Review: Australian rye and corn whisky round-up

Luke McCarthy -
Whisky Reviews
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On tasting: Ned Australian Whisky Sour Mash, Dugite Whiskey, Backwoods Rye Whisky Batch #5, Backwoods Rye Whisky Cask Strength Tawny for WLA, Archie Rose Whisky Gone A Rye, Archie Rose Single Paddock Harvest Rye Malt Whisky 2018, Belgrove T-Bone Stout Cask, Belgrove Peated Rye 2020, The Gospel Single Cask #147 and The Gospel Projects Fortified Cask.

I’ve been tasting through and thinking about a smorgasbord of Australian rye and corn whiskies throughout the year, so it’s a relief to finally put these together and see how things are progressing.

As I’ve said multiple times before, I truly believe some of the most distinctive and complex whisky being produced in Australia is coming from rye, corn and mixed grain mash bills.

Distillers producing these styles are now getting bolder and more advanced when it comes to grain selection, cask finishing, and incorporating some experimental fermentation techniques. And with the premiumisation of American whiskey, especially Bourbon, surging ahead at speed, there’s now a huge consumer base who are becoming more familiar and comfortable with the intricacies of process and flavour on offer.

From a drinker’s perspective, there’s proper value for money here, too. The limited release Australian rye whiskies now coming through are frequently challenging, and often besting, single malts in the same bracket for flavour and affordability. And recent batches of sharply-priced core range corn and mixed grain whiskies like Ned Whisky and Dugite show how rapidly that side of the market is progressing.

There are so many upticks in this space, so if you haven’t tried some of these whiskies already, I heartily recommend you rectify that situation.

I was also hoping to add Whipper Snapper’s Upshot PX Sherry Cask, Loch’s Corn Whiskey New American Oak, the Nonesuch Triple Grain PX Sherry Cask, and some of the Tiger Snake corn and rye whiskies to this line-up, but I couldn’t get my hands on them in time. Hopefully soon.

  • Ned Australian Whisky Sour Mash (2022 bottling)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 40%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Corn whisky
    • Production Story: Starts with a mixed grain mash of 71% corn, 17% wheat and 12% barley. Distilled in a combination of columns and pots and matured in American oak casks, both new and used, for a minimum two years.
    • Location: Melbourne, VIC
    • Score: 82
    Nose
    Straight away, this is a world apart from the 'First Batch'. Dusty cereals, corn bread and green fruits. Plenty of caramel and vanilla from the casks as you'd expect.
    Palate
    Pleasant stuff. Toffee and vanilla vibes here as well, with sweet oak, corn flakes and soft spice from the grains. The wheat adds a sort of a gentle wafer and ice cream character, and the oak treatment is well controlled this time around, certainly not smothering the spirit, and at no point does it get too dry or oak-forward.
    Finish
    Short, not unexpected though. Curious to see how it might drive home at a higher ABV.
    Comments
    This is completely different to Ned's 'First Batch' whisky. If you tried that batch and were put off (as I was), then give this a second look. Honestly, it probably won't rock your boat if you're craving a bold, complex Australian Bourbon-style option. That's not the idea here. This is a good mixer. Solid in highballs and classic cocktails, but maybe lacks the spice, backbone and drive where more traditional Bourbons with rye in the mash excel. But for the price (between $55-60), the updated Ned sour mash is starting to ask some questions about what an affordable Australian whisky might look like.
  • Ned Whisky Single Barrel 01: XO Cognac Finish
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Corn whisky
    • Production Story: A single barrel release from Ned Whisky, the first in an experimental barrel finish series. An XO cognac was used to season a new American oak cask which was then used to finish Ned Sour Mash Whisky. Released March 2020. 450 bottles in total.
    • Location: Melbourne, VIC
    • Score: 83
    Nose
    Sweet and musty. Creme brulee, raisins and raspberries. Lots of vanilla and wood spice from the American oak.
    Palate
    Juicy fruit, sultanas and sweet oak. The cereal character is less pronounced and it's been replaced by a perfumed, almost semillon flavour from the finishing cask.
    Finish
    Longer here, the finish adding stewed fruits, leather and caramel.
    Comments
    Interesting cask treatment. Definitely more heft and complexity thanks to the finish, and overall, well-executed balance of flavours. The spirit gets a little overshadowed by the finish, but pretty tasty otherwise. Not sure there's enough going on to rev up the whisky nerds, but it makes for solid drinking.
  • Dugite Australian Whiskey (2021 bottling)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 40%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Mixed grain whisky
    • Production Story: Starts with a mixed grain mash of corn, rye, barley, wheat and occasionally triticale (a wheat-rye hybrid) which is mashed, fermented and then distilled at Tiger Snake Distillery. This mixed grain whisky is then married with malt whisky, also distilled at Tiger Snake, to produce the final Dugite blend. All components are aged for a minimum three years in American oak casks.
    • Location: Porongorup, WA
    • Score: 79
    Nose
    Light on, but dig hard and you find some spice and earthiness, vanilla and corn bread. The youth present in earlier batches has matured out, although the cask influence is still minimal.
    Palate
    Better integrated than the last time I encountered this. You sense more flavour from the casks here, although that side of things is still very restrained (the Dugite and Tiger Snake whiskies have never been cask-forward). Slight minty, herbal character, pepper and vanilla slice.
    Finish
    Short, with anise, rye spice and subtle green fruits.
    Comments
    A definite improvement on the first bottling I tried. I love the hints of rye in this, which add some much needed depth and spice. It's pitched as a mixer and for those looking for an easy-going Aussie whisky to swig around a campfire with mates. The difficulty for the Dugite is a number of Australian grain whiskies, even single malts, have recently hit the market for either the same price or even a little cheaper, and I'm not sure how it stacks up flavour-wise against whiskies in that space. I still think it's a great project though, and I'm keen to see how it progresses.
  • Backwoods Distilling Co. Rye Whisky (Batch #5)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled from a mash of 60% heritage rye, 25% pale malt, 10% wheat and 5% chocolate malt. Matured in an American oak, ex-Australian red wine cask that had previously held Scotch whisky and Bourbon. Bottled 6 January 2022.
    • Location: Yackandandah, VIC
    • Score: 83
    Nose
    Big spicy, herbal rye character upfront. Maraschino and rye bread, and a fair dollop of wine coming off as well.
    Palate
    Cereals and spice drive through at first, then comes the wine, and quite a bit of it. There's no tannin or overt woodiness, but the wine really grabs a hold of things, adding a creamy, fruitcake sweetness.
    Finish
    Dill, caraway and sweet vermouth on the tail.
    Comments
    Definitely more wine-forward than other Backwoods batches I've tried. There's still plenty of their signature spice and grunt, just maybe a bit too much infill from the wine. But if you're a fan of rich, red wine cask matured whiskies, see here.
  • Backwoods Distilling Co. Cask Strength Tawny Cask Rye For WLA
    The Stats
    • ABV: 62.4%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: Same process as above, although this time matured in a French oak tawny cask for three years. Bottled by The Whisky List/Whisky Lover's Australia. 95 bottles in total.
    • Location: Yackandandah, VIC
    • Score: 88
    Nose
    Nice start, pretty approachable considering the ABV. Raspberries and cereal spice. Camphor and stewed fruits.
    Palate
    Yep. Lovely balance of flavours, and again, composed for the ABV. The tawny adds dried fruits and macadamias, and the French oak gets along nicely with the dark spice of the rye.
    Finish
    Just tapers a bit here. Red lollies and rye biscuits.
    Comments
    A cracking cask this one, and super drinkable at natural strength. The tawny influence works brilliantly with the herbal, earthy spice in the Backwoods profile, and it's been decanted at a good moment.
  • Archie Rose Whisky Gone A Rye
    The Stats
    • ABV: 52%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled 15 November 2018 at Archie Rose's Roseberry site from a base of pale malt and rye malt. Accidently matured in 100 litre ex-apera casks and bottled 16 November 2021. 1260 bottles in total.
    • Location: Sydney, NSW
    • Score: 89
    Nose
    Big spice. Malty and herbal. Dark chocolate. Ginger snaps and raisins.
    Palate
    Great balance of flavours. Apera hasn't overreached at all. Fruitcake and cloves, anise and dark berries, all complimented by some biscuity malt flavours.
    Finish
    Persisant. More of the spice and anise and cloves lingering.
    Comments
    A happy accident indeed. Apera casks seem to work really well with the Archie rye profile, and their influence here is bang on. Great integration, too. Tasty stuff.
  • Archie Rose Single Paddock Harvest Rye Malt Whisky 2018
    The Stats
    • ABV: 61.6%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: Started from a mash of three rye malts and one pale malt that was then semi-fermented with saison and wild yeasts. Distilled 13 September 2018 at Archie Rose's Roseberry site and matured in virgin American oak casks. Decanted 25 August 2021, and released mid-2022. 2052 bottles in total.
    • Location: Sydney, NSW
    • Score: 77
    Nose
    Wow. Okay, there are some crazy flavours to get your head around here. New carpet, lanolin, intense dark rye characters - sourdough Russian black bread, then lemon garlic prawns, caraway and olives.
    Palate
    Lordy. One of the most intense rye flavours I've ever come across. Initially, the virgin American oak steps in, but then all the flavours from the nose rush through. That sour, citrus note carries (I'm guessing thanks to the ferment), and then the rye comes bundling through with some dark, ancient, dirty rye characters (think shearing shed). For me, water improved things, helped to bring through the more pleasant cereal, dark chocolate and wood spice.
    Finish
    Funky citrus, farm shed, and toffee from the casks lingering.
    Comments
    I've been looking forward to trying this whisky for a while, and I commend the approach - it's a fantastic experiment. It's almost the Archie Rose version of Peter Bignell's rye whisky: single farm, single harvest, wild fermented - it's a booze nerd's dream. The main problem is the drinkability. There's some polarising flavours to get your head around (the sour, lanolin notes in particular). I'm just not sure there's enough cohesion and balance, even the quality virgin oak casks have struggled to tie it all together. Or maybe I'm just not cut out for a whisky this challenging. Either way, one of the most uniquely flavoured rye whiskies I've come across in a while. Love the broader project, and keen to try more.
  • Belgrove Peated Rye Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 50%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: Starts with rye grown entirely at Peter Bignell's farm. For this bottling, 20% of the rye was heavily smoked in Peter's tumble drier with peat dug from Brown Marsh Bog in central Tasmania and then distilled through Peter's self-built pot still. Aged for 2.5 years in ex-Tassie whisky casks (I think?). Bottled 20 August 2020.
    • Location: Kempton, TAS
    • Score: 85
    Nose
    Quite fruity and vanillin initially - honey, passionfruit and pear. Then the smoke, which is only soft, comes on like a gentle waft of campfire and ash. Hints of rye spice and grain husk, cloves and lemon pith.
    Palate
    That classic, agricultural Belgrove rye character is immediately apparent. The smoke clings on to it and adds a charcoal, smoked meat flavour. Despite that, quite mellow, with more vanilla and lifted fruits coming through.
    Finish
    Fades nicely, quite restrained considering the slightly higher ABV. Rye bread and an earthy, sweet smoke.
    Comments
    Easily the best batch of Belgrove Peated Rye I've tried. Nice interplay between fruit, spice and smoke and good integration between spirit and cask. This continues to be one of Peter's more subtle experiments, where all the intricacies of flavour from the process are right there for fans to taste.
  • Belgrove Rye Whisky T-Bone Stout Cask
    The Stats
    • ABV: 54.8%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled from a mash of 100% Belgrove rye, although this bottling was matured in a cask that previously contained some T-Bone Brewing Co. Stout (T-Bone is owned by Peter Bignell's son). Bottled 6 September 2022.
    • Location: Kempton, TAS
    • Score: 82
    Nose
    Fairly subtle for the ABV. Corn flakes, honey and dark chocolate from the cask. Earthy herbal flavours from the rye, with white pepper and big chunky cereal notes.
    Palate
    Thick and textural for sure. Choc malt, burnt toffee and grass clippings. A ginger crackle from the rye, but the cask meets that with Milo and cacao nibs.
    Finish
    Finishes with the classic Belgrove dry earthiness, but gets a maybe a little too dry and cocoa powdery.
    Comments
    This works. The cask just adds just enough, and brings out some rich and brooding notes in the Belgrove profile. Really like the ABV here as well.
  • The Gospel Single Cask #147 Rye Whiskey
    The Stats
    • ABV: 48%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled from a mash of 100% rye sourced from a single farm in the Murray Mallee. Matured in a single 200 litre virgin American oak cask for around three years - the first Gospel release to be distilled, matured and bottled solely in their Brunswick site. Released March 2022. 300 bottles in total.
    • Location: Melbourne, VIC
    • Score: 90
    Nose
    Very together and composed. Mint lime, cinnamon and dusty farmyard rye flavours. Pear, apricot and allspice, and some lovely sweet oak notes.
    Palate
    You really taste the quality of the cask at work here - vanilla, brioche and hints of fresh pine. Definite green apple, and the meaty spice from the rye drives through the whole.
    Finish
    Zesty and fruity still. Red berries and black pepper.
    Comments
    Not quite as much zing as the last Gospel single cask I tried. This one's more refined and a bit more tropical and silky (are the moonshiners mellowing, too?). You get such a great look at the bones of The Gospel spirit here, which continues to surprise with its fruity edges and distinctive rye character.
  • The Gospel Projects Fortified Cask Rye Whiskey
    The Stats
    • ABV: 52%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Rye whisky
    • Production Story: As above, but matured for a further 6 months in three fortified casks - apera, chardonnay tawny and fortified semillon. Released April 2022.
    • Location: Melbourne, VIC
    • Score: 91
    Nose
    Cherries, fig jam and Dr Pepper. A lot going on. Dark, juicy fruits, treacle and blackcurrant. The spicy Mallee rye is still there, and it's having quite a conversation with the fruit and the wine.
    Palate
    Luscious. Mouth-coating and syrupy, but not flabby and overridden by wine. The spice and fruit in the spirit has married up brilliantly with these casks.
    Finish
    Big finish. Keeps driving and spreading out. Cherry jam on rye bread.
    Comments
    A crowd pleaser for sure. Brilliant balance. The fortified influence has been intelligently managed, doesn't smother the spirit, just meets it with flavour and richness.
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.