Tastes

Wow, two weeks get around to the second in five from Tasmania’s Spring Bay distillery. Still, here now and taking some time to work through what I suspect is going to be a heavy hitting dram. Distilled in 2016 this NAS offering was matured in ex-Tawny (Aussie Port) French Oak and bottled at 58% ABV. Not cheap at $235 but at least its a 700 ml which keeps it relatively competitive in the Aus market. This pour is from cask #138. N: This is instantly a rich and velvety whisky, beautiful toffee-butterscotch and sweet stewed plums and strawberries. Slight acidity and a refreshing herbal spice note of menthol and anise. Although thick and heavy, this is still inviting and taking me towards a Christmas invocation. P: Surprisingly gentle there is a generous brown sugar dose that turns towards a darker caramel. Plums and dates join with deep spices of clove, cinnamon and warming pepper. The oak is tannic and a little drying but compliments well. The palate develops into something chewier and sweeter, stewed pears and honey perhaps. The high ABV keeps things interesting and releases the profile slowly and with consideration. F: Long. Dark cherry, a slightly bitter dark chocolate-mocha note and more tannic spices. A dash of water brings some youth back to the nose, the alcohol becomes a little acetone-y but also unlocks a little of the underlying malt character, not as gristy as in the bourbon cask, but slightly youthful none the less. The palate becomes quite thin and loses richness and, sadly, character. Much more menthol and anise heading into the finish. There is a new rhubarb and custard vibe thats a little vibrant but otherwise water didn’t do this any favours for me. I am a sucker for a port cask, and whilst I acknowledge that over casking can result in too much of a port driven liquid, this stays inside the goal posts for a balanced spirit-cask offering. I quite like this but wouldn’t stretch to buy a bottle as I think it lacks the nuance the VFM that is offered by, for instance; Arran Port Cask. Still, good to get a dram in this fortnight! Probably see whoever is still kicking around in another two weeks! Distiller whisky taste #234 [Pictured here with a Pudding Stone for this portly desert of a dram. This is an ~55 million year old siliceous-conglomerate from Hertfordshire in the UK. The rock formed as a shore deposit; a bed of pebbles that was infiltrated by silica rich waters. A major control on the formation of silica cements is silica dissolution due to temperature change. This Puddingstone is from close to the time of the “Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum” when average global temperatures were 8 °C hotter than today. The PETM trigger is attributed to uplift associated with the onset of the mantle plume that created Iceland. Thermal pulses from the Iceland Plume also caused shifts in sea levels and pumping of waters through sedimentary basins.⁣ So, a mantle plume underneath Iceland led to the heating of seawater that caused silica dissolution, and helped drive thesilica-saturated fluids through shore-line pebble deposits that sat in a sedimentary basin underneath a 55 million year old land surface, eventually cementing them into this conglomerate.] Spring Bay running scores: Bourbon Cask: 3.5/5 The Rheban: 3.25/5

Haven’t had much time for considered whisky tastings of late, but have, for a long time now been looking forward to this series from Tasmania’s Spring Bay Distillery. SB was established in 2015 from exclusively Tasmanian barley and rain water. The coastal location of the distillery is alleged to afford a sweet salinity to the rainwater. This dram is from an ex-Makers Mark bourbon cask (#137). I have nonidea what the cask variability is like, but in the absence of an offical listing I’m dropping this one here to avoid rouge reveiws. N: A soft and creamy vanilla creme brûlée, coconut, and a lightly vegetal or herbaceous gristiness. The nose feels quite young with a little alcohol presence. Time in glass doesn’t do much at all. P: Surprisingly thick and full with a peppery alcohol up front. Bright and sweet, toffee, lots of barely sugar malt, pencil shavings and a grilled fruit compote of peaches, coconut, and caramel. This is young, but; balances sweet and savoury really well with a complex texture driven by creaminess and tannins. Importantly, there is a great lick of salt that makes up for any young edges. F: Long. Salted caramel, pepper, oaky tannins. A good opening gambit from the east coast Tassie distillery. A solid distillate presence, but perhaps a little too much barrel tannin. The salty element here, if it runs through their other expressions runs serious risk of being addictive (and expensive!) From a bright and sweet opening, the flavours build across the palate to a rich, clean crescendo culminating in a big, warm comforting glow. Distiller whisky taste #233 [Pictured here with a large lump of Mowbowra Conglomerate from Exmouth, Western Australia. This rock is comprised of limestone and coral pebbles formed as foreshore beach deposits as interglacial river discharges flowed over exposed limestone terraces 240,000-170,000 years ago]. Spring Bay running scores: Bourbon Cask: 3.5/5

N: A thick, cereal laden and slightly creamy bouquet. Powerful medley of gristy malting, dusty porridge oats, brown sugar and some creamy vanillin. This is thick and full, the high proof is a little subdued by the cereals dominance but does just sneak in. Ten minutes later (on good advice) and there is a delicate peat smoke and subtle aromatic-herbal presence. P: No surprises - malt. A complex and refined malt though, this has the heft of a tea biscuit with the sweetness of a barley sugar hard candy and the creaminess of butterscotch. Apple crispness with a sticky caramel at the edges. Peat smoke is warm but remains in the background with a menthol palate cleansing lift. F: Ludicrously long. Oak tannins are spicy, peat smoke is ashy. Menthol and mint is powerful and refreshing. @cascode, you are yet again too kind. A generously shared dram gratefully received. And thank you for the recommendation that this needs a long time to develop in the glass and that water is the cheat code needed to unlock this. So, thats what I’ve done. N: A hit of water demonstrates how compressed this nose was, everything has lengthened and released a slight sweet-hay and lanolin aroma, the peat is delicate, floral and ever so distant is some anise. P: Peat is brought right up to the front and it brings with it a stewed plum spiced with white pepper, ginger, and citrus zest. The malt is still there but it is lighter and maybe even a touch darker? Like a biscuit cooked past blonde. F: Much the same save for the salivation that the juicy apple and menthol brings out. Fifteen minutes later and I can still feel a slightly ashy, peppery, and freshly grated cinnamon playing on my palate. This is a big, and seemingly simple whisky on first approach. And not treated with care and patience, one to easily overlook, Yet, for a high proof liquid there is a lovely distillate driven delicacy that is at odds with its ABV. A remarkably well made, surgically clean, and confident entry from a tiny Australian distillery. Distiller whisky taste #232 [Pictured here with a message from the mantle. Transported to the surface in volcanic lavas (commonly basalts), mantle xenoliths (foreign rocks) are chunks of solidified mantle. The Earth’s mantle is full of olivine and so these xenoliths are typically comprised of bright green olivine and some minor black pyroxenes. This mantle xenolith surrounded by black basalt is from Tenerife.]

Still working my way through the generous package sent by the great @cascode. Tonight, my first Ardnamurchan. Racked out of fifty barrels in September 2022 and created from 94% peated malt, this one should be a smoky beast. The other 6% is an unseated sherry cask aged malt. The maturation regime for the bulk of this liquid was 88% Bourbon wood with the remainder sherry casks. N: 58.4% lets itself be known but not in an obtrusive way. Bright crunchy orchard fruit, a slightly sweaty smoked cheese, fresh oysters, oaky vanillin, slightest suggestion of lemon. P: Bracing. Big oakiness, huge peppery spice, briny and slightly waxy smoke wrap around toffee and a slight berry freshness. F: Medium. Slightly grainy texture unfolds rife with ash and pepper and salt. In the notes @cascode sent me was the comment “this loves and needs water and a long time to rest before it wakes up”. I will comply, because my word the first few sips of this were intense and just blasted through my palate masking what I suspect are some lovely notes. I’ve given this dram about a teaspoon of water and left it to mellow for ten minutes. N: Brighter, lighter. A delicate perfume and oily wood fragrance comes out the smoke unfolds and adds a soft warmth vanilla pushes more towards caramel and the slightly sweaty cheese is gone. Marshmallow and strawberries and cream hard candy. A slightly mineral element to the maritime influence evolves, taking this from oysters to salty beach pebbles. P: Is this the same whisky? Not as forceful but owning its presence. A lovely wooded chardonnay creaminess to the wood is blended with prickly black pepper turning to vibrant red chilli. Dry tea and tobacco, a sweet brown sugar crystallises at the margins. Some crispy bacon, a red fruit jam and some fresh white bread all mingle into a powerful profile. And the smoke, its woody, salty and brings just enough of itself to elevate the whole dram without overpowering it. F: Much the same as pre water, but ever so slightly nutty and the texture has thickened slightly and brings a little salty aniseed/peppermint freshness. What a journey that was. This is a very complex and highly interesting pour. But, I didn’t find this approachable, this was an olfactory workout for me. Definitely not something I think I could sit and enjoy at ease, but definitely one to sit and nerd out over arguing about the profile it presents. Biggest, and most obvious takeaway, when @cascode suggests adding water; you add water. Distiller whisky taste #231 [Pictured here with a Scottish classic. This rock is a cordierite metasediment from Banff on the north coast of Aberdeenshire. The rocks here are marine sediments that have been metamorphosed at high temperatures 470 million years ago. This rock preserves its original sedimentary layers with new growth of cordierite appearing as dark spots. The cordierite here is dark as it has itself been altered to a fine mix of chlorite and muscovite]

This liquid is from a single cask release produced from an ex-McWilliams Apera (Aussie Sherry) puncheon. 369 bottles were made available from the distillery door or direct from Amber Lane… and by way of subsampling by the overly generous @cascode N: Rich and thick with chocolate, dark honey, raisin, cinnamon, and a very waxy orange peel. No notion of the monster proof that hides within. P: Chocolate covered toffee, candied ginger, brown sugar, and crisp orchard fruit lead the charge. The palate evolves into something quite textural and reminiscent of grainy cracked, dry leather. A fruiter and brighter presence is buried in here also but I’m struggling to tease it out. F: Long. A big spice builds up with cinnamon and maybe nutmeg. An oppressive heat from that spice is held off buy more juicy raisins and, a late entry from a fresh mango (what the heck, am I imagining that?!) A few drops o water, a swirl, and several minutes later… the nose is slightly lifted and lightened but I lose the orange presence and a slight vomity sourness comes in. The palate, softer and less textural and whilst a lovely creamy chocolate texture takes over I also lose the bright fruits. Finish goes away almost completely. A curious whisky that I don’t quite no what to make of. There are some lovely heavyweight power punches in here and a few lighter deftly applied jabs. But a few of the flavours that do pop in and out, whilst pleasant enough, are a little juxtaposed and jarring to me. Also, water spoiled the experience for me. I don’t know if I am off tonight or not, but this just didn’t mesh well with me it seems. My only other Amber Lane was a Sherry Cask. And I am going to copy and paste my closing notes from that here, they apply exactly: “Amber Lane claim to be simple, down to earth and focused on flavour. I can agree with them, that they have achieved that here. [Liquid Amber] [Sherry Lane] is a simple, bold and punchy young spirit that delivers few flavours very well. They have a pot still designed to maximise copper contact in order to produce a more complex flavour chain. I must disagree there. The local barely is all but lost to the powerful choice of casking and relatively long contact time with the wood. Whilst enjoyable, I would have liked more from the underlying spirit rather than hiding behind a wall of sherry cask.” Distiller whisky taste #230 [Pictured here with a rock from Port Macquarrie about three hours north of the Yarramalong Valley on the east coast of Australia where Amber Lane is distilling. This rock is a blue schist, a high pressure metamorphic rock, that records an ancient subduction zone on the Eastern margin of Gondwana] Amber lane running scores: Liquid Amber Australian Malt: 3.25/5 No. 1 Sherry Lane Special Release Single Cask: 3.25/5

A bourbon making its way into my glass, a rare occurrence. This dram from single barrel number 1146 was filled on the 18th of June 2013 and bottled on the 5th of November 2021. Graciously received from @cascode. N: Sweet buttery, and caramel laden, corn (unsurprisingly). A slightly dusty or gristy backdrop brings with it some wood shavings and a touch of herbal-menthol influence. P: Surprisingly vibrant and lively. Sweet, sure, but there is a depth to the sweetness. Not just corn and vanilla, but candied ginger, strawberries and cream, desiccated orange rind, and a little honey. There is a wonderful warmth to a well balanced astringency that delivers the best of the oak and a peppery spice. The end of the palate just about gets into a leathery presence. F: Medium. Coconut, a little cocoa powder, dark caramel and something fresh and red berry like. Whilst I am not well versed in bourbon, I am a particular fan of the leathery and thick caramel richness of the bourbon I do like, namely Woodford Double Oak and Russels Reserve. This one caught me off guard. From what I felt was a lacklustre nose the palate and finish gave me a varied and lively flavour experience that had me confused over what I was drinking. Certainly a fun and interesting dram that I would be pleased to have on permanent rotation. Distiller whisky taste #229 [Pictured here with a piece of Morton Gneiss from southwestern Minnesota, and the USAs oldest rock. Originally this was a granite crystallised form molten rock deep below the earths surface 3.5 billion years ago. Two and a half billion years ago it as caught up in tectonic collision that subjected it to immense pressures and temperatures and caused it to be intruded by another granite. The mixing of these two granites was further overprinted 1.7 billion years ago by more metamorphism to produce this wonderful gneiss.

I first tried this back in October last year, it was not a good experience. Tried in a liquor store from their tasting table I have been left wondering if the bottle was a bit suspect because I keep hearing good things about this liquid. I very much wanted to love this whisky, the bottle is steeped in geology with a cross section of the islands geology on the label depicting the Jurassic sandstones through which their water flows, and an ammonite formed into the bottle itself. This feels like a whisky marketed directly to me. My disappointment at a bad experience was profound. I am grateful to the Wise One @cascode for sending me this dram and another chance to find something special. Going to preface this by saying that I’ve left my original notes below for transparency, but this isn’t the same whisky from just pouring this I am convinced that bottle had been left open or in the sun, or something. PSA: Look after your bottles people. N: Beautifully cool smoke brings a delicate balance of phenols, florals and hearty smoke. This is a bonfire in a flower meadow at sunset. There is vanilla, and honey, and fresh white bread. There are the vaguest touches of brine and heather. It’s not particularly deep or complex but it is soft, cooling, and delightfully delicate to the point that I think a whisper would throw off the balance. P: A slightly muddled and grainy texture to the entry that gives off quite a heavy salt and vegetal peat. Successive sips soften things out and there is a medium body with a little earthiness. The salt remains and the vegetal notes subside a little. Smoke is warm and slightly like a smoky campfire bread with dark honey, that is I suspect the underlying malt speaking. This feels a little dark with some raw sugar cane sweetness and a good heft of pepper and dry tannins. F: Medium-short. Malt forward with sustained but not overpowering pepper and a sharply drying tannin-smoke medley. Thank you @cascode, I am very glad to have now tried this as it was meant to be experienced. This is a fantastic new entry from a young distillery. The nose is the star of the show for me with the palate being a fairly fun of the mill smoky malt. There is nothing inherently wrong here at all, it is a carefully crafted liquid, peated and unseated malt matured each in the same three barrel types, in years to come I think this will really start to shine with more depth and subtlety in the palate and temperance in the finish that will compliment the beautiful nose. If a bottle ended up on my shelf I would not mind at all. Distiller whisky taste #84 [Pictured here with an Asteroceras ammonite from Dorset, UK. This 190 million year old fossil from the Jurassic is a nod to Rassay’s ammonite embossedbottle and the Jurassic aquifers that their source waters flow through.] *** Original review: October 7th 2022, 1.75/5 N: raw peat, powerful smoke punches into the nose, but there is feinty and acrid undertone that is seriously off putting. Maybe theres some cereal and vanilla and tannins but mostly its smoke and evernote and then, smacked with something that pulls me away to refresh. P: Raw, mulchy vegetal peat. if you’ve ever eaten a mouthful of peat or mud falling face first into a scottish hillside, you’ll get this. The smoke is fresh and unrefined and way to overpowering. There are some apple and caramel notes but they are weakly apparent at best. Maybe a hint of spice? Everything is too young, unrefined and unmarried. F: Short, earthy peat smack. Maybe some salty tannins.

“The loch from which all Ardbeg water flows” Uigedail is an enigmatic liquid. Since I first started appreciating whisky Uigedail, or Oogie as its affectionately known, has been seemingly the most loved and well spoken of whiskies I have come across. Top of peoples stand out offerings from Islay this whisky has presented to me as an exceptional value for money heavyweight. Indeed, it appears that this is the liquid from which Ardbegs reputation flows in no small part. N: A complex entry. Brown sugar, espresso, cedar wood and delightfully aromatic spicy tar; these are the initial big hitters. Bitterness from a tangy marmalade sits with some sweeter dried fruits melds with a slightly salty-menthol/peppermint, I think yet again I find lemon rind but very waxy (seemingly lemon is an Ardbeg thing). Despite what might seem very bright and zingy this nose is calm, restrained, slightly dry, and beautifully clean. This is strength of character without needing to beat you into submission. P: The nose is playing a bit of a ruse… the restrained poise of the nose ever so slightly holds on the first touch but then the smoke comes. Thick, heavy, and dark here is a fire stoked with black tea and hot tar. That might sound like a border line assault, maybe. Give it a moment and sweetness arrives as black forest cake and darkest honey, a lift of waxy lemon, sharp almost bitter aniseed and a richly present hot ginger. As I get more comfortable with this absolute beast it reveals the deftest touch of an oyster kilpatrick (the interplay of smoke and maritime influence), and then some orange oil and sticky date. F: Longer than should be legal. Heavy smoke laden with phenolic oomph, this is darkness incarnate the darkest bbq-caramel reduction may come close to this, and then out of nowhere a final parting death throe of peppermint. A drop of water is nothing to write home about. Some of the intensity lifts off, I’m not sure thats how it was intended and it does seem slightly diminished for it. Wow. That was a sensory overload. Nose, poise. Palate, power. Finish, a constant reminder. This is not whisky for amateurs, and to be honest, I don’t think its something for the every day drinker either, it’s a tour de force. This is undeniably excellent stuff and I would be pleased to have a bottle on my shelf. But, my word Ardbeg you have created a monster that is almost too overwhelmingly powerful and thats my only real criticism. Still, probably the best of a very, very good run that maybe just beats out Corryvreckan. Distiller whisky taste #228 [Pictured here with another, not so wee, beastie. For such a monster dram I had to pull out a monster beastie. This is a trilobite called Cambropallas telesto and dates back to ~513-501 million years ago in southern Morocco. These trilobites were fast moving detritivores and there is little else to say other than to be impressed by the sheer size of these ancient invertebrates] Ardbeg running scores: Ardbeg 10: 4.25/5 Wee Beastie: 3/5 Corryvreckan: 4.5/5 An oa: 4/5 Hypernova 2022: 4.25/5 Uigeadail: 4.5/5

A hypernova is the stupendously energetic result of a massive star (30 times our Suns mass) collapsing in on itself, forming a rotating black hole and emitting twin astrophysical jets surrounded by an accretion disk and a luminosity that is 10 times greater than that of an entire galaxy. Ardbeg are making a big call with this naming. I am looking for a density and depth of flavour unparalleled and with the ability to eject new flavours and experiences from whisky that leave me blinded by its force. And for AU$399 a bottle I think that would be a reasonable expectation. Let’s find out.. N: Powerful yet restrained. Heavy with salty tar and straw bales. This already reminds me of summers creosoting stable blocks… A lifting brightness of menthol offsets what I thought would be an overwhelming smoke (this is claimed to be Ardbegs smokiest beast). The smoke is interesting, not so much wood smoke, but more chemical fire smoke like petrol, the peaty presence is clear but smoky is a difficult claim to make. Super curious. The longer I sit on this the more I think there may be a delicate floral note. P: Boom. There it is. That is a bit of a monster, oily clingy and laden with liquid smoke whacks you with pepper, a chared beef mixed with a slightly metallic grill pan, almond, aniseed, clove, iodine, salt There is a lot going on here. It’s super dense though and hard to find whats going on. F: Long. Smoke is all encompassing and has an aromatic tobacco quality with a strong pepper bite. A dash of water, now things get interesting. The nose softens and expands into a very subtle wild berry tart fruitiness and the menthol turns to peppermint. The palate calms significantly the brine builds, the fatty meaty bite rounds and loses its metallic undertone, some chocolate creamy texture builds and even introduces a crisp slightly toffee apple freshness with a beautiful waxy lemon rind. The finish doesn’t seem to vary much but the pepper has subsided. Was this stupendous on a galactic scale? No. Was this none the less, huge, complex, energetic, and bursting with everything but the kitchen sink? Yeah, just about. I enjoyed this, a lot, downsides, is it just a little too dense leading to palate exhaustion? Perhaps. I’m not qualified to judge, I’m neither a whisky expert nor an astrophysicist. Also, perhaps their peatiest whisky ever but yhis doesnt come close to the smoke presence of others. As good as this was, I don’t think an AU$400 price tag is warranted when I think a regular Port Charlotte 10 is probably just as good to better. I know Ardbeg die hards will tell me I’m wrong, Distiller whisky taste #227 [Pictured here with another wee beastie a trilobite called Coltraneia oufatenensis, named after the jazz legend John Coltrane. This chap came for Jebel Issomour in Morocco and is about 393-382 million years old. When it comes to the best eyes in the animal kingdom, past or present, trilobites are hard to beat. These eyes are probably the best of the best. The enormous eyes take up approximately half the width of the head suggesting a vital need for excellent vision] Ardbeg running scores: Ardbeg 10: 4.25/5 Wee Beastie: 3/5 Corryvreckan: 4.5/5 An oa: 4/5 Hypernova 2022: 4.25/5

An Oa is named after the Mull of Oa in the south west of Islay, which offers the Kildaton coast (where Ardbeg distillery is situated) some protection from the worst the Atlantic has to offer! As such, Ardbeg An Oa is intended to show a more approachable side to Ardbeg single malt that's as rounded as the Oa peninsula, without losing the characteristic distillery style. Maturation took place in a combination of casks including Pedro Ximénez, charred virgin oak and ex-bourbon. N: Unexpectedly light and sweet. Fresh, herbal peat with a light aniseed touch. Light honey and malt are feathered by orange sprtiz and a leafy smoke in the distance. P: Sweet peat. This is light and walks a delicate balance of dryness and oiliness. Smoke builds through the profile with a little saltiness. An umami character not dissimilar from ham sits comfortably amongst tobacco and bitter marmalade. F: Medium. Dark chocolate, bonfire smoke, black tea, a little citrus. I had to pull up my notes on Ardbeg 10 from the open this is clearly cut from the same cloth. Theres a lot to enjoy here, particularly on the nose and finish. But, missing here is some oomph. The ten doesn’t muck about, it hits hard. this An oa is softer of character and somewhat reserved. I don’t know about the extra AUD$20 this costs over the 10 but it is an enjoyable and easy expression of Islay. Distiller whisky taste #226 [Pictured here with another wee beastie, this time a trilobite from the genus Paralejurus. This chunky boi is ~420-350 million years old from the ancient sea floor of what is modern day Morocco. These trilobites reached up to 9 cm in length and were excellent at enrolling themselves up into a defensive ball. The head slightly smaller than the tail allowing for a perfect enrolment; a well rounded beastie for a well rounded dram] Ardbeg running scores: Ardbeg 10: 4.25/5 Wee Beastie: 3/5 Corryvreckan: 4.5/5 An oa: 4/5