If you’ve kept an eye on the Australian whisky industry over the last five years or so, you’ll be aware of huge, dynamic change. We’ve seen more than 30 new distilleries bring their debut release to market. We’ve seen large-scale distilling emerge, and we’ve seen corporate and investment money now backing many distilleries. We’ve also seen companies with main interests in other categories of the drinks industry add whisky-making to their portfolio (e.g Angoves, Morris, Bickfords, and Coopers). And we’ve seen new blended whisky products appear with malt whisky being blended with grain whisky (wheat) to produce cheaper and more widely available bottlings. We’ve also seen more contract distilling occurring, and we’ve seen an increasing number of Australian independent bottlers appear. With all the change and all the noise around some of the above developments, you could be forgiven for overlooking some of the long-established names who’ve just quietly gone about their business. Hellyers Road is one such distillery. Continue reading “Hellyers Road”
Category: Australian whisky
Articles pertaining to Australian whisk(e)y
Iniquity Gold, Batch 008
I’m often asked, “Which do you think is the best Australian whisky”? It’s a difficult question to answer, although I had a fair crack at answering it in this article here. One of the problems in answering the question is that it can depend on how much you’re comfortable spending? Ask me what is the best Australian whisky for under $150 and I’ll give you one answer. Ask me what is the best Australian whisky for under $300 and I might answer something different. And we’re all too aware that there are plenty of Australian single malts being sold at RRP’s much higher than $300! Of course, the inconvenient irony here is that it doesn’t necessarily follow that the $300 whisky is actually better than the $150 whisky! But as we discussed previously in the article referenced above, one of the key metrics in deciding which is the best Australian whisky is the “bang for your buck” factor. There have been some exceptional Aussie malts sold out of Tasmania in recent times, but if the RRP is over $900 and the whisky is effectively inaccessible to most consumers – then how good it is can be a moot point. And so we often have to ply a line of best fit. Or, you can simply nominate Iniquity Gold.
23rd Street Australian Whisky
The ever-evolving narrative around the Australian whisky industry continues to morph and develop. One of the more interesting (and pleasing) threads to follow has been the increasing number of distilleries bringing new releases to market below the $100 price threshold. 23rd Street Distillery is the latest to do so, throwing down the gauntlet with an impressive new malt whisky release that carries a price tag of $80 and is labelled simply as 23rd Street Australian Whisky.
World Whiskies Awards & Icons of Whisky Australia, 2024
The World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky winners (in the Rest of World category) have been unveiled for 2024. There are some familiar names and, pleasingly, some new names and faces as a number of new distilleries bring their whiskies to the world’s stage…
The World Whiskies Awards has grown to such an extent that, several years ago now, it was split into various regions to do justice to the huge number of distilleries, producers, bottlers, and individuals who contribute to the many sectors of the whisk(e)y industry. While some regions naturally pick themselves (e.g. Scotland, USA, Ireland), the catch-all region of Rest of World was created to capture the likes of Australia, Japan, India, Taiwan, Canada, New Zealand, Israel, China, and the many European countries producing whisky (e.g. Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc) and more. In February this year, the 2024 winners in the Rest of World categories were announced for both the World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky Awards. Being an Aussie and someone who’s written a lot about Australian whisky, I trust you’ll indulge us if we highlight the Australian winners for 2024…
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Archie Rose Double Malt
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….
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.
Iniquity – Lazy Daze and Iniquity Gold Batch 007
The single malts from Iniquity, produced by Tin Shed Distilling Co, consistently rank amongst the finest Australian whiskies. Two new releases from Iniquity crossed our desk this week and, not surprisingly, they impressed. So much so, we figured they deserved a review and write up. Accordingly, below are the details and our thoughts on Iniquity’s new Lazy Daze release, as well Iniquity Gold Batch 007 …
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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…