Tower Whiskey No. B1

Welcome to a ‘whiskey’ from the first distillery in the otherwise ‘wine-famous’ Hunter Valley!

Tower Distilling has unveiled 4 single malt whiskies in their initial release of which the No. B1 is one. The intention is to offer customers 4 distinct flavour profiles to choose from. Not surprisingly, three of these are wine-matured whiskies (malbec, shiraz and a fortified cask) – but we’ve gone with the ‘odd man out’ – their ex-Bourbon American Oak matured No. B1 for our ‘Members Extra’ this month. Why? Well that’s easy.. I’m having a bit of a ‘thing’ for bourbon casks at the moment. Mea Culpa!

The Tower Whiskey No. B1 was initially aged in a 200L Jim Beam ‘Small Batch Collection’ Bourbon barrel before being finished in a first use Demptos White Oak, tight grain, toasted, and charred 225L Barrique. Demptos (in Missouri) is a producer of ultra-premium American oak casks. It has been bottled at 42%.

What makes the Tower #1 Bourbon Cask whiskey particularly interesting to me is that this really is an homage to American oak. In a [whiskey] world where huge, dark ‘sherry bombs’ – aged in big, spicy European oak, thick syrupy fortified casks – are ‘all the rage’, it’s nice to see an offering that really aims to encapsulate the ‘American Oak Experience’ in a bottle. Matured in a first fill ex-Jim Beam cask and then finished in a virgin American oak cask – this is all about Quercus Alba… the American Oak.

Not surprisingly I guess Tower Whiskey is the brainchild of an established wine and beer producer of 30 years. After all, when you own a brewery and winery, it seems a pretty logical step to add a still ‘into the mix’ – after all, you’ve already taken care of the fermenting AND maturating phases of whiskey production.

Oh – and no, it’s not a typo. Tower spell theirs with an ’e’. The owner likes it spelled that way, and frankly, when you set up your own distillery – you get to choose!

Michael Hope is the hero of this story – a pharmacist who some 30 years ago decided to get his family ‘out of the city’ and so bought some land and started a winery in the Hunter Valley. The success of their Hope Estate wines led to them adding a brewery 2014. In 2020 they completed the ‘holy trilogy’, I guess, and added a distillery to the mix. Originally operating as ‘Hope Distillery’ they laid down spirit to age in 200 and 300L barrels.

The luxury of having a winery and brewery already operating (and thus earning income) has allowed Tower to age in ‘full size’ barrels – and not have to rush to get aged spirit in bottles. They have bottled when ready, and not before. And now – 4 years later – their first releases of Single Malt Whiskey have launched – along with a new name – Tower Whiskey.

Nose: Lots of candy notes in this nose. Fairy floss, burnt caramel, candied peel and banana lollies. There’s also a sweet floral note that floats around – and on further investigation, nice new-belt leather notes too.

Palate: Very, very easy to drink with almost zero spice or pepper on the palate – just a gingery suggestion of heat. I’ve never used the term ‘candy-forward’ before – but that really sums this up for me! As the nose suggests this is sweet and completely non-threatening. Lots of candied peel, and dried pineapple alongside some musk stick, banana chips and a vanilla and lemon-drop rear-end.

Finish: It fades away just as sweet and tasty as it starts. There’s a ‘juicy fruit’ gum flavour that keeps poking it’s head out though the finish, more musk stick and some fruit mince as it finally fades.

Please don’t take this the wrong way – but this is like a tasteful caricature of an American Oak aged whisky. By that I mean that all the notes and flavours that the American oak can add to a spirit are all here in spades. The lolly notes, the florals, vanilla and citrus – all here in this almost textbook investigation of Quercus Alba.

I’m really happy with our first Bourbon cask Whiskey. Not only have we picked up some aged Beam Small Batch characters, we also have the nice fresh, vanilla sweetness of the brand new Missouri White American oak. This shows all of the unique characters of single cask whiskey.

A soft, luscious, and smooth Whiskey with candied honey characters and a silky finish.

– Michael Hope

In 2020 Tower commissioned and started distilling gin and vodka in a micro-batch copper pot still. In early 2021 they installed a larger ,Australian made, custom-built, copper whiskey still. Tower’s whiskey journey then began with their brewery and distillery team brewing their first batch of whiskey wash.

Tower’s Single Malt Whiskey wash is made from 100% malted barley, coming in at 7% alcohol. The fresh, clean Whiskey wash is then distilled straight away, with the first distillation, called the stripping run, getting to 28% alcohol. A spirit run is then done for the second distillation to make it 68% distiller strength, which creates the new make spirit.

A mixture of new and old, French and American oak Hogshead, Barrique and Puncheon casks have been used to age the new make spirit.

Tower Estate is the full ‘whiskey experience’ incorporating a 5-star 14 room lodge into the Estate. Owned and operated by the Hope family, Tower Whiskey Distillery is the latest addition to the dining wine, craft beer and high-end accommodation offerings of the Hunter Valley.