Image – TBWC
That Boutique-y Whisky Company (TBWC) have announced a new series of Australian whisky bottlings with Return to Oz, a follow-up collection to their Australia Series of independent bottlings first launched in 2021.
The release is the latest in Boutique-y’s themed quarterly offerings and follows several other independently bottled collections of Australian whisky, most recently the ‘Australia Celebration’ by locally-owned Barrel & Batch.
With Return to Oz, The UK-based TBWC will give whisky lovers around the world a chance to try several Australian whiskies that are rarely available internationally.
Six distilleries never bottled by TBWC before will feature in the collection, including a new Australian rye whisky from Melbourne’s The Gospel and eight Australian single malts. A brandy from iconic Tasmanian distillery Sullivans Cove will also be released along with four specially selected rums from the likes of Black Gate and Mt Uncle distilleries.
Image – TBWC
Dave Worthington, Global Brand Ambassador for TBWC, said the team were delighted to be returning to Australia following the success of the inaugural range.
‘There’s plenty to discover with this release from some very small-scale distilleries that you might not have come across before, to some you will have heard of.’
‘There’s a welcome return to the very first Australian distillery we ever bottled, Overeem, with a great new label, as well as a couple of new releases from distilleries we featured in our first series.’
Like the former themed series, where the Southern Cross constellation was referenced on bottle labels, the upcoming collection’s theme is Australia’s infamously dangerous fauna, with each bottle assigned its own deadly animal.
‘We had a lot of fun finding out about the dangerous animals for each of the labels – The ‘Ricky Pontin’ is a bloody ripper!’
‘Return to Oz’ bottlings from Tria Prima, Launceston Distillery (featuring ‘The Ricky Pontin’), The Gospel and Limeburners.
Speaking to Oz Whisky Review, Simon McGoram, the regional sales manager for Atoms Brands (owner of TBWC), said they were hoping to repeat the sell out success of the first series with this larger and more diverse range.
‘The first series was a big success for us. We weren’t sure how Aussie whiskies were going to be received in the UK and Europe but they went down really well.’
‘We’ve got some really strong interest domestically in Australia, and our customers in the UK and Europe are re-ordering these whiskies, which is awesome.
‘Some whiskies might only be two or three years old – you can’t even call that whisky in the UK – and from distilleries that people might never have heard of, but people are willing to back it because Boutique-y put it out there and they know we have a knack of finding some really cool stuff from around the globe.’
That Boutique-y Whisky Company was founded in 2012 and is owned by Atom Group, which also holds Maverick Drinks and the ecommerce platform Master of Malt. The group was acquired by ZX Ventures, the growth and innovation unit of AB InBev, the world’s largest brewing conglomerate, in April 2018.
With a focus on highlighting the best malt, rye, wheat and corn distilleries the world has to offer, TBWC are renowned for their ‘outside the box’ approach, frequently bottling whisky from lesser-known producers from all corners of the globe.
The Return to Oz line-up will initially go live from January 27 through Atom Group’s Master of Malt site and then through other key retailers in the UK and Europe. Australian stocks will be available in the middle of 2023 through retailers like The Oak Barrel and The Old Barrel House and in leading bars across the country.
The full whisky line-up from Return to Oz includes:
– Chief’s Son 5 year old Batch 1 – $294.95
– Corowa 4 year old Batch 1 – $239.95
– Fleurieu 3 year old Batch 2 – $309.95
– Launceston 5 year old Batch 1 – $319.95
– Limeburners 5 year old Batch 1 – $299.95
– Overeem 5 year old Batch 3 – $329.95
– Riverbourne 2 year old Batch 2 – $224.95
– The Gospel 3 year old Batch 1 – $179.95
– Tria Prima 2 year old Batch 1 – $294.95
