Off the heels of six relatively new Tassies, as I finish my road to 200 Distiller whisky tastes I have another Tasmanian Port Cask. Nant has something of a sordid history, and is worth reading about. Corruption and intrigue abound. None the less, I am increasingly enjoying Tasmanian liquids, and a port cask is always a favourite for me. After six months sat on my shelf I finally decided to open and imbibe. N: Rich and luscious. Mulled wine, dark dense Christmas cake, brown sugar, a warming ginger and cinnamon spiced coffee, a hint of savoury pastry and I just about think the lightest of florals. How florals re coming through from the weight of the port is quite impressive. P: Soft, velvety and warming. Rich dark chocolate and coffee, honeyed barley sugar, slightly sweet ginger. Lip smacking stuff here. Malt develops further as banana and butter, red fruits push back on top. F: Surprisingly short. Juicy and fresh, red fruits and warm spices. A dash of water awakens a bouquet of florals on the nose. Wow, that’s a huge development. The shift from deep and dark to light and airy is marvellous. The down side; that same transformative water on the nose has decimated the palate and the finish is now non existent. That nose though! The difficulty of choice: drink or dash and sniff?! I like port casks, I really do. Last nights Tawny cask I gave a 4.5/5. This one, I think I enjoy more, there’s more to discover, but it’s not as good if I’m objective. The finish is a bit pants, and the best part of the nose needs a dash of water that kills the development of the palate. Even sadder, in my notes I had this down as AUD$122.50… it’s now AUD$174.99. It’s 500 ml too. Distiller whisky taste #197 [Pictured here with a 200 million year old “New Red Sandstone”. The NRS is a major rock unit comprised of sandstones, mudstones and evaporite beds deposited from the Permian (280 Ma) to the end Triassic (200 Ma) in a hot, arid environment like a desert or sabkha (a hot, evaporitic mud flat) that extended across what is now Scotland through to the southwest of England. This example of NRS is ~200 Ma from Penrith, Cumbria in the English Lake District]