Continuing the “world whisky” streak, we head down under, diving into something more local, this time closer to home. The Great Southern Distilling Company is situated in Western Australia with a presence in both Albany and Margaret River. They make a variety of spirits in their repertoire – Gin (Giniversity range), Vodka and Whisky; with the expression under this month’s review being their Tiger Snake Whiskey!

The Tiger Snake is the distilleries’ first jab at something newfangled (see what I did here…lol), and more so Australia’s first step into this territory. If you didn’t get it yet, the “e” in whiskey will be the giveaway, indicating the influences of the West on this otherwise aussie tuple.

The Great Southern Distillery makes their whiskey using a combination of grains – corn, rye, triticale, and malted barley, all of which are sourced locally. The distillery uses the term ‘Sour Mash’ to describe this genre since Bourbons by law are specific to the United States.

The distillery ages their distillate/new make spirit in a combination of ex bourbon barrels. Once matured, they are poured into a Solera tun and left to marry with older, more mature spirits from previous maturations. A portion of the contents are extracted and bottled, while the rest is left in for the next batch to be added. This provides for consistent blending, with a  marriage of both old and new spirits, minimising variations across batches.

ABV : 43%

Eye : Amontillado sherry | No artificial Colouring, Non Chill Filtered

Nose : Vanilla with a very woody yet sweet corn like nuance coming through to the nose. Surely some honey with the presence of char, mild hints of grapefruit and honeydew. Lush caramel still hits the senses, in the midst of which you find hints of earth.

Taste : Lots of caramel sweetness, almost custard like comes gushing on the palate. Charred cantaloupe is to be interrupted with a mild bitterness and some salt, a hue of citrus zest on the sides. You also sense an almost herbal, haylike, medicinal flavour coming through towards the end along with bits of white pepper and cinnamon sweetness.

Finish : Medium | Bitter and sweet, with a sprinkle of caramel and a lovely wood-like spice.

The Tiger Snake, in a sense, doesn’t keep to its name, and in a good way; this one’s crisp and light, albeit with a few amateurish traits but very palatable. Floral and fruity, showing off a rather sweet bouquet of flavours, combined with good viscosity, the spirit provides both tropical and sweet notes that do not disappoint.

Now the whisky seems lacking the traditional strong, darker bourbon-like hues, nor are there those strong cinnamon like spicy attributes. This delta evolves from how the distillery introduces its own spin – the use of ex-bourbon vs. virgin oak barrels and the solera system in finally defining their whisky. All in all, a great outcome, as I find the flavours being very much its own with the fusion of corn and rye (bourbon) infused with aussie pizzazz that gives birth to a vibrant, boisterous and youthful whiskey.

At AUD $140, this one is pricey, because of which it might not get much nods from the locals – blame the ludacris liqour taxes on aussie liqour. But I still recommend this one for its uniqueness, its style, and for those who are willing to stray away from the usual barley concoction.

Slainte!

PS : Triticale is a hybrid grain, a cross between rye and wheat. You learn something new every day!