Sullivans Cove whisky review: ‘TD’ to now

Luke McCarthy -
Whisky Reviews
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On tasting: Sullivans Cove American Oak TD0001 and TD0165, Sullivans Cove American Oak Refill Cask 14 Year Old TD0045, Sullivans Cove Special Cask 7th Edition, Sullivans Cove French Oak TD0274 and Sullivans Cove Double Cask DC109

When Patrick Maguire took the reins of Tasmania Distillery (Sullivans Cove) in 2003 with the backing of several investors, there was a lot to do.

He wanted to completely redesign most of what he saw with how the whisky was made and branded, and the first step was moving the distillery from the old Gasworks in Hobart to an industrial park in Cambridge.

From there, Maguire developed the modern day Sullivans Cove you see today. He shored up Sullivans wash supply (which is still produced at external breweries), refined the old pot still, and took a more considered approach to distillation.

Crucially, he also decided to fill large format tawny (300 litre) and Bourbon (200 litre) casks believing that the whisky inside them wouldn’t hit its straps until the 10+ year mark, minimum.

His thinking was long-term, small batch, high quality. And it worked.

When the accolades and awards started accumulating in the early 2010s, it was vindication, finally, for years of patience and hard graft.

Consumers started to get on board, too, assured by the consistent core range Maguire had introduced – the American Oak, French Oak and Double Cask – but intrigued by the traceability and variety that each single cask presented.

All the intricate details were there on the bottle (another Maguire decision). So when the French Oak HH0525 won world’s best single malt in 2014, that bottling, and the entire back catalogue of whiskies, quickly turned into a collectors dream.

Nowadays, the question for a lot of die hard Sullivans Cove fans is, do the whiskies taste different depending on when and where they were produced?

Are the modern era Maguire whiskies, starting with TD0001 reviewed below, better than the whiskies distilled under the Highland Holdings regime? Are the new unflocked and unfiltered Sullivans whiskies (which started in 2019), more flavourful than the old? And what will happen to future whiskies now that Sullivans is returning to the cove?

It’s nerdy, obsessive stuff, and single malt fanatics and collectors are eating it up, shelving and storing anything Sullivans Cove as soon as its released.

And that’s the rub. Is anyone actually drinking Sullivans Cove these days? I hope so, because the work the team has done in recent years has all been about improving the quality and consistency of how the whisky tastes.

And as you see below, I think it’s worked.

  • Sullivans Cove American Oak (TD0001)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 47.5%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled August 12th 2004 at Sullivans' Cambridge site and matured in a 200 litre American oak ex-Bourbon cask. Bottled June 22nd 2017. 277 bottles in total.
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 87
    Nose
    Honey, porridge and caramel. Slightly earthy, with a sulpury funk, and then lemon rind and grass clippings. Lavendar soap.
    Palate
    Sherbet and strawberry creams. Slight astringency from the cask, but there's plenty of malt and weight to balance that. Brilliant how the oak is kept in check here.
    Finish
    Lovely carry through, but not the longest.
    Comments
    Solid, bang on Sullies American oak. Is there a big difference between this and a 'HH' era bottling? Well, I guess more time in cask has smoothed over any edges, but nothing dramatic to report otherwise.
  • Sullivans Cove American Oak Single Malt Whisky (TD0165)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 47.5%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled 2006 at Sullivans' Cambridge site and matured in a 200 litre American oak ex-Bourbon cask. Bottled January 2020. 203 bottles in total. This whisky was also bottled unflocked and unfiltered.
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 93
    Nose
    Richer, fresher and more fragrant than the TD0001. Lots of grunt from the malt here, and more extraction from cask, too (colour suggests that as well). Slightly sweaty as it opens up (in a good way). Musty, funky tropical fruits - pineapple and mango.
    Palate
    Woah. Much more depth and carry here. More pronounced fruitiness, too - bananas and pears. That extra level of extraction brings out butterscotch and creme caramel, and there's a fun leathery thing developing.
    Finish
    One of the longest AO Sullies I've come across.
    Comments
    Yep, this is where it's at. Whereas some very good Sullivans AO's can be a bit gentle and plain, this has grunt, character and serious complexity, while still displaying all the finesse wrought by extra time in barrel.
  • Sullivans Cove American Oak Refill Cask 14 Year Old (TD0045)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 47.1%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled October 18th 2005 at Sullivans' Cambridge site and matured in a 300 litre cask that previously contained Sullivans Cove whisky. Bottled April 15th 2020 (unflocked, unfiltered). 456 bottles in total.
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 88
    Nose
    Surprising amount of oak for a refill cask. A little prickle and nutmeg, and, actually, more spice than some of the AO first fills. Hmm. Toasted wood and cinnamon, ganache and apple struddle.
    Palate
    Jersey creams. Thicker and oakier than you'd expect - these casks clearly had a lot of flavour and juice left in them.
    Finish
    Bigger here again. Buttery spice and Christmas cake lingering.
    Comments
    Has this extracted whisky from the previous Sullies casks? It has a fun boozieness to it, and it's a bit more oak and spice-driven than a lot of AO bottlings. I know the intent is to create more spirit-led whisky here, but this is pretty damn cool anyhow.
  • Sullivans Cove Special Cask 7th Edition American Oak ex-Apera
    The Stats
    • ABV: 45.8%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled November 7th 2007 at Sullivans' Cambridge site and matured in a 300 litre American oak ex-apera cask. Bottled October 15th 2019. 281 bottles in total.
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 85
    Nose
    We're back in Australian whisky land. All the classic dark, earthy spice from the apera. There's a nutty, eggnog character here, with sweet wine, dates and prunes.
    Palate
    Molasses, verandahs and quite chewy, with wood tannins, raspberry jam and allspice.
    Finish
    Gets a little dry and woody.
    Comments
    Hey, I wouldn't say no to this, but not quite the same level of clarity and complexity for me.
  • Sullivans Cove French Oak (TD0274)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 47.5%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled May 5th 2008 at Sullivans' Cambridge site and matured in a French oak tawny cask. Bottled January 1st 2018. 122 bottles in total.
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 89
    Nose
    Opens like many FO bottlings with toffee, dark chocolate and that unique raisins and camphor character (the Aussie notes). Creme fraiche, cranberries and a hint of smoke (barrel char?).
    Palate
    Blackberries, figs and raspberry jam. The spice from the tawny comes on like an older Irish pot still whiskey - floral, with a forest floor character. It gets more tart and oak driven as it moves along, but never verges towards cloying tannin.
    Finish
    Hums along quietly - more berries and a lick of dusty oak at the back.
    Comments
    Interesting this one. Was this from a smaller tawny cask? You normally see between 250-450+ bottles for each FO release, whereas this only yielded 122. A leaker maybe? Not sure, but this has all the hallmarks of the modern FO: rounded and subtle, restrained oak influence, and plenty of fruitcake and spice.
  • Sullivans Cove Double Cask (DC109)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 45.3%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: A marriage of ten Sullivans' whisky casks with previous fills including tawny, white and red wine, and Bourbon casks, with spirit from the oldest cask distilled 11th of July 2008. Bottled 27th of December 2019. 1142 bottles in total.
    • Location: Cambridge, TAS
    • Score: 87
    Nose
    Takes a while to fully open up. Vanilla, hay, sort of a sea salt, peanut brittle character here, too. Malt biscuits.
    Palate
    Much more expressive here. A lot thicker and fruitier than older Sullivans DC's, and you get tasty flourishes from the various components.
    Finish
    So different to older Sullies DC's. This keeps going. Lovely lick of tropical fruit.
    Comments
    Great maltiness to this, and a much more complete and rounded package than the older DC's. Fascinating to taste the influence of the different components here as well, which is also a feature of the new blending regime. These days, I often find the new DC's to be as complex as some of the AO and FO single casks, which is all down to head distiller and blender Heather Tillott - one of the country's very best.
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.