Proud to be Australian (whisky drinkers)
Regardless of where your feelings lie regarding the 26th of January, there is one thing most Australians can be proud of — the burgeoning craft spirits scene and the people who put their heart and souls into making whisky. And for this holiday weekend we share our thoughts on a few of our favourite new Aussie whiskies from Iniquity, Starward, Fleurieur, Belgrove and Hobart Whisky!
Iniquity — Gold Batch 4
Single Malt Australian Whisky
700ml/200ml, 60% ABV
Owner: Tin Shed Distillery
Iniquity gets a fair bit of attention here at The Whisky List — for many reasons, the main one being the consistency and quality of their releases. One of their best releases to date (and one of our favourite Australian drams ever) was the Iniquity Gold Batch 3. Gold Batch releases from Iniquity are standout single cask releases that are chosen by the team at Iniquity for their uniqueness and bottled at 60% instead of 46% like the regular releases. Batch 4 has our Whisky senses a-tingle as it it was laid down from the same spirit run and into the exact same cask type as gold batch 3 but matured for a further 12 months…
Nose: Toasted Fairy-bread, freshly roasted peanuts, butter menthol (like the perfect distillation of a whole box full), a glass of port left overnight at the end of a party.
Palate: Iconic Iniquity eucalyptus — butter menthol (emphasis on the menthol more evident here than on the nose), melted Cadbury Fruit and Nut Milk Chocolate. Pear skin and slightly (drying) tannic wood on the finish.
Starward Ginger Beer Cask 4
Single Malt Australian Whisky
500ml, 48.8% ABV
Owner: New World Distillery
Hardly needing an introduction, Starward recently sent the local Whisky groups in to a lather of excitement by announcing the 4th iteration of their Ginger Beer cask finished whisky. Differing from previous releases by increasing the number of bottles produced substantially (a fantastic move allowing more people to try and buy) to 1200 units. Needless to say that after a stressful wait for the ballot results to acquire a bottle, which we failed again just like batch 3, we were lucky enough to have a good friend swing by the cellar door and pick one up! Phew!
Nose: Dried crystalline ginger pieces, lemon sherbet/wizzfizz, toffee apple. Faint sultanas underneath.
Palate: Fairly prominent ginger bread flavours as expected — consensus was split between too much and not enough some how — personally I dig it for its uniqueness but the typical Starward house notes are hidden under the other flavours I assume are from the unusual casking. Spicy and has almost chilli like warming effect in the back of the throat but tastes more along the lines of heavily spiced gingerbread (cinnamon and nutmeg). Nice sweetness rounds it out after a few seconds, like raw sugar syrup / freshly squeezed cane juice.
Sadly no longer available in general retail
Fleurieu — Message in a Bottle
Single Malt Australian Whisky
700ml, 52.9% ABV
Owner: Fleurieu Distillery
The latest release from the dynamic duo from Goolwa, Gareth and Angela is a 460 bottle limited run which showcases the terroir and craftsmanship that goes in to the Whisky coming out of
Made with 100% Australian barley, spring water from Mount Lofty and matured on the edge of the Southern Ocean in South Australian tawny port casks its hard to imagine a more unique terroir to highlight.
Nose: A dark brooding and tempting nose awaits. A mix of glace fruits (citrus peels and cherries mainly), cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla cupcake frosting, muscatel grapes and some soaked seaweed sheets thrown in for good measure.
Palate: Palate displays good balance and integration with everything coming together in the right proportion and combination to deliver a rewarding juicy mouthfeel with a creamy, waxy delivery of solid mature barley, the tiniest hint of salted caramel (much less than other Flerieu’s we’ve tried), combined with Christmas cake spice and a tot of old tawny port (but not enough to overshadow or mar the malt) followed by the reassuring tang of properly aged (and looked after) oak.
Belgrove Wholly Shit
Australian Rye Whisky
500ml, 57.8% ABV
Owner: Belgrove Distillery
Sadly we don’t get to review enough of the whiskies being produced by one of the most awarded and experimental genuises in Australia, Peter Bignell of Belgrove. As anyone familiar with Mr Bignall’s work can attest, each and every release is an amazing experience (whether it is to your tastes or not) and more often than not has a story that goes along with that is just as amazing.
Today’s dram certainly lives up to that reputation. A 100% Rye Whisky (with Rye grown on the Bignell farm) which has been aged in a barrel which was smoked using sheep dung from the sheep which fed upon the spent grain from the distillery and aged for 3 years before being bottled at natural strength. One of the most distinctive whiskies we’ve ever tried and I am sure you will agree, the story is just as unique.
Nose: Nose is nutty with peanuts and black sesame paste, a bit of black pepper and (probably auto-suggestion) lanolin. Light toffee/honey on the back of the nasal passage.
Palate: Amazing dry smoke — like the smell of a farmer burning off the remnants of last years wheat crop. This is entwined around a core of rye, vanilla, honey, white pepper and old wool bale. Old school farm in a bottle.
Hobart Whisky 18–002 American Oak Port Cask
Single Malt Australian Whisky
500ml, 53.9% ABV
Owner: Devil’s Distillery
Only the second release (and our first review) for relative newcomers to the Australian Whisky scene the Devil’s Distillery, which commenced production in 2015 and launched its first whiskies towards then end of 2018. Everything, bar malting is carried out onsite before distillation in a 1800L Peter Bailly copper pot still using Tasmanian grown and malted Westminster strain barley.
This particular release is made up of a combination of several smaller ex-Port casks.
Nose: A fascinating nose, bringing to mind freshly polished wood (hand rubbed with beeswax polish), stewed, sweetened summer stone fruits and some earthy spices like nutmeg and ginger.
Palate: Toffee apple on entry. Buttered pastries (sultana snails?). Plenty of dark grape/raisin flavour with a hint of creamed honey. More biscuit-y as time moves on (like apple crumble crumble). Definitely impressive for an early release and if this is a sign of things to come, we’re in!