Differentiate Or Die Chris Middleton

DIFFERENTIATE OR DIE

VARIETY MAKES AUSTRALIAN WHISKIES DIFFERENT

There is no such person as the ‘average’ Australian. We’re individuals differentiated by gender, age, ethnicity, size, education, etc. Similarly, whiskies made in Australia are differentiated by grains, wood, age, size, location, etc. This variety makes our whisky landscape diverse and exciting.

WORDS CHRIS MIDDLETON

This emergent whisky diversity will allow some distilleries to find niches to survive and commercially grow, while the whisky market remains buoyant. Whether a distillery started with the premise of making ‘malts like Scotland’, ‘bourbon-style mashes’, ‘American ryes’ or venturing into more experimental whisky routes, many have found a place within the market. The impact of our local raw materials, internal processes and environmental conditions have gradually started to influence the range of styles and flavours. Because whisky is one of the most globally traded consumer commodities, to be commercially viable brands must deliver superior quality, value-for-money and brand distinctiveness. The revival and survival of the Australian whisky industry also depends on these business imperatives. Ideally, Australian whisky brands need to stand apart from the international competition, with meaningful differences to attract drinkers. The liquid diversity emerging across the country indicates the industry is off to a good start in a long race.

Of the two hundred odd distilleries in Australia, nearly half of them make whisky. For many, it’s part of a broader spirits portfolio including gin, vodka, rum and liqueurs. A few distil hundreds of thousands of litres, most a few thousand or only a few hundred litres a year. There’s much diversity in size and capacity. Today, there are over forty local whisky labels, but less than a dozen are found in leading off-premise chains. There’s also a wide variety of liquid quality and in price points. A few are competitively priced; most are over-priced. It’s a cost of entry penalty small distillers face, having no trading access to any cost-efficiencies from grain to bottle. Some are remarkably good whiskies, and there are some prettty poor whiskies too.

Whisky distilleries are scattered across all states and operate in every type of climate: tropical North Queensland to cool Tasmania, and even the hot, dry inland, as well as micro-climates in every capital city, except Darwin. They distil all kinds of grain, including rye, oats, rice, wheat, barley and corn, with most of the grain locally grown. Most distilleries brew their own wash, some contract it from local breweries. Similarly, when it comes to casks there also a wide variety of different types and sizes, from new virgin oak containers, ex-bourbon, ex-rum and ex-wine, to 80-year-old fortified ex-wine casks, some of the oldest in the world.

Colloquial markers or small discernible divergences are evident in Australian production techniques, which could impact finished whiskies. Whether any of these will coalesce into charming and distinctive styles, only time and investment will tell. As nano-distilleries* continue to mushroom and larger enterprises are undertaking substantial investments to increase capacity, this potential exists. At present, subtle differences in flavour vectors can be attributed to the influences of local ingredients, processes, equipment and environmental conditions. These diverse inflexion points are present in five manufacturing areas.

GRAIN: As mentioned earlier, there has been much experimentation with different grain species and varieties, using different malting specifications. Some smoke the grain with local peat and hardwoods, others mash with mixed grain. There’s whisky made from oats, corn, corn/rye/barley and rye whisky. The majority of whisky made in Australia uses 100 per cent Australian malted barley. This barley originates from numerous local hybrids bred for local cultivating conditions, primarily to serve the beer industry and exports. The large maltsters practice differing germinating and kilning procedures which affects colour, flavour, aroma and fermentability. Amongst the local barley varieties, there are vast regional choices (Scope, La Trobe and Planet, etc.) and the different malting specifications (pilsner, ale, amber, etc.) offering distilleries much scope to formulate subtle differences in their wash.

FERMENTATION: Distillers can select from an international shopping list of proprietary yeast strains from wine and ales to add to the high-yielding distiller’s yeast. Yeast strains and fermenting conditions result in different esters and compounds in the beer before distillation.

As well as different yeasts, fermenting techniques also vary. Tasmanian distillers often favour long fermentations where spent yeast cells are not captured in the wash, making for a lighter spirit. A dozen or more distilleries are practising the American sour mash method, setting aside a percentage of spent distiller’s wash for the next ferment. Yeasts and fermentation methodologies add incrementally to the diversity of flavour variations in the wash before distillation.

STILLS: Most are full copper, while a few have stainless steel, which affects the flavour profile. When it comes to still shapes, size and design, it is a multinational affair. Most are variations on the traditional pots still, although their shapes vary considerably from onions to charentias alembics, flattops to boil balls, or Moorish Iberians to pinched conical shapes. There are also small column stills, columnpot hybrids, retorts and doublers. Six local still fabrications serve growing craft distillers; others are supplied from Germany, Britain, America, Italy, Spain, China, Czech Republic and Portugal. Their engineering design and methods of operation effect reflux, heating and speed, while double batch or triple distillations influences the structure of the final distillate. Here again, these subtle variations in new-make distillate will influence the finished whisky after spending years in wood. CASKS: The oak cask has the most significant impact on whisky’s flavour. Distillers exercise a range of options from cask size to wood programs. What the cask previously held in its first use for maturation directly affects the finished product. Many craft distillers rely on smaller capacities (50, 100 and 150 litres) to expedite maturation to meet Australia’s twoyears minimum in wood. However, reducing the liquid to wood ratios risks extracting oaky unbalanced whiskies. Established distilleries have built up more in-depth inventories. Australia’s thriving wine industry provides tawny, apera, muscat and wine casks to ‘Australianise’ the whiskies. Wine hogsheads, as well as ex-bourbon barrels, rum barriques and/or new virgin casks, add to this extensive flavour palette. Other maturation methods use wood inserts, paxarette and experimental staves from local hardwoods. When the different grain mashes, yeasts and distilling plant get added to the differing wood policies; the sensory matrix explodes geometrically. The challenge, as brands develop, is to market a consistent whisky. Otherwise, the variability for consumers means unpredictability post-purchase.

MATURATION: There’s no such thing as perfect climate to mature whisky. Just different climates for different whiskies. Over time, distillers learn to shape their whisky styles, from their new-make to the best wood policies, to their local climate and their storage conditions. Even entry proof of the spirit to cask and other maturation factors can be adjusted to manipulate flavour outcomes. The hotter temperatures across Australia draws the whisky into the stave wood more aggressively than cooler climates. In metal warehouses during heat waves, the temperature can reach 60°C at roof level. In hotter, drier climate means most distillers can eliminate years of ageing, as Mother Nature extracts rich flavours faster, while evaporating more water than ethanol. Others mature in cool subterranean sites, with minimising variability allowing estification and complexity to emerge slowly over time.

The current whisky diversity represents an exciting chapter in Australia’s 21st-century whisky redux, and brands that have meaningful differences will be written into this story.