It is an interesting time to be a whisky distiller in Australia. The excise rate recently tipped over $100 per litre; new distilleries continue to come to market with their debut release; competition for the consumers’ dollar grows; the back bars at the on-premise venues are more crowded than ever…and all against the backdrop of rising interest rates and falling sales in certain price bands. You’ve thus got to “dip your lid” to the distilleries that are driving onwards and upwards. Archie Rose is one such distillery, and the new Archie Rose Double Malt is a great example of this….
Tag: Australian whisky
Waubs Harbour – Australia’s maritime whisky
With so many new Australian distilleries appearing on the market these days, it’s a challenge keeping up with them all. Whilst there’s no definitive or official number, industry folk estimate there’s currently around 120-140 malt whisky distilleries operating in Australia right now. Of course, the number of distilleries with matured stock being marketed and sold is somewhat less than this (estimates hover somewhere around 90), but the point is this: It’s an increasingly crowded space, and it’s become increasingly challenging for a distillery to stand out from the pack; find its point of difference; and tell a new story. One name that’s definitely singing a new tune is the Waubs Harbour distillery, and its Waubs Harbour whisky.
Waubs Harbour distillery is in Tasmania and, as the name suggests, is located in a coastal location by the water. This geographical fact forms the heart and backbone of Waubs Harbour and its narrative: It is a maritime distillery. The word “maritime” appears almost more times on the distillery’s website than the word “whisky”, and until you’ve checked out the distillery’s location, you could be forgiven for thinking they’re laying it on a bit thick. By drawing comparisons to the likes of Talisker and other Scottish distilleries that talk up the maritime angle, my initial thoughts were that they were overplaying it. And then you see the pictures….
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That Boutique-y Whisky Company: Return to Oz
Following the success of That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s first Australia Series releases back in 2021, the independent bottler is back with their second run focussing on whiskies from Australia, appropriately titled Return to Oz.
Whisky & Wisdom covered Boutique-y’s original Australia Series back in April 2021, and you can read our original piece here, which gives much of the relevant background and philosophy behind it all. The Return to Oz series shares the same approach and outlook, albeit with some new faces and names in the line-up.
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Morris Sherry Barrel
Morris has announced and released the third whisky in its permanent or core-range portfolio. Morris Sherry Barrel joins its two stablemates, the Signature and the Muscat Barrel.
Morris – a name associated with wine-making for more than 150 years – launched its whisky brand and its first two releases in June 2021, and the Sherry Barrel has joined the party some 16 months later. Whisky & Wisdom has previously told the full story of Morris whisky in our feature piece here (including a review and discussion of the Signature release), so we won’t repeat all the details on this occasion – click on the preceding link for the full background or to re-familiarise yourself with the Morris story.
Which is the best Australian whisky?
Which is the best Australian whisky? With interest in Australian whisky at an all-time high, combined with the staggering number of Australian distilleries now bringing mature spirit to market, it’s certainly an understandable question to ask. But can one realistically answer that question? Well…we’ll attempt to offer some guidance in just a moment but, first, it’s important to establish some ground rules…
Amber Lane whisky
Amber Lane joins the growing list of New South Wales malt whisky distilleries to have emerged in the last five years. Conceived in 2017 in the Yarramalong Valley just inland from Wyong on the Central Coast (about a 90 minute drive from Sydney), Amber Lane has quickly – very quickly – found fans and acclaim with the quality of its whisky. This was recently in evidence just last month when all four of Amber Lane’s entries submitted to the Tasting Australia Spirit Awards walked away with Silver medals. No mean feat for a distillery’s first releases.
78 Degrees – an Australian whiskey with a twist
If you’ve followed the news, gossip, and under-currents of the Australian whisky industry over the last year or two, you’ll be aware that it’s an extremely dynamic scene right now. New distilleries are popping up everywhere; new releases & products are being launched; distilling methods and products are diversifying; distillery ownerships are changing hands; and the industry is genuinely in a state of “blink and you’ll miss something”.
In a space that is becoming increasingly crowded, each new distillery fights for its point of difference or to latch on to something tangible that sells their story. Phrases like “craft”, “finest ingredients”, “pristine environment”, “care and attention to detail”, and the classic “traditional methods” simply don’t carry much weight or meaning anymore, and – with due respect to all involved – it can seem a bit forced for those distilleries that have simply copied or modelled their plant and operations on the same blueprint and template as the many distilleries that stepped out before them.
It’s thus noteworthy when a distillery comes along that is genuinely innovating and doing something different. The 78 Degrees distillery is one such pioneer…
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The complete guide to oak, casks, & whisky maturation
Whisky maturation is both a simple and, yet, incredibly complex process. Let’s look at the subject in detail; explore what the distilleries are doing; address a few myths; and explain all the beautiful things that happen when we age whisky in oak casks…
One of the quintessential images associated with whisky these days is the classic “action shot” inside the warehouse. Think of those old-school, dunnage style, dimly-lit warehouses with earth floors and casks racked just two or three tiers high. It’s an evocative image, showcasing the majestic oak casks quietly slumbering, doing their part to mature the spirit that will one day give us delicious whisky.
But it wasn’t always this way. Whisky – uisge beatha, or the water of life – was originally an unaged spirit, taken off the still and flavoured with additives such as honey or heather to quell the drink’s aggressive nature and to make it more palatable. Tradition, or perhaps just a convenient story for the distillery tour guides, tells us that the maturation and aging of whisky was a happy accident. Variations on the story abound, but the crux of it is that some unfortunate person had more uisge beatha than he could immediately consume, and so he put it in an oak cask to store it until he was ready for it. The cask was left alone or forgotten about for some time, and when it was finally retrieved, he made the happy discovery that the spirit had mellowed, improved, and taken on new characteristics. Maturation, as we know it today, was born.
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5Nines Distilling – Adelaide’s new kid on the block
It was around 18 months ago that a whisky colleague of mine flicked me an email saying he’d come across a new distillery in Adelaide. The operation hadn’t released any whisky yet, but he’d visited the distillery and was impressed with the approach being taken on site. “Keep an eye out” was the intel that came my way.
Fast-forward to the present and the distillery – 5Nines – is now an established name that is quietly plying its trade. And for those seeking diversity and variation from a single producer, 5Nines has hit the scene with a large range of whiskies that showcases different styles and flavours.
So what’s to know about the distillery? Well, the name is a good starting point: The owners claim their sole passion is to create the perfect spirit, and at 5Nines they’re trying to achieve perfection. 99.999% perfect? That’s the five nines.
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Iniquity whisky and Tin Shed Distillers
Looking for information about Iniquity whisky? Read on…
In the busy, buzzing, and bulging world of the Australian whisky industry, it would be fair to say that the distilleries of South Australia tend to get overlooked. At the very least, they don’t get the share of the limelight they deserve.
The reasons for this are fairly straightforward: (i) South Australia is not in Tasmania, where most punters perceive all the action to be. (ii) The distilleries are generally small operations (with one exception), and the higher profile or “big brand” distilleries are in other states. (iii) The distillers behind the distilleries are modest folks who focus on making good whisky, rather than focusing on their social media and playing the popularity game. (On that note, and as an aside: I would not be the first commentator to observe that, in some cases, a whisky brand’s social media profile and volume are inversely proportional to the quality and quantity of its whisky).
The irony of this situation is the reality that, by and large, the distilleries of South Australia consistently make good whisky and are genuinely amongst the most lauded in the land. All distilleries will generally have hits and misses over their journeys; the trick is obviously to have the ledger filled with more of the former than the latter. One distillery that has excelled at achieving a consistent DNA; a reliable house style; and churning out a string of hits is Tin Shed Distilling Co through its Iniquity whisky label.