Tasmanian Whisky

Ingredients

How it is made (a licensed distillery process, not a home one)

• malted barley, much of it grown in Tasmania and malted at Cascade or on site
• soft, peat-filtered Tasmanian water from highland catchments
• distiller’s yeast, often a mix of distilling and brewing strains for a fruitier wash
• 100to 200 litre ex-fortified casks, most importantly ex-apera (Australian sherry) and ex-tawny port from Rutherglen and the Barossa
• some producers use locally cut peat from the Central Highlands for a smoked expression

To taste it

• 30to 45 ml whisky
• 1Glencairn or copita glass
• a few drops of room-temperature still water

A simple serve

• 45 mlTasmanian single malt
• 1large clear ice cube
• 1strip of orange peel

Directions

1. The barley is malted, milled and mashed with hot water at around 64°C (145°F) in a mash tun, converting starch to sugar and drawing off a sweet wort.
2. The wort is fermented with distiller’s yeast for 60 to 96 hours, longer than most Scottish practice, which develops the estery, tropical-fruit character that many Tasmanian distilleries are known for.
3. The wash, at around 8 per cent, is double distilled in small copper pot stills, many of them locally made by Knapp Lewer in Tasmania, with the spirit cut narrow to keep only the sweet, fruity heart.
4. The new make fills small ex-fortified casks. The 100 litre size is the Tasmanian signature: a small cask has far more surface area per litre, so the spirit takes on colour and oak influence much faster than in a standard 200 litre barrel.
5. Maturation runs in warehouses subject to Tasmania’s cool, damp, highly variable maritime climate, where the daily temperature swing drives the spirit in and out of the wood.
6. Australian law requires a minimum of two years in oak for the spirit to be called whisky, and most serious Tasmanian bottlings sit for five to twelve years, though a small cask can be ready far earlier than in Scotland.
7. The whisky is usually bottled at cask strength or around 46 to 48 per cent, most often unchillfiltered and without added colour, which is close to a house standard across the island.
8. To drink it, pour 30 to 45 ml into a tulip-shaped glass, nose it before adding anything, then add two or three drops of water, which opens the dried fruit, honey and marzipan notes that ex-apera casks give. Sip it neat at room temperature.

Technique

• This is a licensed distillery product. There is no honest home version, and distilling spirits at home is illegal in Australia without a licence, as it is in most countries.
• The modern industry dates from 1992, when Bill Lark successfully petitioned to have a 153-year-old Tasmanian prohibition on small stills repealed; before that, distilling had been banned in the state since 1839.
• Sullivans Cove French Oak was named World’s Best Single Malt at the 2014 World Whiskies Awards, which is the moment Tasmanian whisky moved from curiosity to serious category.
• Small casks are a double-edged tool. They mature the spirit quickly but can over-oak it, so the best distilleries watch the casks closely rather than working to a fixed age statement.

Substitutions

• Outside Australia, the closest style is a sherry-cask Speyside or a rich Australian mainland malt from Starward, which uses ex-red-wine barrels.
• If the cask strength is too fierce, dilute in the glass to around 46 per cent with still water rather than buying a lower-strength bottling.
• For a non-alcoholic alternative at the same table, a strongly brewed roasted barley tea with a strip of orange peel gives a similar aromatic direction.

Variations

• Peated Tasmanian expressions, using locally cut highland peat, are smokier and more medicinal than the standard house style.
• Ex-tawny port cask bottlings are darker and sweeter than the ex-apera ones.
• A Tasmanian whisky Old Fashioned, with 45 ml whisky, 5 ml leatherwood honey syrup and two dashes of bitters, is the standard local cocktail use.

History

Distilling was illegal in Tasmania until Bill Lark had the 1839 ban lifted in 1992, founding the modern industry.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tasmanian Whisky?

Tasmanian Whisky is a wine & spirit from Australia: single malt matured in small ex-fortified casks; rich and honeyed. Distilling was illegal in Tasmania until Bill Lark had the 1839 ban lifted in 1992, founding the modern industry.

How long does Tasmanian Whisky take to make?

Tasmanian Whisky takes 2 min to pour of preparation and typically 5 to 12 years in cask of cooking. The recipe makes 1 dram, 30 to 45 ml (production notes describe the distillery process). It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Tasmanian Whisky?

Yes, within limits. Outside Australia, the closest style is a sherry-cask Speyside or a rich Australian mainland malt from Starward, which uses ex-red-wine barrels. If the cask strength is too fierce, dilute in the glass to around 46 per cent with still water rather than buying a lower-strength bottling. For a non-alcoholic alternative at the same table, a strongly brewed roasted barley tea with a strip of orange peel gives a similar aromatic direction.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tasmanian Whisky?

Small casks are a double-edged tool. They mature the spirit quickly but can over-oak it, so the best distilleries watch the casks closely rather than working to a fixed age statement.