Supplied
The new Dugite Whiskey will be launched in coming weeks, after Great Southern Distilling Company, producers of the Limeburners and Tiger Snake brands, recently announced its arrival.
The expression is the latest sub-$100 Australian whisky to be released in recent years, joining Ned Whisky, The Gospel, Starward and Whipper Snapper in offering up more affordable mixed grain whiskies (our full review of Dugite here).
‘That was really my goal,’ Cameron Syme, Great Southern’s founder and owner, told Oz Whisky Review ahead of the release. ‘I wanted to make a whisky that was sub-$100 so it could be for the average Aussie drinker. But obviously you need economies of scale to be able to do that, and that’s what we’ve managed to achieve at the distillery in Porongurup. It’s given us the capability to pump out 50 barrels of whisky a month from there.’
Porongurup, Western Australia – Oz Whisky Review
Tiger Snake Distillery, where Dugite is produced, is home to the ‘snake family’ of Great Southern whiskies. Located 30 minutes north of Albany, the distillery’s array of pot and column stills have allowed Syme to produce both single malt and grain whiskies at the one facility.
‘The Dugite really is a quaffing whisky. It’s not going to be smack you in the mouth with flavour like some of our other whiskies, particularly our ryes and heavily peated whiskies. The stills we have in Albany for Limeburners are much shorter and squat, whereas the big whisky still we’re using in Porongurup is nine metres tall, so it’s a lighter flavoured spirit that comes out,’ says Syme.
Nine-metre tall pot still at Tiger Snake Distillery – Oz Whisky Review
The Dugite blend makes good use of these styles, marrying grain whisky made from corn, rye, barley and occasionally triticale (a wheat-rye hybrid) with single malt. All the components are distilled at Tiger Snake Distillery and then aged for two to three years in ex-Bourbon casks before Syme blends them to create the Dugite.
‘As a blended whisky, if I call it that, it should appeal to both single malt and grain whisky drinkers, it’s got elements of both of those styles,’ says Syme.
Pre-sale purchases are now available, and Syme will also hold an online masterclass on June 12 for a limited number of consumers who purchased a discovery pack.