Archie Rose Red Gum Smoked Single Malt

Nose: Scorched eucalyptus fire wood, a little vanilla, red apples (stewed?), red wine, musty dried peaches or apricots, a dot of menthol. A generous splash of water and a rest in the glass produces more restrained fruity notes but also an unusual and not entirely pleasant herbal quality. Palate: Firey, spicy arrival (chili and black pepper) that resolves into a burnt-wood flavour, but it’s not really smoke and certainly not peat. Over-brewed black tea, bitter chocolate. The texture is good but not quite hefty enough to satisfy. Adding water soothes it a little and produces some sweetness, but the core profile remains. Finish: Medium/short. A lingering taste as of licking a bushfire-charred stump. This whisky, as was noted in the review by @DrRHCMadden, reeks of the smells and tastes of an Australian campfire breakfast. Eucalypt aroma, smoke in your face, wood ash in the eggs and overbrewed sweet billy tea. You can almost hear the magpies caroling. It’s charming and evocative, and about as subtle as being kicked in the nuts. Like almost every Archie Rose whisky I have tasted to date there is no nuance or complexity, despite their almost torturous mashbill, fermentation and distillation regimes. This distillery delights in producing unusual expressions that contain everything including the kitchen sink, presumably in pursuit of complexity and to create a whisky that is as big as humanly possible. Ironically, they usually miss the target and the resulting whisky is brash rather than big and complicated rather than complex. Sometimes (as for example with their Hybrid Rye whisky and the limited edition Six Malt New Make) they hit one over the fence. However those whiskies are the exception rather than the rule, and this Red Gum Smoked expression is definitely not such an exception. I wish they would relax, simplify their process, concentrate on creating nuance and then just let the distillate sit quietly in refill bourbon casks for a few years. You make great whisky by getting good at the basics, not by setting out with the main objective of proving that you are a master of innovation. There is a very small distillery in rural New South Wales called Black Gate. They have a fraction of the staff, budget and hype of Archie Rose, but they produce a smoky single malt that is orders of magnitude superior. Check them out if you get the chance. Tasted from a sample generously shared by @DrRHCMadden, I was very pleased to have the chance to taste this, as it was a limited release and no longer available, but I would not consider buying a bottle, nor recommend it other than as a curiosity. “Average” : 77/100 (2.5 stars)

From the Distillery Website: “The seventh release under our Trials and Exceptions label, and the first in a two-part series, this exceptional whisky represents a milestone in both our history and our quest to source all our seven malts from within NSW. With only 2,005 bottles in existence Red Gum Smoked Single Malt Whisky uses native NSW red gum to smoke the NSW grown and malted barley from our friends at Voyager Craft Malt. It pays tribute to one of Australia’s most majestic eucalypt trees and offers. Born from a long-held commitment to craft a quintessential smoked whisky, Australian in both technique and flavour, fulfilling a goal to replace Scottish peated malt with Australian wood smoked malt, it is crafted from a five-malt mash bill, including a local malt infused with native red gum wood smoke, and aged for two years in Australian Apera casks.” From my amateur thumbs: I’ve been hesitant to open this. 2,005 bottles only. Do I open it, do I save it? I took a risk and opened it. I think it was the right call. N: jasmine tea, soft and damp wood smoke, thick with meaty savouriness, given time in the glass there is an orchard fruitiness that comes forward. P: pungent smoke prickles up front with charred meat, salty bacon (think Talisker), more jasmine tea. In a strange way the palate has a sensation almost like popping candy. A dash of water brightens things up and let’s the herbal and vegetal flavours of the smoke come out. If you’ve ever seasoned your campfire bbq plate with rosemary then you’ll get the idea here. F: medium-short, all herbal smoke and mineral salts. I don’t get much here. Ok. This is a powerful smack on the nose and palate and I’m not sure the five different mash bill components are discernible. I haven’t tried the regular single malt of the same mash bill to compare this to but whatever complexity there is I fear has been masked by the power of this smoking. What is here is unique. It truly is an Australian campfire, the embers in the morning steaming after a rain storm. Emerging from your tent and restocking the fire to cook a bush breakfast. Eucalypts all around. Vegetal herbal smoke and damp wood swirl together with charred meat and salty breakfast bacon. It’s straightforward and delivers itself with a smack that you can’t ignore. Maybe I’m not experienced enough to tackle this beast, but i think it IS simple. It isn’t bad though, what it delivers; it delivers well. Im left wondering: is this the best Australian whisky? no, it isn’t. Is it the most Australian whisky? I think it just might be. Distiller whisky taste #64