I'll have a crafty whisky

[Gob]

When it comes to the world of whisky, Tasmania is rapidly defining itself as a global leader.



At the World Whisky Awards held overnight in London, the Sullivans Cove distillery was named Craft Distiller of the Year, and for the third consecutive year was also pronounced Australia's best single malt whisky.

In addition, local legend Bill Lark – the man behind another leading Tasmanian whisky producer, Lark Distillery – was inducted into the Whisky Hall of Fame for his services to the industry.

Own a 20L barrel of the world’s best single malt whisky!



Every whisky enthusiast dreams of having their own barrel of the world’s best single malt! The Sullivans Cove Cellarmaster makes that dream a reality.

Tasmanian single malt has a superb reputation because of the island’s excellent natural ingredients and pure water. Your whisky is made from barley grown on a Tasmanian farm, malted and brewed at the famed Cascade Brewery, and double distilled at Tasmania Distillery, the home of Sullivans Cove whisky.

Each unique Cellarmaster cask is crafted by Tasmania’s famous cooper, Adam Bone. We store your barrel in optimal conditions at our distillery and the real magic then happens in the cask, as the malt spirit matures and takes on the characteristics of the barrel. After two years your whisky is ready to drink, and we then bottle it and ship it to your home.

How it works
We offer the Cellarmaster in 20L casks. You choose from either ex-Port cask or ex-Bourbon casks and specify the desired level of char.
We fill the barrel with 20L of new make spirit at 63.4%ABV and store it in optimal conditions here in our distillery
After two years your whisky will be ready for consumption. At that point, we bottle it for you (yielding about 30 bottles – 700mL and 47.5%abv) and send it off to your home.
You can then have your empty barrel sent home to you, or you can have it refilled.
In the two years while your whisky is maturing, you can visit and ‘test’ it as often as you like.

The latest round of recognition follows last year's defining victory, when Sullivans Cove's French Oak variety was named the world's best single malt. This year, that title went to a distiller from Taiwan, Kavalan Vinho Barrique.

Being named the world's top craft distiller is a handy consolation prize, says Sullivans Cove marketing manager Bert Cason. "It's pretty awesome when you consider the many thousands of craft distillers across the globe," he says.

Visitors to the distillery might be sorely disappointed if they are expecting a bucolic experience to match the quality of the whisky. A staff of 10 produces the coveted drop from a concrete shed in an industrial estate close to Hobart's airport. Neighbours include an auto-scrapyard, a metal fabricator, and a manufacturer of electrical cables.

"There's absolutely nothing romantic about it," admits the distillery's founder Patrick Maguire. "There are no pretty little creeks, or rustic stone buildings. But it's what comes out of the place that is important."

The Lark Distillery, five minutes up the road from Sullivans Cove, is similarly functional, operating out of a tin shed plonked in a paddock beside a winery. It was founder Bill Lark who in 1992 resurrected the Tasmanian distillery industry after it had been dormant since the early 1900s.

"That's a major gong for Tasmanian and Australian whisky," says Maguire in tribute to his neighbour's induction into the Hall of Fame.

At one time more than a century ago there had been eight distilleries in the Hobart area. Lark lobbied to have laws amended to allow the legal distilling of spirits to recommence. With his wife Lyn, Lark began experimenting with making whisky at their kitchen table. His friend Maguire would go around and lend a hand, which is how he became interested in the craft himself.

"We go back a hell of a long way," says Maguire. "We may be business rivals but we're also great mates. I'll go to their bar and tell them their whisky is s--t, and they'll laugh at me and tell me that mine is, too. We like taking the piss out of each other."

Both men were instrumental in establishing the Tasmanian Whisky Producers' Association almost five years ago. Maguire was the first president.

There are now about 10 whisky distilleries operating in Tasmania including Overeem, Hellyers Road, Heartwood, Redlands, Belgrove, Trapper's Hut, and William McHenry and Sons.

The burgeoning industry is even attracting 'whisky tourists', keen to take one of the many whisky tours on offer.

So what's the secret? How is this small island creating some of the most celebrated whisky on the planet?

Executive Style caught up with Bill Lark while he was in London to receive his award to ask him.

"We're using a traditional brewing barley locally grown in Tasmania," says Lark. "It doesn't give us the same high yield of alcohol as a distilling barley used in other parts of the world, but what it does is bring to our whisky a richness of malt and flavour."

Lark also says the climate is conducive to whisky production.

"We enjoy great seasonal variation and diurnal changes in temperatures which really aids the maturation process, and as any distiller will tell you, 60 per cent of the character of any whisky comes from the time it spends in the barrel.

"I'd also like to think some of the success is owed to the dedication of those who are making whisky in Tasmania, and are very passionate about producing a high quality product."

[MajGenl.Meade]

The Devil is in the detox!

[Lord Jim]

for the third consecutive year was also pronounced Australia's best single malt whisky.

Own a 20L barrel of the world’s best single malt whisky!

So if something is the best in Australia, it's automatically the best in the world?

Gee, you guys are becoming more Americanized every day...

[rubato]

Every whisky enthusiast dreams of having their own barrel of the world’s best single malt! The Sullivans Cove Cellarmaster makes that dream a reality.

A bottle would be fine, at most. I need room for bottles of all the other good things to drink as well. The bulk advance sales pitch suggests that they are underfunded meaning that 'whisky lovers' with piles of cash are off investing in Llamas and "breeding pairs" of ostriches instead.




ichi-ban!


"The world is so full of a number of things I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings. "


yrs,
rubato

[oldr_n_wsr]

Thanks for the "trigger" Gob.

[BoSoxGal]

Best single malt in the world? No way.

[Gob]

So if something is the best in Australia, it's automatically the best in the world?

Gee, you guys are becoming more Americanized every day...

They were referring to this, Jim;

World's Best Single Malt Whisky 2014

Sullivans Cove French Oak Cask

ABV: 47.50%Category: Single Malt
World's Best Single Malt Whisky 2014

Tunnock’s Caramel wafers. With a touch of smoke. Excellent balance. Ed Bates

Toasted almonds, grated nutmeg and some fruit toast on the nose. Burnt almonds, autumn fruits stewed with golden raisins. Light, peppery and intriguing. Seáneen Sullivan

Keeping it simple in a very good way. Honey, vanilla and haystacks. All combine with apples and caramel. Jason Thomson

Campfire smoke that enriches the malt and wood. A match made in heaven with a smooth buttery feel. Joseph Cassidy

Great balance, lovely spices come through with time. Jamie Milne


http://www.worldwhiskiesawards.com/sull ... 20337.html

[rubato]

So did you buy a barrel or did you follow the smart money into Chinchilla farming?

Well?

Sport.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

It's time for Australian whisky fans to start digging for loose change down the back of the couch.



An extravagant whisky blend by Scottish distillers Chivas Regal is on its way to Australia, after the $US3500 bottle debuted in Dubai in early June.

The decadent drop, dubbed "The Icon", mixes a blend of more than 20 distinct single malts, including some from distilleries that no longer exist.

The whisky is worth $3500 US.The whisky is worth $3500 US. Photo: Warren Little
And there's no doubt they're aiming for a luxury market, with the bottle available only at duty-free shops in Dubai until September, when the rest of the world gets a taste.

The $US3500 duty-free price tag ($3675 in the domestic market) converts in Australian dollars to a whopping $4576 in duty free or $4804 in other stores.

At that price, one sip (of approximately 20mL), would set you back $131 if you buy it in duty free, or $137 from a regular store - no doubt a drop to be reserved for a special occasion.

Included in the price is a hand-blown crystal decanter (with a tint of green glass, a throwback to the original 1909 Chivas Regal bottle) and a stopper featuring the heart-shaped celtic symbol the Luckenbooth.

The lavish spirit, which has 40 per cent alcohol volume in its 700mL bottle, will be stocked from September at the International Duty Free terminal of Sydney Airport and a handful of other stores that are yet to be confirmed.

But how does it taste?

The company's master blender Colin Scott says the whisky is an "exquisite blend" that has notes of honey, vanilla, dark chocolate and hazelnut.

[It's] perfectly smooth with an intense concentration of sumptuous flavours that develop into an exceptionally long, lingering finish," he says.

For the price, you would hope so.

The brand sells 41 million litres of whisky every year to more than 150 countries across the world.

[wesw]

hmmmm. I do miss a nice bourbon. unfortunately my bourbon bone is connected to my cocaine bone....

[BoSoxGal]

That's the kind of thing I'd 'waste' money on if I had money to burn.