Review: Festive season single malts

Luke McCarthy -
Whisky Reviews
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On tasting: The Canberra Distillery Single Malt First Release, Smith’s Angaston 10 Year Old Muscat Cask and Muscadelle Cask, Starward Octave Barrels, Battery Point First Release Single Malt Whisky, Craft Works I Am… Too… and Fleurieu Wandering Storm Bird 

This is basically what my Christmas looked like. I’ve been catching up on some malts that have come across the desk in recent weeks, and these rich and juicy numbers paired perfectly with some Christmas pudding.

I’ve also been on the hunt for a taste of the numerous first release whiskies unveiled in the lead-up to the festive season, like the Canberra Distillery inaugural malt – how great is it that whisky’s being made in the capital!

There’s plenty of wine cask goodness to get around here, and this line-up is yet another reminder of the quality and breadth of wine cask whiskies produced in Australia at the moment. The Starward and Smith’s bottlings reviewed below are top representatives.

Get around the new Fleurieu and Craft Works malts, plenty of complexity to chew on there. And I’m keen to try more of Jack Lark’s work from Battery Point Distillery – he’s set to release a suite of new whiskies in 2022 for those interested.

 

  • The Canberra Distillery Single Release Whisky (First Release)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 44
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled in 2018 at The Canberra Distillery and matured in the distillery's own pedro ximenez seasoned casks. Bottled December 2021.
    • Location: Canberra, ACT
    • Score: 80
    Nose
    Fairly soft to start. Pleasant malt and cereal and plenty of vanilla and toffee. Hints of jammy fruit, and some youth and prickle from the spirit.
    Palate
    Light to medium bodied. More vanilla and coconut from the cask, and not as much PX as you might expect - hasn't extracted much wine and fruit from the cask. Again, a little spirity and prickly, but you see that blowing off with time.
    Finish
    Not the longest. Flashes of caramel, vanilla and sherry.
    Comments
    A solid first offering. I like the cask treatment, it doesn't dominate the spirit, and with a bit more time and integration these Canberra malts will continue to improve. A whisky from the capital! Awesome to see.
  • Smith's Angaston 10 Year Old Muscat Cask
    The Stats
    • ABV: 47.2%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Yalumba in 2011 and matured in a selection of casks for eight years and then finished for two years in a barrique previously used to mature old Muscat. 1516 bottles in total.
    • Location: Angaston, SA
    • Score: 86
    Nose
    Treacle, toffee, biscuits, milk coffee and raisins. Musty grapes, sawmill, spice rack and smoked wood. Very dense. Very complex.
    Palate
    Drier than the sweetness of the nose suggests. Baking spices, nutmeg and cinnamon, wood shavings, leather and tobacco. Amontillado and peanut brittle. Lots of wine and wood here.
    Finish
    Getting a bit woody, with malt biscuits and a herbal, anise tail.
    Comments
    I'm still in two minds about these recent Smith's bottlings. The flavour and complexity on offer is without question, there's some incredible moments here. But I just wonder if the cask is having too much of a say now, whereas earlier bottlings displayed more finesse and balance between spirit and oak. Either way, this is really enjoyable.
  • Smith's Angaston 10 Year old Muscadelle Cask
    The Stats
    • ABV: 55.3%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single mal whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Yalumba in 2011 and matured in a selection of casks for eight years and then finished for two years in a barrique previously used to mature old muscadelle. 447 bottles in total.
    • Location: Angaston, SA
    • Score: 88
    Nose
    White sugar, golden syrup, plums and raspberries. More of a complex perfume to it than the Muscat. Pancakes and maple syrup. Could nose this all day.
    Palate
    Better here again. Sweeter and juicier, but still so dense and chewy. Marmalade, plum pudding and anise. Similar tobacco and leather to the Muscat bottling.
    Finish
    Gets a touch grippy and chalky, but the muscadelle chimes in towards the back to brighten things up.
    Comments
    Again, torn. Both of these Smith's whiskies are heavily saturated by high quality casks. Put that aside though, and this has some incredible 30 year old brandy vibes. A serious whisky at a great price. One to sit on.
  • Starward Octave Barrels Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 48%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at New World Whisky Distillery and matured in 100 litre casks that previously held Yalumba's The Octavius Shiraz. Bottled October 2021.
    • Location: Melbourne, VIC
    • Score: 88
    Nose
    Fried banana and buttered toast. The wine isn't as prevalent as you'd expect straight away. Carob, pear, chocolate and red fruits.
    Palate
    It really comes together here. Surprisingly mouth-coasting. Nice tension between something jammy, dry and tart. Wine never becomes dominant. Some musty earthiness from the oak, and the Starward fruits are just hanging in there.
    Finish
    Quite long and luscious. A few moments here where the cask threatens to overwhelm, but it just holds together.
    Comments
    If you don't mind the style, it's hard not to like this. Brilliant collaboration, love the ideas at play here. Sure, the wine influence is prominent, but it's been well-managed and there's plenty of complexity and finesse to counter that.
  • Battery Point First Release Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 51%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Battery Point Distillery by Jack Lark and matured in a combination of small tawny, sherry, and Bourbon casks. Whisky from these casks was finished for six months in a Charles Oates apple brandy cask and then transferred to a Bourbon/muscatel cask for a final month. Bottled August 2021. 200 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart, TAS
    • Score: 78
    Nose
    Brown sugar, vanilla slice, dark berries and youth - a little spirity. Alongside that, lots of complexity from all of those casks.
    Palate
    Rich and biscuity. Nice malt drive with some cereal sweetness, which is enhanced by the cask components. But the influence from the various casks turns things a little odd and disjointed as it progresses. Packs a wallop of dark molasses, licorice and rum and raisin chocolate.
    Finish
    Sweet, malty and slightly winey through here. A hint of apple core and spirit on the tail.
    Comments
    There's some great flavours here, but there's a lot of noise from the various casks thrown at the spirit. Plenty to like, and a smorgasbord of flavours to get around, but more integration and time might clarify all that rich and woody complexity.
  • Craft Works I Am... Too... Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 55.1%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Craft Works Distillery from a mash which includes a range of specialty malts. This second release is a marriage of three PX sherry/apera casks, a 'super cask' from Andrew Young in Seppeltsfield, and a Pieter van Gent vintage port cask. Bottled November 2021.
    • Location: Capertee, NSW
    • Score: 85
    Nose
    Big and spritely, gooey caramel and plums from the cask. Moments where the specialty malts leap out of the glass. Espresso and dark chocolate, but a bit softer than the first release here.
    Palate
    More settled again. Thick, rich and very palate coating. Peanut brittle and nougat from the malt profile, rocky road, hints of smoke and paprika. Almost gets sweeter as it goes along, custard tart and boiled fruits.
    Finish
    Long and juicy.
    Comments
    There's a lot to munch on here. Very rich, almost chewy, and despite all the sweetness and wine being extracted from the casks, there's no plaguing tannin, and the various components have been wrought into line. It's a dense experience, and keeps evolving in the glass with time.
  • Fleurieu Wandering Storm Bird Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Fleurieu Distillery, matured in tawny casks, and this bottling will apparently become a continous, flagship release.
    • Location: Goolwa, SA
    • Score: 86
    Nose
    Still the saline and praline you expect from Fleurieu. A little funky, with mushrooms and macadamias, while the tawny brings on fruitcake, butterscotch and raspberry.
    Palate
    This is really together. More of the tawny here, and then the caramels and fruits arrive. Slight prickle and heat on the mid-palate, but rounds out nicely with that salty, fig jam character you get from a lot of Fleurieu whiskies.
    Finish
    Composed, but still plenty of malt and tawny to chew on. Probably the point where the previous releases keep driving.
    Comments
    If this is the new Fleurieu flagship, sign me up. All the DNA that Fleurieu fans love is still here, and the lower bottling strength allows some other characters to shine.
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.