Sullivans Cove Double Cask American & French Oak

After my last 3 reviews I had intended to delve a little deeper into the wonders of Islay. Tonight I did have the good fortune of adding a Bowmore 12 year old malt to the cabinet. I'm enjoying the Bowmore now while I write about the Sullivans Cove Double Cask.

So....last weekend I went in search of another Islay malt and the local bottle shop had a tasting on Tasmanian whisky. Oh well, why not give it a crack. Nothing ventured and all that. I had given my peat loving taste buds a weeks grace so it was with an open mind and a relatively clean palate that I unscrewed my first "Oz" malt.

Yes. Unscrewed. No cork to twist out and watch the first fumes wafting upwards and certainly easier to open. The vineyards and blenders do it so why not the malt distilleries. It's a fine looking stumpy bottle, good label and ok blurb.

The nose is brilliant. Lots of port, vanilla, dark pipe tobacco ( the stuff in a tin that needs to be mushed in your hands pre-pipe), and a hint of wet varnish. As a first impression its a winner and it reminded me of Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

The colour is a warm golden syrup with a touch of cloud thanks to it not being chill filtered.

The taste was a little disappointing after the big nose. I thought of Patricia Cornwell digging up details on Jack the Ripper and I kept searching for more but didn't find much more. Maybe its the youth of the stuff which seems to give it an almost unpleasant vitality.

I left it for while and came back after it and I had time to reconsider each other. My second impression was better with almonds and maraschino cherries. Maybe I'm a peat head now and find anything that doesn't reek of bush fires too light.

It's not a bad dram and I'm pleased to have it on the shelf. I'm curious about the other Tasmanian whisky's and will keep an eye out for more tastings. My score relates more to my taste and I suspect a year ago it would have rated higher.

This is bottle number 517 of 1255, double cask number DC57 from barrel numbers HH149, HH331, HH417, and HH467. A combination of American and European oak casks bottled at 40% ABV.

To smell: slightly sharp on green apple and vanilla, opens up to soft port notes and florals. Given time the port notes pin every other aroma down except for a slight ‘new wood’ smell; it’s a very enjoyable aroma.

The nose is most enjoyable once fully opened up to the port characteristics in my opinion.

To taste: the spirit seems to be drowning at 40%. A short quiet rush on again the apple then port notes which flail about for slightly longer than the ABV would usually allow. Time in the glass bulks the body up a bit, again the port side proving strongest.

Easy drinking. Not offensive in any way (it was a different story on the first dram – I thought I’d have to mix coke with it), nor is it balanced. I’m glad I received it as a gift rather than purchasing it because it’s alright, but not great, and great is what it takes for me to be happy with a purchase. It’s up against stiff competition from other local products that keep raising the bar and it didn’t quite reach the same heights, perhaps expectations were a bit too high on my part.

This is the last review in the series for the State of Origins Australian whisky tastings that I'll be writing unless I'm able to pick up a bottle of Limeburners M58 which was my favorite whisky in the tasting line up.

My wife, brother and sister in law had tasted quite a few different whiskies at the State of Origin, sadly many of them had left us disappointed.

We'd tried Bakery Hill Classic Malt, Southern Coast Distillers Batch 5, Lark Single Barrel and now Sullivan's Cove Double Cask.

As we sit there nosing the whisky I'm still talking to Cameron, the owner and head distiller at Limeburners.

After this review I'll be posting the interview with him. I hope to be able to snag the M58 which he brought as a special treat. We wound up trying two of his whiskies this night. The M80 which was the current release and then he surprised everyone with the M58 which was his newest peated whisky (which runs $250 or so a bottle)

But back to Sullivan's Cove.

As we nose the Sullivan's Cove everyone around the table glances at the person next to them, then to the person from across of them.

It's BORING!

The nose is strictly two aromas which we're informed comes from the American Oak and French Oak.

Vanilla and Cocoa.

That's it.

Vanilla from the American Oak.

Cocoa from the French Oak.

Nothing else.

Hopefully it'll taste better.

So we decide to taste.

Taste follows nose, exactly.

Vanilla and cocoa.

Again that's it.

Smooth, easygoing and boring.

The finish is again the same, vanilla highlights with cocoa at the end.

EPIC DISAPPOINTMENT!

I'd heard some very good things about Sullivan's Cove. But everyone at the table was so disappointed and bored with this whisky.

Even worse a bottle of the Double Cask would normally run around $100 AUS.

Too much for a bottle like this. Maybe if this had been at Cask Strength it'd be much better. Not sure.

This isn't a bad whisky as in it tastes bad or unpleasant. It's completely and utterly none offensive. It'd actually be one of those whiskies I'd introduce someone who was new to straight spirits not taken in shot form to. It wouldn't scare them.

However while it's busy not scaring the whisky newbies, my family has just fallen asleep.

I'll give Sullivan's Cove another shot, I always love trying new whiskies, but I won't buy a bottle of Sullivan's Cove until I know that the Double Cask was just a random fluke.

I recently attended A Tasmanian Whisky Appreciation Society (TWAS) tasting night, where the theme of the night was the state of Tasmanian whisky. We tasted the Sullivan's Cove Double Cask, the Nant first release single malt, the Trappers Hut 9 year old, a Lark Distillery special TWAS bottling, a small batch Hellyers Road, an Old Hobart Distillery Sherry Barrel, as well as young spirit from the new Mackey's Disitllery and from a barrel from independent bottler Tim McDuckett (I'm really not sure of the spelling of this person's name - so if I got it wrong, I do apologise!).

The first of the night was the Sullivans Cove Double Cask. Sullivans Cove is also known as 'The Tasmanian Distillery, and by pure luck I happened to end up being seated next to Patrick Maguire, the Chief Distiller! He mentioned that this was the first 9 year old bottling they had done, and that it was matured in two different barrels, a 200 litre american oak bourbon barrel and a 300 litre french oak port barrel, and the spirit was completely unpeated.

He said it was bottled at 40% to reduce his excise as much as possible to maximise his profits, and that if we wanted stuff at a higher percentage we could drop by the distillery and he had plenty of single cask bottlings that would 'knock our socks off.'

The nose was malty, sweet, full of red fruits, raisins, and really heavy, thick and rich. You can really notice the influence of the port, but it's not overwhelming, like the bourbon barrels are keeping it in check. This really surprised me, and was very complex. It was one of those noses where every sniff brought out something different, and I never felt like I completely got to the bottom of it (and I got the feeling that it might take several, very enjoyable, glasses to get there). So I spent quite a while sniffing!

The taste was warm and rich, full of cinnamon, hints of nutmeg, red fruits, port notes, and a taste like the fruit mince in good christmas fruit mince pies. Really full on and heart-warming. For something that is unpeated and bottled at 40%, this really punches way above what I was expecting and was very nice!

The finish was long and warm, and full of the sweet christmas pie fruit mince, cinnamon, malt and just a touch of alcohol spirit. Keeps going for a number of minutes. Given how quickly we were being pushed through malts, I felt a little rushed with this one, and would have liked a bit longer to get into it.

I thought this was a truly great little christmas warmer of a malt, and Sullivans Cove is now on my buy in my next whisky splurge list!

Sitting next to Patrick was also quite an experience. He mentioned that he has been visiting throughout South-East Asia trying to flog his product to various people and distributors. Unfortunately everywhere he goes he is told that they love his bottles, love his whisky but that he needs to come back when he has a 12 year old. Advice I find astonishingly shallow to be honest! If this were a base bottling it would be as good as anything form any of the major distillers out there. Just because something has an age statement on it doesn't make it good! Just ask the Aberlour A'bunadh or the Ardbeg Uigeadail!

That said, he seemed pretty intent on coming out with a 12 year old, so I guess I have something to look forward to in 3 years time!

For those who are interested, the website for Sullivans Cove is: www.tasmaniadistillery.com