Nose (neat): At first all I noticed were gentle, demure cereal aromas – grist, oatmeal porridge, and barley sugar. Then later there was a hint of vanilla, subtle oak and a suggestion of peat smoke. This is a spirit-driven nose and it’s extremely tight when neat. However, allowing the dram to sit in the glass for a while works magic and the longer you leave it the larger it becomes. Over time it gains considerable presence as the initial aromas blossom and are joined by emerging mint, sweeter barley sugar, anise and an aromatic texture of rich, pillowy fullness. Nose (watered): Adding water mellows and softens the nose while also unleashing peat smoke. The smoke never gains anything like the force or intensity of, say, Ardbeg but then it’s not trying to be a peat monster. This is more like the sort of peating you expect from Longrow, Glengyle or Benromach. The dry-glass aroma is distant bushfire smoke. Palate (neat): Sweet, muscular, with an intense malty and cereal arrival and slowly building peat smoke. Burnt grass, digestive biscuits, coffee and dried dates in the development. It’s firm and nearly astringent on the palate as tannins, grapefruit zest, green apple skins and dark almost-burnt Anzac biscuits smeared with golden syrup appear in the late development. This whisky has progression and the texture is creamy and satisfying. Palate (watered): The palate gains more body and sweetness, with peat smoke and menthol expanding and playing off against dark cherry preserve, rhubarb tart, sour ginger pickle and lemon zest. The smoke presence is more evident now. Finish (neat): Long. Spicy malt and well contained tannins dance into the sunset to the accompaniment of moderate peat smoke. When watered the finish becomes more spritzy with lingering ginger, bright tannins and peppermint. It loses no length in the process (I thought it actually gained length with dilution) and the aftertaste has a hint of ashy chimney smoke. Many minutes after finishing the dram the last echo of flavour is sweet, mild peat smoke. Black Gate is one of the world’s smallest whisky distilleries. It was founded by husband and wife team Brian and Genise Hollingworth in 2009 in a region of country NSW that experiences extreme temperature variations, from below freezing to 40 degrees Celsius in the summer. They produce about 4,000 litres of spirit annually from their two small direct-fired pot stills. This particular bottling was distilled in April 2018, matured in an ex-bourbon cask (distillery cask BG095) and bottled in June 2021. Only 355 bottles were produced of which mine is number 239. The peated malt for the expression was sourced from either Bairds or Smiths in Scotland. This is a big peated single-cask, cask-strength single malt but it also has a lighter and more delicate side to its personality. Occasionally the nose seems almost candy-like and on initial nosing it reminded me of the Ardnamurchan AD/09:22 cask strength I recently reviewed, with which it shares a quality of subtle, uncomplicated purity. There is heat from the relatively high alcohol strength but it is contained and pleasant – in fact heat is more obvious with dilution as spices show through. Adding a second dilution reduces the whisky to a purring but slightly cantankerous kitten – I eventually took it down to around 25% abv and it was still forceful. How Brian manages to create a whisky of such power but retain a graceful profile while maturing it in small casks in extreme temperatures for just on 2-4 years is beyond my comprehension. Initially Black Gate produced rum and unpeated single malt whisky but since 2016 their focus has been on heavily peated single malt, although unpeated runs are occasionally still done. Originally Brian always used sherry, port and rum casks for maturation but of late he has been using bourbon barrels which allow the distillate character to show through more clearly. I’m in two minds as to which I prefer – the enormous cask-driven flavor of his apera (sherry) expressions or the more focused and clear profile of this one. Regardless of the casking, every issue from Black Gate shares the trait of being a true one-off batch release, unchillfiltered, uncoloured and usually at cask strength from a single-cask. There is a consistent distillery signature of cereal texture, depth and richness, however there is also great variation between batches and every expression should be listed separately. Black Gate is without question one of my top 5 Australian whisky distilleries. “Very Good” : 87/100 (4.25 stars)