TIB

The 2020 Waffle Awards

Posted by: Nick and Ted

Well. 2020. We’re not going to forget you in a hurry. In a year such as this sometimes the only thing you can do is pour yourself a dram. And, hey, to celebrate making it out the other side we may as well make it a good one. Perhaps, even an award winning one! So, ladies and gents, behold: Whisky Waffle’s top drops for 2020!

The Isle of the Drammed Award for the best Tasmanian whisky

We’re super proud of the drams coming out of our home state and so have an award for the best one. This year the Isle of the Drammed Award goes to…

Heartwood A Serious Whisky

Welcome to a new chapter in Tasmanian whisky. For a while, local producers have played around with peat to various levels of success, but this is the first one that has properly nailed what Tasmanian peated whisky can be. It’s no Islay. It’s rich and syrupy but also roasted and smoky. It’s taken the best of Scottish peat and combined it with the sort of rich fortified casks that only Tim Duckett can get his hands on. The future is here. And it looks Serious.

The Drams Down Under Award for the best mainland Australian whisky

Not only do we recognise whiskies from our home state but we acknowledge those made across the water on the Australian mainland. There are plenty of new distilleries starting up but this year there was one bottle we couldn’t look past. The winner of the Drams Down Under Award is…

From Country to Coast

The From Country To Coast ‘Blackfleurieugate’ Collab is one of those things in life that you never knew you needed until somebody invented it. Heavily peated spirit from Black Gate aged in an Apera cask married with heavily peated spirit from Fleurieu aged in a Tawny cask and bottled at 48%. What. A. Combo.

The fruity, oily, salty flavours mixed with the peat are like having happy hour in a beachside smokehouse. A sweet and smokey Aussie duet, like Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave teaming up for ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’, it’s a pairing that certainly makes you sit up an take notice.

The Tartan Slipper Award for the best Scottish whisky

We now venture back to what we still regard as the motherland of the whisky world. It’s where our love for the drop started, and where is continues to find new flames each and every year. This year, the Tartan Slipper goes to…

Ardbeg Corryvreckan

While we may have sampled this dram in a bar along the way on our respective whisky drinking journeys, 2020 was the year that Whisky Waffle fell in love with the Ardbeg Corryvreckan. There’s something peak-peat about it. Simple and yet chaos in a glass. No frills, just fire. It’s somewhat of a throwback to our early whisky drinking days when peated whisky was a thrilling new world. It’s exciting. It’s a roaring bonfire. It’s exactly what Islay should be.

The Pocket Pleaser Award the perfect pick for the parched penny pincher

It’s a fine line between buying all the whisky that you would like and not filing for bankruptcy. That’s why we have a value-for-money award which goes to a drop that we can purchase without worrying about where the next meal is going to come from. The 2020 Pocket Pleaser goes to…

Corowa Characters

Little brother of previous Whisky Waffle Golden Dram winner, the Bosque Verde, the Corowa Characters release celebrates the team at the distillery. Local Corowa legends The Boss, The Dreaded Distiller, The Fuzz and Muscles certainly know how to craft a character-driven dram.

The Characters uses American, French and Hungarian oak wine barrels from the Barossa and Rutherglen. Most are Shiraz, with some experimental Pinot Noir, Durif and white wine varieties thrown in for good measure. And the price, you ask??? Generally around $90AUD, which is phenomenal for a spicy little Aussie dram and proof that the market is maturing. Perfect for summer drams with mates.

The Weirdsky Award for the most WTF whisky

We like unusual. In fact, we actively seek it out! So each year we present an award to the weirdest flavours, cask types, origin story… whatever makes us scratch our heads the hardest. This year’s Weirdsky goes to…

Spirit Thief Belgrove Coasted Peated Malt

Tasmanian independent outfit Spirit Thief had a bit of relaunch at the end of 2020. We tried the prototype Shiraz and Temperanillo releases a couple of years ago, but since then Brett Steel has evolved the brand into a slick vehicle for exploring the depths of red wine casking.

The first bottles in the new range, Exploration Series 1, uses red wine varieties from all over the world, including Pinot Noir, Grenache, Bordeaux, Shiraz and Mataro. But there was one that really made our heads spin.

Take one portion super dirty, super funky, super cooked coastal peated malted Belgrove spirit, decant into a French Oak Cabernet Sauvignon cask for 28 months and let what can only be described as ‘The Alchemy’ happen. Satay sauce on slightly burnt peperkoek (spiced dutch gingerbread), it’s mad, complicated and weirdsky as balls. Not for the faint hearted, but definitely one for those who are adventurous of spirit. Love it, keep it up Brett!

The Bill Lark Award for service to the Tasmanian whisky industry

Once again we return to Tasmania, the state that kicked off the modern Australian whisky scene. However, instead of recognising a particular drop, we present an award to one of the amazing people pouring their heart and soul into making this little industry a success. The award bears the name of Bill Lark, recognised as the founder of the Tassie whisky movement. It goes to someone who has followed in his footsteps and continued to bring Tasmanian whisky to the world. This year the worthy winner of the Bill Lark award is:

Mark Littler

In the rapidly evolving Tassie whisky scene, it’s easy to forget about Hellyers Road, tucked away on the North West Coast of Tasmania. However, as two born-and-bred Burnie boys, Hellyers Road is our local distillery and has always welcomed us with open arms. In particular, head distiller Mark Littler has always had time for us, showing us new drops, teasing what’s to come and using us as examples to demonstrate his ‘chewing’ technique! He’s been front and centre of Hellyers Road for over 15 years and together with his team has brought Tasmanian whisky to the world through new export channels and visitors to the cellar door. Sadly 2020 was Mark’s last year with Hellyers Road and we Wafflers wish him all the best with whisky-retirement and all the varied projects still to come.

Hear from the man himself in our podcast episode 26 ‘Hellyers Road in the Bloodstream’.

The Golden Dram for the best dram whisky in the world

We close the awards for 2020 with the Golden Dram AKA the best whisky of the year. It doesn’t have to be the rarest, the most exciting, the most expensive or the most indulgent. It’s just the one we keep coming back to and thinking: this is a bloody good drop. And this year the Golden Dram goes to…

Tasmanian Independent Bottlers The Vatted Malt [3]

Please Mister Duckett, sir, we want some more!

When you go back for seconds, or even thirds (and we’re talking bottles here, not drams), it’s probably a good indication that the spirit is hitting all the right spots. We’ve been crushing hard on TIB’s The Vatted Malt [3] since it launched in March 2020.

A vatting of sherry casks TIB ?? 0015 & TIB ??016 (Archie Rose) and TIB AD 80 (Adams), the spirit is super syrupy and oily, with the sweetness of the sherry and the maltiness of the Archie Rose is cut by a tiny amount of the Adams, which adds a subtle dirty peat umami note. And it is gooooood!

Some people rate the Vatted [4], but we are firmly in Camp [3]. And for a mere $150, how could you say no!? Australian malted magic at its best – track down a bottle now while you still can.

Honourable mentions:

2020 was the year of Chardonnay casks! From the Dark Valley Bride’s Veil to the Hillwood Chardonnay Cask 10 we realised the potential this buttery white wine can offer.

The Founders Reserve award AKA the dishonourable mention goes to Archie Rose for tricking us into panic buying their single malt by making us all lose the ballot. Everyone, that is, except Ted, who found the golden ticket.

Finally, have some pictures of the littlest Waffler helping with the photos!

#2020WaffleAwards

Whisky Waffle Podcast Episode 22

This episode contains:
– The Waffle, where we discuss/gossip about developments at Tasmania’s most famous distillery and speculate at the plans of their AWH overlords
– The Whisky, where we review the TIB vatted malt 3, Tim Duckett’s cheapest release yet! and
– Mystery Whisky, where Nick nearly figures out a duty free Bunnahabhain but fails at the final hurdle

Heartwood: striving for consistency

Posted by: Nick

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Heartwood, Australia’s most famous independent bottler, is striving for consistency. However, with new-make spirit arriving from different distilleries, a varied range of barrel types and never-to-be-repeated combinations of spirits, how on earth can it be considered consistent? Simple. Heartwood is not striving for consistency of flavour – it is striving for consistency of quality.

Heartwood is the creation of the Tasmanian whisky industry’s very own mad scientist: Tim Duckett. Tim has produced his remarkable whisky alongside his day job as an environmental consultant, deciding to dip his toe into the infant Tasmanian whisky scene after meeting Bill Lark in the late nineties. He purchased his first barrel of Lark spirit in 1999, but cannily didn’t rush it out the door before it was ready. The first bottling, Mt Wellington, was released in 2012 and things escalated rather quickly from there.

While there are other independent bottlers in Australia, including TIB, Tim’s other project, there is nothing on earth quite like Heartwood. Regularly bottled at unheard of ABVs, some of which nudge the mid 70% range, each release is limited to several hundred bottles, meaning it sells like hotcakes and has developed somewhat of a cult following.

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We visited Tim at Heartwood’s Blackmans Bay bond store where he gave us a peek behind the curtain at the type of flavour profile he values: that which pleases the palate – specifically his palate. Tim seeks to create whiskies which are thick, flavourful and with a finish as long as any whisky on the planet. How does he do this? By pairing good quality spirit with good quality barrels.

It sounds simple, but it is actually far from it; consistently creating high quality whisky is not just the passive process of sticking spirit into barrels and waiting. Tim employs all manner of tricks to get the most out of his whisky, as we found out during our visit. These include intricate blending, either whole casks or simply a few litres here or there, deciding when the oak influence is done and decanting it into vats before beating it with a paddle to drive off volatiles, as well as moving spirit into a warm office to “syrup up”.

When we visited Heartwood HQ the north-facing wall had a number of nearly-ready casks sitting up against it, which Tim explained was the “finishing wall”. He also confessed that he refuses to reuse casks 100 litres or larger unless they have been repurposed with Heartwood witchcraft, and even then, he will only use peated spirit in them… and this is just the tip of the iceberg of strategies Tim uses to create some of the most impressive and sought-after whisky Tasmania has to offer.

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Of course, it helps when there is no agenda to meet; no shareholders to appease. Despite its fame, Heartwood is small-scale, a project born out of passion. Therefore, the whisky is released only when it’s truly ready and never to meet a specific profile or timeframe. Age is somewhat irrelevant in Tasmania anyway, with our varied weather conditions and small barrels. Tim claims that the age of 20 litre casks should be measured in seasons, not years, as the Australian summer will age a whisky faster than autumn, winter and spring combined.

During our visit we were lucky to try a few impressive Heartwood and TIB drams which were nearing completion, including spirit distilled at Redlands, Adams and a ‘Renowned New South Wales Distillery’. Most spectacularly, however, we were able to sample the first Heartwood/Belgrove collaboration (which at the date of publication has just been released – and sold out within hours). The ‘Heartgrove’ was a clash of the titans: a coming together of earthy, almost smoky rye notes with a thick fruit layer from the muscat and sherry casks it had been matured in. It was a wild beast, but Tim had tamed it, creating an intriguing rye that went down almost too easily for a 55% drop. If pressed we would have probably claimed it as our favourite, though it certainly faced some stiff competition.

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Fascinatingly, none of the drams we tried tasted the same; they weren’t even in the same ballpark. The only thing that linked them was the fact that each one was delicious. As Tim told us, Heartwood has never claimed to produce a consistent flavour profile. Instead he focuses on producing consistently great whisky – and so far he’s achieved it every time.

Heartwood is not only unique among Tasmanian whisky producers: there is nothing on the entire planet quite like it. By refusing to release anything below his expected standard, Tim has ensured a whisky-legacy that will live on even when the last of the Heartwood barrels is empty.

Whisky Waffle Podcast Episode 11

We’re back with another semi-drunken rambling… I mean podcast!

This episode contains:
– The Waffle, where we discuss gear! That is, distillation gear!
– The whisky, where we look at a fancy blend which we don’t know how to pronounce; and
– Mystery Whisky where Ted guesses every location except for the one the whisky is actually from!

The 25 days of Aussie whisky – Day 12: Tasmanian Independent Bottlers TIB??005

Posted by: Ted

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… a glass of Tasmanian Independent Bottlers TIB??005 whisky. Tim Duckett is a man who likes his whisky strong. Chances are that if you have been paying even the slightest attention to the Tassie whisky scene, you will have heard of his bonkers Heartwood label, which releases independently-aged whisky at an average ABV% of somewhere in the mid-sixties (the strongest was 72.5%!). Apart from being totally amazing, the Heartwoods also all cost an arm and a leg (and a liver), so to make things more accessible Mr Duckett created Tasmanian Independent Bottlers as the baby brother to Heartwood. TIBs are still independently aged, but ‘only’ range in the high 40’s-low 50’s percentage wise, so the price is much friendlier.

The spirit for TIB??005 was sourced from an undisclosed ‘Renowned NSW Distillery’ (hence the ‘??’ in the batch code. Potential contenders include Archie Rose, Blackgate and Corowa) and then aged in ex-sherry casks in Hobart. The nose is tremendously citrusy, almost gin-like in nature, with citronella/lemon myrtle, pepper-berry and coriander seed as botanicals. It’s lighter on the mouth than you would expect considering the 49.1% strength and has an odd earthy, ashy quality which make me suspect that some sort of peating has occured. The TIB??005 is a super quirky whisky and one that will give the experienced dramist an interesting conundrum to puzzle over.

#whitepossumspirits

Tasmanian Independent Bottlers RD 001

Reviewed by: Nick

TIB Redlands 001

We’ve reached a point in the Tasmanian whisky industry where Tim Duckett can do whatever the hell he likes. Justifiably, too, having broken so many rules with his Heartwood series, resulting in the creation of whiskies so good and so bizarre you’d be forgiven for thinking they were taken straight out of a whisky nerd’s fantasies. However his latest project, under the innocuous sounding moniker Tasmanian Independent Bottlers (or TIB for short), seems to plant itself firmly in reality.

The first release was the product of only one distillery and only one barrel type and was originally intended to be released at 46%, before Tim caved and bumped it up to 48.4%. No poetic title is required – it is simply named after its cask number – and the label is classy and yet plain, lacking in the unique quirky artwork found on Heartwood bottles. Cosmetically this is the Beatles White album released directly after Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band.

However, Tim still holds the ace up his sleeve: a quality Tasmanian spirit and an intriguing barrel. The first TIB release is from midlands paddock-to-bottle-distiller Redlands, and it has been aged in a Muscat cask.

“That’s more like it Timmy baby!”

Sorry, I got a little carried away there. But you get me, right? Redlands spirit in Muscat barrels assembled by Tim Duckett? This bottle was a must have to me… and it doesn’t disappoint.

It has a big, broad nose full of toffee and oak. There are many tiny subtle aromas breaking through, including pepper, blackberry and spearmint leaves. The palate is quite sweet, loaded with sticky caramel, raspberry jam and dark chocolate. The finish is short and spicy – spicier than most Heartwoods ironically – with lingering raw sugar notes.

Inevitably anyone looking for the next Heartwood release in this bottle is going to go away disappointed – because that’s not what TIB is. This is a far subtler and gentler single malt which does not possess the x-factor of Tim’s other releases. This is not a bad thing, though – it’s a different thing, and a thing that will appeal to some people and not others. It is designed to be more accessible and perhaps easier drinking than Heartwood and every now and again this is exactly what I want. The Convict Resurrection, Vat Out of Hell and Calm Before the Storm are fantastic – but I’d also recommend getting to know their younger brother.

★★★★

Heartwood Convict Resurrection

Reviewed by: Nick

In Scotland, independent bottling of whisky is commonplace. Companies such as Gordon & MacPhail, Berry Brothers & Rudd, Flora & Fauna – basically anything with an ‘&’ in it – run successful businesses and produce some fine drams. In Tassie, well, it’s a little rarer. While Trappers Hut and Tasmanian Independent Bottlers are coming along nicely, there’s one name leading the way: Heartwood.

Heartwood was created by Tasmania’s own mad scientist of whisky, Tim Duckett, whom I imagine spends his days bent over a steaming cauldron of luminous Tasmanian whisky, stirring it with a wooden oar and chanting “double double toil and trouble”.

If you’ve ever come across a bottle of Heartwood, you’ll attest that it was unquestionably a memorable drop. There’s certainly a lot to remember, from the wonderful designs on the labels to the distinctive names: ‘Vat Out of Hell’, ‘Release the beast’ and ‘Any Port in a Storm’ to name a few. However, the most memorable aspect of any Heartwood bottling – by far – is the strength. The ABV of all releases ranges from percentages in the mid 60s to percentages in the mid 70s. That’s right – mid 70s!!!

The bottle I decided to purchase sits at an eye watering 72% and is called the ‘Convict Resurrection’, part of a series of convict-inspired bottlings referring to Tasmania’s original function as a penal colony. The whisky comes from Sullivans Cove barrel HH0239, which was an American oak ex-port cask. And boy, is it something.

Every aspect of this whisky is massive. The nose hits you like a boxing glove wielded by Sugar Ray Leonard, teeming with creamy fruit flavours like plum jam spread on rich brie. As is to be expected, the palate also packs a punch – taking a sip is like wrestling a crocodile – and yet there are so many flavours to be found: raisins, nutmeg, pinecones and blackberries – perhaps with the thorns still attached!

The finish is the most surprising element of the whole dram as it is incredibly smooth. It seems to evaporate at the back of your throat, leaving the most glorious lingering warmth with notes of jam and honey.

If you ever see a nip of Heartwood available anywhere – don’t think – just buy it. Sure, it’ll be pricey, but only 200 or so of each bottle is made and once they’re gone, they’re actually gone. Heartwood fans don’t buy the stuff to leave it sitting on a shelf.

Seriously, try it if you can. I promise it will be memorable – in the best possible way.

★★★★★

Tasmanian whisky: One state. Three ingredients. Unlimited flavour.

#TasWhiskyWeek