This new-make spirit has been double-distilled in Neilson – their 900-litre Tasmanian copper pot still, after on-site mashing and a long fermentation of 100% floor-malted Maris Otter barley.
Appearance: Clear heheh. Coats the glass with a thin film. Hairline swirl mark lingers and produces many viscous legs.
Nose: Immediate new-make berry freshness and a malt backdrop. There’s a pine freshness too, it’s a nice balance to the fruitiness, like a sprig of mint on strawberries.
The ABV isn’t too dominant, rather compliments the fresh fruits and cool pine mintiness. This new-make differs from some others we’ve tried in that it smells more tropical to me. Usually, it’s very berry forward, but this has another side to it.
There’s an aroma of overripe apples, like you get on an orchard floor, from the fallen apples left for a time, almost cider-like.
There’s a cold proved pizza dough scent mixed in there as well, I’ve been trying lots of pizza dough recipes recently and this has the aroma of the slow proven versions!
Palate: Spicy delivery on the palate, swiftly followed by some of that berry and pine. There’s a buttery, shortcake taste too adds a lovely balance.
Blood orange and grapefruit appear as more bitter notes. Now I’m more acclimatised, there’s slight liquorice, lemon sharpness and bitter lemon too.
Towards the end of the dram, as you become super comfortable with it, it’s like a sugary red berry and forest fruit pie.
Oh yeah, those few drops of H2O really open it up and soften it down. Must be awesome as a cocktail ingredient!
Finish: The finish for me is the continuation of the berry freshness, with a warming sweet spiciness. There is a slight blood orange bitterness too.
Overall: I love new-make and this example only reinforces that feeling. So much going on, even before any wood influence!
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