Whisky review: First release Furneaux single malts

Luke McCarthy -
Whisky Reviews
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On tasting: Furneaux 100% Flinders Island Peat Bourbon (FPB1), Apera (FPA1) and Furneaux 50/50 Scottish and Flinders Peat Bourbon (FSPA1) and Apera (FSPA1)

Back in March, Jules told us to keep an eye out for the first release Furneaux single malts, and I have to say, they don’t disappoint. Founder Damien Newton-Brown and Furneaux distiller Tom Ambroz have done a great job working the flavours of Flinders Island into these whiskies (check out our profile for the full story).

Peated Australian whisky is having a fascinating moment, as we found out last week. Distillers are quietly asking questions of each other, and the whiskies reviewed below answer some, but ask even more, about how best to make peated Australian whisky.

There’s no doubt Scottish peated malt unleashes a level of flavour and depth that’s hard to match using the post-malt smoking method originally developed at Lark Distillery.

Are we going to see a malting firm or distillery here kiln Australian barley with local peat in true Scottish fashion? It seems like the next step. A number of distilleries in Australia have tried but not quite got there, which shows how difficult it is to make it viable and sustainable.

But have a taste of these Furneaux whiskies and you can see it’s a worthwhile endeavour. We have such a diversity of landscapes in Australia, and tasting those flavours in the whiskies we create is seriously exciting.

 

  • Furneaux Single Malt Whisky 100% Flinders Island Peat Bourbon Cask (Batch FPB1)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 48%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Starts with Tasmanian malted barley sourced from Joe White Maltings in Devonport. Furneaux gets this malt sent to Flinders Island where it's smoked using local peat. That smoked malt is then sent to Launceston Distillery where it's mashed and fermented and the wash sent back to Furneaux Distillery to be twice-distilled through Knapp Lewer pots (crazy, right?). This bottling is a marriage of three 20 litre ex-Bourbon casks each matured for around 2.5 years. 115 bottles in total.
    • Location: Flinders Island, TAS
    • Score: 83
    Nose
    Herbaceous, with a maritime, almost seaweed note. Warm sea water in rock pools. Cured ham, cardamon and malt biscuits. With time, really opens up, confectionary sweetness from the cask, and then florals and stone fruits. Perhaps a little disjointed, and the malt's a bit hard to get at, but still intriguing.
    Palate
    A bit flat up front. Lengthens into sweet cereal notes and that meaty, briny character from the nose comes out. Fresh lemon over oysters, and the Flinders peat comes late.
    Finish
    Nice length. Kelp and gentle tannin, and the earthy, salty peat lingers.
    Comments
    Enthralling stuff. Ex-Bourbon is definitely the right cask to get a proper look at the Flinders Island peat. Whether the peat smoke is fully integrated with the malt here, I'm not so sure. It's an enticing glimpse at the flavours in those Flinders marshes, but I think post-malt smoking is still struggling to fully capture them, and this just lacked texture and structure for me. In saying that, I still really enjoyed it. A seriously distinctive malt, and one I'd love to be back behind the bar pouring and talking about.
  • Furneaux Single Malt 100% Flinders Peat Apera Cask Matured (Batch FPA1)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 47.1%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Same process as above, but this is a marriage of two 20 litre apera casks matured for around 2.5 years. 78 bottles in total.
    • Score: 85
    Nose
    Raisins and fairy floss, wet oak and hot sand. The apera's made this much richer and thicker, but there's still a savory, sort of minerally funk. Smoke is much more gentle here.
    Palate
    Rich and spicy. Freshly cut timber, plum pudding and burnt fruitcake. Muscles in stout. Well-integrated tannins, feel the French oak influence here.
    Finish
    Dry and smoky, with a lick of salt and apera.
    Comments
    Better integrated than the 100% Bourbon. The cask has more of a say, but the apera hides those fascinating Flinders peat notes. Probably better drinking than the Bourbon cask, but it loses the essence of the broader project in the process. Hmm, tricky.
  • Furneaux Single Malt Whisky 50/50 Scottish & Flinders Peat Bourbon Cask Matured (Batch FSPB1)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 48%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Starts with a combination of Joe White malt smoked on Flinders Island and heavily peated Bairds malt from Inverness, Scotland. Equal proportions of these are mashed and fermented at Launceston Distillery and the wash is then sent to Furneaux Distillery where it's twice distilled. This bottling is a marriage of three 20 litre ex-Bourbon barrels. 110 bottles total.
    • Location: Flinders Island, TAS
    • Score: 87
    Nose
    Earthy smoke, tobacco, tonka bean and burnt heather over the Flinders peat. More of a cereal sweetness here from the Scottish malt.
    Palate
    Much more smoke and grunge upfront. Feel like this has extracted more oak and vanilla from the cask, too. Ash, pepper and charred meat. Great texture and thickness.
    Finish
    Again, bigger, smokier and for longer.
    Comments
    Great balance of flavours. The Scottish malt has added more structure, smoke and cereal, rounding out the palate, while flashes of that Flinders salt and brine hum underneath. Top stuff.
  • Furneaux Single Malt 50/50 Scottish and Flinders Peat Apera Cask (Batch FSPA1)
    The Stats
    • ABV: 47.7%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Same process as above, but this is a marriage of two 20 litre apera casks matured for around 2.5 years. 67 bottles in total.
    • Location: Flinders Island, TAS
    • Score: 85
    Nose
    Fruitcake, salted caramel and a hint of varnish. Roasted capsicum, burnt fudge and dark chocolate. Touch of spirit heat.
    Palate
    Top apera casks at work here. Gentle smoke and syrup. Some spirit heat as it progresses, sweet vermouth, licorice and cloves. Sort of a heavy armagnac quality.
    Finish
    Burnt herbs and brandied cherries, moss and freshly cut grass.
    Comments
    Fascinating how the apera has, again, just mellowed the influence of the peat. Another confident, complex whisky. Touch of youth and prickle was softened with water, but pretty yum otherwise.
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.