A Tasmanian Whisky Event

Heartwood & Tasmanian Independent Bottlers teamed up again with Destination Cellars for an evening of great drams and erudite banter from Mr H in person in the beautiful surrounds of RACV Hobart Hotel on Thursday August 20th. 

Here's a line up to make you salivate:

1. You will get the first look at the latest release of the TIB Vatted Malt #4 at 49.9% abv Hot off the bottling line, Mr H has produced this "imminently slurpable" unique blend of three singe malts produced at Australian distilleries. This vatting was constructed from three separate casks that all previously held sherry. Bottled at 49.9%

2. TIB Vatted Malt #3 at 49.6% abv consisting of two ex-Sherry casks from 'a Renowned NSW Distillery', & a splash of peated ex-Sherry cask from local Adams Distillery. 

3. TIB Fleurieu Distillery Release 2 FL0011 Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky  49.2% - a beautiful Sherried whisky - a huge hit when it was released last year, another whisky from the archives!

4. Heartwood ‘Don’t @#$%&* it up, Son’! Cask Strength Vatted Malt Whisky - Junior H's first crack under the Heartwood brand, Louis Duckett (Tim Duckett’s son) & it's a beauty! It consists of the first Tokay cask filled by Lark + some younger sherried whisky and the tiniest bit (‘0.003%) of youthful peated whisky. Bottled at 59.65%abv

5. Heartwood ?? "Special new release" you will get to be the first people to taste a new Heartwood release from Mr H. His generosity knows no bounds. 

TIB is run by local alchemist Tim Duckett (aka Mr H), producer of the famed high- octane Heartwood brand, who has created TIB to offer a more gentle style of whisky with less 'mongrel' than the Heartwood releases. Heartwood has won countless awards on some of the most prestigious whisky stages over the past decade and TIB is now following suit.

He sources spirit from Tasmania, mainland Australia, and New Zealand based on its texture and flavour profile. It is then matched to a specific barrel type. Currently they have selected 15 barrel types for maturation of the spirit including:
Sherry, Port, Bourbon, Muscat, Botrytis, Virgin oak, Re-educated 2nd fill, Rum, Bourbon Rum, Sherry Rum, Tokay, PX, Rye, Whisky beer. Also they will have oats, rye, & apple spirit. Exciting times.

TIB Awards: The Wizards of Whisky World Whisky Awards 2019 Australasian Producer of the Year 2019 Tasmanian Independent Bottlers. 2018 Independent Bottlers Challenge Winner.

Redbreast Online Whiskey Event July 29th 2020

Destination Cellars joined forces with one of Ireland's most awarded whiskies, cracking some great Redbreast drams from their multi award winning range with Brand Specialist Jonathan Minihan.

Here is the Redbreast whiskey line-up:

1. 12 Year Old - Boasts the flavour complexity and distinctive qualities of Single Pot Still whiskey. Matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks, the distinctive Redbreast sherry style is a joy to behold in each and every bottle

2. Lustau - A unique collaboration between the Bodegas Lustau and the Midleton Distillery, Redbreast Lustau Edition is made from a mash of malted and unmalted barley and then triple distilled in copper pot stills. Having spent its final maturation journey in casks seasoned with the finest Oloroso Sherry in the Bodegas Lustau, the result is the ultimate sherried style of Redbreast.

3. 12 Year Old Cask Strength - Massive richness & full of complexity, showcasing the possibilities of Single Pot Still whiskey. Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and sherry casks, this whiskey has an incredibly silky texture and is one to be savoured and remembered.

4. 15 Year Old - Redbreast 15 is comprised exclusively of Pot Still whiskeys matured in the finest oak casks for no less than 15 years. A careful balance of first fill and refill casks accentuates the assorted spices within Redbreast’s characteristic full and complex flavour.

5. 21 Year Old - The 21 year ageing process introduces new levels of depth, flavour and taste, creating a complex and rewarding whiskey. Abundantly aromatic and fruitful, and produced in very limited quantities, this 21 year old Redbreast is a joy to behold in each and every bottle.

Destination Cellars joined forces with one of Australia's most awarded distilleries, Starward on Wednesday evening July 1st. We cracked some great drams from their multi award winning range with Brand Ambassador Lee Potter Cavanagh. 

Proudly made in Melbourne, Starward began with a simple idea. Imagine a whisky unshackled from tradition. Focusing on flavour and provenance, borrowing from the past and combining it with the best Australia has to offer. Our climate, our ingredients and our people. This whisky will challenge your perceptions of what whisky can be. 

Archie Rose Distilling Co. was founded in Rosebery, Sydney in 2014. We will take a look at their remarkable journey from their first distillation runs through to becoming one of Australia's most awarded distilleries, culminating in recently being crowned World’s Best Rye Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards in 2020.

We have worked closely with Archie Rose to select these great drams for you:

1. White Rye 40%abv Distilled from rare malted rye and barley sourced from the finest producers, our White Rye greets you with soft herbs, tropical fruits and inviting floral notes. Twice distilled, it has a lingering finish, laden with sweet spice.

“Rye is a tough grain to use and causes many challenges in production, yet the quality and charisma of the spirit it yields speaks for itself,” says Master Distiller, Dave Withers. “The production process for the White Rye also draws inspiration from whisky production in the early 20th century. Using a brewer’s yeast as well as a distiller’s yeast gives us lower yield, but a more pronounced flavour. Innovation is very important for us and we often take inspiration from traditional techniques such as this but then apply modern techniques and know how to produce something quite special.”
AWARDS
World's Best Unaged Whisky - New York World Wine & Spirits Competition (USA)
World's Best Unaged Whisky - Beverage Tasting Institute (USA)
World's Best Unaged Whisky - SIP Awards (USA)
World's Best Unaged Rye Whisky - American Whiskey Masters (USA)
Australia's Best Rye - International Wine & Spirits Competition (London)

2. Rye Malt Whisky 46%abv World’s Best Rye Whisky - World Whiskies Awards 2020. To create this unique multi award winning whisky, they selectively sourced rare malted rye and the finest malted barley from progressive malt houses, paired them with virgin American oak casks air-dried for 36 months and let it all mature in the maritime air of coastal Sydney.

Malted rye is preferred over the far more commonly used unmalted rye which affords this whisky a point of distinction evident upon the very first sip. This layered, aromatic spirit offers notes of spiced custard, ginger, stone fruit and baked apple pie with a fresh herbal finish that lingers on the palate.

AWARDS
World's Best Rye Whisky - World Whiskies Awards (London)
World's Best Rye Whisky - ADI Craft Spirit Awards (USA)
World's Best Rye Whisky - World Whisky Masters (London)
Australia's Best Rye Whisky - San Francisco World Spirits Competition (USA)
Australia's Best Rye Whisky - International Wine & Spirits Competition (London)
Australia's Best Rye Whisky - Los Angeles International Spirits Competition (USA)
Australia's Best Rye Whisky - SIP Awards (USA)
Australia's Best Rye Whisky - International Review of Spirits (USA)

3. Sandigo Heritage Rye Malt Whisky 53%abv Driven by their thirst for discovery, the new Trials & Exceptions Series uncovers their most exceptional single casks and small batch trials, offering first-hand insights into the raw ingredients, processes and people involved in the production of Archie Rose whisky, gin, vodka, rum and other spirits.

The inaugural release in this series, Sandigo Heritage Rye Malt Whisky highlights that a great whisky starts its life in the field, not the distillery, and showcases their continuing journey with Australian rye, supporting and working with local farmers and maltsters to produce uniquely Australian varieties.

Featuring a malted landrace rye sourced from fourth-generation NSW farmers, this grain has grown continuously near Sandigo NSW for over 60 years, adapting to weather including droughts, floods and storms to evolve into its own distinct strain.

Sandigo Heritage Rye Malt was released with no traditional commercial rye malt in the mash bill so whisky lovers can appreciate the individuality, clarity and strength of this grain, supporting the distilleries view that malt really matters as a key contributor to the final whisky.

4. Ironbark Smoked Rye Malt Whisky 40%abv Ironbark Smoked Rye Malt Whisky was the second limited edition whisky release, drawn from seven casks as the fifth release under the Archie Rose Concepts label, reserved for our rarest and most experimental products. Ironbark Smoked Rye Malt Whisky features smoked water created by melting huge blocks of ice in the wood-fired oven of our neighbouring mates, Three Blue Ducks, using sustainably sourced NSW ironbark.

In creating this whisky Master Distiller, Dave Withers, explored using varying amounts of smoked water at a range of different alcoholic strengths, settling on an atypically low 40% ABV in order to best highlight the water-soluble smoked notes. At this lower ABV the decision was then made to release Ironbark Smoked Rye Malt Whisky flocked, completely unfiltered and including its natural haze and char remnants. The release of this cloudy, and historically considered “faulty” spirit aims to start the conversation about the role, type and extent of filtration in whisky production, and how it can be used to both add to and detract from a finished spirit and drinking experience.

The BenRiach Distillery Online Event. Destination Cellars cracked some great drams from the multi award winning BenRiach Distillery on Wednesday evening June 10th at 7.30pm with Brand Ambassador Linus Schaxmann.

Crowned Global Whisky Distiller of the Year 2015 at the Icons of Whisky Awards, BenRiach is know as the progressive Speyside whisky distillers, they boldly approach the art of distillation and cask maturation, they call it BenRiach Maltology®. BenRiach is famous for it’s incredibly wide range of whiskies including both peated and unpeated malts, and it has propelled the brand into cult status in the last decade.

We have worked closely with our importer to select these drams for you:

10 Year Old 43%abv The flagship expression from the BenRiach distillery that really showcases their beautiful distillate. This 10 year old Speyside single malt is drawn from ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks after at least a decade of slumber, resulting in a malt that shows off the distillery's style wonderfully. One of the most awarded and best value-for-money drams in the market. Awards: World Whisky Awards Gold Medal 2016, Gold Medal - San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017, 2018, 2020. Double Gold Medal - San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2019

12 Year Old Sherry Cask 46%abv This luscious 12 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky is unconventionally made using three facets of sherry cask maturation: full sherry cask maturation, combined with Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry cask finishing, for unexpected layers of fruit sweetness and toasted oak spice. Each facet of sherry cask maturation is expertly combined by the Master Blender to work in harmony, creating a luscious Single Malt Scotch Whisky with a multi- layered cocktail of fruit notes, further enriching BenRiach’s signature sweet, fruit-laden style. Bottled at 46%, non-chill filtered and of natural colour. Awards Liquid Gold, 95.5 Whisky Bible, IWSC Trophy

Batch 2 Cask Strength unpeated 60.6%abv The second batch of BenRiach Cask Strength, the distillers in Speyside have combined whisky matured in bourbon, Oloroso sherry and virgin oak casks. An immense flavour bomb. Awards Gold Medal Scotch Single Malt - Speyside - 2019 International Wine & Spirit Competition

Batch 1 Cask Strength Peated 56%abv For this inaugural peated version's idea was hatched years ago, the BenRiach distillery defied convention and started to peat a proportion of its spirit, returning to the original Speyside character and flavour of malts typical of the nineteenth century. Matured in a combination of Oloroso Sherry casks and Bourbon barrels, Peated Cask Strength Batch 1 is non chill filtered, natural colour and bottled at 56%, so it can be experienced as if sampled from the source – straight from the cask. Awards: Gold Liquid Gold Award - 2018 Jim Murray's Whisky Bible, Silver 'Outstanding' IWSC 2016