Cape Byron Chardonnay Cask

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #5 Nose: Poached apple and pear, peach Danish, toasted vanilla almonds and macadamias, warm buttered brioche. Fragrant dessert wine with oak notes. Palate: Soft, warm arrival with toasted fruit muffins and apricot jam. It becomes buttery as it evolves with caramel, baked apple, grape jelly, milk chocolate and soft spice (cinnamon). A little green apple and citrus emerges in the later development. The texture is creamy. Finish: Medium. Moderately sweet, fruity and wine notes carrying into a mild citrus aftertaste. Cape Byron is a relative newcomer to the Australian whisky scene, having introduced their initial core range of two expressions in September last year. I tried their Cape Byron Original Single Malt just after release and was very impressed (see review here on Distiller). However I had not got around to trying this second expression until now. Maturation was 40% in ex-Buffalo Trace bourbon casks and 60% in ex-Australian chardonnay casks (I don’t know the size but I’d guess they were probably around 100 litre capacity and either ex-American oak or ex-French oak). It was fully matured in each cask type and then blended, so this is not a simple wine-cask finish. This is more cask-driven than the Original expression and has an overall sweeter profile, but they have not let this unbalance or overtake the distillery character. The wine contribution does mask the elegant maritime quality of the Original, but it has its own rich, creamy charms to compensate. The chardonnay must have been a very sweet and buttery specimen because I get a note on this that verges on botrytis semillon. A very enjoyable whisky indeed. I think I prefer it to the Original expression and as I gave that 84/100 I'm giving this an extra percentage point which makes it equivalent to 4 stars. This is also well priced and, unlike a lot of our local whiskies, this is worth every bit of the $140 asking price. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)