Tastes

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #5 Nose: Poached apple and pear, peach Danish, toasted vanilla almonds and macadamias, warm buttered brioche. Fragrant dessert wine with oak notes. Palate: Soft, warm arrival with toasted fruit muffins and apricot jam. It becomes buttery as it evolves with caramel, baked apple, grape jelly, milk chocolate and soft spice (cinnamon). A little green apple and citrus emerges in the later development. The texture is creamy. Finish: Medium. Moderately sweet, fruity and wine notes carrying into a mild citrus aftertaste. Cape Byron is a relative newcomer to the Australian whisky scene, having introduced their initial core range of two expressions in September last year. I tried their Cape Byron Original Single Malt just after release and was very impressed (see review here on Distiller). However I had not got around to trying this second expression until now. Maturation was 40% in ex-Buffalo Trace bourbon casks and 60% in ex-Australian chardonnay casks (I don’t know the size but I’d guess they were probably around 100 litre capacity and either ex-American oak or ex-French oak). It was fully matured in each cask type and then blended, so this is not a simple wine-cask finish. This is more cask-driven than the Original expression and has an overall sweeter profile, but they have not let this unbalance or overtake the distillery character. The wine contribution does mask the elegant maritime quality of the Original, but it has its own rich, creamy charms to compensate. The chardonnay must have been a very sweet and buttery specimen because I get a note on this that verges on botrytis semillon. A very enjoyable whisky indeed. I think I prefer it to the Original expression and as I gave that 84/100 I'm giving this an extra percentage point which makes it equivalent to 4 stars. This is also well priced and, unlike a lot of our local whiskies, this is worth every bit of the $140 asking price. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #4 Nose: Burnt cereal, stewed fruits, malt extract, beef stock, charcoal. Palate: Malt and tannins in the arrival with a very brief cherry-sweet flourish. An unusual development with a heavy charcoal note that defeated my powers of both identification and description. Burnt carob beans? Burnt walnuts? Burnt oak? Finish: Medium. Malt and heavy char. Unlike the other whiskies from Craft Works that I tasted at the show, this one was based on their own distillate rather than a sourced product. I had a hard time finding something positive to say to the proud distillery owner who poured this dram for me. It was weird and unpleasant but fortunately there were spittoons available so I could rid myself of it as soon as possible, with the lame excuse that I was “pacing myself”. “Inferior” : 65/100 (1.5 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #3 Nose: Malt, sherry, cherries, brown sugar, butterscotch, stone fruits, some very pleasant oak notes. Toffee is noticed as it rests in the glass and there is a touch of brine. Palate: Sweet, tawny wine, caramel, nougat, and cherries. A little heat in the development but it is a big jammy whisky and the sweetness counteracts the heat. Malt and sweet brine notes towards the finish. Finish: Medium/long. Malt and sweet dark fruitcake. This whisky was sourced from Fleurieu Distillery in South Australia and filled into two reconditioned refill casks that were seasoned with sherry and red wine. The casks were matured at the Craft Works Distillery in NSW. A satisfying, big whisky with buckets of sherry and wine character, and the Fleurieu distillate still shows through. I much preferred this to its stablemate “2 Sheds” expression that had identical casking but was sourced from Tin Sheds Distillery. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #2 Nose: Raisins, sultanas, malt, wine. Acetone and a little sulphur. Palate: Big arrival, winey and malty in spades. Figs, spice, earth and some barrel char. It develops a cardboard note after a while. Finish: Medium. Malt, fruit and the varnish/acetone note returns. The distillate was sourced from Tin Shed Distilling in South Australia and racked into two reconditioned casks that were seasoned with red wine and sherry, and then matured at Craft Works Distillery in Capertree, NSW. This was an OK whisky, but not an exceptional one, and it showed a couple of less than wonderful traits I sometimes get from Two Sheds whisky in their Iniquity expressions. At the asking price I would not buy a bottle. “Average” : 79/100 (2.75 stars)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #1 Nose: Treacle, raisins, malt extract, toasted nuts, brandy and some musty fortified wine notes. Palate: Fruit cake with citrus peel and seeds. Mocha, fig jam, dried dates, grape jelly, apple and cinnamon pastry, baking spices (nutmeg, cloves, caraway). A little late sweetness and an oaky note towards the finish. Finish: Medium. Fruit, malt spicy sweetness. A sweet aperitif aftertaste. Well, you have to start somewhere so my tasting #1 for this year’s show was the Morris Muscat Barrels expression. This has been around for a couple of years now and I reviewed its core-range stablemate the Signature expression when it was first released. I was not greatly impressed with that one at the time so I’ve been putting off tasting any more Morris whisky, however when it’s free and can function as the first whisky of the day … why not? As it turned out I enjoyed this a great deal more than I expected to, and a lot more than the Signature expression. The definite sulphur I noticed in that whisky was absent here, either that or it was simply masked, but either way I much preferred this dram. It had greater presence and complexity and also seemed to have more maturity. Maybe their range has simply improved over the last two years? I found nothing similar to the official tasting notes here, and as those were written back then perhaps their whisky has changed profile? I guess I should try the Signature again. This is still a trifle young, but no more than a host of other NAS Australian whiskies that are currently available. I enjoyed it enough that I’d maybe buy a bottle some time, and I’ll be interested to see what happens with Morris whisky as their stocks age. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

North Star Tasting with Iain Croucher at The Oak Barrel, 11 May 2023, Whisky #6 Nose: Sweet, full peat aroma – smoky, warm, rich and earthy. Tobacco and leather, ham and beef ribs in a smoker. There are iodine and maritime notes in the background but these just provide structure and everything is very relaxed and soft. Palate: Big, opulent, sweet arrival with lots of warming peat smoke. No spice notes, no bright citrus, no brine – the flavours are all about red fruits, dark dried fruits, smoked meats and sweet umami sauces (in the tasting notes Iain mentions “sweet condensed balsamic vinegar” and he’s dead right). The texture is velvety and full. Finish: Medium/long. Peat, earth, tobacco. This is somewhat unusual for a Caol Ila (at least in my experience) as I can’t recall ever having had one with such a plush character, even when finished in a red-wine or PX sherry cask. Technically you could reasonably say this is completely out of balance, but it is unbalanced in a fun way. There is nothing bad in the profile, it’s just madly skewed towards the cask with the distillate providing only framework and no top-notes. I’m not sure of the original casking (it was most likely a refill hogshead) but the finish was in wet ex-port octaves, which contributed masses of sweet fortified wine character. (I noted that a lot of the recent North Star expressions have a small-cask port or PX finish - Iain must have bought a truckload of ex-wine octaves around a decade ago!). I enjoyed it very much, enough to buy a bottle on the night, but then I like my whisky to be a little crazy sometimes. If you prefer your Caol Ila more “au natural” with straight-up bourbon maturation so you can smell and taste the seaside you’ll probably hate this, but if you enjoy the likes of Laphroaig PX Cask or Arran Port Cask finish you may like this just as much (although it is sweeter than either of those). “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)

North Star Tasting with Iain Croucher at The Oak Barrel, 11 May 2023, Whisky #5 Nose: A big nose with lots of golden syrup, tobacco, fig jam, plum jam, waxed oak sideboard, chocolate and a pinch of anise. As it rests sweeter aromas appear with citrus and stone-fruits in the lead. Palate: Initially sweet and tart on the arrival with red current jam and morello cherries. This gives way to a malt-centred profile with spicy notes of chili, hot cinnamon and tannin in support. Some chewing tobacco and over-brewed black tea appear towards the finish but a mocha note gives it creaminess which offsets any astringency. Finish: Medium. Malty with dark fruit notes that change to a leathery flavour in the aftertaste, which is a little salty and bitter. This is labelled as simply a blended Campbeltown malt. Iain obtained it from the Loch Lomond group which owns Glen Scotia, and although technically a teaspooned Glen Scotia it’s quite likely this is actually 100% Glen Scotia and just traded as a blend for marketing reasons. It certainly tastes like Glen Scotia. It was sourced at 4 year of age (probably in a re-coopered bourbon hogshead) and then re-racked into port and oloroso octaves for another 4 years of finishing. Enjoyable enough, but even at 8 years I thought it was a bit young and loud. The tasting group was split on this one – many liked it a lot, but just as many thought it was merely OK. However it sold out on the night and is not available locally any more, but I wonder if that is just due to the magical word “Campbeltown” being on the label? “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

North Star Tasting with Iain Croucher at The Oak Barrel, 11 May 2023, Whisky #4 Nose: Blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, black and red liquorice, chocolate and cinnamon. A huge nose – bloated, blowsy, boozy and beautiful. Palate: A sweet, plush arrival – incredibly fruity and full of cherry compote, blackberry jam, butterscotch sauce and caramel with a dusting of cocoa and cinnamon. The texture is full and lip-smacking. Finish: Medium/short. Prunes stewed in port with a hint of ginger and cinnamon. A completely mad and wonderful whisky that is almost more port than scotch. Purists would run for the door in horror and I admit on first nosing I thought it was odd and funky (a word I very seldom use in connection with whisky) and almost repulsive. However, after the first sip I quickly came to like it and the initially odd-seeming nose resolved into a much more pleasant experience. It’s very drinkable neat with not a hint of the alcohol volume. With water the port influence retreats a little and woody notes from the barrel peek through, which is very pleasant. It’s a crazy whisky but I liked it enough to sprint for the stand after the event to buy a bottle. Initially this was in a refill hogshead but was re-racked by Iain into another hogshead which had previously held ruby port, and it rested in that intense environment for a whole 18 months of its 6 year life. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

North Star Tasting with Iain Croucher at The Oak Barrel, 11 May 2023, Whisky #3 Nose: A light nose mainly showing fruit, nuts, cereals and a little oak. Fragrant but not floral – more like freshly baked blueberry and vanilla muffins, and the typical Dalwhinnie dash of honey is present. Balsa wood and light syrup in the distance. Palate: Soft cereal entry with just a hint of ginger spice. On the development it shows a more peppery type of spice note but it is still mild. The palate starts off slightly sweet but moves towards a more dry personality towards the finish. The texture is OK but not remarkable. Finish: Medium. Mildly spicy cereal with a salty aftertaste, like a salted caramel muesli snack bar. Dalwhinnie is seldom seen as an independent bottling and according to Iain he only obtained this by accident when it was mistakenly added to his Diageo cask list one time. Four casks were listed and when the error was discovered they wanted to withdraw them altogether, but eventually relented and allowed him to buy one cask. The purchased cask was a refill hogshead but Iain decided to re-rack and finish in an oloroso hogshead. I don’t know that this added a lot to the profile really, but it does not seem to have done any harm either. I have to confess I’ve never been a fan of Dalwhinnie – it always seems a very humdrum sort of malt to me. This is an OK whisky but the main interest for me was the chance to taste Dalwhinnie in a slightly different guise and I was not inspired to buy a bottle. I’m giving it the same rating I gave to the OB Dalwhinnie 15 a while back. “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

North Star Tasting with Iain Croucher at The Oak Barrel, 11 May 2023, Whisky #2 Nose: Golden syrup and dusky floral cereal. Old lignins, slowly deconstructing. Herbal tea with a vestigial wood-smoke quality. Papery like an old book, but in a good way. Ancient parchment and oak scriptoria burnished with wax for centuries. Palate: An easy and welcoming arrival, but not overly soft. Subtly spiced stewed stone-fruits, strawberry and raspberry compotes, mellow vanilla (scraped pods, not blossoms or extract). Toasted cereal and dried fruits blended fine and sprinkled on crème caramel. The texture is light but very good. Finish: Medium. Real ale! Where did that come from!? It gains a staunch malty tone towards the end before it segues gracefully into a final mildly bright tannic flourish. A very good nose, a spectacular palate and a fine finish. Elegant, gentle, well-constructed and demure but still retaining a shadow of youthful verve despite its advancing years. An elderly gent with a sparkle in his eye and enough energy to take on the youngsters. I returned to this several times during the tasting and it emerged as easily the most impressive whisky on offer. I was left with the final, irresistible impression that this is an excellent example of what Glenrothes can be like with some serious maturation in a good cask. If only the price was not prohibitive I'd buy a case of 6 in a heartbeat. “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)