Smith's Angaston 10 Year (Vintage 2011)

Nose: Malt extract, milk arrowroot biscuits (digestive biscuits), toffee, coffee, raisins, sultanas, caramel, old oak and some gentle spices. It’s a big, complex nose that balances the distillate and cask influences. Water unites the nose very well and develops the spice notes, particularly a hint of menthol and anise. Palate: Very pleasant arrival that combines sweet wine and dry spice notes. Malt, baking spices, chewing tobacco, walnuts and most especially fortified wine in the development but although it is at heart a sweet whisky it never strays too far towards over-sweetness. Dark fruits, cherries, preserved peel, barley sugar. The texture is full and has good weight but it’s not oily, nor creamy. Water takes this palate a notch higher without spoiling anything. Finish: Medium/Long. Malt, gentle spices and fortified wine. Water lengthens the finish and the aftertaste is very pleasant. Smith’s Angaston is one of the rarest Australian single malts. It comes from the prestigious Yalumba winery at Angaston in the Barossa Valley of South Australia where whisky was produced from the 1950s-70s. In the early 1980s the stills went silent but they were fired up again for a few runs in the late 1990s. After that it looked likely that the distillery operation would be shut down completely. Thankfully the contemporary whisky craze was just getting started when the whiskies from those late 90s runs were released. They were highly praised and the distillery gained a new lease of life with further runs taking place in 2011, and then every 3-4 years since. Why Yalumba does not ramp up production is unknown. Like the Smith’s Angaston 2011 Vintage 8 Year Old I previously reviewed, the malt for this whisky was made from heavy roast Flagship barley (a modern hybrid developed in South Australia) and made into wash at the Cooper’s Brewery in Adelaide. The distillate was matured for 8 years in a “selection of (unspecified) casks” before being finished for 2 years in an ex-Muscat barrique. 1516 bottles were produced (mostly 375ml half-bottles). Like the 8 year old this is a big fortified-wine whisky but it has more balance and complexity. It is still a sweet whisky and the casks do speak very loudly, but it is more restrained, elegant and more reminiscent of a heavily sherried Speysider. It is basically a luscious dessert whisky. I can highly recommend adding water and at 47.2% it can handle a small dash easily. Without water I would rate this at 84/100 but water contributes two more percentage points. The most similar Scottish single malts I can think of to Smith’s Angaston house character are the Benrinnes, Blair Athol and Dailuaine whiskies in Diageo’s Flora & Fauna range, and this 10 year old is particularly reminiscent of Dailuaine. Hmm, actually this is even more like a young Glenfarclas from back in the 1990s. Tasted from a 30ml sample. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)