The Grove American Style Spirit

Two months ago I received an email from one of my favorite whisky people, Liz from the Grove. I had gone to the International Beer Shop, my sister store, to pick up some whisky for me and some special beer to send to my brother in the US.

I was just getting onto the train when the email came in on my phone.

The Grove was releasing their first bottles ever of their American Style Spirit (Bourbon for none whisky geeks) and it was going to be an extremely limited release with only two hundred bottles being available for purchase.

Sweeeeeeeeeet!

I so wanted a bottle of this!

$50 to reserve a bottle, final purchase price was going to be $110 for a 500ml bottle so a wee bit pricey, but I totally didn't care!

So I sent my wife an SMS asking permission to put down a deposit and purchase the bottle. You do not want to piss your wife off with an unlicensed whisky purchase!

A couple weeks ago my friend Liz contacted me, since I was already purchasing a bottle how would I like to get a wee sample of it before it was released?

Would I ever?!

A few days later I received a package in the mail from the Grove with a letter and a small sample bottle.

Awww man I can't wait to taste this!

I wait until my wife gets home, my brother in law shows up and we crack open the sample!

The nose is a wee bit young, but it's only aged for roughly six months so it's too be expected, but it's not at all bad or unpleasant.

Especially considering that lately I've been receiving samples of whiskies aged from three months to three years that were MUCH less developed.

We're sitting around and nosing our glencairns, young, bourbon style nose, but enjoyable and a wee bit mysterious.

Burnt caramel and vanilla are the strongest aromas, but as I nose the glencairn every so often a hint of maple sugar/syrup appears and then disappears, mysteriously.

I like!

Time for a drink though, this is where the really fun part starts!

Oak comes through, with coconut and spices, hints of cinnamon and just the slightest wisp of cherries. Again it tastes just a wee bit young, but is very enjoyable.

Especially considering that I've had twelve year and sixteen year old whiskies that were boring, bland or just plain disgusting.

A mild finish full of coconut, vanilla and spices finishes off this little guy.

I've got to be honest I was really surprised with how good this whisky "spirit" was and that sample really made me eager to get my hands on my bottle.

Is it the best whisky in the world?

Nop.

Is it a damn good whisky?

Sure is!

My biggest issues with it are that it's just a wee bit young and as always I'd love to see it at a higher strength. But after just spending $120 on a bottle of Glenlivet 16 yr old Nadurra cask strength and being horribly disappointed, to walk into a six month old whisky, being distilled for the first time, that was kicking it's butt was nothing short of entertaining!

Soon though I'll have my hands on my full bottle of American Spirit and I've informed the Grove that I want to pick up future releases, especially if they're being produced at older ages with higher strengths.

If you get a chance to put your hands on a bottle I'd go for it. Like I said it's not a cheap bottle for being a six month old whisky, but considering that it's a small batch and I'd rather support a distillery that supports me, a distillery that is local and will eventually make waves in the Australian whisky industry if they keep on the way they've been going.