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.
Category: Australian whisky
Articles pertaining to Australian whisk(e)y
World Whiskies Awards & Icons of Whisky Australia, 2024
The World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky winners (in the Rest of World category) have been unveiled for 2024. There are some familiar names and, pleasingly, some new names and faces as a number of new distilleries bring their whiskies to the world’s stage…
The World Whiskies Awards has grown to such an extent that, several years ago now, it was split into various regions to do justice to the huge number of distilleries, producers, bottlers, and individuals who contribute to the many sectors of the whisk(e)y industry. While some regions naturally pick themselves (e.g. Scotland, USA, Ireland), the catch-all region of Rest of World was created to capture the likes of Australia, Japan, India, Taiwan, Canada, New Zealand, Israel, China, and the many European countries producing whisky (e.g. Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc) and more. In February this year, the 2024 winners in the Rest of World categories were announced for both the World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky Awards. Being an Aussie and someone who’s written a lot about Australian whisky, I trust you’ll indulge us if we highlight the Australian winners for 2024…
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Archie Rose Double Malt
It is an interesting time to be a whisky distiller in Australia. The excise rate recently tipped over $100 per litre; new distilleries continue to come to market with their debut release; competition for the consumers’ dollar grows; the back bars at the on-premise venues are more crowded than ever…and all against the backdrop of rising interest rates and falling sales in certain price bands. You’ve thus got to “dip your lid” to the distilleries that are driving onwards and upwards. Archie Rose is one such distillery, and the new Archie Rose Double Malt is a great example of this….
Waubs Harbour – Australia’s maritime whisky
With so many new Australian distilleries appearing on the market these days, it’s a challenge keeping up with them all. Whilst there’s no definitive or official number, industry folk estimate there’s currently around 120-140 malt whisky distilleries operating in Australia right now. Of course, the number of distilleries with matured stock being marketed and sold is somewhat less than this (estimates hover somewhere around 90), but the point is this: It’s an increasingly crowded space, and it’s become increasingly challenging for a distillery to stand out from the pack; find its point of difference; and tell a new story. One name that’s definitely singing a new tune is the Waubs Harbour distillery, and its Waubs Harbour whisky.
Waubs Harbour distillery is in Tasmania and, as the name suggests, is located in a coastal location by the water. This geographical fact forms the heart and backbone of Waubs Harbour and its narrative: It is a maritime distillery. The word “maritime” appears almost more times on the distillery’s website than the word “whisky”, and until you’ve checked out the distillery’s location, you could be forgiven for thinking they’re laying it on a bit thick. By drawing comparisons to the likes of Talisker and other Scottish distilleries that talk up the maritime angle, my initial thoughts were that they were overplaying it. And then you see the pictures….
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That Boutique-y Whisky Company: Return to Oz
Following the success of That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s first Australia Series releases back in 2021, the independent bottler is back with their second run focussing on whiskies from Australia, appropriately titled Return to Oz.
Whisky & Wisdom covered Boutique-y’s original Australia Series back in April 2021, and you can read our original piece here, which gives much of the relevant background and philosophy behind it all. The Return to Oz series shares the same approach and outlook, albeit with some new faces and names in the line-up.
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Morris Sherry Barrel
Morris has announced and released the third whisky in its permanent or core-range portfolio. Morris Sherry Barrel joins its two stablemates, the Signature and the Muscat Barrel.
Morris – a name associated with wine-making for more than 150 years – launched its whisky brand and its first two releases in June 2021, and the Sherry Barrel has joined the party some 16 months later. Whisky & Wisdom has previously told the full story of Morris whisky in our feature piece here (including a review and discussion of the Signature release), so we won’t repeat all the details on this occasion – click on the preceding link for the full background or to re-familiarise yourself with the Morris story.
Iniquity – Lazy Daze and Iniquity Gold Batch 007
The single malts from Iniquity, produced by Tin Shed Distilling Co, consistently rank amongst the finest Australian whiskies. Two new releases from Iniquity crossed our desk this week and, not surprisingly, they impressed. So much so, we figured they deserved a review and write up. Accordingly, below are the details and our thoughts on Iniquity’s new Lazy Daze release, as well Iniquity Gold Batch 007 …
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Which is the best Australian whisky?
Which is the best Australian whisky? With interest in Australian whisky at an all-time high, combined with the staggering number of Australian distilleries now bringing mature spirit to market, it’s certainly an understandable question to ask. But can one realistically answer that question? Well…we’ll attempt to offer some guidance in just a moment but, first, it’s important to establish some ground rules…
Cape Byron Whisky
Cape Byron whisky burst on to the Australian scene in late 2022 with the official unveiling of its inaugural single malt releases. Of course, the distillery had long been established by then and was already well known for its gins. But well before the newmake malt spirit was even filled into casks back in 2019, whisky enthusiasts in Australia and further afield were already aware of the distillery and knew what was coming. That’s a pretty unusual situation for an Australian distillery, but then it’s also pretty unusual for an Australian distillery to have one of the giants and legends of the Scotch whisky industry – Jim McEwan, no less – onboard as a consultant, distiller, and business partner. To understand that arrangement, you have to go back to the beginning…
Amber Lane whisky
Amber Lane joins the growing list of New South Wales malt whisky distilleries to have emerged in the last five years. Conceived in 2017 in the Yarramalong Valley just inland from Wyong on the Central Coast (about a 90 minute drive from Sydney), Amber Lane has quickly – very quickly – found fans and acclaim with the quality of its whisky. This was recently in evidence just last month when all four of Amber Lane’s entries submitted to the Tasting Australia Spirit Awards walked away with Silver medals. No mean feat for a distillery’s first releases.