Nose: Bubblegum, lemon, orange, green apple skins, cranberries, vanilla, strawberries, pears. It’s a distillate-driven cereal and fruit centered nose with little obvious (or intrusive) cask influence. As it sits and opens in the glass, and with a few drops of water, more tropical fruit and vanilla appear together with a refreshing zephyr of maritime brine. Palate: Sweet arrival with some accompanying hot spices (ginger and a touch of hot cinnamon rather than chili). The development sees a wave of tropical fruity flavours emerge, particularly kiwifruit, mango, starfruit, dragonfruit and white grapes. The later palate has creamy caramel notes, vanilla and coconut. The texture is medium bodied, but not oily. A dash of water does wonders for this palate and is highly recommended. Finish: Medium. Fruity notes that fade to a mild, creamy aftertaste with a touch of sour pineapple. This tasting was from Batch 2 of what was the initial whisky release from Cape Byron distillery, which is better known locally for gin and liqueurs. It was co-created by Eddie Brook, the distillery founder and master distiller, and Scotch whisky icon Jim McEwan (of Bowmore, Bruichladdich and Ardnahoe fame). On the nose this whisky is much closer to Scottish malts than most Australian whiskies, being unashamedly cereal, fruity and spirit-led with a subtle American oak cask influence. I believe that standard-size ex-Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels were used for maturation rather than the typical small Australian red-wine octaves that are commonly used by our distilleries. It is reminiscent of several Scottish un-peated malts. However the palate shows a more marked Australian temperament with a lot of tropical fruit and spice notes. On first neat tasting the palate can seem a little brash and young, but adding a dash of water improves it enormously, emphasizing the softer sweet cereal side of the distillate. The slightly sharp tang of unripe citrus or pineapple remains on the finish, however. Without water I was going to rate this at 82 (3.25 stars) but with dilution it soars to just short of 4 stars. Overall a great introductory effort, and a pleasant departure from the rather heavy-handed red-wine cask dominated whiskies we have seen locally for a long time. I was left with the feeling that this is a very positive first effort that is eminently enjoyable right now, but that with careful maturation could one day be one of the best domestic whiskies. Well done, Cape Byron. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)