Joadja Single Malt

Australian Single Malt Whisky Tasting (Part 1), The Oak Barrel, Sydney 16 January 2020, Whisky #3 Nose: Prominent stewed fruit with a rubbery sulphur note, a heavy sherry oak presence and a golden syrup aroma. Palate: The arrival is sweet, syrupy and oaky and develops dried fruit flavours, but the palate turns bittersweet as it evolves. The texture is relatively heavy. Finish: Medium/short. Sweet. At first glance you might think this is an unusual Spanish name but it's actually the name of a heritage listed ghost town in New South Wales and it's pronounced exactly as it appears. The Joadja Distillery was established in 2014 just outside the historic area by the Jimenez family who own the township and manage it as a tourist attraction. The main touted aspect of this single malt is its maturation in ex-oloroso and PX sherry casks and their use of organic barley grown on site. The presence of the sherry casks permeates every aspect of the whisky to the point that it becomes an unapologetic one-note sherry bomb, and for me there was an obvious and unforgivably loud presence of sulphur on both the nose and palate. At 48% abv it can take a little water, which I thought improved the experience. The nose was tamed and the palate became drier and maltier with a pleasant hint of licorice. It did also become a little grainy and bitter, so dilution was a mixed blessing. The bottle we tasted was no.194 of batch 7, a combination of casks JW019 and JW021. I thought it was a good effort, but pretty clearly still a work in progress. The distillery needs time to gain experience and do some experimentation (hopefully including part maturation in less argumentative casks) but there is the basis of an interesting future expression. "Adequate" : 70/100 (2 stars)