Month: May 2017

A whisky identity crisis

Posted by: Nick

Warning: may seem like an actual blog article.

Good news, folks, the word of the Waffle is spreading. Our local paper The Advocate recently published an excellent article about the blog and the tasting nights we are running. My only issue? It seems Ted and I have inadvertently become Burnie’s most famous hipsters. Here’s the headline:

Advocate screen shot

So… am I really a hipster?

I mean, I have been known to grow a beard. I like brunch. And Ted’s glasses are a bit pretentious. But a hipster?

The label of course refers not to our occasionally-groomed facial hair but to our fanaticism to whisky. I mean, we kinda do run a successful whisky blog… This, coupled with the fact we’re under the age of thirty does kind of point towards hipsterdom.

The only problem is it’s not true – in my eyes at least. I am absolutely a whisky nerd, that title I cannot shake. I will even admit that I can veer wildly between drinking buddy and whisky snob (“My shout buddy! As long as you leave out the ice this time!”) But surely people referring to me as a hipster simply because I can recite all eight (and a half) distilleries on Islay is a step too far.

And then I realised. Just because people refer to me as a hipster, it doesn’t make me one. In fact, they probably just don’t have alternative terminology. So I shall boldly proclaim to the whisky loving public: I identify as a Waffler. I drink plenty of whisky and use plenty of words to talk about the stuff.

So let’s start a Waffly revolution! Let’s give those that call us hipsters an alternative title! Let’s Waffle on until our significant others roll their eyes and turn up MasterChef! Keep on Waffling, my friends. Keep on Waffling.

The Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve

Reviewed by: Nick

Glenlivet master distillers reserve

The Glenlivet is one of the grand old boys of Scottish whisky. A distillery whom Whisky Waffle considered reliable, safe and go-to. Of course, all this changed when they replaced their 12 Year Old with the Founders Reserve. Sigh. What were they thinking?

But, never fear fellow Wafflers! If, like us, you have lamented the lack of 12 Year Old in bottle shops near you, then we have your solution: The Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve, named for Alan Winchester, Glenlivet’s own master distiller since 2008. Now, this bottle was once upon a time only available to frequent flyers buried in duty free, however many online liqueur stores <cough> perhaps one that shares a name with this reviewer <cough> have procured stock and let me tell you, it’s well worth it.

It’s not a complex dram: it’s only 40% and has been triple matured in American oak, ex-sherry casks and ‘traditional oak casks’ (whatever that means). On the nose are apples and pears, but also creamy notes, like particularly milky tea. The palate isn’t smooth per se, but it’s easy to drink. There are flavours of vanilla, oranges and choc chip biscuits. The finish is nutty and pleasantly long and, again, particularly creamy.

I’m not claiming the Master Distiller’s Reserve is a masterpiece – simply that it is interesting, reliable and nice to drink – everything the Founders Reserve is not. This is NAS whisky done well.

★★★

A Stopover at Starward

Posted by: Nick and Ted

1 Starward 1

They grow up so fast, don’t they? It was under two years ago that Whisky Waffle first visited New World Distillery/Starward in their Essendon Airport location and were impressed by their hardworking staff and their delicious whisky. Fast forward to the present and they’ve raised the bar considerably, upsizing their apparently insufficient aeroplane hangar for a gigantic warehouse, which in turn will likely be bursting at the seams in two years time.

1 Starward distillery

Starward has been a very busy distillery. On Nick’s previous visit he noted how staff worked around the clock on three distillations a day to create as much product as humanly possible – a key factor in keeping their prices within an accessible range for we mere mortals. This commendable approach has led to two key outcomes: a wide range of people have been able to try the whisky and their bond store has filled up in no time.

1 barrels

The pressing lack of space at the old airport hangar led to a drastic solution: a new home. Their new premise is much closer to the city of Melbourne, located at 50 Bertie Street Port Melbourne, a short tram ride away from the city.

The cavernous open plan industrial space, some two and a half times larger than the Essendon facility, easily fits all the distillery equipment, the bond store and a slick bar area (although apparently they haven’t managed to find space for the basketball hoop yet). Also found within the walls is a team of fantastic staff members, such as Sasha, Rachel (how’s the hunt for an Aussie husband going?) and Cameron (cheers for showing us around and letting us try some of the best new-make in the business. You’re not really a spud).

1 Starward

One of the big highlights of visiting the distillery (apart from the tree growing next to the bar) is the chance to try a variety of the New World Projects range, which are the result of the distillers getting creative in their spare time. We were lucky enough to sample the PX Cask #3 (sweet, fruity and now out of stock), Dram Full Single Cask #1 (oaky with a herbal finish), Lui Bar Selection #3 (spicy and rich, our pick of the session) and the First Distillery Last Release (cask strength and punchy).

1 Starward tree

Thanks to everyone at Starward for the warm welcome on a cold day. It’s great having a distillery right in the city so that locals and tourists can easily visit. If you have a spare moment we can highly recommend heading down to Port Melbourne and dropping into one of Australia’s hardest working distilleries.

Starward Distillery is open Friday and Saturday 12pm-10pm and Sunday 12-8pm. Tours are conducted on those days at 2pm and 5pm.

1 Starward still

Whisky Waffle Taste Success(fully)

Posted by: Nick and Ted

Whisky Waffle pour effort

You may have heard us mention it once or twice, but recently we have been a little excited about the chance to take our waffling off the net and into the big wide world. Well, the night has been and gone and we couldn’t be happier with result. While unfortunately our flights to the UK were cancelled (and the plane tickets may have been imaginary), our virtual tour was a raging success, introducing our eager guests to the whisky regions of Scotland.

‘Whisky Waffle’s Tour of Scotland’ visited Speyside via the Glenfiddich 12, up through the Highlands taking in Glendronach 12 and Dalwhinnie 15, across to the Islands to try some Highland Park 12 before swooping down into the Lowlands for a spot of Auchentoshan Valinch and finally coming to rest on the magical Isle of Islay for a well deserved dram of Lagavulin 16.

Line up whisky waffle

The Chapel cafe in Burnie was the perfect venue for such an occasion, providing a warm and intimate environment for our guests, who began the night pretty chilled and only relaxed further as the drams were distributed. While merriment abounded, much to our amazement people were more than happy to drink in our tales, laugh at our jokes and even provided a new nickname for Nick (Mal, to go with Ted. Think about it).

Everybody discovered their own favourite whisky and there was much discussion about the different flavours and characteristics that each brought to the table (gooseberries???). Thanks to the success of this first session we will be holding a (already sold out!) repeat performance in a few weeks time entitled ‘Whisky Waffle’s Tour of Scotland: The Second Lap’. While still focusing on the different regions, the night will feature a new line up of whiskies.

selfie whisky waffle

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude and thanks to Andrew at the Chapel for supporting us in our endeavours and to all our recently inducted Wafflers for coming along and making the evening such a success.

Stayed tuned loyal Wafflers, hopefully soon we will be able to bring you news of a third session!

King in the north: Fannys Bay Distillery launches its whisky

Posted by: Ted

Ted n Mat Whisky Waffle

Compared to the established distilleries of the south, the north of Tasmania has been something of a permafrost-covered wasteland, devoid of all but the hardiest specimens. Scratch the surface however and you will find new life growing vigorously, with a multitude of start-ups building stills and laying down spirit.

Now the first of this new cohort has come to fruition, with Fannys Bay Distillery officially launching its range. Owned and run by the lovely Mathew and Julie Cooper, Fannys Bay is based on the far north coast in the rather appropriately named hamlet of Tam O’Shanter.

Small scale, hand crafted and innovative could be the bywords of Fannys Bay. The small still that resides in the Cooper’s garage was hand built by Mathew and each 20L barrel that is filled is mothered like a flock of chickens until maturity.

The launch was held at the recently opened Kingsway Whisky Bar in Launceston. The venue turned out to be rather easy to find thanks to the live quartet of bagpipers stationed outside the doorway, deafening guests as they entered the bar.

Bagpipes whisky waffle

The long, narrow space was quickly filled with friends and fans of Fannys Bay, including luminaries of the Tassie whisky scene such as Casey and Jane Overeem, Craig Johnstone, Damien Mackey, Rex Burdon, George Burgess and Troy Trewin. Mathew and Julie were gracious hosts, warmly welcoming their well wishers and even finding time to carry around some of the excellent cheese platters that had been provided.

Troy, Jane, George and some hipster

While the brie may have been rather fine, the real stars of the show were the three expressions of Fannys Bay being generously poured by Mathew. On offer were a pinot cask 43%, a port cask 62% and a sherry cask 63.4%. The pinot was light and smooth with notes of grapes and green apples. In comparison the sherry was robust and full of stewed fruits and spice, while the port was dark and rich, oozing raisins, sticky prunes and burnt toffee. Everybody who tried a dram came away with a satisfied look on their face and there was quite a long line to buy the flat, rectangular bottles with their vaguely Victorian inspired lettering and painted reverse.

Fannys Bay Bottle whisky waffle

The official part of the evening was conducted by Rex, Jane and Casey, who all spoke passionately about the warm, friendly and hospitable nature of the Coopers and their willingness to share their knowledge and experience with others. Jane noted that it was ‘exciting to see people who have such passion jumping into an industry with such a huge amount of opportunity’. After rather sheepishly admitting that he had been to see the distillery for the first time only a few hours before, Craig got up recited a poem to a rather amused crowd:

May you have shortbread when you’re hungry,

Whisky when you’re dry,

Pennies when you’re poor,

And heaven when you die.

Speeches whisky waffle

After the speeches were concluded, several bottles of the first barrel laid down by Mathew were put up for auction. Barrel #1 (Bourbon) Bottle #1 was claimed by Traralgon based whisky collector Shane Barbour, who remained calm under fire from competing bids to claim his prize (he mentioned that he also has a #1 bottle of Oveerem, lucky sod). Talking afterwards, Shane reflected that one of the reasons he keeps coming down is that everyone in the Tassie scene is so friendly and welcoming (plus the chance to collect unique whiskies).

The evening concluded in a relaxed fashion, with guests chatting away amicably in small groups and nibbling pieces of Fannys Bay pinot cask chocolate brownie. Mathew and Julie glowed with pride as they reflected on the success of the evening. When pressed, Mat said that he was “very, very pleased to be able to show that we have such a great Tasmanian product,” with Julie adding that “It’s been such a great journey.”

Mat n Julie Whisky Waffle

The last word comes from Troy (which I think would rather please him), who quite succinctly summed the evening up thus: “Tonight was a candlelight held up in the Tasmanian craft distilling scene, industry coming together to celebrate this nascent venture, a leader of the northern new wave. Patience has been worth it.”

Look out Southerners, the North is alive!

b n w Ted whisky waffle

Whisky Waffle Sell Out

Posted by: Nick

It’s official. We Waffle boys have signed a multimillion dollar movie deal with Warner Brothers! The all-action blockbuster directed by James Cameron will star Kit Harrington as Nick and Henry Cavill as Ted with a guest appearance from the late Sir Richard Attenborough as Jim Murray. It will feature lots of whisky drinking and car chases – although not in the same scene (unless we’ve arranged a stunt-designated-driver).

Whisky Waffle - the movie

Ok. You’ve got me. We haven’t sold out metaphorically. We’ve sold out literally!

A week or so ago we announced we are running a tasting night at The Chapel Cafe in Burnie on the 13^th of May. We were worried that no one would show up and it would be an absolute flop. Instead, we sold out in under three days! As venue owner Andrew put it: “we sold out before we even had a chance to put the posters up!”

Poster Sold Out

What’s more, there were a number of people who wanted to attend but were too slow to book a seat (specifically: our friends who indicated they were coming on the Facebook group). So we again took the plunge and decided to run a second event on the 3rd of June for those that missed out. Tickets went on sale on Sunday … and had gone by Monday afternoon. We have sold out… AGAIN!

This post was originally going to advertise the second event, but it seems there’s no need. Instead, I just want to say thank you to those who have bought tickets and/or shown an interest in this exciting project. The support we’ve had has been overwhelming. Thank you all.

The first session is this weekend! We look forward to meeting a bunch of you then.

Keep on waffling.