Slainte-Mhath
Thomson Manuka Smoke "Progress Report"
Single Malt — New Zealand
Reviewed
November 18, 2020 (edited August 5, 2022)
I met Mathew Thomson in 2019 and was intrigued by his innovative mindset and dedication to create an authentic New Zealand whisky. Manuka wood smoke is both singular and hard to describe, but it works. On the nose, heather honey, bay leaf and incense sticks mix with lime, rubber and distant campfire notes. Herbal-fresh and effervescent, the taste develops with menthol, grapefruit and well-integrated smoke. Licorice, peppermint tea and a touch of quality oak linger in the savory finish. This malt does not imitate Scotch, and that's refreshing to see!
RATING: 3.7/5.0 stars ≙ 85 pts → ABOVE AVERAGE [+]
80.0
EUR
per
Bottle
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@Soba45 Thanks for your feedback! 100 drams in 2 days? Glad you survived! 🥃🥃
@Slainte-Mhath There is little whisky produced here. Cardrona is stupidly priced and average.. similar story to some of the Aus distilleries. Thomson you've tried. Divergence i tried at dramfest was very decent (i was 100 drams in over 2 days at that point so be interesting to taste in cold light of day!) but not cheap. Auld Farm Distillery i tried the new make... there maybe a few micro experiments around but that's it for those that aren't living off old closed NZ distillery stock.
@Soba45 I would like to ask you the same question I asked @cascode last week (but this time for NZ whisky): Are there any other distilleries or brands from NZ which are worth a try? Not that I have much hope to find them in Europe, but I'm curious!
Thanks for pointing that out @Slainte-Mhath . Those are some tiny barrels!
@ContemplativeFox I think the use of small (and rather expensive) 20 liter barrels does the trick!
I'm glad to hear that this was able to mature so quickly. Considering NZ's fairly moderate climate, I might have expected it to be like scotch where you generally need to wait at least a decade.
Additional information: Thomson Distillery was founded in 2014, and it's located in Riverhead, north-west of Auckland. My review is for batch B 20319, matured for 3 years in 20L ex-bourbon barrels. I see good things on the horizon for Thomson, and I was fairly impressed by this 'progress report'.