Welcome to 2024! We hope you’ve had a great silly season, are rested and ready to get down to the serious business…. of WHISKY!
Now, the whisky business doesn’t get much more serious than the Remnant Whisky Co…An EXCLUSIVE follow up to one of our biggest selling whiskies of 2022 – A mix of 10 year old Port and Sherry Casks and we’re excited to be releasing another bottling from these absolute angels of Australian whisky – The Remnant Whisky Co. Black Spot ‘SMWC #02’!
This is the second release we’ve partnered with Remnant Whisky Co to bring to the Club. The first Remnant Black Spot we featured back in 2022 was an INSTANT SELLOUT and we have no doubt this one will follow suit.
It’s a simply sensational 10+ year old Tasmanian whisky in a 700ml bottle at a better price than a 500ml Black Spot normally sells at!
This month’s Remnant Whisky Co. Black Spot SMWC02 is blended from a selection of port and sherry casks all over 10 years old. Their abv’s at disgorging ranged from 66.2 to 42.1%abv but this whisky gem is bottled at 48.1%abv.
Every release from Remnant is one less in the warehouse. There will never be more of this unique whisky with a unique story made.
Now the Remnant Whisky Co. is an Indy bottling with a distinction – they only bottle whisky from ONE distillery. A Tasmanian distillery. A distillery with an – how do you say it? – ‘unfortunate history’. But first, a little background…
Many are likely familiar with the Tasmanian distillery and barrel investment program that took a regrettable turn in 2017, leaving both small and large investors with empty – or worse, non-existent casks of whisky. It’s a poignant narrative that unfolded when Australian Whisky Holdings (now operating as Lark Distilling) was in the midst of acquiring the aforementioned distillery. The unravelling began when they discovered a disconcerting disparity between the recorded inventory and the actual contents of the bond-store. If you’re curious for a concise overview, a detailed summary can be found here.
One of the most disheartening aspects of this saga, aside from the financial losses suffered by investors (which I acknowledge with gravity, as some of our members were directly affected), is the fact that this distillery appeared to be on an upward international trajectory. Globally praised and adorned with awards, it was hailed as ‘liquid gold’ and destined for greatness – or so it seemed.
In short, Australian Whisky Holdings ended up acquiring the physical distillery and its real estate, but none of the maturing stock (the actual, existing whisky). While AWH did agree to oversee the existing stock on behalf of investors, they did not own it, and unfortunately, there were no funds to compensate the investors. The result was a stash of fantastic whisky with no clear direction.
In 2020, Peter Bignell and his son Dane, from Belgrove Distillery, spearheaded a consortium with a mission to ‘rescue’ these barrels from their seemingly perpetual state of ‘whisky purgatory.’ Acquiring around 300 casks, they have since been skilfully blending and bottling from these exceptional barrels under the fitting brand name ‘The Remnant Whisky Co.’ Without the tireless efforts of Peter’s consortium, the fate of this whisky would have remained uncertain.
The Black Spot releases from The Remnant Whisky Co. represent the cream of the crop among these casks. Each Remnant Black Spot batch, now passing a decade in age, originated during the ‘golden years’ of the distillery’s production. The ‘Black Spot’ name pays a cheeky homage to the fact that the distillery’s name had been [not so] discreetly painted over on the casks when Remnant assumed ownership.
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: A big succulent fruity nose with masses of juicy stone fruit, sweet-toasted marshmallow and freshly opened packet of Jaffa’s there too.
Palate: Big, rich and luxurious on the palate with a delicious viscousness and just the merest pepper. There’s fruit that backs up the nose, sure – but also a very peasant nuttiness on the palate.
Finish: Warm, soft, cuddly and long. The fruitiness mellows and there’s some mild ginger, coffee, dark chocolate and even some custard all tumbling around inside my smile as this lovely finish finally fades..
What can I say – it’s simply a very bloody nice, big, round and juicy, waaay too easy to drink Tassie whisky that I can almost guarantee you’re gonna love! There’s just… well… there’s just nothing here not to love. I don’t want to say buy two… but buy two! – you’ll not regret it!
FROM REMNANT WHISKY CO.
From its inception The Remnant Whisky Company has been committed to fairness and honesty in its dealings with its customers and partners. Initially that revolved around the acquisition of the nearly 300 barrels of single malt we salvaged from the now infamous investment scheme that had failed.
More lately it has been the cornerstone of our efforts to manage and market that whisky and, in future, will remain our commitment as we begin to produce our own.
The response from our loyal partners and followers gives us the assurance that we are involved in an enterprise that will sustain and thrive if we stick to our core values. And we intend to.
Those values are based on the premise that our whisky and our brand will not be defined by price.
Our goals are all about quality and value. We have a finite amount of very fine Tasmanian single malt whisky, most of which is 10 years old. This resource has allowed us to create a number of high quality releases for the enjoyment of the (mainly Australian) whisky loving public. Some of these have become the stuff of legend. Our first large commercial release “The Scoundrel” set the bar very high and is still talked about by many as if reflecting on a lost loved one. Smaller releases, such as Black Spot “X”, Black Spot “DTIX” and the COVID releases for The Whisky List have similarly become almost deified. Our current bourbon cask commercial release, “Fly by Night” has the sort of welded on following you would associate with a football franchise.
All of these releases had a few things in common. Firstly, they were a great drinking experience. We insist on producing a full flavoured, multi layered whisky that is a pleasure for the nose and pallet. Alcohol volume is of little to no importance as long as it causes no noticeable heat or imbalance. As it turns out most of our releases have been in the 44-46% range but not by any design. When we put them together we continue to taste and assess them until the right ABV reveals itself. This is a product of us imagining a flavour profile we want to achieve and initially building a core base from any number of casks. Sometimes one, other times, as in the case of “Fly by Night”, twenty. Then the experts/magicians find the one or two special casks that finish the job.
From day one we decided to set fair and reasonable pricing for these releases. Our standard commercial releases have an RRP of $139 for a 500ml bottle. Our Black Spot releases are $189. Bearing in mind we pay full excise on all our current products we are satisfied we are offering great value for money for this quality Tasmanian single malt. Others are charging a lot more but that is their business. Our model is to keep our expenses to a minimum. Where we can, we do the work ourselves. We blend it, bottle it, number it, cap/wax it and ship it ourselves. Sometimes we even deliver it too. We do our own marketing, such as it is.
Apart from making it a pleasure to work in the enterprise we see these things as essential to building a sustainable brand and business that will stand the test of time. Where Tasmanian single malt is held in high regard worldwide it is also, by and large, considered a very expensive option. We think it is great that we can claim to be up there with the best tasting whisky in the world. However we are also convinced that to stay relevant and sustainable we have to develop a reputation as the best value, high quality, whisky money can buy.
BLACK SPOT SMWC02 Tasting Notes:
Aromas of orange zest and fresh peaches meld with vanilla bean and toasted coconut. The palate is rich and textural with flavours of pecan pie drizzle in salted caramel leading to a finish of crème brulée and forest berries.
ABOUT REMNANT WHISKY CO.
A little over ten years ago {censored} started a scheme to help finance growth of his fledgling whisky company {censored}. It is possible in those early days that {censored} intentions were good but it wasn’t long before {censored}, given a big endorsement by Whisky Bible author Jim Murray, was in financial trouble and {censored} was selling empty barrels and stealing from other barrels to bottle and sell.
Fast forward a little and those investors left with the remnant of the failure were stuck between a rock and a hard place due to {censored} refusal to fulfil {censored} contracts in place with investors.
Enter Peter Bignell of Belgrove Rye Whisky fame and his hastily formed consortium. Peter, a gentleman if ever there was one, felt the pain of the {censored} investors and put together a rescue deal to purchase the barrels and set out to blend and bottle the whisky that almost never saw the light of day.
