Amber Lane tasting at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, 8 June 2022. Whisky #1 Nose: Soft, slightly dusty cereal. Very fragrant with honeycomb and vanilla blossom notes. With the addition of water, caramel and a heavier vanilla extract aroma are noticeable. Palate: The arrival is sweet, brightly fruity and grain focused (apple turnover, lemon cheesecake) with some hot spicy ginger in support. The development is short with not a great deal more appearing although with repeated tastes you notice toffee and caramel eclairs. The texture is good but not outstanding. Finish: Medium. Spicy sweet, a tinge of hot ginger. Amber Lane is a young distillery located in the Yarramalong Valley of New South Wales, mid way between Sydney and Newcastle. The distillery was founded by Rod Berry and Phil Townsend in 2017 and has had its first festival and event tastings this year (2022). Amberosia (that’s not a spelling error, the name is a play on words) was their first expression and is fully matured in ex-Heaven Hill bourbon casks. The distillery is not set up for mashing at the moment so the wash is made to their specifications by a local brewery using a mixture of toasted and un-toasted malts. This is a good first product and the only criticisms I would make are that it has an overall simplicity of profile and lacks both body and progression. The nose and palate start very well but then don’t really go anywhere. It was matured for 4 years, which is twice as long as most Australian whisky, and while it definitely shows the benefit of longer casking it also presents as a very young whisky. Still, it’s a great start for the distillery and was a wisely chosen first whisky for the evening’s tasting. The following three whiskies were better but the distillery character that is most clearly shown here was still detectable in their more sherried whiskies. “Above Average” : 80/100 (3 stars)