Hobart Signature Single Malt

I was supposed to be sitting on a virtual tour of Hobart distillery tonight and sampling six of their current and as of yet unreleased offerings. Sadly life happened and I’ve missed the virtual. But, lets see what this amateur can do with these six. Situated in Hobart, Tasmania this family owned independent distillery was founded in 2014 and started producing in 2015. The distillery has been flying under the radar for quite a while now whilst creating enough stock to supply the high demand the market is throwing at them. The common theme for all Tasmanian whisky. Initially released as single cask runs the distillery is now concentrating on more consistent offerings. The distillery production is all performed in-house and maturation is predominantly in American oak ex-bourbon casks sourced from the United States. Whilst Apera (Australian Sherry) and Fortified wine barrels are more commonly used in the Australian industry Hobart whisky uses the ex-bourbon barrels for initial maturation and then if required applies a finish of another barrel type to create a range of whisky that they claim is unlike any other in Australia. Hobart Signature is a marriage of small carefully selected American oak ex-bourbon casks. The idea behind the ‘signature release’ is to make a whisky which is consistently produced to the same flavour profile each time. A whisky that is intended to represent the distillery for many years to come. N: A lovely autumnal feel of warm apple turnovers, really subtle cinnamon, honied malt and butter-creamy custard. The cinnamon spice turns slightly more woody over time. P: Juicy mouthfeel packed with oaky malt, almond, and vanilla cream soda. This is brilliantly clean almost to a fault, the texture is so simple its almost like a fresh cold water but there is a pleasant buzz from the oak spice. Eminently quaffable, albeit dreadfully simple. F: Surprisingly long. Creamy oak spice and some desiccated lemon. There is also the starting of a pecan pie and maple syrup development that begins to permeate the nose and palate also. A touch of water develops some vanilla on the nose but it also amped up the wood spice in the palate in equal measure to the nuttiness. The finish takes a slightly younger and grainy texture. I think this was bad to start with coming off the back of a run of somewhat lacklustre Speyside liquids. I have enjoyed the characters and individualities of the Tasman whiskies I have tried to date. I fear that in making something repeatable and accessible Hobart have stripped away some of the best parts of this [could be] lovely whisky. If the maple syrup pecan could ramp up, this would be a whisky to behold for its absolute drinkability. Price doesn’t affect score, but at $160 this simply isn’t worth the price. Note that prices are for 500 ml bottle. Distiller whisky taste: #191 [No rocks, do not have the energy for thinking about six captions in one sitting this evening]. Hobart distillery running scores Signature Batch (#14): 2.75/5