Tastes

It was interesting chatting to David who got into whiskey nearly a couple of decades ago. He got his 1000 litre still custom made many years ago. They can't keep up with demand so they are looking to upgrade to both larger equipment and larger premise closer to the city in Kensington in ~ years time. They used to supply Europe but now have more than enough demand from Aussie alone. Anyhow this dram was impressive for 60%. Didn't need any water at all but a few drops opened it up further. Similar to the 46% but deeper concentration of flavor and less of the green apple more of malt.

This dram was number 2 on my flight of whiskies at the distillery with the founder David. He started laying down casks 18 years ago, starting with 50 litre, and then 100 and now the std 200 size unchanged from the Jack Daniels distillery where currently sourced. Initially they went a third each way with Heaven Hill, Woodfords and JD but now I believe they stick with the later. This dram they finish in French oak for several months (from memory). I really liked this dram, the french oak adding additional richness and spiciness, caramel come through and the green apple fades away. He mentioned that other than this one they are Ex-bourbon / american oak casking all the way and don't do sherry etc finishing. Would be interesting to see them try though.

I tried the peated variety of this Distillery last year in ChCh NZ and really quite enjoyed it despite its lighter speyside profile. I was in Melbourne and staying only 20 minutes down the road from the distillery. Sadly there were no tours when I was there over xmas and NY but I thought why not ring them up and see anyhow. Long story short they were on a holiday season break but doing a bit of a tidy up and the founder / owner David invited me to pop in. It's not often you get to sit down with a founder in his distillery, have a good chat and drink their range of whiskies. David was a very lovely fellow and had lots of very interesting info which I'll spread out over the reviews of his other whiskies. I'm not a speyside profile person but this was nice, predominantly green apple, malt and vanilla. I'd say I preferred the rest in the range more though.

I can't remember if I've had moonshine or not. When I lived in Ireland we used to go out to the country to visit relatives. An old relation used to brew his own poitin and gave me a bottle. In those days with a flat of 8 - 12 of us at any one time we drank just about anything but that was one thing at 70 - 80% or whatever strength it was that stopped us in our tracks. This is interesting... there is a lot to dislike about it, sweet and sour maltiness ...almost gin like quality but for some reason I keep drinking it. Really odd...I really don't know how much I could drink of this but I have a feeling it would turn into a crazy night if I tried!

Here for 2 days in Adelaide to sample the local wine. McClaren Vale today...lots of lovely reds, Barrossa tomorrow. Slight night cap of whiskey at the local bar. Really not a fan of this one. Bitter, spicey caramel orange. Maybe cos my palate is attuned to wine. Anyhow not one for finishing.

Maybe it was cos it was the 6th dram of the night but it's colour seemed to suggest a stronger flavour than it delivered. The nose was weird it smelled of cheese and I thought maybe they didn't wash the glass properly but then I saw other reviews that said baby puke or similar so I wasn't imagining that one. I didn't find it offensive just odd. Once you got past that you got the sweet red wine and orange notes coming through subtly.

Quite a distinct dram this one. Salty, vanilla, green apple smokiness. Distinct and interesting. Not sure it's one that fits my taste profile but definately worth a try. Breaks my run of boring bland Japanese whiskies.

Maybe it's a subtle dram to be savored on its own; maybe the bottle had been open to long. Either way I much preferred the subtle yet distinct flavors of its Glaswegian brother. One of my least favorites on the night.

I'll simply refer to Slainte-Mhaths for the appropriate tasting notes on this as he's summed it up well and I agree with the rating. I'd say this one was my favourite of the night.

One of a flight of 6 whiskies tried tonight at my worlds favorite bar in ChCh. This beauty is from Tasmania in Australia...its a simple dram vanilla and malt and decent power for it's lower abv. One of the better ones on the night.