

Old Master Spirits 1982 Armagnac Review!

Another non-malt first for Peated Perfection, once again courtesy of Old Master Spirits: My first Armagnac review! This isn't just any armagnac though, in typical Old Master fashion this is a 39-year old single cask. These guys don't do things by halves! 

Armagnac is often thought of as cognac's poorer cousin, which is an unfair and very incorrect assessment. Just as cognac is a type of white wine-derived brandy from the Cognac region (AOC/DOC) of south-western France, armagnac is a white wine-derived brandy from the Armagnac region of southern France. To think of armagnac as being inferior to cognac would be like thinking every single malt Scotch whisky is better than any other single malt whisky; it's just not the case, and blanket statements & misconceptions like that only serve to give you tunnel vision. Cognac is certainly the "sexier" of the two cousins though, largely thanks to the marketing efforts of the big cognac brands. It's not my preferred music genre by any means, but I can't say I've heard any rap lyrics bragging about an expensive armagnac, or seen any armagnac brands being thrown about in their videos. But then I can only name one armagnac brand off the top of my head. Marketing is a funny thing! Armagnac is often cheaper than an equivalent cognac, which might benefit the discerning drinker, but doesn't help its comparative image as far as glamour and "luxury" goes. Much like cognac, armagnac is split into different production regions within the area of the AOC, with Bas Armagnac being the largest and most commonly seen. Haut Armagnac and Armagnac Tenareze are the other two official appellations, both of which are considerably smaller and rarely seen in comparison. "Bas" is pronounced "Baz" and translates to "low" in English, but that only refers to a lower altitude above sea level and certainly not quality. "Haut" is pronounced "Ugh" and translates to "high" for the same reason, and "Tenareze" region is believed to be derived from "Route of Caesar", as in the Roman Emperor.     

Aside from geography, the main difference between these two brandies lies in the distillation, where cognac must be double-distilled in copper pot stills by law, armagnac is typically produced in a column still - although as you can see from the image below, they're a far cry from the massive industrial column stills that we know from the world of grain whisky and other mass-produced spirits. These rustic copper stills are known as 'Alambic Armagnacais', where a dry acidic white wine is continuously fed into the still for distillation, but on its way down it also serves as the cooling liquid to condense the spirit vapours back into liquid as they leave the column - as with cognac, this happens in a tightly-packed worm tub condenser rather than a modern shell & tube design. A single distillation run in these short columns with a small number of plates (typically less than ten) produces a far less refined spirit than a modern column still, and results in a much lower spirit strength, often just 50-60% ABV. While pot stills are also legally permitted for armagnac production, their use is very uncommon and is considered untraditional. Aside from the distillation, armagnac also uses some (but not all) different grape varieties to cognac, most commonly the ugni blanc and baco varieties, while like cognac maturation happens in French oak, but matured spirit is often transferred to glass demijohns for storage, which is considered part of the maturation and can be (but is not always) included in any age statements. Also like cognac, armagnac producers are permitted to add caramel colouring, sugar, and 'boise', the liquid wood extract which adds colour and flavour to the spirit. Thankfully the latter two are used less often in armagnac than in cognac, but it does still happen with some mainstream brands. Also much like cognac, the vast majority of armagnac is blended together using spirits from different distilleries / houses, although single vintage bottlings are more common in armagnac, with any age statement referring to the youngest component in the spirit. 

Much like the two cognacs I reviewed here, this independent bottling from Melbourne's Old Master Spirits is a single cask, single producer armagnac, bottled at cask strength and without chill filtration, and without any added colouring, sugar, or flavouring. This is a 39-year old Bas Armagnac from Chateau Bordeneuve, who label their official bottlings as Baron de Sigognac, named after one of their prolific cellar masters. This 'Armagnac House' is privately owned by the Gausch family, and dates back to the 1800s. They only produce Bas Armagnac, and every step of the production process happens on site, from harvesting the grapes - primarily ugni blanc and baco varieties, grown on site - to pressing, fermentation, distillation, maturation and bottling. Speaking of maturation, Baron de Sigognac only use French Limousin oak casks, mostly refill but also including some virgin oak, which are matured in a stone-walled, earthen-floored cellar dating back to 1840. This single cask bottling of Bas Armagnac was distilled in 1982 from 65% baco, 25% ugni blanc, and 10% folle blanche grapes, and has been matured in French oak for the full 39-years. The cask yielded 122 x 500ml bottles at a cask strength of 47.6% ABV, and it'll be released on Old Master Spirits' website on Thursday the 25th of August (2022). Pricing is extremely reasonable for a 39-year old single cask spirit at just $249 AUD - imagine what that figure would look like if this was a 39-year old single malt! Let's see how it fares.  

Colour: Dark bronze. 

Nose: Rich, weighty & dense. Warm wood spices, juicy sweet oak, sweet floral spirit around the edges. Sweet orange, lightly acidic. Soft old leather and fruit & nut chocolate further in. 

Texture: Medium weight. Sweet, spicy & nicely oaky. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Juicy sweet oak, touch of bubble gum, warm wood spices. Sweet grape syrup, more soft old leather & sweet orange. 

Finish: Medium length. Wood spices, dark chocolate, old leather & toasted oak. 

Score: 4 out of 5 (bearing in mind my limited armagnac experience). 

Notes: Dessert in a glass. Lovely stuff! Not a huge amount of complexity maybe, but what it does it does extremely well, and it's ridiculously easy drinking without being overly woody - this armagnac has spent 39-years in French oak, remember! By far the best armagnac I've tasted to date, and I have come across quite a few - more than I have cognac, so far at least. This Bas-armagnac proves, again, that Old Master Spirits really know what they're doing. They're waiting for the right cask of the right spirit to come along when it's ready, without any commercial pressures or greedy shareholders pushing them in any direction. And they clearly have some great connections. They're all about quality spirits and reasonable pricing, and it seems to be working wonders for them! 

This is definitely one to look at for if you're a brandy and/or cognac/armagnac fan, and it won't last long with only 122 bottles at $249 AUD. For a great quality 39-year old single cask spirit of any description, that's some serious value for money!

But that's not all folks. We have another 'malternative' for dessert. An Australian rum! This is a single cask dark rum, distilled at Black Gate Distillery in Mendooran, New South Wales, and again bottled by Old Master Spirits. This is a sugar cane molasses rum, double-distilled in Black Gate's direct-fired copper pot still (pictured below) and aged for three years in a single French oak ex-shiraz wine cask, sourced from Huntington Estate Wines in Mudgee, New South Wales. Just 84 bottles were available, priced at only $115 AUD, and I've said "were", because they sold out in less than an hour a few weeks ago. So you probably won't be able to buy this one! I'm not going to score this rum since it's my first semi-official rum review, and it's already sold out regardless, but I was very curious to try it, and I had to share the results!

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: Dark, rich & heavy. The molasses is there, and there's a big dollop of "rum funk" - acetone, oil paints, over-ripe banana. But there's a lovely rich caramel fudge too, and it's quite fruity underneath with plums, sweet apricots in honey, some artificial strawberry syrup and oily furniture polish. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Rich, funky & fruity. Very slight touch of heat. 

Taste: Mint, dried plum, black tea leaves, caramello koalas (caramel milk chocolate) and some eucalyptus. The over-ripe banana and solventy "funk" are these again, but they're more in the background here. 

Finish: Medium length. Leather, over-ripe banana, mint and more caramel milk chocolate. Touch of that oily paint and a little burnt toffee to round things out.

Notes: Certainly a funky rum, with a good whack of "Australian-ness" to it, but in a good way. I'm far from an expert on the subject, but I'd say this Black Gate rum from Old Master Spirits is skirting the line between a funky Jamaican rum and an Australian dark rum, plus the added fruit from the wine cask. And it does work well! As I said above, I'm not a huge rum fan personally, the molasses sometimes gives me flashbacks to a darker and rougher (in terms of drink!), pre-whisky era of my life, and a faint whiff of one particular brand is often enough to send me running for the hills. I've only come across a few rums that I've enjoyed in the last ten years or so, mainly of the Caribbean variety - one SMWS Caroni, one Master Blender's Reserve blend from Black Tot, and a Havana Club special release that was matured in ex-Bowmore sherry casks - so that last one probably doesn't count! 

Black Gate's spirits are intentionally "rough around the edges" in terms of character, probably a result of the hot climate maturation and also the direct-fired still, which gives them plenty of substance, both in texture and in character. Young, rich and powerful, and packing a flavour punch, and this rum is no different. It's been rounded nicely by that wine cask maturation though, even after a relatively short period of time, giving it an extra fruity edge without taking over completely. This is certainly an Australian whisky drinker's rum, and a funky one at that!

Thanks to Deni from Old Master Spirits for the samples for these reviews, and for his open & professional communication once again! Be sure to sign up to the mailing list on their site for the launch of the armagnac and future releases.  

Cheers!

Ardbeg Ardcore Committee Release Whisky Review!

Heavily roasted / chocolate malt in an Ardbeg? Consider my curiosity piqued. Although the official tasting note / marketing snippet from Dr. Bill Lumsden, "like biting a spiky ball", which is not exactly tantalising!

As much as I still love the distillery, Ardbeg's special releases have always been hit & miss. Actually, let's say they've always been a rollercoaster ride. To be fair, for a long time the highs were quite high with the likes of Ardbog, Dark Cove CR, Grooves CR , while the lows like Auriverdes, Kelpie and Drum weren't really that low in the wider whisky world scheme of things. But since those earlier days the waters have been muddied by the regular addition of more & more special releases in addition to the "Day" / Feis Ile bottlings, and the pricing on those has sky-rocketed in comparison. Take Arrrdbeg and the recent Fermutation for example, which were both lacklustre whiskies with greedy price tags. Then the distillery redeemed itself with the 8-year old "For Discussion", which was both great quality and great value for money, and is still readily available. On the other hand we've seen three batches of the 19-year old Traigh Bhan hit the shelves, where while the quality is great the local pricing has increased by $100 AUD each time, for an identical specification - the third batch is now $500! Like I said, a rollercoaster ride. For the distillery's relatively small output of around 1.25-million litres of spirit per year - although that recently climbed to over 2.4-million litres with the new still house - and considering the constant & significant demand for the core range offerings in the 10-year old, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan, Ardbeg does manage to release a huge amount of different limited releases. And most don't seem to be very "limited". Let's not forget that they continue to release two different versions of their Feis Ile / Ardbeg Day releases every year, and have done since 2015, with the higher strength un-packaged & modestly labelled Committee Release soon followed by larger amounts of the 46% ABV standard version with its more elaborate labelling & packaging. In Australia at least, the stock of both does seem to be hanging around longer & longer with each year that ticks over. I can't say if that's down to larger amounts of bottles in the releases or just a larger local allocation of stock, but I suspect it's also because many whisky enthusiasts have a bit of Ardbeg fatigue these days. Then again, any losses there have probably been taken up by the increased number of flippers, speculators & investors that the pandemic has spawned, and Ardbeg is always near the top of their lists!

Personally, I'm still falling victim to some of these releases, so I can't knock the distillery team for doing their jobs well. The production seem to find/design a unique selling point each time that is both appealing to the long-term Ardbeg fans and the novices, and even some of the cynics. The distillery's corporate marketing team then run wild after taking their daily dose of LSD, resulting in stories about sea monsters, hippies, dragons, and punks, and other totally unnecessary crap that has nothing to do with the whisky itself. The real USP with these Ardbegs is usually just a case of throwing some different casks in the vatting, or occasionally they play with the spirit itself instead. With this 2022 Ardbeg Day release "Ardcore", they've played with the spirit again, but this time with the barley itself. I'm sure most of us are familiar with Glenmorangie's very successful Signet expression, which uses roasted malt a.k.a "chocolate malt" as an unknown portion of its mash bill. That roasted malt is similar to what a brewer would use to make a porter or a stout, and it gives Signet chocolate & coffee flavours in the spirit itself. Glenmorangie is Ardbeg's sister distillery, with the same "mad scientist" Dr. Bill Lumsden overlooking "whisky creation" at both sites, so it was almost inevitable that Ardbeg would do something similar one day. And that's essentially what we have here, an Ardbeg that was "created with roasted black malt", which is even more heavily roasted than the chocolate malt used in Signet. Much like Signet, we don't officially know exactly how much of the malted barley was roasted - although according to Distillery Manager Colin Gordon via YouTube, that proportion was 25%. It's virtually impossible to use 100% heavily roasted malt in a mash bill since it creates problems with milling and mashing, and particularly with fermentation - after being kilned the black malt is extremely dry, and there's much less fermentable sugar available for the yeast to feast on, so it has to be mixed in with regular malted barley for the sake of proper fermentation and a decent yield. Also according to Colin Gordon the remaining 75% of the malted barley used in Ardcore had a lower peating level than Ardbeg's standard 55 ppm specification, and I'm only speculating here, but that could also mean that it didn't come from Ardbeg's usual source, Port Ellen Maltings. 

As is often the case with these limited release Ardbegs, we don't know what type of cask/s Ardcore was matured in, or how long it has been left to mature in those casks. Presumably it's all ex-bourbon casks, and I suspect most (if not all) of those were refill. I also suspect it's quite a young whisky, based on smell & taste, and also the colour, which is paler than the 10. I'm guessing we're looking at less than 8-years here. And maybe that's why Ardcore is being described as "the most hardcore Ardbeg ever". We're looking at the Committee Release version of Ardcore here, which was bottled at 50.1% (but not cask strength), is non-chill filtered and natural colour. Local pricing on the Committee Release was reasonable at $225 AUD, while the standard version at 46% is less reasonable at around $230 AUD - and it's still readily available. Let's find out just how spiky this ball is!

Ardbeg Ardcore Committee Release, NAS, 50.1%. Islay, Scotland.

Ardbeg Day release 2022. Distilled from 25% heavily roasted black malt, 75% malt peated to less than Ardbeg's usual 55 ppm. Unknown cask type/s but presumably refill ex-bourbon. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Very pale gold. White wine. 

Nose: Definitely very young, sweet and quite raw. Settles & opens up with extra breathing time, but it's still very young & raw. Dark cocoa powder, new plastic tupperware, milky caramel espresso (i.e. with a shot of caramel syrup added), glue, aniseed & charcoal briquettes. Burnt rubber, hot tar, new bandaids & hot smoky peanut oil. Some green banana, smoked pear and lemon rind around the edges.   

Texture: Light-medium weight. Oily & juicy entry but it thins out & fades very quickly. A slight heat but not harsh, and fades quickly. 

Taste: More caramel espresso, but no milk this time. Charcoal & tar again, plastic, new rubber and a touch of aniseed. Soot & ash, smoked pear, and a touch of salted bitter lemon. Hot smoky peanut oil and a touch of toffee stout in the background. 

Finish: Short length. Aniseed & caramel espresso, but with milk again this time. Turns creamy with a little vanilla, unripe pineapple, rubber pencil eraser and hot peanut oil. Tar, bitter charcoal & lemon rind. 

Score: 3 out of 5, but not miles away from a 3.5. 

Notes: So we haven't been entirely punked with the Ardcore Committee Release, but it was close. Thankfully it did open up with extra breathing time, but there are definitely shades of the very lacklustre Wee Beastie here. That plasticky sweetness and the pear notes seem to show the youth and immaturity, which are also present in that 5-year old example. Thankfully Ardcore does have more character than Wee Beastie, but I don't think it's much older. I understand why Ardbeg would want to fill this into mostly (if not all) refill bourbon casks and to bottle it young, since they want that black malt to show through as much as possible, which means keeping the spirit front & centre in the finished product. Personally I would've preferred a few slightly older first fill bourbon casks be thrown into the mix, which would've helped give it some more weight & depth, and a longer finish, in my amateur opinion. Even if they were casks of "regular" Ardbeg mixed in with the 25% black malt spirit. That used to be the standard procedure with these special releases, they'd be vattings of "regular" bourbon cask Ardbeg married with whatever cask that year's point of difference was. But the distillery seems to have moved away from that practice now, even giving us a cask finish at one point (Ardbeg Drum) - which has historically never been the case with Ardbeg, they were always marriages / vattings of separately matured casks, even in the core range.

Still, Ardcore Committee Release is a pleasant experience, more so than Wee Beastie if you ask me, and that black malt does show through with the extra caramel, aniseed & rubber notes. There's certainly a noticeably lower peat influence compared to regular Ardbeg, which makes sense given the lower peating level of the malt used for the 75% peated malt, in addition to the 25% unpeated black malt in the mash bill. It's certainly not my favourite Ardbeg Day / Feis bottling, and as usual, the biggest enemy of any limited release Ardbeg is the Ardbeg core range. That's fine at the original retail pricing on the committee release since they're aren't too far apart, but I wouldn't be paying more than that on the secondary market given the difference in quality. Despite the swings in quality & flavour over the years, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan are still forces to be reckoned with when you need an Ardbeg fix. And frankly I'd take a dram of either of them, or the 10-year old, over this Ardcore. 

Cheers!

Bunnahabhain 12 Cask Strength (2021) Whisky Review!

Bunnahabhain has finally brought us a cask strength version of their core range 12-year old, which suddenly appeared soon after ex-Ardbeg/Glenmorangie Brendan McCarron joined the team as Head Distiller. And now it's landed down under! But that's not all, folks. This is a 2-for-1 review!

First, a confession: I've never been a huge fan of the standard Bunnahabhain 12-year old. Yes it's decent value for money, and it does typify the distillery's character, but there are many other whiskies at the same price point that I'd choose ahead of it. As much as I love the drier, gingery, nutty style of unpeated Bunnahabhain, the 12-year old has always seemed a little austere, and rough around the edges. I'm not saying I'd turn down a dram if you're buying, but I don't find myself wishing that I had a bottle on the shelf - possibly because there's always another Bunnahabhain there to satisfy the craving. But despite that, any cask strength version of a distillery's core range bottling is going to pique my curiosity, and this is no exception. Supposedly this is going to be an annual release, with this first 2021 edition hitting the European shelves late last year and arriving in Australia around May this year. Local pricing is not unreasonable at around $165 AUD, or around $50 above than the standard version at 46.3% ABV, and from my external perspective the stock does seem to be selling quickly - I'm a bit late to the party with this review, but hopefully there's still some around. Both versions of the 12-year old are fully matured in ex-sherry casks, although in my opinion the vast majority if not the entirety would be refill, which is very much the standard operating procedure at Bunnahabhain since it suits their spirit style very nicely. 

I wish more distilleries would release cask strength versions of their core range products. Some do this on a sporadic basis, but most don't bother at all, or they only give us a younger NAS cask strength bottling instead. Let's imagine a readily-available cask strength version of Ardbeg 10, Glendronach 18, Lagavulin 16, or Talisker 10. Yes they'd obviously be significantly more expensive than the standard versions, but if these hypothetical whiskies were presented properly like this Bunnahabhain is, i.e. they were natural cask strength, non-chill filtered and natural colour (looking at the hypothetical Diageo two there), I suspect they'd be fantastic. Why don't these imaginary beasts already exist? Probably because the increased pressure on maturing stocks would hurt the availability of the standard versions, and sales would go backwards as a result. Any company would be very hesitant to take that risk with such a large chunk of their balance sheets, particularly the larger corporations with their return-hungry shareholders. But it's also possibly because the distillery and/or their parent company doesn't have the flexibility in their bottling halls to be fiscally practical, or perhaps the whiskies' flavour profiles don't quite work at cask strength without significant alterations to the blends/vattings, also requiring increased costs. None of those possible roadblocks have stopped Bunnahabhain though, and it shows that owners Distell are listening to the market and also listening to their staff, and are giving us whisky nerds exactly what we want!

There are a couple of points of difference with Bunnahabhain over those distilleries targeted above. This is a lesser-known distillery with less demand on its core range product than those hypothetical examples that I mentioned, and therefore there's less risk on Distell's part. On the other hand this whisky is probably going to win over plenty of new customers who have otherwise overlooked the distillery's official offerings in favour of a readily-available alternative. And by that I mean, the independent bottlers. Bunnahabhain's large annual output of 2.5-million litres of spirit, with roughly 80% of that being unpeated and 20% being peated, is much more than they currently need for their own bottlings, including the sizeable chunk that goes into their blended whiskies like Black Bottle. So they also sell a large amount of spirit and casks to independent bottlers, and aside from perhaps Caol Ila this is probably the easiest Islay single malt to find in an independent bottling. They're generally in unpeated sherry cask-matured form, are often bottled at cask strength, and they're regularly released by just about every independent bottler of Scotch whisky on the market. And that's obviously not the case with any of those hypothetical other examples that I mentioned above. So, this situation presents something of a challenge for this cask strength official bottling of Bunnahabhain; it essentially has to compete with a plethora of cask strength independent bottlings of Bunnahabhain! Yes, this is a cask strength (55.1%), non-chill filtered and natural colour limited release that is fully matured in sherry casks, but so are many of those independent bottlings. Let's see how it fares, shall we? 

Bunnahabhain 12-year old Cask Strength (2021), 55.1%. Islay, Scotland.

Unpeated, fully matured in sherry casks (presumably mostly refill). Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Amber. 

Nose: Very Bunnahabhain, immediately familiar. Ginger cake (think softer gingerbread, not hard biscuits), salted roasted nuts (walnut & almond in particular), and dried stone fruit. Black cherry jam, orange rind and a touch of treacle. Cocoa nibs (bitter dark chocolate), raisins and soft leather further in. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich & spicy, dry & nutty. Slight heat but very pleasant. 

Taste: More ginger cake, treacle toffee, black pepper, salted roasted nuts & cocoa nibs - headed towards cocoa powder here actually. More black cherry jam, soft leather & dried fruit - prunes, figs, nectarine, and bitter orange.   

Finish: Short-medium length. Salted walnut & almond again, more ginger cake and a touch of vanilla cake batter. Raisins soaked in spiced syrup (cinnamon & clove) and a slight touch of black pepper. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Black forest cake with handfuls of ginger & salted nuts thrown in. As you'd expect, this really is the standard 12-year old with the volume turned up a few notches. But I find this cask strength version more drinkable than the 46%-er that it was based on, and I'd also say it's more rounded, less spicy & peppery, and maybe a little more "sherried". But it's not a sherry bomb or cask-led whisky at all, there's loads of distillery character on show, and it has just about everything you would expect and could want in a refill sherry cask Bunnahabhain. It may not have the "wow factor" of some of the independent bottlings that it'll inevitably be compared to, but that's to be expected for a cask strength version of the distillery's core range / flagship bottling. This is a solid showing that will easily beat the standard 12-year old any day of the week, and at a reasonable price as well. Certainly worth trying & buying if you're a Bunnahabhain fan - and who isn't? 

Now for Part 2! No, we're not throwing an independent bottling into the ring as you might expect for comparison, this is another cask strength official bottling, but a slightly more limited release of 14,000 bottles... this is Bunnahabhain 'Aonadh', which is pronounced "Oon-ock". They do love their unpronounceable Gaelic names at Bunnahabhain! The word means "union" in this case. This is a 10-year old unpeated Bunna', distilled in 2011, and it's a marriage of fully-matured sherry casks - again, presumably mostly refill sherry - and some port cask finished Bunnahabhain, bottled at a cask strength of 56.2%. I can't say I've tried a port influenced Bunnahabhain before, and I'm guessing we'll be looking at a sweeter, richer, spicier style, although we don't know how many port casks were included in the vatting. This one is also still available at the time of writing, obviously at a higher price than the 12. 

Bunnahabhain Aonadh, 10-year old, 56.2%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2011, vatting of port cask finish and sherry cask full maturation. 14,000 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: Fuller, slightly richer & slightly sweeter. Ginger syrup, black pepper, and honey-roasted nuts. Stewed rather than dried fruit in this one, with sultanas, currants, and plums. Spiced syrup with cinnamon, nutmeg & some sage - think mulled wine without the wine!

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, rich, thick & spicy. But there's also a definite heat and a little harshness.

Taste: Ginger syrup, figs & dates, raisins & currants. Thick butter caramel & honey-roasted nuts, with some spicy oak. That spiced syrup & leafy sage from the nose again, plus a big pinch of black pepper. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Stewed fruit & spiced syrup carry through, as does the ginger and thick caramel. Slight roughness & spirit-y heat running underneath. Black pepper, a touch of black olive, and some yeasty sourdough starter around the edges. 

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: It's a little rougher and less rounded than the 12 Cask Strength, and it feels a little hurried and a little muddled in comparison. Which is not what I expected to find in Aonadh, particularly based on the nose. There's still a good dose of distillery character on show, but I feel it's been muted & muddled by those port casks being added into the vatting. I suppose the idea was to add some extra richness and some extra sweetness, but adding more first-fill sherry casks could've done that too, or maybe some PX, both of which are well proven to work with the Bunnahabhain spirit. While it's not really fair to compare pricing on this limited release to the cask strength 12-year old, Aonadh is also another $60 AUD, or nearly 30% more, over the 12, and that doesn't add up in my book. It's a close call between the two on the nose, and Aonadh does have more length on the finish, but that's about it. These two cask strength Bunnahabhains are much further apart than I expected, and I know where my money would be going! 

Cheers!

Gypsy Whisky Co. Absinthe Review!

I do start quite a few whisky reviews with the premise of "something a little different", so I'm going to start this one with "a little something very different". Because this is absinthe!

Albert Maignan's "Green Muse", 1895.

Absinthe is easily one of the more misunderstood spirits out there, even here in the 21st century. There have been & still are plenty of myths surrounding absinthe; from consumption still being illegal, to the hallucinations of green fairies thanks to supposed psychoactive properties of the herbal ingredient wormwood, and the supposed risk of absinthe addiction (as opposed to all other alcohol?). The name itself is thought to stem from the ancient Greek "apsinthion", meaning "wormwood", which is the infamous bitter herb - latin name artimesia absinthium - that gives absinthe some of its flavour and most of its reputation. Like many bitter herbs wormwood has been used as medicine for thousands of years in a number of civilisations, but it was made infamous by the official invention of absinthe in late 18th century Switzerland. Absinthe as a spirit first became popular in the early 19th century, particularly in France, with most production happening there and also in the Czech Republic. The world's relationship with absinthe turned sour in the early 20th century, largely thanks to unproven theories about wormwood causing hallucinations and/or mania, and it was banned in a number of countries from the early 1900s through to the early 2000s, although it was never officially banned in a number of countries including Britain or Spain, or here in Australia. 

Many countries including Australia still limit the amount of wormwood that an absinthe can contain, although their exact objection to the herb is highly contentious. It essentially stems from the unproven hypothesis that the chemical compound thujone contained in wormwood has a similar effect on the brain to the THC found in marijuana. This hypothesis was completely disproven in 1999, which helped see most absinthe bans lifted after more than a century of myth & misunderstanding - but as usual, and thanks to some brands continuing to cash-in on the misconceptions in their marketing, the drink's negative reputation still persists in the minds of much of the general public. Rum causes fist fights, gin makes you cry, whisky can only be drunk by old men sitting by their fireplaces, and absinthe makes you see green fairies and/or murder your family. Come on people, it's 2022 for Spaghetti Monster's sake! In reality the amount of thujone present in absinthe is miniscule (generally 10-100 parts per million, i.e. 10-100 milligrams per kilogram), and in massive enough quantities the alcohol content in the spirit would've killed you long before the thujone had any effect. Absinthe does contain one scientifically proven mind-altering chemical though, but it's the same one that is found in every spirit: alcohol!

Absinthe production isn't too dissimilar from gin, where a grain spirit is re-distilled with botanicals / herbs & spices. While there are no legal absinthe definitions or regulations in most countries regarding production or ingredients (aside from wormwood limits), the three traditional main ingredients are fennel seed, green anise, and wormwood, and most absinthes are a light/pale green colour which is a result of macerating (steeping/soaking) those botanicals in the distilled spirit, with the colour coming from the chlorophyll in the plants. Like many unregulated or loosely regulated spirits though, cheaper absinthes may have added sugar and added artificial colouring i.e. synthetic green dyes, while properly made quality spirits do not - the absinthe pictured above would almost certainly have artificial colouring added. As you can guess from those three main ingredients listed above, this is an aniseed / liquorice flavoured spirit, similar to the likes of ouzo (which is Greek) or sambuca (which is Italian) or French herbal liqueurs like Pernod. The modern way of serving absinthe would be in a cocktail like a Sazerac (cognac, rye, absinthe, sugar & bitters), or perhaps kept in the freezer and drank as a shot if you're a university / college art student. The traditional serve though is diluted (typically 3:1) using an absinthe fountain / absinthe drip like the one in the generic photo above, where the glass of spirit is placed under a spouted jug of iced water. The water is slowly dripped over a sugar cube sitting on a slotted spoon placed over the glass, dissolving the sugar and dripping into the glass. The dilution of the spirit with cold water will cause the drink to go cloudy or even milky, much like adding cold water or ice does to a non-chill filtered whisky, albeit in a much more dramatic fashion thanks to the oil content in the absinthe from the herbs. Obviously you could just add sugar syrup & cold water to your absinthe for the same result, but this fountain method adds a bit of Bohemian drama & theatre to the occasion, and it does look cool!

Gypsy Whisky Co., Jack (L) and Louis (R). Photo c/o The Mercury Newspaper.

I have tried a couple of absinthes in the past, in all three servings mentioned above, and while they were suited to purpose at the time I wouldn't rave about them, and I certainly wouldn't review them on a whisky blog. But the inspiration behind this piece is something that blew my mind - in a flavour sense of course, not in a psychoactive sense! This particular absinthe comes from two prodigal sons of the Tasmanian whisky industry here in Australia: Louis Duckett, son of the mad alchemist Tim Duckett a.k.a. Mr. Heartwood, and Jack Lark, son of the Godfather of Australian whisky, Bill Lark. Given their family history it's no surprise that these two have already carved some serious notches on their belts with a number of impressive distilleries and impressive whiskies already listed on their CVs. The two early 20-year olds have been friends for a long time, and have more recently formed their own fledgling company, Gypsy Whisky Co., to give them something to play with in their spare time - although they don't actually have any spare time. Louis is heavily involved in the family operation Heartwood & its offshoot Tasmanian Independent Bottlers, while also working in the Hobart hospitality scene, and also working at Battery Point Distillery in Hobart; while Jack is involved with Old Kempton Distillery, and again Battery Point Distillery, while also writing, directing & acting in stage theatre. Both are extremely characterful young men, and they're going to have amazing careers ahead of them regardless of where they decide to aim their attention. And yes, there's also whisky on the way. But for now, rather than make a gin like everyone else in Australia, they've made an absinthe. And it's delicious! 

Given the fanciful names behind some of TIB & Heartwood's bottlings, that aspect of the first product from Gypsy Whisky Co. is a little plain in comparison: 'Local Absinthe'. The exact recipe used is a little secretive, but it is based on neutral sugarcane spirit, re-distilled in a copper pot still with wormwood, fennel seed, aniseed and also native Australian lemon myrtle, among other things. The spirit is then macerated with more of these herbs after distillation, imparting more flavour, and also the natural pale colour, while mellowing the spirit in the process. And no sugar, caramel or dye has been added. It's bottled at 60% ABV, although you'd never guess that based on smell or taste. Production volumes are tiny, but they're currently on their third batch, and pricing is very reasonable at around $110 AUD for a 500ml bottle. Yes, that's more expensive than the typical brands that you'll find at the typical supermarket chain liquor stores, many of which are just flavoured vodkas with some bright green food colouring poured in. But this is a completely different spirit, almost unrecognisable in comparison, and well worth the investment. If you're a fan of absinthe or other aniseed / liquorice flavoured spirits or foods, you're going to love this stuff. And if you've only tried those cheap, nasty brands so far, this absinthe will completely change your opinion on the spirit as a whole. There are only a couple of online retailers that are selling Gypsy Whisky Co.'s Local Absinthe, Hobart's Destination Cellars and Drink Tasmania (formerly known as Richmond Tasting House, and the source of the photo below), or you can contact the producers directly at contact@gypsywhiskyco.com.au and the proprietors can organise a bottle or two for you. Now, on to the review! I'm tasting this absinthe neat, and I'm not going to give it a score, since it's the only absinthe I've reviewed and my experience with absinthe is limited to this product and the generic bottle shop / chain store brands. Hopefully the tasting notes and my recommendation will suffice!

Gypsy Whisky Co. Local Absinthe, 60% ABV. Hobart, Tasmania.

Sugar cane spirit re-distilled with fennel seed, wormwood, aniseed and lemon myrtle, among others, then macerated with the same after distillation. No added sugar, no artificial colour.

Colour: Pale greenish-yellow - which my wife tells me is chartreuse. 

Nose: Floral & sweet, with liquorice allsorts, woody & bitter herbs, and a waxy lemon note which is very refreshing - lemon balm, then. Nicely spicy & changing in the glass too, cloves, sweet dried flowers & fisherman's friends. 

Texture: Big & syrupy, sweet & oily. Hides its 60% strength very, very well!

Taste: Sweet & oily. Aniseed, more liquorice allsorts - or Allen's black cats, if you're in Australia. A soothing sweetness and that refreshing lemon balm following suit. Then leafy & woody herbs. 

Finish: Long & powerful, with a touch of bitterness from those woody herbs, then the lemon balm and sweet dried flowers, liquorice & fennel seed, and a nice oily sweetness underneath. 

Notes: No green fairies or ghostly figures to be seen, what a shame! This is really very delicious. You're going to need to be a liquorice / aniseed fan of course, which I am, and I'm really digging this. Highly, highly recommended. If you've tried those cheap bright green absinthes before, this Gypsy Whisky Co. Local Absinthe is in a completely different league. It's refreshing, sweet, oily, and loaded with liquorice & aniseed. I did try it with some room temperature water (no sugar cube), and it softened slightly and became more floral, and didn't lose anything. But I prefer it neat, sipped slowly of course like you would any other spirit of this quality. Speaking of which, this is without a doubt the best aniseed-flavoured spirit I've ever tasted. There are no rough edges, no harsh or aggressive alcohol nip/bite to be found, and it's a real treat. 

Highly recommended folks, absinthe doesn't get more local than this! Send Gypsy Whisky Co. an email at contact@gypsywhiskyco.com.au to get your hands on a bottle. 

Cheers! 

Heartwood 2nd Moment of Truth Whisky Review!

A blended / vatted malt from two different distilleries that has collectively been through four (yes, four!) different first-fill casks. So just the usual level of craziness from everyone's favourite mad Tasmanian alchemist, then!

Like I've said many times before, independent bottlers Heartwood have always dared to be different. In the case of this recent release named "2nd Moment of Truth", one of the points of difference is marrying two single malts together, which is a common thing, but less so when you're marrying a Tasmanian single malt with a mainland Australian single malt. In this case, one from Fanny's Bay Distillery in northern Tasmania and the other from Fleurieu Distillery in South Australia on the mainland. But the main point of difference is the cask treatment: each was first put through an Australian sherry (apera) cask, with one then further matured in another much older sherry cask, and the other then further matured in a topaque cask. Topaque is the official term for the Australian version of Tokay/Tokaji, a sweet Hungarian wine that is produced in a similar way to the French Sauternes, i.e. late harvest sweet wines that generally employ botrytis / noble rot, but not always. This is quite an unusual cask type, and while Heartwood has played around with the type a couple of times, I only know of one "mainstream" / conventional single malt that uses Tokaji casks, which was Glenmorangie's rather lacklustre "Tale of Cake". Although Bunnahabhain and Glen Moray have dipped their toes in the water with some smaller limited releases. Heartwood and sister company TIB (Tasmanian Independent Bottlers) have used a number of less-common sweet and/or fortified wine casks in recent years, from muscat to botrytis, which tend to produce quite a sweet "dessert whisky" style of spirit, even more so than the more common PX sherry or tawny (port) fortified wine casks. But tokay casks seem to take that up another notch. Which may not be to everyone's taste of course, and that's also the case with Heartwood's big, bold flavours that are famously unapologetic. Or to use Tim's favourite tagline "you'll either love it or hate it, but you'll never forget it"!

Heartwood is among a select few independent bottlers in the world who actually source new make spirit for their bottlings, rather than sourcing (or being offered) casks of mature/maturing whisky. Like most of the bottlers that are doing the same, that's largely because Tim has been in the industry for a relatively long time, in this case since 1999, when the Australian whisky industry wasn't even an industry, and there were only a handful of distilleries in the entire country - five, by my count. That means Heartwood have much more control over their product than most independent bottlers - they select the new make spirit and approve the sample/s, they source their own casks, and they generally supervise the filling and transport of said casks to their bond store/warehouse - or sometimes the casks are thrown in the back of Tim's car and personally driven to their new home for maturation. But that's not where the story ends! A large part of Heartwood's success is their ability to quite literally beat casks & vattings into shape - with a canoe paddle, to be specific. Whether that means filling a whisky into a second/third/fourth first-fill cask, or blending it with other casks, or just letting time run its course, and/or tipping the cask/s into the decanting vat, moving it into a hot room or leaving it in front of a metal roller door for some heat treatment, and/or beating the hell out of it until it submits. If you ask me, there aren't any better blenders in the local industry when it comes to blending/vatting casks and creating the best whisky they can from those casks - and I'm including both Tim and his son Louis in that statement.

Part of the fun with Heartwood has always been the names & labels of the whiskies themselves, and the name of this release is a bit of a jab at corporate marketing / sales jargon. The "second moment of truth" is a marketing term for when a consumer has already purchased a product, and is actually using it for the first time. In whisky terms, that moment would be when the cork is removed, the whisky is first poured, nosed & tasted. And that moment would be the one that actually matters. I haven't yet had the chance to visit the tiny Fanny's Bay Distillery on Tasmania's northern coast yet, but I did enjoy the one example of their official bottlings that I've tasted to date. I have visited South Australia's Fleurieu Distillery though, located in Goolwa on the coast, and it's a great operation run by husband & wife team Angela & Gareth Andrews. You may notice that both of these distilleries are coastal, but that may be purely happenstance since once filled the casks were sent to Heartwood's bond store in southern Tasmania. Heartwood 2nd Moment of Truth does not carry an age statement, but Fanny's Bay was only founded in 2014 so it won't be any more than 8-years of age. But that's practically middle-aged for an Australian/Tasmanian whisky, and this vatted / blended malt has been through multiple first-fill casks, rendering an age statement all but redundant. Being a Heartwood product it was bottled at cask strength of 60.1% ABV, and is non-chill filtered and natural colour. 2nd moment of truth, here we come!

Image from oldbarrelhouse.com.au 

Heartwood "2nd Moment of Truth" Blended Malt, NAS, 60.1%. Tasmania, Australia.

New make spirit from Fanny's Bay Distillery, TAS, and Fleurieu Distillery, SA. Matured initially in apera (Australian sherry) casks, then an older sherry cask and a topaque (Australian tokay/tokaji) sweet wine cask. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 233 bottles. 

Colour: Dark brown. 

Nose: Sweet, fruity dessert whisky. Plum pudding (Xmas pudding) flamed with brandy, blow-torched bitter orange rind, thick black treacle toffee and spiced roasted nuts. Sweet pear juice - make that pear nectar (thicker & sweeter than the juice). Brown sugar & charred oak underneath. Sultanas, dates & caramelised figs in there too. Slight earthiness around the edges. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Rich, sweet & syrupy. A touch of heat, but passes quickly. 

Taste: Sweet fruit syrup, more plum, sultana and blow-torched bitter orange rind. Pear nectar again, and some nectarine. Slightly burnt fruit mince pie. Candied roasted nuts & black treacle toffee. Caramelised figs & date caramel syrup. 

Finish: Medium length. A touch of tannic earthy bitterness - coffee grounds, or maybe spent tea leaves. That balances the sweetness slightly before that pear nectar comes back in under the treacle toffee and brown sugar. Mouth-watering sweetness. Bitter orange rind & baking spice underneath. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. But only just, mainly due to the huge sweetness. 

Notes: It's a big, rich, sweet & dense whisky, as you'd expect from the cask treatment. 100% a dessert whisky that is very cask-driven, and frankly it's pushing my sweetness boundaries. But the quality is certainly there! Both Fanny's Bay and Fleurieu make big, rich spirit, and I'd guess that one or both is responsible for that pear nectar note in this Heartwood bottling. Thankfully there's that slight earthy, tannic bitterness to temper the sweetness a little, but you're going to need a real sweet tooth to dig this one. Personally it's right on my limit, or even just over it. These big, rich cask-driven whiskies are very much the Heartwood M.O., although more recently they've dabbled in more spirit driven, relatively subtly-flavoured whiskies which are mainly the department of Tim's son Louis, who is already a great distiller & blender in his own right - and along with Jack Lark he also makes a great absinthe! 

I'm not sure if Tokay / Tokaji casks are to my liking in all honesty, the few examples that I've tasted have been extremely sweet. Much more so than a muscat or PX sherry cask in most cases that I've tried. Heartwood 2nd Moment of Truth will make for a great Xmas whisky - what a shame it's only June! Let's change that to a great winter warmer for us southern hemisphere folks, then. 

Cheers!

Overeem Sherry Cask AWAS Exclusive Whisky Review!

An "exceptional marriage" of two sherry casks from Tasmania's Overeem Distillery, exclusive to the Australian Whisky Appreciation Society (AWAS). And this just happens to be my first Overeem review!

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!