Whisky | Advance Australia Fair

Advance Australia Fair

QUICK POLL: HOW MANY HAVE BOUGHT AUSTRALIAN WHISKY IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS? ARE YOU A REGULAR PURCHASER OR WAS THIS A ONE-OFF (A BIT OF PATRIOTISM)? WHERE DO YOU THINK AUSTRALIAN WHISKY SITS IN COMPARISON WITH THOSE FROM SCOTLAND, IRELAND OR JAPAN? DO YOU THINK THEY ARE FAIR VALUE OR OVER-PRICED (AND IF SO, ARE YOU PREPARED TO PAY THE EXTRA)? DO YOU LOOK FOR AGED BOTTLES? PERHAPS ALL OF THIS CAN BE SUMMED UP IN JUST ONE QUESTION – HAS THE AUSTRALIAN WHISKY INDUSTRY ESTABLISHED ITS OWN STYLE OF WHISKY OR IS IT STILL SIMPLY AN ECHO OF SCOTLAND (NOT THAT THERE WOULD BE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT)?

Of course, it is far too early to make any definitive statements about styles of Australian whisky. That will come in time. Indeed, there is also the question of whether there are, or will be, significant differences between whiskies from Tasmania to those from the mainland.

Whatever your thoughts, one thing cannot be ignored. In the last decade or so, local whisky has gone from a rarely encountered curiosity to, perhaps not mainstream but certainly a level once unimaginable by most of us. Of course, if the quality was not there then curiosities they would have stayed. Instead, our whiskies have stunned the world and aficionados around the globe have been keen to sample them.

It is not that dissimilar to what happened in Japan, a few decades earlier, when we saw Japanese whiskies start to make an impact. They were little more than exotic oddities, but have now been elevated to near mythical status in some cases – one example from many: the Ichiro Malt Card series, a limited edition of 54 different malts (two jokers for the pack), which gathered dust on the shelves for years and are now some of the most valuable and sought after bottles on earth – a set going for a million plus!

Look to Sullivan’s Cove. They brought Australian whisky to the attention of the world, winning the World’s Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards in 2014, and a lot more bling since then. Heather Tillott, head distiller at Sullivan’s Cove, notes that they are selective in their choice of competitions, not least because with a production under 20,000 bottles last year, they simply don’t have the whisky to enter them all. The awards do provide validation of what they are doing, and also justification for the prices, seen by some as excessive. David Vitale, founder of Melbourne distillery, Starward, sees awards as a way to “help us to showcase our new way of thinking and crafting and our dedication to using quality Australian ingredients, particularly Australian wine barrels, to bring to market a distinctively Australian whisky for everyone.”

It is early days for Aussie whisky, but they are fast headed to that cherished mainstream status. While there will no

doubt be plenty of NAS offerings (see box), economies of scale will mean that competing with the world’s largest whisky producers will be nearly impossible at the everyday, bargain bottle standards. If Australian whisky does not compete at the very highest levels, then curiosities or tourist souvenirs is all it will ever be (eventually, commercial reality dictates that there will have to be larger production). Heather Tillott agrees that the industry is currently “super-premiumised”, and feels that this is not balanced. Commercial necessities will require more mainstream Aussie whiskies in time, but she believes that they will retain their “identity of Australia”.

For now, special bottlings are crucial. Jodie Dawe, distiller at Lark Distillery, notes that they “sometimes release as many as 2 or 3 special bottlings a month. Some are born of demand, some are born of collaboration, and some are born out of experimentation and our drive to share our passion and create unforgettable experiences”.

Winning awards, such as those picked up by Sullivan’s Cove and others, have allowed the industry to set the highest standards. This has been aided by what some may see as very lax regulations, allowing for more innovation than is encountered in most countries (it has been said that, basically, make it from grain and whack it in a barrel for two years and we have something which can be called Aussie whisky). Heather Tillott believes that there will be more boundaries and structure in the industry in time but that Australia will always allow the capability for flexibility and innovation.

Establishing a spirits industry is not easy, given the extensive time needed to mature the material – assuming one is not dabbling with the instant ageing technology gaining some traction, or making spirits such as gin, which can be still to shelf in a month. The costs are such that enormous dedication is necessary. And the pioneers in Tasmania, beginning with Bill Lark, had exactly that.

The general consensus is that most of the whiskies around the world owe not only their origins to Scotland (and here is not the place for a debate on just where whisky did come from), but also their styles (although good luck finding anything that can match that glorious peaty note that seems unique to Islay malts). This is largely because the usual method is pot stills using malted barley and in the early days (not that long ago), Australian whiskies were no different.

Differences have emerged, though probably only really identifiable to serious aficionados – using brewers’ malt rather than the more traditional distillers’ malt (and using local malts from Australian farmers, rather than importing them from Scotland, as happens in many parts of the world). Bill Lark has been quoted as suggesting that this is leading to richer and more oily malts, quite different to those from Scotland.

The team at Sullivan’s Cove have been actively trialing unfiltered and unflocked whiskies (the process of allowing whiskies which have not been chill-filtered to settle, over a number of months at ambient temperature, in order that “the heaviest particulate can fall out of solution and be removed with a simple paper filter”, leaving the whisky in its most natural state), which as they suggest, leaves the good stuff in. The fats and oils remaining contribute to the flavours, depth and texture. Unfiltered and/ or unflocked is not unique to Sullivan’s Cove and is used by other Tasmanian/Australian distilleries, though far less common offshore. This contributes to the Australian style being distinct from whiskies found in other countries.

Then there is the ‘Aussie’ route. The Adelaide Hills Distillery, in their ‘Native Grain Whiskey’, for example, uses wattleseed to access the starch leading to fermentable sugars, rather than the more typical grain. They believe that this leads to more chocolate notes in the final product. The Starward Two-Fold incorporates Australian wheat with their malted barley.

Australia is hardly alone in using barrels which formerly housed wine to age their spirits, but few places have taken to it quite so extensively – of course, having a thriving wine industry has helped this. A fine example is the Starward “Nova”, aged in barrels which were previously home to Australian Shiraz, Cabernet or Pinot Noir. The barrels are often still wet from the wine when filled. The result is a delicious whisky with red fruit notes, florals and caramel/ oak characters. It goes further. Archie Rose incorporates the use of ex-Apera (Aussie sherry) barrels in their award-winning Single Malt Whisky.

Needless to say, this provides for different flavour profiles than from the ex-bourbon barrels used for Scottish malts – more fruity than their vanilla notes. In addition, climatic differences play a role, not least in the speed of maturation – more on this below.

Australia’s love of bourbon – we are one of the biggest importers of that spirit – has also seen attention given to styles with noticeable amounts of rye, wheat and corn. Archie Rose is known for their 100% Rye, a rich, supple, powerful and complex whisky with notes of teak, cinnamon, cocoa, and spices with an utterly seductive texture. It won ‘Best Australian Whisky’ at the IWSC Awards in London 2018.

One area that Australia is addressing is the special bottlings – with such small stocks relative to many nations, this makes sense. Will Edwards, the founder of Archie Rose (better known for their gins but give it time) notes that they “have released in the past, and will continue to release, a number of smaller, unique bottlings under our Trials & Exceptions label – a series reserved for exceptional casks we discover in our bond store and small-batch trials from our extensive R&D program.”

What of winning awards? As with the wine industry, mixed feelings (often influenced by whether you’ve won them or not). Edwards again – “There are still a small number of highly regarded global awards that we enter each year. While the degree to which winning any individual award “helps” is highly subjective, consistently winning “World’s Best”, or “Australia’s Best” over multiple years does provide validation that we are on the right track and, from a spirits quality standpoint, can absolutely stand alongside the best spirits in the world year on year.”

Lark Distilling, a pioneer of Tasmania’s whisky industry, is reaping the rewards of the efforts of founder Bill Lark. Their new Legacy series will offer some exceptional whiskies of an age very rarely seen in this country. The inaugural Legacy release will be as a pair of 19-year-old whiskies – HHF582B and HHF585A (the latter is also a single cask release). Bill Lark has said, “My first reaction to tasting this release was one of sheer joy. To think that we could lay a whisky down 19 years ago, in our infancy in Australia and to come out with a whisky like this that is so drinkable but yet so rich and intense in flavour is a great milestone.”

Despite a price of nearly $2000 a bottle, such has been the demand that sales will take place by ballot. Consider also the speed at which the Sullivan’s Cove releases sell out – often within the hour – and it is obvious that many have no issue with the price of the best Aussie whiskies.

David Vitale has a slightly different take on prices, seeing his whiskies as “without a doubt” providing value. His vision is “to democratise access to tasty Australian whisky”. He notes that Starward TwoFold was crafted to be “an affordable and approachable blend of two quintessential Aussie grains”.

Wherever whisky comes from around the world, there is no debate as to the importance of barrel age. Edwards makes the excellent point that it is not simply a matter of sticking the spirit into a barrel and waiting around. As he says, ageing “is often mischaracterised as simply a waiting game whereby the older the whisky, the better it is. This couldn’t be further from the truth as whisky, like wine, cannot simply remain in cask indefinitely without proper management or it will become critically over-oaked, tannic, and fundamentally flawed. We don’t aim for an age, but rather monitor our spirit and bottle it when we feel it is at its absolute peak – in Australia, this almost always means bottling a younger spirit as the environmental impacts of the Australian climate accelerate maturation by, very approximately, 3-5 times over that experienced in most areas of the UK and Europe.”

Many consumers like to buy the oldest whiskies they can, assuming that they must be the best, but as Edwards says, “there are outstanding whiskies produced at three years of age and there are outstanding whiskies released at 30, 40 or >50 years of age. Both young and old, can be as good (or as bad) as each other. It all comes down to the skill, experience and dedication of the

distillery to manage the maturation of the whisky appropriately considering the spirit, environmental conditions, cask size, cask type, bond store location, and a number of other factors. If this is done correctly and the distiller is committed to bottling the spirit when it is at its absolute peak, rather than aiming for a predetermined “age”, the best expression of that spirit will result.”

Heather Tillott feels that their whiskies are somewhat of a hybrid in respect of ageing. Technically, their whiskies do have their age noted on the labels, but they do not seek to release pre-decided ages. She describes it as listening to each individual barrel and when it is ready, it will be bottled and released. Bottling normally starts around ten or eleven years but one cask might be ready at ten years, the one next to it may need another decade. So these are not traditional age statement whiskies.

That said, look to three recent examples of Sullivans Cove whiskies to exhibit the differences from age, but also the influence of oak – TD0352; TD0089; and HH0541. The first from American oak, ex-Bourbon and aged 11 years; the second from American oak refills aged 14 years; and the final bottle, French oak, ex-Tawny and aged 19 years.

The first offers florals and cinnamon notes, a touch of nutmeg. Terrific complexity with the palate moving to more caramel, chocolate and spices. Great length. The fruit just sings and some peach notes emerge towards the finish. The second whisky seems to have more depth and concentration and yet remains elegant, a whisky of finesse. Florals, cherries and a note like freshly made pancakes dripping with maple syrup. Seamless, a never-ending finish and an ethereal richness. Finally, our last offering gives us notes of spices, orange marmalade, raspberries, apricots, hazelnuts and a very fine Cohiba cigar. The palate offers honey, caramel, the finest chocolate (if it doesn’t sound too pretentious, imagine To-ak Chocolate – okay, yes, a bit pretentious). It seems to offer a mix of invisibility and balanced intensity. Invisibility in that this is so balanced that it offers no resistance. It seems to just melt into your tastebuds leaving a wonderful memory.

David Vitale makes the point that ageing in Australia is very different to other parts of the world (the ultimate example often used is the difference between a barrel ageing in a cold Scottish cellar and one in a Caribbean distillery). David notes that “thanks to Melbourne’s highly reactive climate”, he has some of “the hardest working barrels in the world. Our four seasons in a day weather results in the whisky liquid expanding and contracting within the barrels, this helps to extract the juicy goodness that has soaked into the barrel staves – considerably shortening the maturation time.”

As he says, “three Melbourne years is very different to three years elsewhere.” Those of us fortunate to live in Queensland would not argue!

But we can all enjoy the efforts of not only David and his team but all these quality distillers and their brilliant range of very different whiskies.

WHY NAS WHISKY?

NAS stands for ‘No Age Statement’, meaning whiskies that are bottled and labelled without any indication of their actual age. A great many bottles will list an age, however, let’s say you have a bottle which says ’12 Years’, then that bottle must have no whisky younger than 12 years maturation. It can have plenty of older whisky included but if there is a single drop of 12-year-old whisky in the blend then it must be called ‘12 Years’.

NAS whiskies give the distillery flexibility. They may feel that their whisky benefits from some younger material to freshen it – say a dollop of five-year-old material to freshen their 30-year-old whisky – but that would mean they would have to label it a ‘Five Year’ whisky. And that would mean marketing suicide. As a NAS, it gets the benefit of the blend without restriction in labelling. There is room for both. Johnnie Walker Red and Blue are NAS whiskies whereas their Black (12 years) and Gold (18 years) are not. It has proved an essential tool in battling the issue of shortages of aged material.

Whiskies with age statements are obviously limited by what was put in barrel at the time. NAS can be blended continuously – obviously, it is important to maintain consistency as best as possible, but they can continue producing. Macallan is a famous distiller which replaced much of its aged range with NAS whiskies allowing them to continue producing despite shortages.

Jodie Dawe of Lark notes that “despite being the oldest whisky distillery in Australia, we usually choose not to put an age statement on our product. Lark is usually released between five to seven years of age but it is not unheard of for us to leave casks for up to 10 or 11 years, if we think they will improve with more time. Because of the climate in Tasmania, the spirit under maturation can change rapidly so all casks are monitored closely to ensure that they are being picked when they’re perfectly ripe. We’ve broken with tradition and released Legacy with an age statement.

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SMASHING THE STATUS QUO

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