Bakery Hill tasting event, Sydney, 18 February 2020, Whisky #1 Nose: Bright, gristy cereal, fresh yeasty white bread, lightly fruity and floral, a touch of honey. Intensely spirit driven with barely a trace of cask. Fresh and crisp – almost brittle. Palate: Firm, bright arrival that again focuses squarely on a clean cereal profile. Very crisp with some malty notes but I thought there was little development apart from considerable heat that arises in mid-palate and obscures things a little. The texture is on the oily side of neutral. Like the nose, the palate is spirit-driven. Finish: Medium/short. Light, dry semi-sweet flavours that trail out into a sweet cereal aftertaste. I’ve only tasted one Bakery Hill prior to this (the Sovereign Smoke which I enjoyed a lot and rated at 4 stars here) so I’d expected a little more from this core-range whisky. It’s certainly a very clean and direct spirit but also rather simple. My immediate thought on tasting it was “so what’s all the fuss about?” and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was somehow missing. Adding a dash of water initially improved things by expanding the profile and adding a little sweetness (as it so often does) but over time a feinty wet-cardboard character emerged. I thought this whisky was just on the better side of average, but not by much. At the asking price (US$110 for a 500ml bottle!) I really didn’t think this represents good value. “Average” : 79/100 (2.75 stars)