On tasting: Old Kempton The Old Stables (Batch 2), Old Kempton Pinot Noir Cask, Old Kempton Port Cask, Old Kempton Single Malt Solera #2, Old Kempton ‘Special Release’ Shiraz Cask, and Old Kempton Cask Strength Sherry Cask
It was a warm, sunny weekend in 2013 when I first visited Redlands Distillery. Redlands Distillery? That’s right, what you know as Old Kempton today started life as the Redlands Distillery back in 2012.
The distillery was situated within the historic, and stunning, Redlands Estate in the Derwent Valley, which was purchased in 2008 by agricultural consultant Peter Hope and his wife Elizabeth.
The Hope’s set about preserving and restoring the near 200 year old estate that once grew everything from barley, hemp, tobacco and hops. Bill and Lyn Lark then jumped on board as investors and consultants, seeing huge potential for whisky making at the site.
Redlands Estate Distillery – Oz Whisky Review
The vision was to create a truly paddock to bottle single malt whisky – a Tasmanian version of Kilchoman.
Tasmania’s other field to bottle producer, Belgrove, had shown it could be done, and continues to push the boundaries of the concept even today.
But right from the start, things didn’t go to plan at Redlands.
Despite the best efforts of head distiller Dean Jackson and later Robbie and Emma Gilligan, harvests were poor, malting often failed, and it got harder and harder each season to continue.
The estate was sold in 2016 to Casella Family Brands, the distillery moved to Dysart House 45 minutes north east, and the Old Kempton Distillery was born.
Old Kempton Distillery, Dysart House
Since then, whisky produced at the Redlands and Dysart sites has been matured in a wide range of casks, predominately ex-wine, and the Old Kempton single malt range now stretches to almost a dozen current and special release bottlings available at any one time.
During Dark Mofo in 2019, I stopped in at the new ‘Old’ Kempton site after visiting Lawrenny Estate – Tassie’s next paddock to bottle distillery.
The field to bottle idea is still on the cards at Old Kempton, with a new distillery site being constructed and barley grown in adjacent fields. Although this time, the concept hasn’t been committed to the core range, a wise move.
The quality of the spirit has never been in doubt – it’s always had good bones. But the lack of consistency, the RRP, and other available options within the same bracket left me wanting more from this line-up.
Often I thought, would I have a second glass? Probably not. And would I be upset to be charged for some of these over the bar? Probably.
So I was a touch hard on the allocation of points here, because maturation and cask selection at Old Kempton can be a little erratic, as you’ll see below.
That said, like many, I’m keen to see how this complicated Tassie tale progresses.
