Tastes

There are only really two whisk(e)y distilleries to be taken seriously in Western Australia. Theres Limeburners that operate out of the far south of the state and then there is metropolitan Whipper Snapper. I always liken Whipper Snappers core line up to American Bourbon. After all WS utilise a predominantly corn mash bill and age their spirit in virgin American Oak for 2 years and a day. The standard offerings from Whipper Snapper are their ‘Crazy Uncle Moonshine’ a new make white spirit, the Crazy Uncle Moonshine Barrel Aged, and then Upshot and Upshot cask strength. Recently they have started playing with different wood finishes including a French oak and a Hungarian oak, and made a few different grain whiskyes including a red corn, a quinoa, and this wheat whisky. Shockingly, until 18 months ago my lab was less than 100 m further along the street from here… but last night I went for my second tour of the place since 2018. Got a tasting flight of Quinoa, Wheat, Cask Strength and Red Corn. Sadly, I was rushed to finish my last two before the cocktail class I was there for started. So I’m not going to give notes on those two just now. I will have to head back soon with more time on my hands and do those again. For now though, here is Whipper Snapper Wheat Whiskey. I am led to believe that this is Australia’s first wheat whiskey. I suspect it may also be the only Australian Wheat Whisky. The owners of WS have strong links to Western Australian agriculture and they source their wheat from what is essentially their home towns given them wonderful provenance of this whiskey. In this bottle is the result of distilling a Hard Red Winter Wheat from near Narrogin in Western Australia’s wheat belt. The grain is high in protein and offers silky soft, honey rich characteristics. Aged for longer than the normal offerings, this clocks in at four years from Char #3 Virgin American White Oak barrels. N: Dust. The first and most obvious note is quite literally dust. Open a fresh bag of porridge oats, the meally dust at the bottom of the bag; thats what we open on here. I don’t dislike it, but its odd enough that I can’t quite get around it. Moving past dust there is a hay barn (I guess that’s a different kind of dust) but a little floral perfume wafts in. It’s very delicate and more than a whisper about it will scare it off. Brown sugar adds a little sweetness like the back of my wife baking shelves in the pantry. The dust is strong here, but behind that is something very delicate and quite refined. P: Not what I was expecting. Thick, luscious, and creamy with a little oiliness that sticks to the mouth. There is a big dollop of rum and raisin ice-cream, lashings of maple syrup, vanilla and caramels, a little perfumed wood and a little baking spice of some description, I’m not sure quite what. Nothing is subtle, nothing works on its own. Everything blends together, and whilst not overly complex or deep, everything is well done and works together excellently. F: medium-short. Thick and coating. Churned honey (almost a savoury rather than sweet honey), dome dried fruit and a little cherry. I think WS have done a great job here. They have focused on a simple premise; locally sourced, homegrown simplicity. No getting carried away with 27 different grains all malted separately and batted under a shooting star whilst Neptune is in retrograde. None of this pretentious crap that seems to be gripping Australia. A single grain, a single high quality cask. Leave it alone for four years in a warehouse on the edge of the city, let it experience temperature of 0 C to +40 C and enjoy what comes out in good company. I think this ranks easily alongside Archie Rose Malted Rye as an outstanding grain whisky. Perhaps not quite as exciting and flavourful, but still very good none the less albeit an extra $20 more expensive. I highly recommend giving this a shot (pun intended) if you get the chance. Also, for what its worth they were awards the world whisky award this year for best single grain, single cask. Make of that what you will. Distiller whisky taste #109

This is an updated tasting. I first had this limited edition (~3000 bottles) in an event offered by Australian “The Whisky Company” under the guise of “Age of Distinction Isle of Arran virtual tasting”. The tasting had seven 15 ml samples, Arran 10, 18, 21, 25, this 15 Bordeaux, 15 Argonne and a Machrie Moor. As the fifth sample of the night, and under the romantic notion of something very rare I think I may have been overly generous with the meagre sample I tried. I loved the Argonne on the night and wanted to explore it more, so tracked down a bottle. The Bordeaux didn’t capture me as much, but I was curious to give it a proper shot and the opportunity presented to get a 30 ml sample. The big difference here, the sample didn’t come in a juice bag like last time. It came in a glass bottle. Much better cricket. N: Very oily, a little subdued generic red jam, a hint of very squishy almost fermented banana, a little cheap plastic-cola (the knock off brands, not Coca Cola; and flat cola at that). P: Drying oak arrival, very wood forward rather than creamy or buttery (which is the note I like from French oak; the Chardonnay wood finish). Vanilla is subtle and comes forward more notably over successive sips. The Arran staple ginger adds warmth and a little zing. Some of the banana comes out as does some walnut-oily notes. The texture becomes a little more full but its still wrapped in dry tannins. The fruity sweetness is subdued. I recall a stronger red fruit profile, but i don’t get it now and its not as “popping” as I had it described from last time around. Dare I say it, I think Arran have delivered an OK to good palate. Nothing actually to write home about. At 52.8% I think this should do more, no? F: Medium. A little cushiony softness but it is then immediately into dryness and astringency. The wood flavour on the exit is pleasant enough and there may be a berry fruit sweetness that arrives too little and too late. A few drops of water and I find more of the berries, a little sourness possibly moving into cherry territory, and a sense of a buttery oak comes out. Much better than I recall from last time. I notice now that the water has made whats in the glass turbid and cloudy, like scrumpy cider from the old country. Water does interesting things here, the tannic dryness is subdued, buttery oak comes out, ginger becomes much sharper but with less heat. Malty, yeasty thickness develops. All sense of fruit is gone and mashed banana is the main sweetness. Finish becomes gingery warmth and thats about it. Overall I affirm and double down on my previous statement that this spent much too long in contact with the French oak. the liquid is ultimately unbalanced and confused. I really don’t know what its trying to accomplish or where its trying to go. Everything is pulling in different directions, nothing is coming together to deliver what I have come to expect of Arran: excellence. Arran will always hold a special place in my heart. It was where I took my very first geology field trip 20 years ago. Not long after the distillery opened, probably around when this stuff was laid down actually. I have loved all of the younger NAS age statement Arran’s but this retasting has raised two important questions for me: (1) will 15 ml ever be sufficient to actually taste and emote with a whisky, and (2) what is the effect of juice bagging a whisky sample over glass bottling? Please do discuss in the comments. Previously rated at 4.0/5.0. Now, down to 3.0/5.0. I would have gone 2.75, but there is a lot of interest here that makes me want to drink it, nothing is off-putting, so it can take 3 stars. 
*** 7th July 2022 Fifth 15 ml sample of the night (5/7) N- walnut oiliness, banana?, dried fruits, a savoury something (not sure what, but its good!). Dark fruits come out with more time in glass. P- oak is magic, figs and dried fruits, almonds, pastry, vanilla. Damn, flavours are popping! F- slightly soft and spicy, ginger again (clearly an arran staple), lingering jamminess and a few tannins. Has it spent TOO long in this cask? possibly… probably. The oak is punching hard for sure, but; I’m not complaining. I would go as far to say that it lacks balance, but the cask is supremely showcased. Distiller whisky taste #41

My fourth offering from Launceston Distillery, and I have arrived at what I suspect will be the best representative of the “core spirit” without strong assaults from typhoons of Apera or Tawny, and no heavy European oak tannins. I have again created a new entry here for this juice, albeit just a 30 ml sample of yet another astoundingly rare single cask. Using Tasmanian malted barley and pure river water this offering was matured in nine small American oak ex bourbon casks before vatting together and marrying ahead of bottling. Double distilled and non-chill filtered with another impressive cask strength ABV of 62%. N: light and bright. Honey, a slightly sour pear. Very slight hint of freshly cut grass and maybe some honeydew melon/ gooseberry. Very white wine like I think. Given enough huffing and puffing a tiny drizzle of caramel, but its hit and miss and I can’t consistently find it. The nose here is very timid and really doesn’t want to come out and play, but, what is here is razor sharp and precise. P: oh that is light and summery… initially very soft and gentle with a ginger warmth that builds gradually. Vanilla joins the discussion along with honey and crisp pear from the nose. A few sips in and the barely is apparent with just a slightly drying spectre of wood. A creamy mouth feel that slightly impresses the 63% ABV after a few sips. F: Medium. Barley sugar, ginger, a little cinnamon or allspice are all wrapped up in more light honey. A few drops of water open the nose wonderfully. The vanilla comes out, there is a lovely creme caramel kind of vibe going on and some of the pear and grass notes have kind of merged into a sour melon type of thing. Its interesting. The malt is much more obvious too. The palate broadens those winey nose vibes come on a bit further now, there is the gooseberry (I guess slightly unripe orchard fruits?), the wood tannin is slightly more apparent and a much more bourbon forward vanilla-caramel is starting to really make its self known until it becomes slightly warm and toasty. Excellent stuff. The finish is slightly tempered. This was pretty much what I expected, it drank like one of my staples, Limeburners American Oak. The Limeburners is a little less complex but its also a heck of a lot cheaper. Limeburners AO is $140/700 ml, this Launceston Distillery is $235/500 ml which is about $340 if it were a full size bottle. Yes, the LD is 63% versus the LB which is 43%, but the marginally improved complexity hasn’t made it any more enjoyable. O.K. it’s got the edge in a purely objective show down between two very comparable spirit forward Australian whiskys, but I’m not going to go out of my way to take up shelf space here. I’ve enjoyed my mini Tasmanian foray, certainly Launceston Distillery are doing very good things in Hangar-17. And, when I eventually get over to Tassie I’ll definitely be stopping in. After all it is just opposite the airport, so it would be rude not to. [Pictured here with stichtite from the early Palaeozoic stichtite serpentinites of Dundas Tasmania. Stichtite is only known from 14 locations globally. One of these locations is Dundas in Tasmania. A fittingly rare mineral, from the island that produced this rare liquid] Price is for a 500 ml bottle. Distiller whisky taste #108

This is now my third offering from Lauceston Distillery, and the natural progression to go to from the “Apera Assault”. Today, we go for a Tawny typhoon. As for the Apera casking I have created a new entry here. The different releases are slightly variable with this one aged in small (100 L) French oak casks which previously held Tawny fortified wine. Tawny is in essence Australian Port for anyone not paying attention at the back of the class. A powerful single cask (#003), cask strength offering with a belting 63.5% ABV. Apparently this is only the third 100 litre cask ever filled at Launceston Distillery and guaranteed to be five years old. N: strong port aromas are tucked away under a slight mustiness, leather and a hint of tobacco. Ground coffee, oak, caramel and a little chocolate combine to make this a decadent and thick nose. Dry glass at the end of this is a return to mustiness, leather, and that tobacco again. P: thick and heavy with a good deal of dry heat. The classic Port profile of Christmas pudding and dried fruit are wonderfully apparent but they are delivered with a creamy oak texture and buttery moreish flavour like you would expect from the best wooded chardonnay. Rich dark fruit, bitter sweet chocolate, and chewy caramel are decadently syrupy and rich. Despite the heft of 63.5% ABV this feels controlled and succulent with an enticing depth of character. Over time I find a little ginger to the spiciness and some brown sugars move forward. F: Long. The warmth of this is lovely it doesn’t move into prickly or spicy territory. The heat is all ginger with a wonderful exit taste of milk chocolate, soft oak, and a treacle like sweetness. A hefty splash of water lets the nose soften into the caramel and leather, which is fitting as I melt back into the new leather arm chairs that now adorn my rock room. The palate also softens, the dry heat fades and the mouth coating velvety caramel comes to play. Chocolate fans rejoice. Chardonnay fans, commiserations, the oak didn’t like water. The finish becomes all about the chocolate and a transition from treacle to more of a golden syrup. Perhaps a half teaspoon would be fine to meet everything in the middle. Tawny typhoon. I’m coining it here and now. What a powerhouse of rich depth and flavour. I think the Apera was the little brother of the family that just towed the middle ground in a high performing family. Not bad, but not the star. Tawny typhoon here, boom. I know nothing about the Australian Tawny industry, but I suspect the liquid that was originally in this barrel was something equally impressive to behold. The casking has been exceptional, no rough edges. Perfectly moderated French Oak that contributes without being overly domineering but enough interest and intrigue to take this that bit beyond the typical port casked whisky competitors and push it beyond the territory of “good”. With only 157 bottles released this is a real Tasmanian rarity that I have been fortunate to try, and I doubt we will ever see another taste on this app. Should you get the chance though, take it. Well worth the dive into its thick depths. [Pictured here with a ~480-440 million year old stichtite serpentinite, or atlantisite to any crystal healing hippies out there. Serpentinite is a hydrothermally metamorphosed ultramafic rock (from the mantle) that in this instance is packed with pretty lilac coloured stichtite. Stichtite is only known from 14 locations globally. One of these locations is Dundas in Tasmania. A fittingly rare rock type, from the island that produced this rare liquid] Price is for a 500 ml bottle. Distiller whisky tasting #107

I had my first Launceston Distillery offering a few weeks back. An ultra limited sample from what was just 60 available bottles. Short story of the review I posted, excellent. I have managed to get my hands on three further offerings, all as 30 ml samples including this Apera cask version. I have created a new entry here for two reasons. Firstly, the different releases are slightly variable with both American and French oak ex-Apera available. Secondly, whoever added the first listing butchered it. With some degree of confidence (I made the entry before sampling…) I now give to you my notes on the Launceston Distillery Apera Cask Matured, Tasmanian Single Malt batch H17-41. From the distillery’s website: “This elegant whisky was matured in 2 ex-South Australian Apera casks (Cask 006 and 007) that were previously used to age Apera fortified wine (Australian style sherry) for a minimum of 5 years and 10 months. These 2 casks were bought together and allowed to marry for 2 months before being bottled at 46%, our standard ABV strength. This full flavoured whisky was double distilled and is non-chill filtered to retain depth of character.” N: The nose is big right off the mark. Fifteen minutes idly sitting contemplating the world hasn’t changed the character. This is thick and luscious to the nose, rich in dried fruits that lean towards sultana. The thickness seems to come from vanilla toffee or caramel. Dry oaky tannin and a very light clove spiciness. There is a leathery opulence thats quite lovely too. P: Oily and rich. A very bold heavy weight palate that remains soft and velvety after the initial oily richness clears. Dark chocolate provides both sweet and balancing bitterness, sherry fruit flavours are pretty classic but are layered with more of an orchard fruit character. There is a dark honey and a late lift from a floral note that keeps things a little more interesting than a simple sherry bomb (or as I recently saw renamed; Apera assault). The oak is slightly over done though making this just a shade too tannic. F: Medium. Oak is the dominant influencer with drying tannins, figgy sweetness and a gentle baking spice to pepperiness. There is a lovely syrupy clinginess to the final exit that is rich and intense. Again though, just a little too tannic. A few drops of water and whilst the nose stays the same the palate changes quite a lot. There is a salted caramel character that comes forward and the spices develop into cinnamon and nutmeg (I think?, Spices are more readily standing on their own in any case), and an orange oil comes forward to. The finish stays oaky and drying. My last Launceston was a mixed wood casking with American ex-Bourbon and French ex Tawny (Australian Port). That was better balanced with a greater depth of flavour. I think I can pull the similarities through the honey and toffee but this Apera feels uniquely different none the less. On the spectrum of sherried Scotch, the Apera cask has a few nice novelties, the leather and the floral note, that lets it speak for itself. Clean and well made, albeit slightly too long in the oak, this is a quality Tassie whisky that I could happily have on my shelf, if not for the high price tag. [Pictured here with a classic Tasmanian mineral, Crocoite. This orange beauty is a rare lead-chromate mineral formed as a secondary replacement of ultramafic rocks. From the famous Adelaide Mine in Dundas and with a genesis dating back around 485-444 million years] [Cost is for 500 ml] Distiller whisky taste #106

A generous pour from my neighbour. I had tried this quite some time ago, but failed to write anything down about it. So it’s good to come back and see what’s going on here. I like the notion of a “scientific whisky” but all whisky is chemistry really so this does have a marketing over substance feel to it. N: Crisp, juicy and bright. The nose feels clean and delivers a fairly straightforward soft peat with a little campfire and apricot sweetness. Simple and too the point. Well done, but nothing to write home about. P: Heavy, granular texture. Dry peat that reminds me of a stubble field (harvested wheat) in dry hot summer. There’s a toasty vanilla, some struck matches, and some subtle orange oil spritz (maybe). Water is needed in my opinion it softens the grainy feel brings forward lots of ashy smoke (this tastes a little like a wood smoke now instead of a peat smoke) and unlocks some malty character. F: The finish is a mild reflection of the palate that is exiting to vanilla and ashy peat. A little pepperiness too. It’s medium, but then it’s gone. It gives me flash backs of my judo days. One second your upright next thing you know you are staring up at the ceiling wondering what just happened. In a flash, this is but a memory. I don’t really get the point of this. It’s ok. Nothing is particularly wrong with it, except maybe what I found to be an initially granular texture. As I adjusted to the ashy peat though, I acclimatised and that texture lessened. I really don’t get the point though. There is no real character, it’s not a competitive price point. Nothing new is offered by the “science based” approach and smoke and sweet ppm branding. Simply put, it’s boring. Distiller whisky taste #105

I recently managed to pick up a bottle of the Diageo 2021 Talisker 8. Excellent liquid that exceeded my expectations. I was a little sad that I wasn’t able to get my hands on the Lagavulin 12 though. I have heard nothing but excellent things about it. So, managing to get my hands on a 30 ml sample I was very excited to get to try this after all. N: Fresh, vibrant, aromatic, and whistle clean. There is no notion that 56.7% ABV lurks in the glass, I am breathing this in deeply with no burn. Beautifully balanced. baked lemon and briny salt-spray soaked old barrels. There is soft vanilla, a waxiness, and restrained, gentle, peaty-iodine. If no one has heard from me in a while after posting this review then don’t worry, for I have fallen face first into this whisky and drowned. It’s not my favourite nose ever, but it has me in its beguiling grasp anyway. I want more. (Pro tip: don’t ever wash out the empty glass. Charcoal embers and ash are just another element hiding away to discover.) P: An oil slick that sticks and clings to the palate, like an old salty sea captain tarring his decks. Preserved lemon is tart and bright, salt is that from a tray of oysters. Honeyed burnt ends right off the charcoals. Thick warming smoke with leather and pepper in its depths. Toffee cream rounds and softens, before a slightly drying wood or maybe its the smoke, perhaps its barrel char, dries things back slightly. There are endless layers here, I can barely keep up, and at this point I don’t want to. Let this wash me away, I am here for the ride. F: Medium and dry. Pepper, a gentle medicinal background, and the smoke from seawater splashing onto the beach side fire. Water is like a cheat code unlocking all the good stuff with no effort. The nose gains weight and fullness with more lemon upfront. The palate thickens gaining creamy depths with new sweetness and more vanilla. But the drying smoke and oily brine go nowhere. The finish lightens and slightly lengthens with a tiny sweetness. The layers upon layers upon layers of flavour and texture are incredible. How something this big can be equally delicate and precise is just a masterstroke. I am not an artist but I’m reminded of sitting in Les Salles Rouges in the Louvre many years ago. A little overwhelmed, I stood looking up at the enormous canvases. I particularly remember “The Coronation of Napoleon”. That painting is about 6 x 10 m. It is huge, dominating, and with so much depth and complexity you barely know where to look. Yet, when you do look there are details upon details upon yet more hidden details. At some point, you just have to stop, step back and just appreciate the grandeur. Take it all in. And be amazed. I have to say, I personally prefer the T8 counterpart from the 2021 special release series. But, I think this L12 is objectively better. I cannot nit pick a fault. I can’t say a negative thing about it. Ive come back to this review on the 22/09/2023 thanks to a sample from @cascode. I’ve removed my former “fault” of saying it doesn’t capture my imagination. It absolutely does as I have been taken back to Les Sallee Rouges and the sheer impressiveness of this liquid deserves the full 5 stars. 
[Islay is all about peat. I was going to picture this pour with a lump of peat rich lignite. But that felt cheap and easy. Instead, this whisky on the rocks is brought to you by a fossiliferous sandstone from the Carboniferous (~320-300 Ma) of Fife nr. Edingburgh, Scotland. The fossils here are of the leaves from a Sigilaria lycopod, keeping a tenuous peat theme going!] Distiller whisky taste #104

Something tells me that I’ll be the only person to leave notes for this strange concoction… Starward are just about the biggest producers of Australian Whisky to the wider world. They have done some OK stuff. They’ve also done some bad stuff that they then gave away for free (maple cask that I tasted earlier this year). They’ve even managed to clean up at the SFWSC competition this year taking out “most awarded distillery” with eight double golds. Are they that good, really? Everything I’ve tasted so far leads me to think, probably not. Starward have a ‘small batch series’ where they try out experimental new expressions like ginger beer cask and the failed maple syrup cask. This is their third release, the Hungarian Oak. Starward released just 1200 bottles of this liquid matured in ex-Hungarian oak red wine casks and charred Hungarian oak casks. The Hungarian Oak is a blend of three barrels. Two were fresh fill barrels filled in January 2016 at Essendon Fields distillery. The third barrel was filled in August 2017 at Port Melbourne and then transferred into a charred Hungarian oak in 2019. It was blended in August 2021 making it under four years old. Not wanting to risk buying a bottle, I tracked down a 30 ml sample. N: drying woody notes are dominant, syrupy thick blackcurrant, big huffs and there is a plastic vanilla that isn’t particularly fun; I’m glad its hidden so well. Faintest banana. Maybe some really generic baking spice. To be honest this is somewhat dull. P: Oh man that sucks the moisture off your tongue. Have you ever licked chalk or clay? Your tongue will stick to it like crazy. Once this stuff exits your mouth, your tongue and roof of mouth feel like they are being vacuumed into another dimension. Possibly the most astringent thing I’ve ever drunk. After that distraction I’m finding mocha with pleasant bitter-sweetness, toffee, nutmeg and a solid roasted oak heft. Blackcurrant and maybe a little raisiny fruit. F: Medium-long. Led by pepper and oak tannins with a little vanilla toffee. Leads to more astringency though. I hit this with a liberal splash of water. At 50% and how drying this palate is I figured the water was warranted. A good move. The nose doesn’t move much for me. But the palate relaxes, the desert air that removes all mention of moisture (and your soul) has chilled out and turned into a thickly creamy mouthfeel. If I didn’t know better I could be made to believe this is weird wooded chardonnay. Slightly nutty, the mocha is less prominent, banana has entered the chat and the dark fruits have combined into a single generic lifting sweetness. I’m liking this now. If I could churn this into butter I would liberally apply it to bread and likely be very happy. Finish has moved to a soft buttery toffee with less aggressive tannins. This was my first outing with Hungarian Oak, and I didn’t know what to expect. The higher proof opening on the palate here did not work for me. The spirit and the wood did not play well in my book. But, tempered with a good bit of water things started to get along better. I have had a fair bit of French Oak of late and that is definitely the silkier and creamier brethren to the roasty weight that Hungarian wood throws in here. Very much a barrel driven whisky. The red wine flavours that Starward espouse as the principal profile that unites their offerings plays second fiddle here, maybe even third or fourth fiddle, the oak is just that big. More careful balance and Starward might have been onto a winner for me. Double gold at SFWSC, I now have no idea what that means. I give it an interesting and middle of the pack medal and a good effort sticker. [Pictured here with an Emerald Phlogopite Schist from Kagem’s Fibolele mine in Zambia that has its origins dating back over 1.7 billion years. No particular reason, I just had it out this evening and its pretty] Distiller whisky taste #103

Whilst hunting for my #100 taste, the Port Charlotte CC:01, I came very close to giving up the hunt to find a bottle. In my despair I looked for any closely comparable bottling that had spent its full maturation in Congac casks. I could find none. Two that did stand out to me though were the Chivas Regal XV which is purportedly finished in Grand Champagne Cognac casks (I suspect for about five minutes); and then this recently released Balvenie 16 French Oak (…about 15 minutes). At around AUD$350 for a bottle down under I was not going to buy one. But snatching up a 30 ml sample. I was all in. A week later I bagged the PC CC:01. How serendipitous indeed. I have always liked Balvenie well enough and recently they do seem to be putting out some fairly interesting releases with various ‘story elements’ to them. Although I am yet to try more than the Caribbean Cask. This rendition is apparently the product of 16 years in American Oak with an unspecified finish in ex Pineau des Charentes French Oak. This odd liquid was entirely new to me but is apparently an unfermented grape juice, mixed with Cognac eau-de-vie and then matured in French Oak barrels. Huzzah I rejoiced. A high end cognac finish perhaps worthy of filling the then unfollows PC CC:01 hole in my tastebuds/heart. N: Off the bat is a strong apple cider, possibly even apple cider vinegar. It’s quite powerful as an acidic-sweet opener. A little ginger becomes apparent before I find a tiny hint of nuttiness. Eventually the honey-malt permeates through. There is something vaguely sour in here as well, but overall it is sweet and bold. Oakiness presents itself after a sip. P: Creamy, thick and slightly oily texture. The oak has imparted a wooded chardonnay butteriness that carries with it woody spice, lashings of honied malt and sticky candied fruit sweetness. In a single word this is: rich. The oak is well measured, it stays away from the musty and astringent over oaked notes that are so easy to introduce with European oak. As this sits I find a really beautiful and delicate perfume note, imagine lavender scones, its just a feint hint of flowers. The reasonable proof kicks a little with pepper heat. F: Short-medium. Nutty-vanilla. Quite drying, with a little toasty malt and pepper yexit. Adding a few drops of water calms the bite, and allows some of the American Oaks vanilla influence to come through on the palate and softens the sweetness on the nose a little. First things first. The PC CC:01 did not prepare me for this. No, this isn’t peated, but the effect of the pseudo-Cognac casks on this liquid is much sweeter and much more oaky for having spent comparatively the tiniest fraction of time in French Oak. These two Cognac cask whiskies are incomparable. The classic malty, honey, and unobtrusive flavours of Speyside are here and they do work well with the sticky fruits and woody creaminess. But, this is bordering on being an after dinner desert rather than a classic whisky. At least to me. The end of my dram and I am finding I don’t have a clearly defined stand out flavour. Perhaps I’m being too harsh, perhaps not. If that floral-perfume note that flittered in and out of existence was ever present then this would be on my purchase list. Without it though, for me, this is very interesting and only just above good. Now pass me the monkeys shoulder. [In keeping with the French Oak Casking we have here a Limestone from the Eocene (53 million years old) of Aisne, France. This limestone is packed with the (giant) shells of the single celled organism Nummulites Laevigatus, a marine foraminifera]. Distiller whisky taste #102

My father in law was bought a bottle of D12 for his birthday. He opened it a few weeks ago, and a few nights ago (2-Nov 2022) I was present for the bottle kill. My FIL loves this stuff, apparently more than I realised! Luckily he had a back up bottle as well. I add now that the difference between a 95% empty bottle with two weeks lingering at the bottom was not any different to a newly cracked bottle. Good start. N: initially this is weak and flat but time in the glass does benefit greatly. Rich dried fruit and a sharp spritz of bitter orange (marmalade). Oily coffee and nuts with some subtle hints of malt. It needs the time to come through though. P: Creamy thick mouth feel which overtime reveals plenty of caramel and toffee. Coffee bitterness is here along with dark fruits and chocolate. Vibrancy comes from baking spices and a little citrus zest. Despite creamy and vibrant flavours and textures there is a surprising dryness here also that stems from some emergent oakiness. F: Medium. Creamy toffee and slight vanilla enter with the oakiness of the palate. A little warmth high and back in mouth comes through and exits to drying tannic notes. Initially pleasant and straight forward if given a little time to sit. The D12 definitely has some well rounded and solid flavours but they are a little muted and shy. I do wonder why for such an expensive bottle this is released at 40%, just a few points higher at 43% or even 46% and things would undoubtedly lift and enrich. Shame. Whilst this is a classic profile in terms of a sherried whisky, there are additional caramel and toffee notes that add creamy mouthfeel and a different spectrum of sweetness. Stopping sweetness and richness getting to carried away is tannic drying oakiness. Sadly though, for me, the oak notes go a little to far in closing and bring this down just a touch from where I think it should be. Again, higher proof may fix that. I recently had my first Dalmore, the Cigar Malt Reserve. I thought that was decadent and rich and had a little more oomph than this D12. Similarly as simple as the D12 the CMR is objectively better, but its also another ~AUD$75 locally for me. The extra 4% ABV on the CMR is probably the step up you are experiencing over the D12. I wouldn’t actually buy either myself though, they just don’t live up to the cost. Distiller whisky taste #101