This article looks at the Australian whisky brand Heartwood, and also discusses its offshoot, Tasmanian Independent Bottlers (TIB)….
The Australian whisky industry needs no introduction. Its distilleries and bottlings are consistently winning awards and accolades around the world. Much has been written about Bill Lark and his efforts so many years ago to have Tasmanian legislation amended and to set out on the journey that, ultimately, has led to the vibrant and dynamic industry which now exists.
But in distilling the Australian whisky industry into words, attention naturally focuses on the distilleries, because this is where the action is at. This is where the whisky is being made; it’s where the whiskies are crafted and matured; it’s the story of adversity, hard yakka, passionate individuals, and – eventually – bottled spirit.
Notwithstanding this, the Australian industry has grown to a stage where it can now sustain a number of independent bottlers. These are the enterprising types who acquire the casks of whisky from the distillery and then bottle it under their own label. But if there is one enterprising person who has risen above the pack and forged completely new ground (let alone a whole new way of thinking), it is surely Tim Duckett – the man behind Heartwood.
One of the more endearing aspects of Heartwood is that – for the moment, at least – it is a passion, hobby, and business on the side. Tim Duckett’s main gig and profession is as a land and environmental remediation consultant, managing and designing land rehabilitation works and programs for clients across Australia. But one suspects his slide into whisky is getting steeper and faster.
Heartwood burst onto the scene in January 2012 with its first bottling, the Mt Wellington release. Of course, like every “overnight success”, the real story and actual journey took many years. Mt Wellington was a 12yo whisky, distilled by Bill Lark at Tasmania Distillery (home to Sullivans Cove), but it broke new ground for its depth of maturity, its balance, its quality, and its flavour. It also received many comments at the time for “not being like an Australian whisky”! This was followed by “Release the Beast”, the “Convict” releases, “Velvet Hammer”, “Vat out of Hell”, and a now ongoing series of releases that are – in every respect – totally unlike any other Australian whisky. The flavour profiles and characteristics are absolutely unique, almost a different category, even though the original distillates came from the distilleries whose branded, commercial bottlings you may be more familiar with.
Duckett’s approach with Heartwood is to not simply acquire a cask, let it sit for a few years, and then bottle it when it’s ready. No…to do so would be, well, the norm. Rather, he manipulates his whiskies, carefully and individually tinkering with and tailoring them, bending them to his desired flavour profile.
It’s taken 20 years, but distilling and maturing has been practiced long enough in Tasmania for keen observers like Duckett to learn what works and what doesn’t. Duckett is constantly at pains to point out “We’re still learning” or “We don’t have all the answers” but – to this observer – Tim has learned and mastered the art of whisky maturation better than most. His methods and philosophy may not be the most commercial or economically efficient, but if it’s results and delicious whisky you’re after, Heartwood sits up at the pinnacle of Australian bottled whisky.
Of course, you need a good foundation: Poor spirit in a poor cask will not turn to gold overnight. In fact, left to its own devices, it won’t turn to gold at all. Duckett is the first to admit that some early casks he acquired had been filled with quite volatile and aggressive spirit, and not all casks are equal. Simply leaving the casks in the warehouse and hoping they would come good with time alone was not going to cut it.
And so the Heartwood approach is to manipulate and drive maturation, rather than to just passively allow it to occur. Once he’s deemed the oak has had enough say (or cannot contribute to the outcome any further), the whisky is transferred to a stainless steel decanting vat. Different parts of the Heartwood bond store exhibit different temperatures. Depending on the effect being sought or the treatment required, the decanting vat might spend a few days in the hot office, cooking and driving off volatiles, or possibly just encouraging the evaporation of water to “syrup up” the spirit. Or it might be moved to a cooler corner and simply allowed to breathe.
In some cases, the oak or spirit may not quite behave or deliver the intended results, and Duckett then takes on the role of blender…combining and blending different casks and distillates until the flavour profile is complete. If the whisky’s flavour has a hole in it, he’ll look to fill that hole with the addition of spirit from another cask until the desired profile is achieved. Sometimes, it may only be a few litres out of 100 that make the difference, but such is the quest and pursuit of “making it right”. And further testament that the man has some serious skill – blending and achieving positive results is no accident or fluke.
But the Heartwood difference starts even before this – in fact, right back to the cask in the first place. Whilst the majority of the Tasmanian industry is filling its spirit into 100 litre casks to achieve a faster maturation and to have stock ready to bottle at five to six years, the majority of Heartwood casks are 200 or 300 litres. Over the journey, at least until Duckett picks a specific cask for individual abuse and manipulation, this induces a slightly longer, perhaps more gentle or sustained maturation, rather than the aggressive maturation employed in other quarters – particularly those that opt for the metal shed bondstores with high temperature variances.
The Heartwood bondstore is a particularly unassuming and bland concrete-walled facility, but it’s Duckett’s little playground, and you can’t help but notice a spring in his step as he strides from cask to cask. On the day of Whisky & Wisdom’s visit, we sampled from 10 or 12 casks, all at different stages. “Dare to be Different” was still sitting in the decanting vat, about a week or two away from being ready to bottle. (Again, an interesting experience: To my palate, the whisky was spectacular, but to Tim’s, there were still a few small bugs he wanted to iron out).
The decanting vat also allowed Duckett to demonstrate an effect that many whisky drinkers would never contemplate: When we arrived at the bondstore, the vat had been sitting undisturbed for a few days. We nosed the open vat and then drew off a small sample from the top, making mental notes about the nose and flavour profile. Duckett then grabbed a paddle and gave the vat a vigorous stir for a few seconds, thoroughly mixing up the contents. We nosed the vat again: It was now quite noticeably different, and a second sample drawn off also had a slightly different flavour profile. The exercise simply demonstrated that within the contents of this cask there lay heavier alcohols and compounds that would settle to the bottom, resulting in a container that was – quite literally – layered in its profile. For those of you who’ve visited a distillery and bottled your own bottle straight from a cask, chances are your whisky would/could taste very different to one bottled from the same cask 80 litres later, if the contents were not stirred up each time spirit was drawn off.
We also sampled from two barrels that Duckett confessed were his “worst two casks”. True, they weren’t great whiskies, but neither were they terrible or offensive. There was something slightly metallic about them, but – with a wink and a justified sense of cockiness – Tim looks you in the eye and says, “I can fix that.” And you know that he will.
By definition, Heartwood whiskies are big. They are bottled at cask strength, which – in a maturation environment where water often evaporates before the alcohol – can result in some bottlings being released with ABV’s higher than 70%! The mouthfeel and flavour delivery is likened to a Brontosaurus. (Well, more accurately, Anne Elk’s definition of a brontosaurus, courtesy of a Monty Python sketch). The whisky delivery should be small at the front, get larger in the middle, and then taper off with a long tail. And a big whisky needs a big glass…Duckett shuns the copitas and glencairns of the world; his glassware of choice is the Spiegelau Beer glass. The theory checks out. The large headspace in the glass handles and delivers the high alcoholic nose beautifully; the larger rim can happily accommodate those of us with a bigger sniffer; and the glass is also important from a social aspect – you can take a healthy sip without having to tilt your head back and lose eye contact with your company.
Duckett acknowledges that Heartwood is not for everyone. He’s essentially making whiskies that he wants to drink, and the prospect of a heavily sherried beast at 72% ABV won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. And so Duckett is already onto his next chapter: Tasmanian Independent Bottlers. TIB allows Tim to play a more commercial tune, developing whiskies from a larger base of Australian distillers and to bottle whiskies with a more widespread appeal.
Casks filled with spirit from nine different distilleries from around Australia are already sitting in the Heartwood bondstore in TIB casks. Some are already truly spectacular spirits – even though they’re still a year or so away from legally being whisky. A six-month-old we sampled from a certain distillery filled into a muscat cask was unbelievably delicious…one suspects the angels’ share might be quite high with that cask.
And so the heart of Heartwood ticks on. Whisky & Wisdom first met Mr Duckett back in 2005. He’s a true gentleman, a top bloke, an innovator, and a friend. Try and keep up with the pulse…
Cheers,
AD
For more information and details about the whisky distilleries of Tasmania and tips on visiting/touring them, see also this article here.
PS: You might like the following articles/reviews on Heartwood and TIB…
TIB – Tasmanian Independent Bottlers
TIB – Old Kempton Distillery Cask RD0012
