@cascode Hey there friend! Wow! Thank you kindly for the history lesson. I had no idea how far back whiskey making went in your country. So interesting and yet tragic regarding the watering down of the industry so to speak. Thankfully, things have changed for the better and distilleries are starting to spread their wings and make spirits their way. I would most definitely want to try offerings from the places you mentioned. I will check out my local bottle shops and inquire about them. Cheers to you! 🥃

@Spirited_Away Australia has an interesting history with whisky. It's been made here since 1821 and we had some huge distilleries in the 19th century, but in the 1920s every distillery in the country was bought out by the British companies Distiller's Company Ltd. (which later became Diageo) and Gilbeys. They downgraded the local product until it was just cheap hooch so it got a bad rep while they imported their blended scotch and sold it as a premium alternative. In the 1960s it began to be non-profitable to do this so they just started to shut everything down. By 1978 they had pulled out of the country and no whisky was made here until the 1990s when the current craft whisky scene began. We have 102 distilleries producing whisky now, many less than 10 years old, but there is no connection between any of them and the distilleries that existed for the previous 150 years. Most Australians have no idea we ever even had a spirits industry before this century. Starward is one of the biggest distilleries and they have an overseas distribution agreement with Diageo, but I'd only rate it as a good-to-average Aussie malt. 3.75/5 is right on target, I reckon. You won't see many other Australian whiskies in the U.S., maybe Archie Rose or Sullivan's Cove if you're lucky. If you get a chance to try Cape Byron, Waub's Harbour, Black Gate, Lark, Overeem, Fleurieu, Killara, Smith's or Bakery Hill don't pass it up. Cheers!