M&H Single Cask (Sydney Whisky Show 2023 Edition)

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #28 Nose: Manuka honey, toffee, milk coffee, dried fruit (including cranberries) and oak. The cask aromas are large and prominent but not dominating – there’s just an obvious sense of wood influence but it's pleasant and controlled. It’s a big, hefty nose at first but at heart it’s a sweet pushover and with water it becomes even more gentle and gains a fragrance like crumbling autumn leaves. Palate: Sweet, rich deep arrival – dark honey, caramel and milk coffee. A touch of something smoky but it’s not peat-reek or simple bonfire smoke. Maybe smoked fruit or blackened aubergine? Adding water brings out a raft of spicy flavours – cardamom, allspice, white pepper and tumeric – but they are against a softer honeyed background with heaps of red berries, cranberries and dark cherries. There is a pinch of green capsicum, some asparagus and a little brine and those autumn leaf notes again, but these just add balance and are very subtle. The texture is creamy, almost oily, and very good. Finish: Medium. Chocolate, dried fruits and pepper. Although this was matured in peated STR casks you would never for a moment guess it. The profile is much more akin to a red wine cask maturation and there was, for me anyway, hardly a hint of smoke in either nose or palate. Neither is there a hint of the strength in the mouth, as this tastes more like 46% abv than something that is over 55%. This was a limited release bottling for the Sydney Whisky Show, distilled in July 2018 and bottled in February 2022 (so roughly 3 years old). It was matured in a peated STR cask of undisclosed origin (but I’d bet my last dollar it was originally a wine cask that was used for aging peated whisky somewhere in Scotland and then bought by M&H). 274 bottles were produced, of which mine is bottle #52. It’s a good whisky, very easy to approach and enjoy, but lacking a little something that would make it special. It’s by no means bad, but there’s no escaping the sense that it is young. In many ways it reminds me of some contemporary Australian whiskies and it would be fascinating to taste this at around 12 years old, if it could stand that much time in the cask. None the less I bought a bottle on the day as it impressed me even at this stage. Good solid stuff. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)