Barrelhouse 28 Hungarian Red Wine Cask

So, you LOVE a PEATED whisky? So, roll out the red carpet for the Barrelhouse 28 Hungarian Red Wine Cask, exclusive to The Single Malt Whisky Club. A cask strength, peated whisky from the legendary Corowa Distillery, aged by indy bottler ‘Barrelhouse 28’ in a Hungarian Oak Red Wine Cask and bottled at an earth shattering 63.5%.

This is a big, peaty single cask whisky! If you like to knock around the ‘peated side of the tracks’ – this will delight even the most ardent Islay-o-phile. Those with a penchant for burnt rubber and iodine will feel right at home with this one.

This is an absolutely mammoth peated whisky, chosen by us to satisfy our most ardent peat fans (and we know we have quite a few in our ranks). PEAT PEOPLE – this one’s for YOU!

At 63.5% it’s certainly no shrinking violet – but it’s certainly brilliantly behaved for a ‘young’ whisky. This is one of the most well-rounded, well-behaved and utterly delicious whiskies I think I’ve ever tasted. In fact, it’s almost hard to believe such a rich, complex and (yes, I’ll say it) smooth whisky, with very little overall heat is so comparatively young. If Robbie had told me, it was 8 years old, I’d have no trouble believing it. Frankly, how good it is is staggering!

This is an absolutely prodigious dram and I guarantee that it will surprise, astonish and fascinate you to the very last drop!

Corowa Distillery have just stacked a couple of rather large notches on their belt, firstly wining the Australian Whisky of the Year with one of their distillery bottlings. But perhaps an even bigger honour has been bestowed on them – they have been selected to showcase their whisky as part of the Queens Jubilee Celebrations. One of only two distilleries invited to do so. Yes, the Corowa boys will be presenting their very own whisky to none other than Queen Elizabeth herself in September. Cap that feather, boys – nicely done.

This is a ‘Barrel House 28’ bottling – a NSW-based indy bottling company with a fantastic pedigree. Barrel House 28 is owned by Robbie Tucknott who is also the proprietor of one of Australia’s biggest barrel importers, brokerage and cooperage to boot! So, it’s fair to say he’s able to pick and choose the very best casks coming into the country! Having the onsite cooperage also has its obvious advantages when it comes to marrying new make with wood.

As for the spirit itself, does it come anymore NSW than this? Made from NSW barley, distilled at Corowa Distillery (by Beau – the Dreaded Distiller) and then aged in a STR (Saved, Toasted and Re-charred) Hungarian Oak Red Wine Cask.

Distilled at the Corowa Distillery – the building itself a heritage listed 100-year-old flour mill. The town of Corowa is regarded as the ‘birthplace’ of Australian Federation (google Corowa Conference if you’re unaware!). It even sits on the banks of the legendary Murray River. A couple of footy loving country boys rolled their sleeves up and saved the old flour mill (they paid the town the princely sum of $1 and a promise to put the building to good use) and converted it into a distillery. The rest, as they say, is history.

June brings ‘Episode Two’ of our ‘Waratah Wonders’ Series. A three-month exploration of NSW craft distilling, and we have teamed up with some of NSW’s finest craft distillers, Independent Bottlers and coopers. In July, we’ll culminate the series with the release of a very special project – exclusive to the Single Malt Whisky Club.

As we said in our last months newsletter – this series is all about showcasing many aspects of the NSW craft whisky industry as a whole. And this month, our ‘Malt of the Month’ showcases not only the legendary Corowa Distillery, but also the independent bottling, cooperage and barrel brokerage that is Robbie Tucknott’s baby.

Nose: A big hospital bandaid at first – very iodiney and medicinal. There’s also a musty-ness that sits on top of a very sweet and luxuriously rich stewed fruit vibe. But the peat is the star of the nose on this one.

Palate: Such a thick and syrupy mouthfeel – it really coats the palate well. Some pepper in the initial taste (but at 63.5%ABV a little heat is to be expected) – this cuts right down with a mere drop of water though. There’s all the stewed fruit, chocolate and even honey you could wish for swirling around there, but the oak is not lost in all of that either.

Finish: Finishes as strong as it starts. Lovely warm mouthfeel and those peaty num-nums keep rolling around and around, lubricated till the end with more syrupy stewed fruit, espresso coffee and chocolate notes.