Limeburners Darkest Winter

Nose (neat): Sweet light smoke, pine resin, herbal cough drops, green vegetal and earthy notes. There are fragrant fruity aromas as well (pear, stewed apple with just a pinch of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg) but it was particularly tight when neat. Nose (reduced): With a few drops of water the profile stays similar to the neat nose but there is a noticeable softening of the resinous quality and it gains balance. Over time in the glass the watered sample displayed honey and become more coherent. Palate (neat): Soft but hefty arrival with powdered ginger and white pepper. Very malty with vanilla notes prominent. The development brings out a smoky presence backing dried mixed fruits and nuts, anise, white pepper, cereal and oak spices. The texture is lightly creamy and the whisky has a soft, warming, blanketing quality. Palate (reduced): The smoke is much more immediate and defined when watered but the arrival becomes hotter and spicier, a little too much so for my palate and overall the whisky loses complexity. Arguably it also gains balance but it is an homogenizing balance that sacrifices detail. Finish (neat): Medium/long. Gristy cereal, malt and mild smoke fading out to a resinous aftertaste. Finish (reduced): Long. Smoke is more apparent but a tart, almost bitter note surfaces and stays into the aftertaste. The resinous wood quality is much reduced. Tasted from a sample generously provided by @DrRHCMadden I was very much looking forward to this well regarded and rated whisky. Normally when I receive a batch of samples I start at the shallow end of the pool but in this case I had to dive in from the high board. I split the sample into two and tasted one neat and the other with just a few drops of water, both over an extended period so I could see how each responded to time in a glass. The nose and finish are much improved by dilution but the palate does not fare so well. This whisky is a bit fussy with water but I would still recommend just a few drops. It is certainly an interesting whisky and right from the outset it seemed both un-Scottish but also unlike most other Australian whiskies. Full disclosure, I’m not a big fan of Limeburners and there is only one expression of theirs that I have thought to be really good, the Director’s Cut from a few years back (muscat cask matured, I think). This Darkest Night is certainly the closest I’ve tasted in quality to that, but it has a different flavour profile. This is not what I’d call a complex whisky. It has some great points but it’s an array of a few very nice aspects rather than a forest or aromas and flavours, which betrays its comparative youth. I’d love to taste this if they could put the barrel in a cool warehouse and let it sit for another 10 years. Tasted from a 30ml sample “Good”: 84/100 (3.75 stars)

“Smoked with Western Australian peat for an extended period, Darkest Winter was made to warm your soul through the darkest days and longest nights. When Master Distiller Cameron Syme formed his vision of Darkest Winter, he wanted to create a whisky that showcased Western Australian peat. Taking the gentle peat located near the depths of the Valley of the Giants in Walpole, premium Great Southern barley has been smoked for an extended period to intensify the characteristics of this rare and unique peat source. Matured in ex-bourbon American oak barrels. Darkest Winter is intended to be sipped in celebration of every great occasion or for moments of reverence. Each year Limeburners choose to celebrate the famous Darkest Winter expression on the night of the Winter Solstice Barrelled at absolute cask strength, this is peated whisky as it sits in the cask, and Darkest Winter is bottled as individually numbered cask expressions. Each barrel will exhibit its own unique characteristics, creating slight variation from batch to batch” I bought bottle 53/182 from barrel M484 at the flagship Albany Limburners last month, the night of the winter solstice, but sadly just didn’t get to open it. Having previously sampled an unknown barrel at the Giniversity location back in March it is about time to crack this beauty… N: Powerful presence that I can literally smell from across the room. There are wafts of a damp forrest; herbaceous and just delicately smoky. A warming maple sweetness and perhaps a little sticky pear. A few drops of water brings the smoke to the front and maybe the slightest orchard fruit slips through, i’m not sure, but I’ll happily sit and keep smelling this! P: an initial peppery warmth gives way to gentle sweetness from apples and dried apricots, the malt and barley are underneath but not subdued, they hold their own. Everything is wrapped in a blanket of warming subtly earthy and nutty smoke. The drops of water subtract from the palate in my mind, the lovely sweet notes melt away and the smoke and pepper ramp up. Don’t add water. F: long. Warmth and depth unravel in the smoke to a velvety dark caramel and tropical fruit, possibly even a banana note similar to dried banana chips? As for the palate, water subtracts, peppery warmth and vibrant smoke dominate. I repeat, don’t add water. Cask strength was intended and should be honoured. Oh darkest winter indeed. This has taken me back to childhood cold winter nights in the UK, trudging through mud and wet leaves in the moss covered woods of my home town. This is a whisky to savour, to reflect on, to take stock with. I feel superiorly spoiled between some of the Arrans I sampled last night, and now this. Darkest winter, to me at least, is a marvel. I am to no surprise that Jim Murray dubbed it the best whisky in the southern hemisphere (2018) nor that it has won a slew of other accolades. It’s expensive, yes But the memories this whisky brings to the fore, the delicacy with which it is put together and the sheer power with which it has captivated me easily renders it as worth it. (Pictured with some beautifully folded Albany garnet gneiss, true whisky on the rocks). Distiller whisky taste #44

Vanilla finish. Strong start.