Tastes

Nose: Sandalwood, cedarwood, brown sugar and sweat. Milder trace aromas of vanilla, cherries and popcorn. An unusual nose for a bourbon, but an attractive one for scotch drinkers. Palate: Sweet and full arrival (almost honey sweet) with a little heat. The fast-arriving development brings ginger spice that morphs into mild hot cinnamon towards the finish. There is an underlying buttery note that plays off against oak tannin to good effect. Finish: Medium. Turns a little bitter and sour in the aftertaste. A teaspoon of water brings out dusty corn and petrichor on the nose, which is pleasant, but it does not aid the palate at all. Dilution immediately robs the mouth-feel of heft, leaving it watery and limp but with the bitter spices still intact. Water is consequently not recommended, but maybe it would work with cola. Not a particularly complex whisky but not unpleasant either – however nothing stands out as noteworthy. I think its main strength would be as a mixer. Don’t expect a “classic“ bourbon profile because this has a lot of scotch personality, particularly in the nose. Is that from being pot-distilled? No – it’s just the profile the distillers decided to make. I’m guessing the mashbill is generous with the barley (that's where all the hot ginger is coming from, but it is not well contained). The spirit’s youth is unmistakable. Long maturation has issues in the Texas climate but a couple of years more in big casks might have produced an elegant whiskey. Overall it was OK but I won’t be replacing this bottle – for the same money I can buy much better whiskies. “Average” : 79/100 (2.75 stars)

Nose: Big, grassy and fruity with an almost Armagnac quality. Dark stewed fruits, orange juice concentrate, caramel, axle grease, banana bread. Some very good oak aromas, a hint of mint and a zephyr of freshly laundered linen. Palate: Rich, full, rounded, malty arrival. An almost meaty beef bouillon quality – Sunday roast with home made fruit chutney. Soft grains in the development and a strong earthy flavour from assertive oak tannins. A faint suggestion of citrus peel. The texture is perfection, mouth-coating but not at all cloying, with a touch of astringency. Un objet d’art. Finish: Medium/long. Dark chocolate and a touch of gingernut cookie. Lingering malty sweetness in the aftertaste. A delicious new-world style of single malt that reminds me a lot of some Australian and Indian single malts. Large, very “present” but not aggressive. There is no hint that this is 53% abv, in fact the alcohol is masterfully contained. If there is any sort of fault it is that the oak is just on the cusp of being too forward, but that’s part of the package. Rather than make a new entry I’ve added this to the generic listing for “Balcones Texas Single Malt Single Barrel French Oak 53%”. This particular bottle was from cask #9647, the juice was distilled on May 25th, 2017 and bottled February 5th, 2020 and it is non-chillflitered. How remarkable is the amount of maturity that can be crammed into a malt in less than 3 years of Texan warehousing, and how nerve-wracking a task must the cask-management be? I’d guess just a couple of weeks too long and this would be way over-oaked. (Hmm, I wonder what it would be like if it was aged for 10 years in a quiet Scottish dunnage 🙂) It ain’t scotch single malt by any stretch of the imagination but who cares – it’s wonderful stuff and good value. Normally AUD$150, I picked this one up for $99 and I wish now that I had bought two. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Nose: Restrained vanilla and berries. It reminds me of a vague waft from a coupe of vanilla ice cream topped with a red berry coulis. Palate: Sweet generic mild fruity arrival drifting towards brown sugar or caramel in the development and with a white pepper prickle towards the finish. The texture is watery. Finish: Very short, apart from some lingering pepper spice. A touch sour. Not very interesting – I was hoping for more from Loch Lomond. This is not at all what we usually think of when we hear the words “grain whisky”. Scottish grain is generally based on a wheat or corn mash (often Australian wheat as a matter of fact), but this is 100% malted barley and it is given a long fermentation. If it had been run through a pot still it would be a single malt, but instead it was distilled in a Coffey still which means by law it must be called “single grain”. It is being marketed as a mixing whisky for bar use and is transparently positioned against Monkey Shoulder and Naked Grouse. It's certainly not a sipping whisky. I’d say it has been designed to appeal to the white spirits crowd and to bartenders, but to be honest I was not that impressed by the taste. It's acceptable but I would not recommend it. Instead I’d direct you to Loch Lomond’s stablemate product “Reserve” blended scotch which offers more for about half the price, or to the other two big names in blended malt mentioned above. “Adequate” : 73/100 (2.25 stars)

Nose: Green apple skins, pears and grapefruit. A light grassy cereal note with a waft of flinty ethanol in the background. Palate: The thin arrival is built around crisp malty cereal flavours - it makes me imagine alcoholic corn flakes. There is not much development but a little sweetness does emerge, however more obvious is the ethanol presence which again pushes through, just as it does on the nose. The texture is very light. Finish: Short. Crisp cereal fading to a ginger and white pepper finale with that ethanol note still hanging around. Maybe this has changed since the official Distiller notes were posted but there is absolutely no hint of smoke in this at all and the contemporary bottling seems much lighter then the reviewer’s notes would indicate. This is a very young grain-heavy blend. It’s sippable, but no more so than any lower-middle shelf Irish or Scotch blend and the official rating seems overly generous. This is highball whisky, pure and simple, and it should be consumed that way, in which case it makes an enjoyable long drink that occupies the same niche as an Aperol spritz or a gin & tonic. The nose is light, unassuming but refreshing, and reminiscent of some of the lighter bodied Scottish blends like J&B or Cutty Sark. The palate is similar and offers just enough to make a tasty long drink with soda water over heaps of ice. I bought this on special for AUD$65, which was $10 off, and even at that price I would not call it great value. “Average” : 78/100 (2.75 stars)

Nose: Brown sugar, oak chips, vanilla, caramel. Cherries, orange zest and nuts in the background and a host of spicy aromas – this has a rye-dominant profile when neat. With water it softens and the fruity aromas come more to the fore. Palate: Sweet caramel in the entry rapidly gaining peppery cinnamon heat. Molasses, oak, vanilla, cloves, nutmeg and chewing tobacco all appear as it develops. Well balanced with an unctuous mouthfeel. It blooms with a dash of water. Finish: Medium. Creamy, leathery spices and some tannic crispness. A touch of caramel reappears in the aftertaste. A very agreeable bourbon that displays interesting balance and presence. I enjoyed it more when watered than neat, and found the magic point to be just under 50% abv. At this point a host of fruity notes (particularly black cherry) come cascading out. There is an amplification of caramel on the palate and this gives the texture a buttery quality, almost like butterscotch. Arguably it is less balanced with water, but I preferred it that way. The tightness of the neat spirit is relaxed and it feels more accommodating. Overall I enjoyed this and if it was at a more sensible price point I’d grab a bottle, however at the asking price of AUD$160 it’s just not worth it. As nice as it may be there are better bourbons for half as much. Tasted from a 15ml sampler. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Nose: Freshly fruity and fragrant. The usual suspect rye spices are present but it’s light and delicate with lifted citrus, pine forest and menthol/mint aromas. There’s also a ginger note and inhaling this is not unlike smelling alcoholic ginger ale. Palate: Spicy/sweet. A fruity arrival and also a flavour that is reminiscent of dark ale with honeyed malt-extract notes. The palate is subjectively heavier and “darker” than the nose, but that’s probably due to the moderately high abv. Peppermint, mint and pepper in the development. The texture is dry and a little hard, again probably due to the higher than usual alcohol level. Finish: Medium. Same as the developed palate, slowly fading to minty spices and peppercorns with a tannic tingle. Pleasant, but young and generic. I enjoyed it but the local price is absurdly high and I would never buy a whole bottle. I’ve also been spoiled lately as several Australian distilleries have been bringing out rye whisky over the last few years and any of them leaves this for dead, and at half the price. At the same price Peter Bignall is producing rye whisky in Tasmania at his "one-step-away-from-moonshine" distillery that is stunningly oblique and interesting, and that’s definitely not something I would ever say about Stellum. Perfectly OK, but only just above average, and not recommended due to the price. Tasted from a 15ml sampler. “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

Nose: Primarily a cereal and fruit nose, light and crisp with the cereal notes clearly articulated. Tropical and stone fruits (pineapple and peach) and dried figs. After a first taste some mild spice aromas are discerned and the sherry casks can be noticed after it has rested in the glass for a while. A touch of obvious alcohol is the only fault with the nose but this is banished with a dash of water. Palate: Well balanced, measured arrival. It’s slightly on the sweet side with fruit (peaches, pears, coconut) and gentle spices (cinnamon and ginger). The spicy aspect grows in the development but it is balanced by the sweet, jammy fortified wine cask influence and some vanilla from bourbon casks. Adding a half teaspoon of water does no damage at all – the palate remains essentially the same but is a little more subtle. The texture is very good – velvety and luxurious. Finish: Medium. Sweet spices and a little gingery heat fading into caramel. A delightful whisky that bears a resemblance to a cereal-forward highland malt – it’s not a million miles away from Glencadam in character. There is an interesting story to this whisky. Back in the early 2000s a distillery called Nant was founded in Tasmania. The owner, whether by design or bad management, ended up swindling a host of investors, tradespeople, creditors etc. and the distillery eventually collapsed into bankruptcy. He disappeared leaving a lot of unpaid bills and angry peopel in his wake, plus a few hundred casks of whisky (where there was supposed to be thousands). The distillery was bought out and the new owners assessed the remaining casks but decided they were of little value. The original investors were resigned to heavy losses but then Peter Bignell of Belgrove Distillery stepped in. He put together a consortium called Remnant (Rem-Nant, get it?) to buy the old stock at good prices with a view to further maturation, re-casking and blending. This expression “The Scoundrel” (in honour of the original owner) was the first single malt to be released by Remnant. They have since released “Black Spot”, “Fly by Night” and others. There is nothing in particular to fault about this whisky and Peter has done an excellent job of blending several “difficult” casks to produce something that is more than the sum of its parts. However that said, while it is a good whisky it is not a great one – just good. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)