Review: No boundaries on Australia’s blended malt whisky wave

Julian White -
Just inReview
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Some of the most successful whiskies at recent awards have been blended malt whiskies, usually three or less distilleries contributing mature whisky to be blended into a collaborative product.

Which begs the question, are Australian distilleries doing enough blending of their own spirit in house?

Many producers are blending together less than six casks at a time to create a batch. Usually these will be of similar cask types with similar if not the same spirit and similar ages, which can only offer a certain level of depth and complexity in a final ‘blended’ product.

These blended malt whiskies and the level of success they’re all experiencing is a pretty good smoke signal (bad pun) to the producers of the land that complexity and depth of character, presented in an amenable, lower alcohol strength is highly sought after and rewarding.

  • Jumping the Rattler Australian Blended Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 45%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Blended malt whisky
    • Production Story: A marriage of three single malt casks from three distilleries: Backwoods ex-Australian corn whisky (Upshot) matured cask, a Timboon Bourbon cask whisky, and a Fleurieu apera cask. Released November 2022.
    • Location: Goolwa, SA; Timboon, VIC; Yackandandah, VIC
    • Score: 89
    Nose
    Oven roasted green capsicums and green olives. Runny honey and malt milkshakes standing next to an idling Holden Kingswood. Yellow peaches and caramel.
    Palate
    Excellent weight, there’s real 'chew' to this. Pencil case, pine box flavours on the mid palate, and after numerous passes the peat element remains pretty minimal. Seamless, and pretty easy going.
    Finish
    There’s a little spicy wood finish that’s not at all tannic but does overtake the sweetness and smoke.
    Comments
    Very well constructed, good integration of the components, and very easy to drink. Plenty of interesting flavours to get around but a bit light on.
  • No Boundaries Bourbon Cask Peat Smoked Blended Malt Whisky (Batch 2 – Overeem/Spring Bay)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46.1%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Blended malt whisky
    • Production Story: A marriage of two single malts: Overeem ex-Bourbon cask matured whisky and Spring Bay ex-Bourbon cask whisky. A portion of the blend was further matured in a peat smoked barrel. Blended by Todd Morrison (formerly Destination Cellars) in consultation with the distillers and released November 2023. 38 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart/Spring Beach, TAS
    • Score: 87
    Nose
    Plum liqueur, ganache and all the creamy chocolate. Triple sec and a barley decipherable peat character. Promising, decadent nose. Sweet and luscious.
    Palate
    Starts with a burst of sweetness like an iced sweet biscuit. But the sweetness isn’t backed by the fruit and structure you might expect. Lot’s of yummy sweetness though!
    Finish
    This is where the peat starts to prove itself in this blend. It brings some personality to what becomes a little dry despite the sweetness up front. Certainly makes you want to go back for more!
    Comments
    Two very well suited spirit styles for ex-bourbon cask maturation have been selected here. The Overeem being incredibly clean and light, the Spring bay more floral and fruity. The sweet maltiness didn't quite carry through, but very excusable given the pioneering work going on here.
  • No Boundaries 1st Release Batch 1 Peated Bourbon Cask Blended Malt Whisky (Batch 1 – Launceston Distillery / Hobart Distillery)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 49.1%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Blended malt whisky
    • Production Story: A marriage of two single malts: peated Launceston ex-bourbon cask matured whisky and Hobart ex-Bourbon cask matured whisky. Blended by Todd Morrison (formerly Destination Cellars) in consultation with the distillers and released November 2022. 114 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart/Launceston, TAS
    • Score: 93
    Nose
    Wonderful combo of big peat and big cask influence. Lots of earthy, tar like peat and swathes of juicy cask influence. The vanillins are erring towards Bourbon territory but hey it’s popular.
    Palate
    Deserving of the extra alcohol strength. The peat and concentrated malt attack the palate, but there's good harmony and integration about them.
    Finish
    Enormous, and the sweetness hangs on right the way through.
    Comments
    The lovely takeaway from this is that it's greater than the sum of its parts. The Launceston component is intensely peat and malt-driven and balancing that with Hobart Whisky was an excellent decision (it must have taken months to marry up). Love the approach, it's new and uncommon to Tasmanian ex-Bourbon cask whisky celebrated like this.
  • Heartwood 'Vats out of the bag' Tasmanian Blended Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 59%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Blended malt whisky
    • Production Story: A marriage of Nant and peated Adams single malt matured in port, sherry and bourbon casks. Released May 2023. 164 bottles in total.
    • Location: Tasmania
    • Score: 89
    Nose
    Golden syrup and Ribena syrup. Needs time in the glass to calm down. Water helps, too. There’s also a bit of clove and orange rind.
    Palate
    There’s a good level and integration of peat here, which comes early and leaves quite quickly. Sweetness is almost comparable to that of the No Boundaries, but this has more grape sweetness than wood sweetness.
    Finish
    The wine influence begins to dominate over the spirit character. There’s lots of juicy fortified influence as per the Heartwood signature.
    Comments
    As is the Heartwood way, the drinker needs to find the sweet spot with dilution here. I think this definitely improved with water, it evened out the flavours and made the complexity easier to get at. The orchard and stone fruit in the Nant spirit was smothered by the heavier, nuttier, Adams component, but there's still a lot to like here.
  • Country To Coast Collab Black Gate And Fleurieu Blended Malt Whisky (Batch 4)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 48%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Blended malt whisky
    • Production Story: A marriage of second-fill bourbon and apera casks from Black Gate and Fleurieu distilleries. Released August 2023. 460 bottles in total.
    • Location: Goolwa, SA / Mendooran, NSW
    • Score: 91
    Nose
    Lots of dry straw bales and salty caramel, with a touch of lime zest. A touch of BBQ pineapple and kiln embers, white ash.
    Palate
    There’s a really drinkable sensation to the initial taste. The strength allows the drinker to enjoy the sweetness of the malt and still delivers a big whoosh of peaty euphoria. For those of us who are old enough, there’s the flavour dry Wheaties, straight out of the box along with coke fire soot, honey oats and Sicilian green olives.
    Finish
    The main elements of this whisky are all fantastic, simple to understand and delicious. From an analytical point of view, the complexity doesn’t venture too far from “sweet malt meets earthy, smoky peat” and the finish is a perfect tale of that. Because there isn’t a whole lot of oak there isn’t a lot of grip on the finish.
    Comments
    The management and blending that have gone into this whisky are fantastic. It’s so drinkable and so relatable due to the Scottish roots on display that it’s hard not to like.
How We Score
Julian White
Julian White is the co-owner of Melbourne’s Whisky & Alement and the driving force behind its importing arm the Independent Whisky Company. When he’s not scouring the planet for old and obscure bottlings, and creating daring whisky and beer projects for Australia’s curious drinkers, he’s a panel chair at the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards and a presenter, whisky educator and consultant.