{This is an older post from the 2016 Championship. See our newer post following the 2022 event}
The Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship is a bit like the internet. It’s something you might think is a relatively “new” thing, when the reality is that it’s been around for decades longer than you gave it credit for.
In actual fact, the Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship has been around since 1989! As the name suggests, it is a tasting competition, and had its origins in Adelaide, South Australia. The competition’s principal format and structure has remained largely unchanged over the years: Competitors are presented with eight whiskies pre-poured before them, and supplied with a list of nine possible whiskies – in other words, the eight whiskies that are on the table, plus one red herring. Competitors are then given 30 minutes to identify which whisky is which and to write their answers on the answer sheet. Of course, having a list with all of the possible contenders in front of you makes the exercise seem a little easier, but the challenge is also in establishing which whisky of the nine on the list is not on the table!
For obvious reasons, the whiskies used in the competition must be non-variable official bottlings that are widely available commercially. As such, small batch, one-off, limited edition, or single cask expressions are not valid for the event.
The AMWTC ran annually out of Adelaide from 1989 until 2002, although it was in recess for a few years from 1997-2000. It attracted some healthy international attention during this run, even tempting the late Michael Jackson (the whisky writer, not the singer in the pirate suit) to fly out one year to compete. With the original organisers selling out of the drinks industry in 2002, the competition lost its home and – more critically – the infrastructure to run it, and it lapsed into remission. Until….
In late 2007, one particular Director on the Board of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (wink) decided it was time this national event returned and became truly national. The Society subsequently took custodianship of the AMWTC and set about re-birthing it. Under the Society’s watch, the Championship returned in 2008, followed by 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and again this year in 2016.
This year’s Championship was a MASSIVE year, attracting twice the number of entrants and pulling in competitors and spectators from all over the country and even overseas! Held at Madame Tussauds in Darling Harbour, Sydney, it was a fantastic night of fun, drama, drams, and spectacle!
What I love most about the AMWTC is that it is so honest. Whilst the evening is always held in amazing surrounds (e.g. the Sydney Opera House, the Dinosaur Room, Madame Tussauds) and has all the looks and attractions of a major whisky event, for 30 minutes in the night, it’s just you and your palate. Outside the glamour and fun of the pre-event drinks and this year’s huge after-party, for half an hour, it’s a bunch of people in a room tasting some whiskies; using and focussing their senses to identify aromas and flavours; and either seriously or playfully guessing what they’re drinking.
The process amuses me every year: You stare at the eight glasses before you, carefully assessing the colour to see if you can make some easy eliminations. (No, the really pale whisky won’t be the Macallan Ruby!). You do a “first pass” nosing of the eight whiskies, sniffing each one to identify the primary aroma. (Which ones are peated? Which ones are sherried?). Depending on your drinking preferences and what’s on your whisky shelf at home, you’ll either be totally at ease in identifying a Talisker 10 from a Glenfiddich 12; or you’ll be racking your brain to try and remember when the last time was that you actually tasted the Aberlour a’Bunadh. (And you might think that picking the 60% ABV Aberlour a’Bunadh would be easy in a line-up, but if it happens to be sitting alongside a Glenfarclas 105 – as it was in the 2010 Championship – then good luck to you!)
This year’s Championship featured an exceptionally tough line up of whiskies – easily the toughest line up since 2008. Focussing mostly on a style that might loosely be described as “generic Speyside”, there were no peated or sherried expressions in the flight. The listed whiskies were:
- anCnoc 12
- Auchentoshan 12
- Craigellachie 13
- Cragganmore 12
- Glenfiddich 12
- Glen Grant 10
- Glen Moray 16
- Monkey Shoulder
- The Singleton of Dufftown 12
In such a line up, arguably only the Craigellachie would stand out for reasons other than flavour (it being a higher ABV and non-chillfiltered). As a vatted malt, Monkey Shoulder stood out on the flavour spectrum, but that’s where the easy picks disappeared – the rest of the whiskies were less diverse and certainly carried less obvious markers to assist with detection. (For the record, the Glenfiddich 12 was the red herring on the night).
With Dylan Howarth officiating as MC, the 30 minutes passed quickly, and answer forms were quickly collected from the 125-odd competitors. Judges marked furiously, only to determine that some scores were tied at the pointy end of the results. Three competitors were singled out as having had tied results, although – as per the tradition of the competition – no one knew if these three had tied for first, second, or third place! A taste-off was convened to separate them: The three tied competitors were given three different whiskies and a list of six possibles. An anxious five minutes passed; the results were collated and – unbelievably – all three had submitted identical answers! A second taste-off was arranged, whereby the three competitors were given a single whisky, and a list of eight possibles. The instruction was to list all eight whiskies in the order of what they thought it might be, and who ever got closest to No. 1 would win the taste-off.
The taste-off was successful in splitting the tied competitors, and it was then announced that, in fact, all three had originally tied for First Place! These three thus took to the podium: Graham London was awarded Third Place, winning himself a $500 voucher to spend at The Oak Barrel, a long-time sponsor of the Championship. Bill Bannear was awarded Second Place, winning a sensational “Survival Kit” from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. And finally, to rapturous applause, first-time competitor Adrian Callus was crowned the Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Champion, winning himself a trip for two to Tokyo, including accommodation at the Park Hotel and an incredible whisky tasting experience at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s bar, located in the Park Hotel.
With the formalities concluded, focus switched to the after party. Surrounded by the wax figures of local and global celebrities, the party kicked on for several hours. Highlights at the after party were the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s bar, serving up a selection of SMWS bottlings (including a spectacular 12yo Port Charlotte from an ex-Oloroso sherry cask); the Glenfiddich Cocktail Bar, which featured Glenfiddich’s premium offerings of their 15yo, 18yo, and 21yo Gran Reserva expressions, plus some amazing whisky cocktails; the Sydney Cocktail Club’s Sensory Bar (an amazing tasting and nosing experience in its own right); and then an awesome beer bar featuring sensational beers on tap from Gage Roads Brewing Co. And the three-piece band actually attracted some action on the dance floor.
The Society also organised a number of raffles on the night, with prizes including old & archived SMWS bottlings; a private Society tasting event for 10 people. Tickets were snaffled up quickly and there were some very happy people at the end of the night when the names were drawn. And any account of the night would not be complete without mentioning the generous sponsors who made the night possible: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Glenfiddich, Oak Barrel, Vintec, Gage Roads, and The Sydney Cocktail Club.
All in all, an amazingly fun and entertaining evening, and a great night on the whisky calendar. The 2016 instalment upheld the tradition and ceremony of the Championship, albeit with a difficult line up that attracted justified criticism this year for being too tough. But then again, you don’t win a trip to Tokyo just because you can pick an Auchentoshan from a Laphroaig, right?
Cheers,
AD
