Western Australia Archives - Page 2 of 2

Whiskies 179 & 180 – The Grove American Style Spirit & Distiller’s Cut

July 24, 2014 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

The Grove American Style Spirit. Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia. ABV: 40.0%. Tasted at The Grove cellar door, $10.

Colour: Bright gold.

Nose: Like opening a bag of corn chips.

Palate: Corn; herby notes.

Finish: Sweet honey & herb aftertaste. Very gentle warmth, shortish finish, quite dry.

Comments: Meh, nothing special about this one I’m afraid.

The Grove American Style Spirit “Distiller’s Cut”. Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia. ABV: 55.0%. Tasted at The Grove cellar door, $10.

Colour: Lustrous copper.

Nose: Chocolate liqueur.

Palate: Nowhere near the amount of corn flavours of the 40% bottling. Muscatelles, orange peel and spices.

Finish: The warmth & flavours build.

Comments: A much better offering than the 40% release, lots more depth of flavour and interesting flavours to be honest. Still not the most polished drop, but not too bad.

Whisky #130 – Great Southern Distillery – Limeburners Barrel M104 Single Malt

June 28, 2014 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

Great Southern Distillery – Limeburners Barrel M104 Single Malt (Bottle 095 / 372). Albany, Western Australia, Australia. ABV: 43.0%. Tasted at Botanica.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg & maybe even some roasted fennel seeds. Kind of a weird aroma to list, but it reminds me of the smell when I cook fennel encrusted pork belly. Now I’m hungry…

Palate: Sweet aniseed, almost a bit bourbon-ish. Oily mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium finish, warmth & sweet sultana flavours linger at the front of the palate.

Comments: Very different to the M67 I tasted in March, which to be fair was a cask strength compared to this dram at 43%. I expected it to be a little different as Limeburners only do single barrel releases, but the contrast is quite stark. Another great drop from Limeburners, if you like your whisky full flavoured grab yourself one. The differences between each release mean that there’s always a very good reason to keep exploring the range…all in the name of scientific research of course!

Whisky #99 – Whipper Snapper Whiskey (Prototype)

June 17, 2014 by Whisky a Day 5 Comments

Whipper Snapper Whiskey (Prototype). Perth, Western Australia, Australia. 40.0%. Tasted at Helvetica, $0 – on the house as it was Whisky a Day’s birthday.

Colour: Burnt amber.

Nose: Corn, smells like a bourbon; a hint of leather.

Palate: Soft, not as much heat as your regular bourbons. Sweet notes.

Finish: Dry mouthfeel, soft, quite short. Not heaps of flavour depth, but a clean finish.

Comment: Exceptionally easy to drink, very smooth and just the right amount of sweetness. An “audaciously Australian salute to bourbon” according to the label. If you’re not usually a bourbon drinker or are looking to get to know the style a little more, Whipper Snapper is a great introduction, particularly if your palate is more attune to Highlands, Japanese or Australian malts. In fact, I’d rate it better than some of your more “traditional” bourbons.

These guys are just starting up a distillery right here in East Perth which is where Whisky a Day HQ is located, dangerously close to home! Looking forward to tasting their first release which hopefully isn’t too far away.

Check out the Whipper Snapper whiskey story here: http://whippersnapperdistillery.com/

There’s also a great article on ABC news recently about the burgeoning whisk(ey) scene here in Perth right now: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-07/whisky-resurgence-as-perth-distillery-set-to-open/5507224

Whisky #95 – Great Southern Distillery – Limeburners Barrel M100 Single Malt Whisky

June 14, 2014 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

Great Southern Distillery – Limeburners Barrel M100 Single Malt Whisky (Bottle 095 / 372). Albany, Western Australia, Australia. ABV: 43%. Tasted at home, $125 (bottle).

Colour: Like a rich amber ale.

Nose: Sweet hay scents. At only 43% ABV, it doesn’t have the complexity or kick up the nostrils like the Limeburners Barrel M67 (which runs at a cheeky 61% ABV).

Palate: Quite grainy, also a few sweeter citrus notes – lemon and orange peel. Reasonable amount of heat.

Finish: Sweet and syrupy (a bit like golden syrup or molasses), a hint of pepper, with a gentle warming sensation around the mouth – definitely not a burn, just a very subtle warmth. Quite a long finish.

Comments: I really rate the Limeburners whiskies. Obviously as single barrel releases you would expect each batch to have some variation, and they do – but they still share a lot of qualities that I really enjoy…full flavour, lots of spices, oak and residual sweet notes. I’m looking forward to taking a drive down to Albany at some point to visit the distillery!

Whisky #84 – Great Southern Distillery – Limeburners Barrel M67 Single Malt Whisky

June 7, 2014 by Whisky a Day 1 Comment

Great Southern Distillery – Limeburners Barrel M67 Single Malt Whisky (Bottle 012 – 135). Albany, Western Australia, Australia. ABV: 61.0%. The Greenhouse, $20.

Colour: Deep burnt toffee.

Nose: Initial sweet notes of burnt toffee, maybe dark chocolate after dinner mints. With time in the glass it develops more woody flavours. Not a smokey scent, but kind of like the smell when you burn wood on a fire & you can smell the oils. My friend Kali commented that she can’t comment as she doesn’t know enough about wood…a few smirks around the table suggest that we find that hard to believe.

Palate: You can really tell it’s cask strength, big alcohol heat to go with the huge spicy flavour profile & a hint of sweetness.

Finish: Very dry, lots of heat, lots of length in the mid palate.

Comments: Kali says she wants to be on a chesterfield in front of an open fire while drinking a dram such as this. I’d call it the type of whisky to put hairs on your chest. Top drop, well done little Limeburners – I’d heard a fair bit about you and this is my first tasting of one of your whiskies. Really enjoyed it, I can say assuredly that I will be back for more!