Tastes

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #18 Nose: Sooty peat smoke, smoked meats, smoked red berries, mint and a waxy menthol or eucalyptus aroma. There is an interesting balance between smoke, mellow red wine and bright distillate notes and there is a touch of feints on the nose. Palate: A very fine, mellow smoky arrival with cherries, red berries and malt balanced against pepper, sweet cinnamon and brine. In the development I found cherry nougat, cherry chocolate cake, honey, tropical fruit and salted chocolate-covered caramels. The texture is excellent – lightly creamy and just a little oily but also dry. Finish: Medium/Long: Sweet red fruit, a little demure spice and lingering warm peat smoke. Delicious whisky. I don’t know what more I can say. I finished my tasting dram (not too quickly!) and immediately asked for a refill. I never do that but on this occasion I could not hold back. The pours were a little meagre and I needed MORE. I avoided this when it first appeared because the price seemed a bit steep for a "mere" 9 year old whisky, and with the excellent 18 being just a few dollars more I could not see the point. Of course, I had overlooked the fact that this is cask strength and also full Bordeaux maturation, not just a finish. Don’t compare it to anything in the Ledaig core range, think of it in the context of IB cask-strength expressions and it makes sense. By the time I got to the sales stall at the exit to the show this was sold out, but fortunately I was able to order a bottle from another source. Recommended. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #17 Nose: Malt, musky vanilla, toast, stewed fruits. Palate: Somewhat hard and spicy malt-centred arrival, with the development showing chocolate, porridge and ginger spices. The texture is OK. Finish: Medium/Short. Cereal, walnut skins. This is a quick-hit review of the only Hellyers Road product I tasted at the show. Double-Cask is a part of their new core range and the bottle design and livery have been revised as part of the brand makeover. Hellyers Road ran their first spirit in 1999 which makes them part of the original generation of Australian artisan distilleries, but even then they were one of the largest operations. They have been operating for long enough that a 19 year old release is also part of the new core range, but sadly that was not available for tasting at the show. I’ve always found their whisky to be inconsistent. The NAS expressions usually leave me unimpressed, as do some of the age statements, but they have had occasional flashes of excellence like the old 15 year Original and some of the vintage statement special releases. As for this new range, I need a lot more time to try them and decide, but to be honest this NAS “Double Cask” (it is definitely 5+ years old but is branded as a NAS) did not impress me. I assume it is positioned as the replacement for the NAS "Original" expression from the previous core range, and that one never did much for me either. “Average” : 78/100 (2.75 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #16 Nose: Crème brûlée, candied preserved fruits, honey, warm spiced cookies (powdered ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and caraway seed) straight from the oven. Dark cherries and boiled Christmas plum pudding appear after repeated sips together with a subtle maritime note and a puff of smoke. Palate: The arrival is chock full of caramel stroopwafels, milk chocolate and vanilla flavoured mascarpone (so yeah, I was hooked instantly). As it develops, stewed apples topped with cinnamon sugar and cream appear along with honey, tinned peaches and a gentle trace of smoke. The texture is oily and mouth-coating. Finish: Medium. Some grassy notes emerge in the late palate with mild spices, honey and a pinch of salt being the last flavours. This was one of a pair of confusingly branded Jura 21 year old releases that came out in 2019, jointly marketed and boxed as “Time & Tide”. The “Time” expression (which I have not tasted) was TWE only and the “Tide” variant was for retail distribution. I don’t know if there was a difference between them and I have no idea why the distillery did things in such a confusing way. Just how confusing is reflected in the postings for the two whiskies here on Distiller - look at the thumbnail illustrations and you will see that they have been swapped around. Anyway, this is a very pleasant whisky that I would happily buy were it not so outrageously expensive. It has complexity but is also very gentle and easy to drink, which may make it seem simplistic at first taste, but you need to persevere and get to know it. I returned to the Jura stand twice to get repeated tastings of this and it appealed more each time. It has the same sort of “complex simplicity” as very old grain whisky. If it was priced at AUD$250 I’d snap one up but for just under $400? No thanks. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #15 Nose: Orange marmalade, honey, red berries (cranberries? blackberries?), almond brittle, printer’s ink (!), tobacco, leather, damp soil and a waft of peat smoke. Palate: The arrival is an odd combination of dark cherries, dried figs, dried apricots, grilled pineapple, bittersweet cola syrup and espresso. The development shows earthy, woody honey notes together with a little smoke that reminds me of the taste of herbal cigarettes. There is also a briny note that brings to mind Jura expressions from 10 years ago and like many of those, this turns towards bitterness in the late palate. The texture is full but not heavy. Finish: Medium. Drying, burnt butter, burnt sugar, bitter cocoa, bitter coffee, grilled grapefruit and black pepper. A somewhat uncompromising finish. A rather complicated and not entirely balanced whisky that seems to be uncomfortable with itself. It’s not awful, but it is certainly “interesting” and not a dram that would appeal to novices. In fact, it would not appeal to many aficionados either. The nose is great, deep and with lots of complexity to explore, but the palate is where it starts to unwind and the finish is, well, I wouldn’t call it bad but for me it was not appealing. It tastes like the stills were run too hot and the spirit caught, but that’s just a subjective impression and it’s far more likely that the dry, burnt quality of the finish is coming from the casks. “Average” : 78/100 (2.75 stars, but if the finish was better I’d give this 3.75)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #14 Nose: Caramel, butterscotch, vanilla, orange blossom water, dilute honey, pears. Palate: Soft arrival with pear, apple, caramel sauce, milk chocolate, a little honey and a breath of sooty smoke. The development shows malted milk and vanilla fudge balanced by some subtle spice notes (cinnamon) and beeswax. The texture is creamy. Finish: Medium/Short. Stone fruits, orchard fruits and caramel trailing into a pleasantly dry, leafy aftertaste. Journey is the current gateway whisky in the Jura lineup and it’s a cracking good entry-level malt with good balance (if somewhat tilted towards sweetness). There’s nothing at all wrong with this and it would make a great session whisky. The only criticism you can make is that it is simple in profile but for a whisky positioned at this end of the market that is not a fault. For the money this is good value, and it would be an excellent first dram to share with novices just beginning their whisky journey. I bought a bottle on the day for precisely that reason. Not a high scorer, but good solid easy-drinking value. “Above Average” : 80/100 (3 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #13 Nose: Sherry, wood shavings, malt extract. Palate: Hard arrival, bordering on bitterness. Dark malt, bitter dark chocolate, some hot spice and tannin. The texture is moderate. Finish: Medium. Sherry, oak, cocoa. This is only a brief snapshot review as I did not spend much time at the Callington Mill stand and only tasted this one expression. The distillery, located in central Tasmania, is a large startup with considerable private financial backing from owner John Ibrahim. Construction commenced in 2020 and the distillery was brought online in 2021. The company's first offering under the Callington Mill label was a range of sourced whiskies from the Old Kempton and Shene distilleries called the “Leap of Faith” series, which was well received locally. However, they also have a second “prototype” distillery in Hobart that has been in operation since 2019 and I believe it is the spirit from that distillery that has been used for the inaugural release of their own expressions (El Sol, Invicta and Fusion). As I understand it the spirit from the big Oatlands distillery will not be ready for a year or two yet. This El Sol expression was matured in a combination of just about every type of ex-sherry barrel available and has won several awards at international competitions. I’m not sure why. “Adequate” : 70/100 (2 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #12 Nose: Almost-burnt caramel, raisin, dark malt, scorched nuts, cocoa powder, almost-burnt fruit toast. It’s a big nose with lots of pungent aromas but it lacks delicacy. Palate: (neat) Espresso and dark chocolate arrival with a wall of alcohol. Tingling spices and oak tannins, orange oil and skins, scorched almonds, prunes. Palate: (watered) Overcooked Christmas cake, chocolate, mocha coffee, baking spices, aniseed. Dilution makes the palate a little juicier. Finish: Medium. Clove, anise, espresso and rancio. A large whisky that is expressive and demanding. Unpeated Bunnahabhain loves to age unmolested in a good sherry cask, but I’m not sure this cask was one of the best, or that it was left for long enough. The alcohol content is enormous and I could not begin to come to grips with this until I had taken it down quite a long way. Once it did begin to reveal itself, the story was a little simple and predictable. It's an above average sherry beast for sure, but in my opinion not one of the best, and certainly not one of the more subtle examples. For all its bombast, it lacks complexity. PS – Apologies for the spelling error in the title for this listing. I wish we could correct things like that. “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #11 Nose: Dusty sherry, heavy malt (almost like porter or stout). Oak wood, old varnish, raisins, cola syrup, tobacco. The nose was tight and seemed very “old” when nosed neat and although it relaxed a little with water it never gained softness or finesse. A big but somewhat clumsy nose. Palate: (neat) The arrival was a bombardment of soft dusty tannin and lignin, dried fruit, alcohol and pepper. Dried apricot, black cherry jam, blueberries, toffee, balsamic vinegar and dark chocolate as it developed. Palate: (watered) Less intense on the arrival but the profile remained essentially unchanged – wood spices, reconstituted dried fruit and chocolate with stewed stone fruits in the development. The texture was heavy, oily and almost gritty. Finish: Medium/Long. Cinnamon, tobacco, oak and leather. Although only 13 years old this whisky had the appearance of a dilute mixture of caramel sauce and PX sherry - dense, dark sienna in colour and with a slightly cloudy aspect. It was initially matured in refill butts (note: plural) and then finished in one “fresh” sherry butt, which suggests there was massive oxidation and loss from the initial casks. As a result, not surprisingly, this is an almost impenetrably cask-driven whisky with all trace of the distillery character hidden by the wood. It lacks nuance but that doesn’t make it bad as such, just rather heavy and generic. There is a lot of toffee, dark chocolate, sherry and dried fruit but the big fault for me was that it never seemed to open. When neat the alcohol content was immediately obvious and although adding water muted this the character barely changed, the whisky remaining closed and dense. It was like diluting dark cooking soy sauce. I'm sure there are many enthusiasts who would relish a big, oxidised sherry-and-malt monster like this but it's not a style that I prefer. “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #10 Nose: Bready, yeasty and a little like new-make. Floral honey, but muted and with a curiously herbal quality (fennel, sage) that is not entirely successful. Some biscuity cereal notes and a little maritime brine. Palate: A gristy, cereal arrival with some brine and hot pepper. The palate relaxes a little as it progresses with sweet flavours giving balance (nuts, orange oil, vanilla) and there is a dash of peat smoke and oak tannin, but it all seems curiously young and tense. The texture is a bit brittle. Finish: Medium. Hot and peppery with some berries and citrus showing through. The person on the Signatory stall who was pouring the drams assured me that this “secret” Orcadian malt was from Highland Park, but if so then it’s not a good example of that distillery’s ability. There are hints of Highland Park to it but despite its 13 year age statement this seemed extremely young, thin and argumentative. The hogsheads in which this was matured were refill and I could easily believe they were on their 3rd or even 4th fill, and I bet they were very tight too, as they seem to have contributed little to the spirit and almost actively opposed maturation. I would not recommend this, particularly at the asking price. “Average” : 79/100 (2.75 stars)