ANZAC Whiskies
In remembrance and thanks of the amazing service and sacrifices made by all of the brave Australians and New Zealanders in the armed forces, and the legacy they have forged we raise our glass in thanks, and drink to them. Doing so with a dram of Australian or New Zealand whisk(e)y just seems all the more fitting for the occasion. It would be great if our compatriots across the Tasman could let us win some Rugby every once in a while but at least we might have a chance in the test match tomorrow…
Lark Classic Cask
Australian Single Malt Whisky
500ml, 43% ABV
Owner: Lark
The easiest to drink of the releases from Lark (but not the easiest to find — thankfully a new shipment hits the streets in 1 week!!!) the Classic Cask is one of two core releases from the original distillery in what I am coining the New Wave of Australian Craft Distilling. Pretty much every man and his dog (even the one on the tuckerbox) knows the story by now, but for those that haven’t done their homework or are too busy drinking the stuff to wonder where it came from, Lark was founded in 1992 by Bill and Lyn Lark after a series of fateful fishing trips and a lot of whisky and visits to Scottish distilleries. The work put in to get Lark of the ground and the statutory changes brought about opened the door to the thriving, amazing thing that is modern Australian craft distilling.
This expressions is made from locally malted Franklin barley — typically half of which is peated from local peat bogs and distilled in a Tasmanian crafted pot still, then matured for around 5–8 years in a mix of 100 litre barrels.
Nose: Dried mango, freshly opened, tinned Golden Circle pineapple rings, butter menthols, and some deep malt stirrings.
Palate: Soft eucalyptus and menthol under a waxy, malt driven creaminess, with the faintest hint of bonfire the morning after. Some chocolate (somewhere between Cadbury dairy milk and Lindt 70% cocoa) with a sweetness like golden syrup enfolding the whole lot in a big warm, sinus clearing hug.
Find it here!
The New Zealand Whisky Collection Doublewood
New Zealand Blended Whisky
700ml, 40% ABV
Owner: The New Zealand Whisky Collection (distilled @ Willowbank)
I have to admit I am a fan of the way these guys are doing things. They have upped their marketing game substantially in the last few years, while maintaining transparency and putting out decent whisky! It can be done! The New Zealand Whisky Collection team have been bottling whisky primarily from the defunct Willowbank distillery (yet another reason to hate Fosters, who shuttered it in in the late 90’s after buying it from Seagram’s from the US who had it running well).
Fortunately there are positive Australian / New Zealand connections with the founder Greg Ramsay bringing in two Australians, Troy Trewin and Tom Holder to help spread the word (and the love) overseas.
The Dunedin Doublewood 16 Year Old is a blend of 70% malted barley whisky and 30% grain distilled at Willowbank (RIP) aged for 6 years in American oak ex-bourbon before being ‘finished’ for 10 years (a longer finishing than most Australian whisky is aged for and one of the longest finishing periods I’ve heard of) in French Oak NZ red wine (Pinot?) barrels.
The 16 Year old release was the one tasted as per the below notes;
Nose: My notes on this were made some time ago and where a little incoherent as there had been a few other whiskies before this that day — let’s see what I can salvage… Dusty farm shed, fresh honeycomb, muddled raspberries, white pepper and star anise.
Palate: A good combination of bourbon and red wine influences, blending well with old school spirit. A gentle, well integrated mix of last seasons hay, mixed with malted milk biscuits (Arnotts of course), with some tart red berry notes of fresh cranberry and raspberry, blended with maple syrup and vanilla icing. A nice spike of white pepper on the back of the tongue.
Find it here!
Starward New World Projects PX Batch 3
Australian Single Malt Whisky
700ml, 48% ABV
Owner: Starward Distillery
We’ve already spoken at length about Starward (see here) but we thought we would take this opportunity to look at one of our favourite limited releases, released under the New World Projects label that is comparatively much easier to get your hands (for now).
Released exclusively for Vintage Cellars, this is the third (and hopefully not the last) Pedro Ximenez release from Starward for Vintage Cellars, with 675 bottles making it to store shelves. Classic banana forward Starward new make was filled in to re-coopered Montilla, Cordoba PX casks and bottled at a more than generous 48%.
Nose: A darker more intense and spicy nose than the regular solera or red wine expressions, with the distillery signatures of bananas and golden syrup playing second fiddle (but from the same sheet music!) to the Christmas pudding and prunes found in this one.
Palate: A nutty, sweet Christmas pudding, smothered in toffee served with a side of grandmas good cook sherry and some dried apricots and prunes. The banana lolly flavour can still be found underneath it all but seems more ripe and less ‘green’ than in the red wine version. In summary — delicious!
Find it here!
Thomson Two Tone
New Zealand Single Malt
700ml, 40% ABV
Owner: Thomson Whisky Company
Thomson own a distillery which came online on North Auckland in 2014. Having Kiwi ancestry I have been avidly following the (re-)emerging Whisky industry across the ditch and have been impressed with a couple of ‘progress report’ bottlings put up so far, in particular the Thomson Manuka smoke progress report which is absolutely unique and although not recommended for those who love traditional Scottish style tipples, shows amazing promise.
Thomson have also been releasing older spirits acquired elsewhere, in this case Willowbank as far as I can tell (I have not been fortunate enough to have met the owners Matt and Rachel Thomson to ask them, and the website is a bit short on detail) and this wallet friendly expression has won quite a few fans on both sides of the Tasman Sea already. No age statement given in this case (we get an infinity symbol — hints of a solera type vatting?) the two tone refers to the mix of barrels used to age the spirit, a combination of European oak New Zealand red wine casks and American white oak ex-whisky casks (bourbon?).
Nose: Spring clover, freshly cut strawberries drizzled with clover honey. A hint of cinnamon bark and pepper.
Palate: One of the most fruit driven whiskies at this ABV we’ve had the pleasure of sampling. Possibly a side effect of the red wine casks in the mix, there is a cornucopia of berries, from strawberries and raspberries to boysenberries and blueberries. A faint pepper pervades with hints of hot chocolate, with a dryness on the finish that highlights the pepper and more tart berry flavours.
Find it here!
Upshot Australian Whiskey
Australian Whiskey
700ml, 43% ABV
Owner: Whipper Snapper Distillery
And finally, for today we’ll finish on something a little different. Upshot is an Australian Whiskey (the ‘e’ being intentional) that is made in Perth, Western Australia at the Whipper Snapper distillery in very much an American style.
Using a mash of Western Australian grown corn, wheat and malted barley which is mashed and fermented onsite then run through a custom copper continuous still and matured in for two years in charred, American white oak barrels in Perth.
Nose: A gentle, green fruit driven nose (freshly picked granny smiths and Bartlett pears), with freshly sawed cedar log, cinnamon, nutmeg with old hay-barn.
Palate: Typical bourbon-esque flavours, in very measured amounts. Soft vanilla and honey, sawdust and pepper, with very soft delicate granny smith apple and some walnut/pecan dryness in the mix. Not as ‘big’ as your typical Australian whisky but this is Australian Whiskey made by Whipper Snappers, and is delicious on its own terms.
Find it here!
