Whisky review: Native wood Australian whiskies

Luke McCarthy -
Whisky Reviews
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On tasting: Derwent Distilling Co. Stringybark Finish Single Malt, Old Kempton Red Gum Cask Single Malt, Backwoods Single Malt Red Gum Cask and Backwoods Rye Whisky Red Gum Cask

When I first heard about distillers maturing spirit in native Australian wood casks, I was skeptical. Anyone who’s tasted the vast array of native leaves, roots and seeds that grow here will know that the flavours involved can be intimidating.

This is an ancient land, where Australian plants and trees have evolved in isolation for millennia, with many of them adapting to aridity and fire. As a result, Australian woods often have flavours that can take some getting used to: earthy, dry, astringent, nutty and often intensely fragrant. Taste your way through Australian gins and liqueurs infused with native ingredients and you’ll know where I’m coming from.

But when I tried the Derwent stringybark finish, and especially the Backwoods red gum whiskies, reviewed below, my skepticism started to shift (I’ve tried for months to track down some Applewood jarrah whisky, but without success).

I’ve discussed these whiskies with a number of experienced tasters and distillers. Some still argue that it’s not possible to create an Australian wood-matured whisky that’s drinkable: the flavours are off-putting and ‘wrong’, as one distiller said to me.

If these flavours aren’t to your taste, that’s fine. I’m still not sure they’re to mine. But when evaluating them, you’ve got to put aside your oak-matured whisky expectations and approach with a fresh perspective.

If there’s no balance between cask and spirit, and the wood-influence simply dominates the experience, sure, that’s a poor whisky, and there’s one of those below.

But when there is balance and structure, hot damn, it’s an incredible leap forward for the creation of a new Australian whisky signature (see here for our feature on the beginnings of this little native wood whisky movement).

We’ve come from a place where many thought this style wasn’t even possible (because they’re sans oak, you couldn’t call these ‘whisky’ if they were made in the UK). Now, distillers are asking: what other woods can we use? What’s the best way to treat it? Finish or full maturation?

It’s taken years to get here, and there’s still work to be done. But boundaries are being pushed, orthodoxy is being challenged. This is the start of something.

 

  • Derwent Distilling Co. Stringybark Finish Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 47%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Old Kempton Distillery by Robbie Gilligan and initially matured in a 50 litre apera cask coopered by Andrew Young at Seppelstfield. The whisky was then finished in a stringybark cask that had reportedly held tawny since the 1920s. Released March 2021.
    • Location: Kempton, TAS
    • Score: 78
    Nose
    Caramel, hay, biscuits and a fresh, malty prickle. Stringybark not really coming through yet, instead, lots of green fruits, charred wood and spice from the apera cask. Gets more floral and earthy as it opens up.
    Palate
    Dry. Apera vibes, then the influence from the stringybark, which adds white pepper, bush tomatoes and burrito seasoning. Turns bitter as it moves along, with coffee grounds, dark chocolate, smoked paprika and some dense timber notes.
    Finish
    Meaty and woody here. Burnt orange and musty oak.
    Comments
    Really like this approach. It's more subtle and considered, and aware of the fact that Australian wood imparts huge influence in a short period of time. Even so, I did find this a bit too dry and wood-driven. On the palate, the spirit has been chased away by the casks, which have sucked out the sweetness and malt. And while it's not quite there for me, it has tasty moments, and I absolutely recommend trying it. A glimpse at a method which might become commonplace in future, so kudos to team Derwent.
  • Old Kempton Single Malt Whisky Red Gum Cask (RD231)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 66.4%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled by the Redlands/Old Kempton team and matured in a 20 litre red gum cask that was seasoned with McWilliams apera. Bottled 24th of August 2018. Only 20 bottles released!
    • Location: Kempton, TAS
    • Score: 69
    Nose
    Hot, with lots of booze and lots of wood. Resin and Big Red chewing gum, red apples, tree sap and green chilli. The malt is very hard to find here. It's all heavy wood, hot spice and dead euchalypt bark.
    Palate
    Richer here, but goddamn it's puckering and hot. There's dark, dark chocolate, tart jam, cardboard and redskins, and that peculiar tangy spice, that highly fragrant bush character that the red gum adds. Needs water, but water didn't really bring balance to the equation.
    Finish
    More heat and wood. Tongue splitting.
    Comments
    Apparently, this was a bit of an experimental, token bottling, and not really meant to be drunk. Hmm. Can't really understand why it was bottled and money charged if that was the case. However, I can see the appeal - there can only ever be one 'first' red gum whisky, and unfortunately, this is it. You taste moments where this could've worked if the influence of the red gum was better managed (I don't understand the 20 litre treatment here, and the bottling strength - ahh, why?). But it's a cool experiment, and hats off to the team for giving it a crack.
  • Backwoods Distilling Co. Red Gum Cask Single Malt (#21)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 48%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled in 2018 at Backwoods Distilling Co. from a three-malt mash: 50% Atlas pale malt, 40% Veloria schooner malt, and 10% Voodoo schooner malt. Matured in a 100 litre red gum cask coopered by Andrew Stiller from A. Stiller Coopers in the Barossa Valley. The red gum was old wood that had been air drying for decades. Bottled 29th of March 2021. 160 bottles in total.
    • Location: Yackandandah, VIC
    • Score: 80
    Nose
    Raspberries, outback dirt, grape must and burnt citrus. A negroni note emerges, with bitter spice, dark chocolate and charred wood. Proper petrichor going on here, too; this actually smells like walking through bush.
    Palate
    Heat upfront. Starts dry and tangy, and the citrus and richness on the nose doesn't really follow through here. Flashes of the malt profile underneath, sort of milk coffee, roasted wattleseed, wheat biscuits and trail mix. More polished wood and hints of varnish - the red gum just doesn't quite come together with the malt.
    Finish
    Dry and earthy. Tangy wood lingering.
    Comments
    The best effort so far in this field. You can see the difficulty in matching up red gum with malt spirit. The flavours are so different to American or European oak. But, if you love the flavour of red gum, then you would love this whisky! It's wood-forward stuff, and better compared to straight Bourbon, with its heavy oak presence. What I love about this, though, is that you get a proper look at the flavours red gum brings to a spirit - spicy, tangy and earthy. It's unlike anything you've come across in malt whisky land before, and full marks for effort. This whisky, its design and execution, is the first proper step forward in native wood matured malts.
  • Backwoods Distilling Co. Red Gum Cask Rye Whisky (#22)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 48%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled in 2018 from a mash of 60% heritage rye, 25% pale malt, 10% wheat and 5% chocolate malt. Matured in a 100 litre red gum cask and bottled 29th of March 2021. 170 bottles in total.
    • Location: Yackandandah, VIC
    • Score: 82
    Nose
    Powerful juice. Geez this is unfamiliar territory. Again, the red gum's instantly apparent, comes on like grapefruit and orange bitters, charred fruit and campfire. Damper fresh from the fire. There's sweetness here, too, from the grain? From the cask? Really hard to pinpoint. Off dark chocolate and maraschino cherries.
    Palate
    Big spice, burnt wood, and better integrated than the malt. This has a richness to it, but there's still that dry red gum thickness here as well. Huge pepper note from the grains, and more dark chocolate, amaro and red cough medicine.
    Finish
    Again, better here, less woody, more earthy, with a hint of smoke, leather and peppermint.
    Comments
    This, for me, is the most sophisticated example yet in this style. The big query is its drinkability. There's just so much noise here between the mash bill and the red gum, and I'm not sure if I'd be keen on working my way through a bottle (but I've heard from plenty who would). Either way, these two Backwoods whiskies are a significant step forward in creating a truly Australian style of whisky. There's still work to be done, but the Attwoods have at least shown it can be done. Bravo.
How We Score
Luke McCarthy
Luke McCarthy is the editor and publisher of Oz Whisky Review. An independent writer, author and drinks columnist, Luke's written about whisky and spirits for numerous Australian and international publications and is a judge at the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards. His book, The Australian Spirits Guide, the first to tackle the history and resurgence of the Australian spirits industry, was published in 2016 by Hardie Grant Books.