Review: Sullivans Cove independent and collaboration bottlings

Luke McCarthy -
Whisky Reviews
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On tasting: Thornbury Spirits Co. 17 Year Old, Heartwood @#$%^&*, The Exile 15 Year Old, Corowa Distilling Co. Bastard Barrel 17 Year Old, Sullivans Cove Old & Rare Double Cask The Oak Barrel Exclusive, Sullivans Cove 14 Year Old Casa de Vinos 10th Anniversary, The Journeyman 18 Year Old.

There’s a lot that could be said about independent bottlings of Sullivans Cove. Casks of the Tasmania elixir have gone through several generations.

Initially, during Robert Hosken’s tenure (Sullivans Cove’s founder), a number of casks were sold and left the distillery. Some have shown up in strange places before eventually ending up in a bottle.

Then you have Tim Duckett, Australia’s earliest and truest independent bottler, who studiously purchased casks of Sullivans in the early 2000s and worked on them for years before releasing under his Heartwood label.

Of course, everything to do with Sullivans Cove changed after their win at the World Whiskies Awards in 2014. The value of any Sullivans Cove whisky naturally skyrocketed, and a number of curious and opportunistic releases took advantage of the upswing.

On the whole, I’ve found the quality of Sullivans independent bottlings to be variable. Sure, there’s been some belters, as you’ll see below. But that care of selection you see from experienced bottlers overseas has often been lacking.

For me, the hit rate turned a corner when the collaboration bottlings started to emerge. Oz Whisky Review’s very own Julian White was a pioneer here, when he blended together an exceptional version of the Double Cask with Heather Tillott in 2018 for Whisky & Alement. I haven’t included a review of that bottling here for obvious reasons of bias, but for me, that was right up there with one of the very best Sullies I’ve tried.

Since then, the quality has increased, with experienced retailers bottling and even partnering with Sullivans Cove to release limited bottlings, like La Maison du Whisky, Casa de Vinos and now The Oak Barrel’s just released Old & Rare Double Cask.

Luckily, Sullivans has pretty much always been filled into larger casks. So those that did escape the bond store have had time to go on to new and interesting lives elsewhere, which has definitely added intrigue to some of these bottlings.

  • THORNBURY SPIRITS Co. SULLIVANS COVE AMERICAN OAK 17 Year Old HH0363
    The Stats
    • ABV: 62.5%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Reportedly distilled by Bill Lark at Sullivans' Gasworks site in 2000 and matured in an ex-Bourbon cask for 17 years. Bottled by Thornbury Spirits Co. (Carwyn Cellars) in 2018. 155 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart, TAS
    • Score: 83
    Nose
    Buttery, floral and some candle wax. Classic Sullies American oak citrus and fruit. Banana, green tea and temples.
    Palate
    Oof, hot initially. The green tea on the nose turns all dry and English Breakfast here. Undiltued, it's just too hot (puzzled by the bottling strength). Although with water (highly recommend adding a touch), it's a completely different whisky. Turns fragrant and unleashes some fruity esters, teeth lollies, banana bread and cloves.
    Finish
    Long, boozy, and still a little sharp. Turns to bitter chocolate and carob as the oak starts to grip.
    Comments
    A little too much heat for me. The nose has some lovely moments, but the palate is hot and a touch bitter. Doesn't quite have the malt and structure you want from top Sullies American oak single casks.
  • Heartwood @#$%^&* Cask Strength Single Malt Australian Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 62.5%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled 2006 at Sullivans’ Cambridge site and initially filled into a 2nd fill 300 litre tawny cask (TD0124) for seven years. Further matured by Tim Duckett in two different 1st fill apera casks for a further three years and bottled in May 2017 after it was given time to 'syrup up' in one of Duckett's steel vats. 337 bottles in total.
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 88
    Nose
    Plums, dates and lashings of jammy fortified notes. Prickles of booze, burnt orange, sulphur and brown sugar. Some darker, earthier, herbal notes emerge with time.
    Palate
    Syrupy and gooey. Roasted duck and plum sauce. It's apera on apera, but it does come together, and you taste where Duckett's treatment has gradually ironed out the kinks and softened the tannin. And I wouldn't bother adding water, go with it as is.
    Finish
    So goddamn rich and thick.
    Comments
    A pretty hilarious whisky in the end. It's all cask, the Sullivans’ DNA has been beaten out of this as Duckett 'sherried' away the off notes that displeased him. You're left with an oddly enticing whisky in the aftermath.
  • The Exile 15 Year Old Single Malt Whisky (HH0565)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 62%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Sullivans’ Gasworks site in 2000 and matured in a French oak tawny cask for 15 years. Bottled 2016. 344 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart, TAS
    • Score: 84
    Nose
    A little hot and woody upfront. Lots of tawny, raspberry jam and, yep, oak. Turns to raisins and boiled sweets, cinnamon and leather.
    Palate
    Rich and volatile. Cloves and jam donuts, boozy fruitcake and burnt caramel. Much better with water (recommend adding some). Brings forward more of the malt, and the earthy spice and tannin from the cask softens into dark chocolate and molasses.
    Finish
    Persistent. More boozy fruitcake.
    Comments
    This was highly rated when it was released, and gave punters a boisterous take on Sullivans’ French oak program. I was always out of step with the majority here. I just find this a bit too boozy, woody and loud. It is good fun though.
  • Corowa Distilling Co. Bastard Barrel 17 Year Old Single Malt Whisky (Cask 13)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 55.3%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled in 2000 at Sullivans’ Gasworks site and matured for 16 years in an ex-Bourbon cask and then finished in an ex-sherry cask for a further 12 months. Bottled 2017. 450 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart, TAS
    • Score: 80
    Nose
    Geez, a little strange here. Violet crumble, honey and nougat - very nutty - but then a big hit of sulphur and stewed fruits. Rich apera juts out.
    Palate
    Hot here, but also very rich and winey. Funky and creamy as it progresses, surprising amount of apera-influence from only a year in cask. Again that sulphury nuttiness, which some people dig but I'm not that into. Water didn't help things much.
    Finish
    Long and a little aggressive.
    Comments
    The sulphury, nutty trait in the Sullivans spirit can become very prominent in some single casks (Pat Maguire has told me it's a trait he never liked). The prominence of it here is surprising considering the age, and the apera finish has mingled with it in a way that's not to my taste. Some cool flavours, but it's an unwieldy package.
  • SULLIVANS COVE OLD & RARE DOUBLE CASK DCOR01 EXCLUSIVE TO THE OAK BARREL
    The Stats
    • ABV: 45.9%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: A vatting of five different casks (HH0368, HH0037, HH0616, HH0313, TD0322 and TD0099), with the youngest component distilled 23 June 2000. The bulk of the blend was whisky from a 20 year old ex-Bourbon cask, while other components were from ex-white wine, tawny and virgin American oak casks. Bottled August 2021 for The Oak Barrel's 65th anniversary. 360 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart/Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 90
    Nose
    Tight concentration of flavours here. Vanilla, black tea and butterscotch, and there's a herbal, almost peach core element from some of the older, left-field components. Plenty floral, too, with lavender and orange oil. Pretty exceptional nose.
    Palate
    Some chunky, malty edges. Bitter chocolate, ginseng, raisins and vanilla bean. That matcha tea quality I often get from these older bottlings. Flashes of the oakier components come and go, but they're matched up seamlessly with the younger, creamier, maltier elements.
    Finish
    Restrained here. Not the longest, but put more in my glass please.
    Comments
    Almost two journeys at play, in that the nose reveals the older, darker, herbal elements, but on the palate, it just glides down all creamy and chocolatey. It's moreish stuff and rewards multiple passes. I found quite a difference tasting this a week apart, so it'll be interesting to see how it progresses in the bottle. A great addition to Heather Tillott's portfolio of gems, and a great celebration of one of Australia's oldest independent wine and spirits retailers.
  • Sullivan’s Cove 14 Year Old Casa de Vinos 10th Anniversary
    The Stats
    • ABV: 56.5%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distillled 2006 at Sullivan's Cambridge site and matured for 14 years in a refill Sullivans Cove ex-Bourbon cask (TD0061). Selected by Casa de Vinos for their 10th Anniversary and bottled in September 2020. 386 bottles in total.
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 91
    Nose
    Fragrant and floral. Pears, vanilla and lavender, candy apple and lovely flashes of malt.
    Palate
    Creamy here, and seriously refined. Sort of a sorbet, slightly sherberty character. Malt's still present and kicking. The balance between cask and spirit is elite. But could more time have improved things even further?
    Finish
    Strawberry creams and vanilla. Great choice of bottling strength keeps this humming.
    Comments
    Refill casks and time, that's the spirit. You could almost call this un-Australian because it's so different to the vast majority of cask forward Aussie whiskies. This has elegance, and it's more in the tradition of European and Japanese independent bottlings which favour spirit over wood.
  • The Journeyman 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky Cask Strength
    The Stats
    • ABV: 59.2%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Originally distilled 23 November 1999 at Sullivans Gasworks site and filled into an ex-Bourbon cask (HH066). It then arrived at Melbourne's New World Whisky Distillery (Starward) in 2014 and was transferred into two first-fill 100 litre apera casks. Those two barrels were then sold in 2016 to distiller James Young of Old Young’s, who transferred them to his Swan Valley distillery and finished the whisky in a single rare muscat cask from John Kosovich Wines. Bottled in two versions, a white label 46% (380 bottles in total) and this black label 59.2%, (99 bottles in total).
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 88
    Nose
    Espresso, dark chocolate, sandal wood, and a herbal, almost minty note upfront.
    Palate
    Rich and raisiny. An initial confectionary sweetness lengthens into cloves, banana and and a hint of eucalyptus. Yes, there's plenty of wood but water brings forth the fruit: green apples and citrus, and then lavender and orange blossom.
    Finish
    Big! More cloves, loads of spice. Very textural and oily.
    Comments
    I tasted this again recently for the first time in a few years and I like it better now. Considering the maturation journey, it's obviously very cask forward, but just when you think it's going to tip too far that way, the structure holds and it keeps revealing layers and nuances. The finish was an inspired choice. Consider what some recent Sullivans Cove independent bottlings are now fetching and this looks like a relative bargain ($215 for the white and $285 for the black when first released).
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.