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

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Australian whisky – It’s got an image problem

What does Australian whisky taste like? One of the biggest problems for the Australian whisky industry – actually, it’s not a problem, it’s simply a mistake – is that a lot of people try to pigeonhole Australian whisky with a crude, base descriptor. To be fair, other whisky categories have the same problem: According to “the rules”, Scotch whisky is peaty; Irish whiskey is light; American whiskey is sweet; Japanese whisky is expensive, etc, etc. You get the idea.

Of course, such generalisations and stereotypes can often be wide of the mark, but the reality is that both consumers and marketers rely on such pigeonholes, and once these things stick, they become incredibly hard to shift.

So how do you describe Australian whisky? What does Australian whisky taste like? What’s a one-size-fits-all, catch-all statement that’s vaguely applicable? I’ll answer that in just a moment, but first some preceding comments to soften the blow…

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Trouble brewing for the Australian whisky industry?

Pour yourself a big dram of your favourite Australian whisky and get comfortable.  It’s a long read…

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Believe it or not, Australian whisky existed prior to 2014.  Australia enjoyed a rich history of whisky distillation from the 19th century into the 1980’s before resting for a few years of silence.  But it was in that fateful year of 2014 that a single cask release of Sullivans Cove won the accolade of World’s Best Single Malt, and Australian whisky suddenly lit up on everyone’s radar.  But whilst Sullivans Cove’s success that year told a story for 2014, it also told a story – for those that cared – about the Australian whisky industry’s previous 20 years.  And, as both producers and consumers jumped on the bandwagon, it also played a role in contributing to a brewing storm and some concerning issues now looming…
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