That Boutique-y Whisky Company is an international independent bottler of some of the finest whiskies money can buy and with the release of their Australia Series, ManSpace magazine was lucky enough to try some of the best our country has to offer.
The Australia Series features eight samples of drops from distillers including Belgrove, Bakery Hill, Black Gate, Fleurieu, Tin Shed Distilling Co., Killara, Riverbourne and Starward.
Now, I won’t talk about each bottle, that would of course take away from the fun you (the reader) will have when you wrap your lips around one of your own.
The star of the show was the Starward, a three-year-old single malt coming from Melbourne, Victoria. It’s extremely smooth and hits the nose with caramel and oak notes before bursting a sweet fruit and continuing the biscuity oak on the palate.
Starward has been a ManSpace favourite in the past and I was looking forward to cracking it open when I saw it included in the series. Maybe I entered the tasting biased? Maybe it’s just too good to pass up on?
Next up was the Tin Shed Distilling Co. a South Australian distiller which also produced a three-year-old single malt, matured in two small ex-Tawny Port casks before moving to an ex-Pinot Gris cask. The impetus for such a unique production comes from its location right next to two Adelaide vineyards (necessity of the mother of invention, yes?).
On the nose, it’s bitter jam-y (if they can do boutique-y, I can do jam-y) with a thick and chewy finish of red berries and toasted malt.
The third and final whisky that took my eye (or tongue for want of a better word) was the Bakery Hill, another Victorian-based distiller, this one a five-year single malt which claims to come from Australia’s oldest whisky distillery.
Bakery Hill is run by an ex-high school chemistry teacher and his son (yes, the bottle artwork makes sure to make a Breaking Bad reference) who wanted to prove great single malts can be found outside of Scotland.
This one’s very peaty and I love how That Boutique-y Company describes the other notes: “A little medicinal with green banana”. On the palate, it follows the peaty notes with a sweet peaty taste, and you can almost taste the experience in this distillery – the components have been working for a long time and knows full well how to make a great drop.
The individual bottles in the Australia Series tasting kit can be purchased through several whisky outlets.
It’s also nice to see spirits getting into the bottle/can design field, something the sprits side has been getting lapped in by beer cans. The Boutique-y Whisky Company has an in-house artist who not only creates stunning pieces on the label but adds a few dashes of wit and comedy to them – making an enjoyable tasting session even better.
