Tastes

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #23 Nose: Smoky and very lightly briny. Malted milk chocolate, almond nougat, butter, fragrant citrus (sherbet lemon? lemongrass?) and pear. Oak spices and grassy notes with an earthy quality emerge as it opens in the glass. Palate: A soft, somewhat sweet and gentle arrival which is more focused on malt extract and toasty cereals than might seem immediately apparent, as fruit, honey and caramel flavours mask its heft. Smoke is apparent right through the palate but it is a very well-rounded and suave type of smoke, and not quite the same as maritime Scottish peat. The texture is creamy and lightly oily. Finish: Medium/long. Milk chocolate, honey, stewed fruit with resinous tannins and lingering sweet smoke. A very well balanced and elegantly peated malt whisky, showcasing just how good the Yoichi distillate can be, even with minimal maturation. It has a singular fragrance – I wonder if there are some mizunara casks contributing to these batches? No, probably not. Most enjoyable, and if I had to give it a one word descriptor it would be “soothing” or “relaxing”. I tasted this about 2/3 of the way through the afternoon after many other whiskies and my palate was fatigued, but this provided a welcome sensory reset. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #22 Nose: Very fruity with apple, green melon, white peach and white grape immediately apparent. There is a zesty, fresh citrus note as well with a grassy, herbal quality (more lemongrass than lemon zest) and some gentle smoke. Nicely balanced and with a drop of water it becomes more fragrant. Palate: Mildly smoky floral fruit in the arrival, transitioning to deeper malt and fruit flavours (peaches poached in sauternes) and finally becoming dry and gently spicy (cinnamon, ginger) towards the finish. Light but creamy texture. Finish: Medium. Fruit flavours trailing into demure smoky tannin. A very pleasant NAS whisky. The last time I tasted this it was the old formula (in a bottle with a dark label) about 5 years ago, and while I thought it was OK I was not wowed by it. The new blend apparently has more Yoichi and that is certainly borne out by a tasting, but it seems to have more presence and depth all over. Not that it is a particularly complex whisky, but it does what it does very well and I think this new expression is an improvement over the old one. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #21 Nose: Fortified wine, red berries, dark cherry syrup, prunes preserved in alcohol, baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), port flavoured pipe tobacco, leather. A huge nose. Palate: The arrival is surprisingly unlike the nose to start with, initially flooding the palate with malt extract, peanut brittle and salted caramel. The fortified wine influence does not push forward until the later palate but when it does there is a deluge of Christmas cake and Christmas pudding flavours – cherries, preserved citrus peel, raisins, plums, dark malted cereal and dark chocolate. The texture is oily and excellent when neat but I preferred the palate with a little water. Finish: Medium/Long: Fruit cake, salted caramel and bitter coffee. Waubs Harbour distillery was founded at Bicheno on the east coast of Tasmania in 2018. Constructed on the site of a former oyster hatchery, some of the old hatchery buildings were renovated to become part of the distillery. It is built literally on the water line, like Bowmore on Islay, and like Bowmore it also matures its casks by the sea. The distillery is consciously striving for a maritime influence on their whisky and they are following Scottish production techniques that are suited to stable lower temperatures and high humidity. The distillery is also cultivating their own liquid yeast strains, which is a fantastic development for our locally industry. This whisky was matured exclusively in Australian ex-French oak tawny (i.e. port) casks and was bottled at a “reduced” cask strength of 62%abv. This is a core part of their range and is being released in batches of a few hundred bottles at a time. Even more so than their other expressions, batch variation should be expected. A very intense, commanding and rich whisky. I enjoyed it a lot, but it was a more demanding dram than the rest of the distillery’s line-up and in the end, as much as I admired it, I still preferred their “Original” expression. For a high-strength whisky this was not unapproachable or locked too tightly by the alcohol, but it just seemed friendlier and more interesting (and frankly better balanced) when reduced to below 50%. Interestingly the tannins did not seem as prominent as the “Port Storm” expression, which might be down to the cask selection, and I also noticed hardly any maritime influence on this expression. I think the intensity of the casks just washed out everything else, which is a problem I have with all big Australian "port-bomb" whiskies. Like everything else from the distillery, I thought that their prices are just a little too high, particularly for 500ml bottles, but that did not influence my rating. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #20 Nose: Malt extract, peanut brittle, vanilla, raisins, dark cherries, red grape jelly, baking spices. Palate: There is a sweet Port wine influence right from the first drops with raisins, red berries, stewed stone fruits, brandy butter, golden syrup and malt extract. Spicy notes and tannins emerge in the development which is still sweet but gaining a grippy astringency. The texture is good, somewhat oily, but also a little hard and tannic. Finish: Medium/long. Dark fruits (dried figs, prunes), malt and tannins. Waubs Harbour distillery was founded at Bicheno on the east coast of Tasmania in 2018. Constructed on the site of a former oyster hatchery, some of the old hatchery buildings were renovated to become part of the distillery. It is built literally on the water line, like Bowmore on Islay, and like Bowmore it also matures its casks by the sea. The distillery is consciously striving for a maritime influence on their whisky and they are following Scottish production techniques that are suited to stable lower temperatures and high humidity. The distillery is also cultivating their own liquid yeast strains, which is a fantastic development for our locally industry. Like their “Original” expression which I tasted before this one, this whisky was matured in a combination of ex-bourbon barrels and ex-French oak tawny (i.e. port) casks, but in this case the proportion of port-cask matured spirit is higher, as is the abv. This is a core part of their range, but it is being released in batches of a few hundred bottles at a time so some batch variation should be expected. I liked this whisky but not quite as much as it’s younger and less intense brother. The tannins are balanced by sweetness from the wine and bourbon barrel components, but they were right on the edge of too prominent for my taste. Also, like everything else from the distillery, I thought that their prices are just a little too high, particularly for 500ml bottles. This is priced at the equivalent of AUD$266 for a 700ml bottle and I can buy Highland Park 18 for less than that. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #19 Nose: Malt, caramel, peanut brittle and a light maritime note. Over time, and with a drop of water, I noticed raisins and floral red fruit notes. Palate: A sweet, salted caramel and toffee arrival. Lots of evidence of first-fill bourbon maturation in the development with vanilla, coconut and a tiny hint of banana. Freshly-baked oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips and raspberry pieces in the later palate. The texture is creamy. Finish: Medium. Malted milk and caramel with salted red berries in the aftertaste. Waubs Harbour distillery was founded at Bicheno on the east coast of Tasmania in 2018. Constructed on the site of a former oyster hatchery, some of the old hatchery buildings were renovated to become part of the distillery. It is built literally on the water line, like Bowmore on Islay, and like Bowmore it also matures its casks by the sea. The distillery is consciously striving for a maritime influence on their whisky and they are following Scottish production techniques that are suited to stable lower temperatures and high maritime humidity. They are also cultivating their own liquid yeast strains, which is a fantastic development to see in our local industry which has been constrained by the use of commercial dried brewer's yeast for decades. This expression was matured mostly in ex-bourbon barrels but some of the spirit was fully matured in Australian tawny (i.e. port) casks. This is a core part of their range but it is being released in batches of a few hundred bottles at a time and some batch variation should be expected (and celebrated). I thoroughly enjoyed this young Tassie whisky. It is well balanced and like the Cape Byron whiskies from north coast NSW it is very much in the tradition of Scottish maritime whisky without simply being a copy. This is exactly the path I hope to see many other local distilleries follow in future. The only criticism I have (although it has not affected my rating) is that this is just too expensive. AUD$170 for a half-litre bottle is over the top - that's equivalent to $238 for a 700ml bottle, and for that money I can buy a bottle of Ledaig 18 year old plus a 6-pack of Belgian trappist ale. No contest, I'm afraid. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)