Looking for information about Iniquity whisky? Read on…
In the busy, buzzing, and bulging world of the Australian whisky industry, it would be fair to say that the distilleries of South Australia tend to get overlooked. At the very least, they don’t get the share of the limelight they deserve.
The reasons for this are fairly straightforward: (i) South Australia is not in Tasmania, where most punters perceive all the action to be. (ii) The distilleries are generally small operations (with one exception), and the higher profile or “big brand” distilleries are in other states. (iii) The distillers behind the distilleries are modest folks who focus on making good whisky, rather than focusing on their social media and playing the popularity game. (On that note, and as an aside: I would not be the first commentator to observe that, in some cases, a whisky brand’s social media profile and volume are inversely proportional to the quality and quantity of its whisky).
The irony of this situation is the reality that, by and large, the distilleries of South Australia consistently make good whisky and are genuinely amongst the most lauded in the land. All distilleries will generally have hits and misses over their journeys; the trick is obviously to have the ledger filled with more of the former than the latter. One distillery that has excelled at achieving a consistent DNA; a reliable house style; and churning out a string of hits is Tin Shed Distilling Co through its Iniquity whisky label.
Tin Shed Distilling Co. is a name you don’t hear too often, as its whisky is branded and known as Iniquity. The irony is that Tin Shed is actually one of Australia’s oldest and most experienced players in the game. Let’s cover a quick bit of history:
Tin Shed started out in 2004 under the name Southern Coast Distillers and was just the second distillery of the modern era to be on the mainland. (Limeburners in WA was founded the same year; both were preceded by Bakery Hill in Victoria in 1999). Southern Coast Distillers started out as a joint venture between three husband-and-wife couples and ticked along for a few years making small volumes of whisky. The business relationship with one of the couples involved in the enterprise soured somewhat, leading to an acrimonious bust-up and protracted legal proceedings that eventually saw a liquidator called in. After a messy divorce (figuratively speaking), the two remaining couples re-grouped, formed a new company and name, and – finally, in 2013 – got back to distilling in the same building and continuing on in the same way as before. In the words of Ian Schmidt, one of the founders (and the main face of the distillery), “Everything was essentially the same except for the metaphorical sign above the door.”
The distillery is in Wellend, about 5km north-west from Adelaide’s city centre, although the entire operation will shortly be re-locating to Woodside, up in the Adelaide Hills. The new premises will also incorporate a cellar door, which will be great for business, noting that the distillery produces more than just Iniquity whisky. Tin Shed also produces some exceptionally good rum (branded as Requiem) and also vodka, branded as Piotr. More about Requiem Rum shortly – it’s mighty fine stuff, but let’s first look at the whisky production….
Production is traditional and hands-on, with Ian Schmidt at the helm of most of the processes. Iniquity whisky from Tin Shed is the real deal and the full package, undertaking the mashing and fermentation on site to produce its own wash, and then distilling and maturing. The distillery uses “post-peated” malt for many of its campaigns, and carries out the smoking on site. Not too dissimilar to the so-called “Lark method”, the already-malted barley is laid out in a smoke box and sprayed with a mist of water. The peat – in this case, South Australian peat from a farm in Parawa – is lumped into a cake tin, placed at the bottom of the smoke box, and fired with a gas burner. Following mashing, fermentations vary between three and seven days, depending on the campaign.
The distillery has three stills. The smallest, a 60 litre affair, is used for experiments and recipe checking. The distillery still has its original 600 litre still from the Southern Coast days, although these days it’s used chiefly to make apple brandy and for contract distilling. (There are also plans for it to be used to distil gin in the future). However, the star of the show is the 2,200 litre still commissioned and acquired in 2016. Manufactured by Burns Welding in NSW, the still is short and stumpy – its shape was designed not so much with the distillate’s character in mind, but more for the practical need for it to fit inside the building! This still is used for both the wash and the spirit runs, and it produces a spirit that the team acknowledges is significantly maltier than what used to come out of the 600 litre still.
When firing on all cylinders, and when funds permit, the distillery will fill three 225 litre casks in a five-day working week. Having been around for a long time, the distillery has experimented with pretty much any and every cask type available in Australia: American oak, French oak, bourbon casks, fortified casks, wine casks, brandy casks, virgin casks; small barrels and large barrels. Importantly – and it’s becoming apparent that nearly every Australian distillery needs to do this – they’ve learned which casks work with their spirit and local climate, and which ones don’t. In a more recent development, they’ve also learned how to rescue and bring back spirit from the casks that didn’t work out so well. (More on that shortly). With such a large inventory of cask types and styles, the vast majority of Iniquity releases these days are a carefully crafted blend of multiple casks, adopting a cuvee approach to each release.
This is where the other partner in the business, Vic Orlow, steps in. Vic is a trained chef, and puts that knowledge and culinary expertise to good use as the distillery’s blender. Orlow is also responsible for the distillery’s barrel management. He and Schmidt take the view that barrel management is essential in a small distillery that doesn’t have the luxury of large stocks of mature spirit to choose from. Accordingly, every single cask counts and has to pull its weight.
This is, again, where time in the game pays dividends – time allows the team to learn what works and what doesn’t, and to learn what the outcomes will be when pulling different levers. Schmidt elaborates: “We’ve tried a range of different malts, and we’ve played around with different yeasts. These things do make a difference, although they’re of lesser significance when compared to what you’ll get from good barrel management and blending.”
So what is the Iniquity style or hallmark? “Initially we only used port and sherry barrels, which limited our options,” explains Schmidt. “They made heavy, rich, and flavoursome whiskies that we all enjoyed. Now we use port, sherry, bourbon, red wine, white wine, sparkling, brandy, rum and virgin oak, both French and American, and then we add smoky spirit which gives us almost endless permutations. We still make fortified whiskies, and port matured ones are probably our favourite, but we now also make a Speyside style – only it’s on steroids, with the flavour throttle in overdrive because of the quality and variety of oak available to us just up or down the road.”
Anyone who’s met or dealt with Ian will vouch for his keen and well-tuned sense of humour. For a man who’s still hands on and elbows deep in the distillery’s operations, the label probably sits uncomfortably with him, but he’s now qualified as one of the “elder statesmen” of the Australian whisky industry, and his thoughts on the game are well considered and astute across the board. It’s no accident that he won “Distillery Manager of the Year” at the 2020 Icons of Whisky Awards for Australia. Reflecting on the Tin Shed journey, I asked him if there was anything he looks back on and wishes he’d done differently? “Initially we just wanted to see if we could make a decent whisky. Once we sorted that out, we just kept making whisky and funded production with our day jobs. That was a mistake, and if I had a time machine, I’d go back and would have found a million dollars to do the whole thing properly right from the start, including making white spirits for cashflow.”
Iniquity’s main signature release is Silver; the latest batch being No. 021. Occasionally, the team will put together a batch that truly sings and stands out from the pack. Such batches are bottled at a higher ABV of 60% and badged as Gold. The latest batch, Gold No. 006, is – in this writer’s opinion – one of the finest Australian-made whiskies of the last 10 years.
Of course, with so many different cask types being filled and experiments going on, there are opportunities to bottle expressions that step outside the usual house style and deliver something special. These are known as the Anomaly Series, and include releases such as Flustercluck, and The Merlot.
One of the more fascinating releases – and also one of the most delicious – is the recent Peated Shiraz bottling – produced via a solera process, no less. Tin Shed has not been entirely immune from the curse of many Australian whiskies whereby the cask overpowers and over-oaks the spirit. The use of wine casks that leach tannins in our hot maturation climate carries this inherent risk, and Schmidt concedes that a few campaigns and casks got away from them, leading to spirit that was near undrinkable. However, rather than dumping it on the market or tipping it down the drain, they worked with the spirit and blended in other whiskies to overcome the flaws. The over-oaked and over-extracted spirit was blended with some “uber-smoky” whisky, then transferred to some “dead barrels”, namely a 500L ex-red cask, 3 x 300L ex-Tarac brandy casks, and a bunch of 100L ex-fortified third-fill barrels. These were given some time and air to marry and transform, and the result has done more than just rescue the whisky – it has produced a stunning drop that is arguably one of the best peated whiskies in the land. Priced at just $95 for a 500ml bottle, it’s also one of the best value Australian whiskies on the market.
It was roughly four years ago that I nominated Iniquity Gold as one of the best Australian whiskies on the market, and I was keen to taste the latest Gold release and other expressions from the Iniquity stable to see how the distillery was getting on. Whisky & Wisdom sat down with a number of Tin Shed releases (including two of the Requiem Rum releases) and put them to the test. Our thoughts and tasting notes are below.
As for the future, there are exciting times ahead for the distillery. The planned move to the Adelaide Hills will unlock opportunities, and there are also implications for maturation. The micro-climate is considerably cooler, and Schmidt believes it will be better for his whisky with not having to deal with the more extremes. Like all-things in whisky, time will tell, but in the meantime, Australian whisky lovers would do well to look more closely at the gold that’s coming out of South Australia right now.
Cheers,
AD
{Update, February 2023: More good news for Iniquity, with the distillery taking out the overall Category Winner award for Best Single Cask Single Malt (No Age Statement) at the 2023 World Whiskies Awards. Well done, Ian and team!}
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Iniquity Silver – Batch 021, 46% ABV (500ml – $99, 700ml – $160)
Nose: Sweet tropical fruits and confectionery. (Sugared jubes; pineapples, etc). Sweet malt. Red currants.
Palate: Strong oak influence, but the palate still seems a little less tamed and developed. Resin and sappy – lots of oak influence, but the spirit seems to be lacking softness and integration.
Finish: Slightly drying and a bit grippy/bitey. Slightly hot.
Comments: Showcases that typical Australian trait of fruit, jam, and strong oak. The dram is not wanting for flavour – there’s plenty on offer here – but it’s perhaps lacking in balance and integration, certainly in the context of the other two whiskies tasted in this sampling.
Iniquity Gold – Batch 006, 60.1% ABV (200ml – $95, 700ml – $280)
Nose: Similar to Batch 21 with the fruits on offer here, but now with buttered croissants and quince jam. Stewed fruits and rhubarb. Less volatile on the nose. Hints of toffee, and toffee apple. The toffee apple grows, particularly with a few drops of water. The ABV of this is 60.1%, but you’d never guess that – there’s no nose prickle or sting. (An admirable quality that transfers to the palate, too).
Palate: The mouthfeel is softer and silkier than the Silver Batch 021, despite a much higher ABV. Some balancing savouriness offsets the initial fruitiness. It’s softer; there’s less heat, and certainly no rough edges – it’s actually a very soothing, sultry dram! A curious mix of caramel, dried fruits (particularly figs), and dried spices. Water brings out barley malt and a touch of rich, orange citrus (bordering on choc-orange)
Finish: Sweet, warming, and nicely balanced.
Comments: If the Silver Batch 021 was a boisterous pick-me-up; the Gold Batch 006 is a luxurious indulgence. This is balanced and integrated – malt, spirit, and oak are in sublime harmony. There are some very good single malt Scotch whiskies that take 18 years to get to this level of complexity and completeness.
Peated Shiraz Solera, 43% ABV (500ml – $99)
Nose: The peat is intriguing and appealing – not too unlike a peated Scotch from the mainland, e.g. peated AnCnoc or Ardmore. The signature Iniquity fruit is here, and it’s really well integrated. Salty, umami, fruity, tarry….very appealing on the nose. Will the palate deliver?
Palate: The peat is sublime – again, very reminiscent of a sensational Ardmore. The fruit takes a slightly backwards step and allows the sweet malt to shine a little. The sweetness is extraordinary – beautifully tasty and yet never cloying or artificial. It very quickly becomes a palate that you don’t want to analyse, but just want to quaff and enjoy.
Finish: Sweet and incredibly long. Leaves a long footprint that is immensely satisfying and fulfilling.
Comments: This was a surprise packet, but what a bloody pleasant surprise!! As a nation, Australia hasn’t delved too deeply into peated whiskies. I’ve long maintained that Bakery Hill Peated was the finest exponent in this regard, but I think we need to make room on the dais, because this just shot into gold medal contention. This is just SO imminently drinkable. The nose is both fulfilling and intriguing (yes, a paradox there!); and the palate simply sings. The key word here is integration. A masterclass in blending, the result is one of the most drinkable, enjoyable malts from Australia to find its way in to a bottle, particularly at this price point. There’s something oddly Scottish about this, particularly if you’re a fan of peated malts from Scotland’s mainland.
Requiem Rum – SS Ferret release, 46% ABV
Nose: Fruit mince pies, beurre noisette, quince paste, cola, cola jubes, and demerara sugar.
Palate: Old Gold chocolate, rum’n’raisin ice cream, marzipan, and dark toffee.
Finish: Not too sweet, not too dry, not too bitter……it’s juuuuuust right.
Comments: Six years old and matured in American oak ex-port casks, this is a very special rum, as evidenced by the string of awards it’s picked up: “Best Style” Winner at the World Rum Awards in 2021; Gold in the Best Australian Rum at the Tasting Australia Awards 2020; and a Silver in the Australian International Spirits Awards, 2019. For anyone who mistakenly believes rums lack complexity, this will change your mind. Exceptionally drinkable, more-ish, and needs no adulteration.
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For more information and to purchase the products from Tin Shed, you can head to their website here.
PS: Update – you might also like our reviews of Iniquity’s latest expression, Lazy Daze, and their Gold Series Batch 007 here.
