The ever-evolving narrative around the Australian whisky industry continues to morph and develop. One of the more interesting (and pleasing) threads to follow has been the increasing number of distilleries bringing new releases to market below the $100 price threshold. 23rd Street Distillery is the latest to do so, throwing down the gauntlet with an impressive new malt whisky release that carries a price tag of $80 and is labelled simply as 23rd Street Australian Whisky.
Of course, 23rd Street Distillery is not a new kid on the block, having launched in South Australia in 2016. Several hybrid products were released under the distillery’s label until their first all-home-made single malt was released in 2021. The distillery has an excellent story and its stills – dating back to the 1950’s – have had a long history in the Australian distilling industry. We won’t repeat the distillery’s backstory and info here, but you can read it all in the original feature piece we did on 23rd Street Distillery here back in 2021.
The latest release – delightfully devoid of any tag name or variant and simply styled “23rd Street Australian Whisky” – sports a blue label and is reasonably minimalist in details about the spirit. The label simply states American oak ex-bourbon, and the whisky has been bottled at 40% ABV. Beyond what’s stated on the label, we can advise that the spirit in the bottle is a vatting (blend) of many casks – mostly 2+ years old, but with some older stock added in to provide depth, balance, and complexity. The parent company behind 23rd Street also owns the Beenleigh Distillery (based in Queensland and known as the home of Beenleigh Rum), and a portion of the distillate for this bottling came from the Beenleigh distillery using wash supplied from Carlton United Breweries Yatala plant. (Strictly speaking, this thus makes this whisky a Double Malt!) The component spirits from the Renmark and Beenleigh sites were then all blended and left to marry in large format oak vats before bottling.
The result is a soft, sweet, and balanced whisky that – despite its darker colour – happily falls more in the malt-led (aka spirit-driven) category of Australian whisky (as opposed to oak-driven) and is thus very drinkable and more-ish.
Our tasting notes for the whisky are produced in full below. The whisky is available now from leading national retailers around the country, and also online at Sippify. (Our tip is to grab your bottle from Sippify – this is the distributor’s own store and thus provides ready access to 23rd Street Distillery’s other products.)
23rd Street Distillery also has an impressive range of premixed or RTD (ready-to-drink) spirits and mixers in their portfolio, given that the distillery also produces gin and vodka. They’ve produced an Australian whisky-and-cola premix, and we happily put a few cans of that to the test also. If you like a good whisky and cola, 23rd Street offers two variants – one at 5% ABV and one at 8% ABV. Both are currently on special at Sippify, and come in at $23 and $28 respectively for a 4-pack of 375ml cans.
It’s no secret that the Australian distilling community is fighting an increasingly difficult battle just now with increasing costs of business, not to mention the exorbitant excise on spirits, which is now over $100/L (pure alcohol). This means that a 700ml bottle of Australian whisky at 40% ABV has $28.52 attached to it just in excise alone. That is, before GST is added, and before you even begin to account for production costs such as the bottle, cork, label printing, bottling, packaging, and distribution. Not to mention actually making the whisky itself! To bring a quality malt whisky to market for sub-$100, let alone at $80…. well played, 23rd Street!
23rd Street Distillery Australian Whisky, 40% ABV
Nose: Rich barley malt; creamy. Some dried spices (fennel seed, fenugreek), and some pleasing woody notes, e.g. pencil shavings, leather, and vanilla.
Palate: Very soft on the palate – the spirit is well-mellowed, rounded, and balanced. The malt is primarily sweet, but it’s not cloying or artificial in character. There is, again, a creaminess in both texture and flavour, and the vanilla-led family of flavours plot the course, i.e. vanilla, caramel, and barley malt. It’s not particularly complex, but then neither is it one-dimensional. If it lacks anything in complexity, it’s made up for in its approachability and balance. It’s a good sipping whisky!
Finish: Medium in length, the finish is also well balanced, maintaining the sweetness and with no astringency or bitterness in the tail. It’s a more-ish finish, and you’re led to go back for repeated sips!
Comments: Our reference and starting point before assessing this dram was to revisit the XXIII Batch 1, which was a pretty tasty dram in its own right, albeit bottled at a higher ABV of 46%. However, this new, eponymous release struck our palate as the more approachable drop. The balance of malt, spirit, and oak is nicely weighted, and it’s a session dram your palate won’t tire of. The marketing spiel for this whisky suggests it’s perfect and tailor-made for use as a mixer or in cocktails, but I think that undersells the dram. This whisky more than stands on its own two feet, and it out-plays plenty of other Aussie whiskies that struggle to get the balance right between spirit and oak. This is a good Australian malt whisky, and is superbly priced at $80 a bottle.
Cheers,
AD
PS – interested in more reviews and articles about Australian whisky? Click here for more.
