Amber Lane Liquid Amber

My final mooched malt from the great @cascode. Thanks again good Sir, a varied and interesting batch this time around. Amber Lane is based in the Yarramalong Valley on NSW's Central Coast. Founded in 2017 by two amateur astronomers and friends, Rod Berry and Phil Townsend. Liquid Amber is one of Amber Lane's sherried expressions that features whisky matured in ex-Fernando de Castilla sherry casks; one of only two distilleries on Earth who are granted access to do so. I wonder if that is actually important though? They took their time with maturation, waiting four years for bottling rather than the minimum two years which is common for the Australian market. N: rich and dark, there is an earthy and leathery quality thats age beyond the four years. Thick with dark jam and vanilla extract. A big bold and rich nose. But thats it, thats all I get, time in glass has let me find a little oatmeal gristiness. P: Full bodied and with a velvety thickness. There is an immediately apparent chocolate and candied ginger tingle. Packed with dark rich sugar flavours of golden syrup and caramel there is maybe a zesty apple carrier but its not pronounced. As for the nose this is a bold arrival that seems to just stop. F: Medium-short. The juicy apple fruit note that was hidden in the palate seems to come forward in the finish, the ginger subsides to a more bakery spice sensation. 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 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 #167 [Pictured here with, unfortunately, not a lump of amber. I don’t have any and I am mad. Instead, this is bismuth, also referred to as unicorn poo. This is man made but shows a very cool crystal growth habit called ‘hoppers’. Molten bismuth cools down and crystal start nucleating, growing so fast only the edges build and the faces get abandoned. Oxidation provides the wonderful colours You can buy bismuth cheap online and make these in a saucepan. Fun stuff.]

Amber Lane tasting at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, 8 June 2022. Whisky #2 Nose: Earthy sherry, plum jam, fig preserve, vanilla essence, caramel sauce. The aromas are rich but there is not a lot of development. Adding water has little impact. Palate: The arrival is full-bodied and sweet but mild, with milk chocolate coated honeycomb the initial flavor. It’s a very easy and welcoming entry that develops into a sweet, rich palate. Toffee, maple syrup, golden syrup, orange zest and stone fruits are apparent and balanced by a little spice. The texture is silky and little changed by the addition of water. Finish: Medium. Sweet and fruity with a touch of cinnamon spices, both sweet and hot. Amber Lane is a young distillery located in the Yarramalong Valley of New South Wales, mid way between Sydney and Newcastle. The distillery was founded by Rod Berry and Phil Townsend in 2017 and has had its first festival and event tastings this year. Liquid Amber is a full-bodied whisky that more closely resembles a gentle, PX-finished Scottish single malt than a typical intense Australian sherry-bomb. The casking was a combination of ex-Heaven Hill bourbon casks, Australian ex-apera (ie local sherry) casks, and ex-Spanish PX solera casks (hogsheads? puncheons?) from Fernando de Castilla. It was matured for 4 years, which is twice as long as most Australian whisky. Like the first whisky we tasted on the evening (Amberosia) I noted a brevity of progression due to youth in both nose and palate but in the case of Liquid Amber this is offset a little by the more complex casking. I enjoyed this whisky enough to buy a bottle on the night. It is natural colour, un-chillfiltered, 48% abv and unusually it is sold in a 700ml size rather than the lamentable 500ml bottles we mostly see. The usual price is $169 but at the event price of $145 I thought it was reasonable value for money. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)