Limeburners Sherry Cask 

ABV:   43% ABV

Price:  £92

Distillery: Great Southern Distilling Company, on shores of Princess Royal Harbour in Albany on Western Australia coast – new 2004

One of a group of three distilleries stabled by Cameron Syme

-       River Margaret Distillery - Giniversity

-       Porongurup - home of Tiger Snake and Dugite Whiskey

Ethos – very simple, limited technology influence

Region:     Western Australia

Distilling started in 2004

Other expressions:

        American oak 43% - a light honeyed malt

        Cask strength Sherry Cask 61% (£150) - very fruity                 peaches/apricots aroma

        Peated 48% (£175) – robust smoky aromas

        Darkest Winter 63.5% (£239) – made with smoked malt

        Directors cut 61% (£240) – selected casks – very floral and complex

        Port Cask 61% (£200) – finished in Park casks

        Heavy Peat ~ £1,000

Made in small WA town of Albany using combination of pure Albany soft and hard water from limestone aquifers below the distillery (permeable rock which can contains groundwater), grain from WA, and some peat from the Valley of the Giants in Walpole. (The Giants, being the rare and majestic 400-year-old red tingle trees that are native to this area and grow nowhere else in the world.)

While billed as a sherry cask, this single malt is actually matured in second-fill bourbon barrels before being finished for an unspecified amount of time in Australian sherry casks. This means that while the sherry hints are there, they are not as powerful as some other sherry-cask single malts.

There is no age statement but Limeburners typically ages its casks for between three and nine years. Each bottle of the Sherry Cask is individually numbered highlighting the fact that this is a small batch production and a special addition to any whisky collection.

NOSE

Light and breezy with plenty of fruit. Plums and peaches are prominent alongside sultanas and raisins which offer a subtle festive spiciness.

PALATE

nutmeg, coconut, and cinnamon. Like an old-fashioned Christmas cake, all dried fruit and icing sugar.

FINISH

pepper and cinnamon. oilier than you might expect. The sweetness remains but the spiciness really comes out here