Snowy Mountains Directors Reserve Rum Cask

Want a BIG whisky matured at the highest point in Australia? Well wrap your hands around the 60%ABV, Tasmanian and NSW delight that is the Snowy Mountains Directors Reserve Rum Cask. Make way for a super small-batch, cask strength, independent bottling of one of Tasmania’s finest distilleries aged and bottled in the highest altitude of any whisky in Australia.

The spirit originates from award winning Tassie distillery Old Kempton, that has been whisked away from it’s state of birth and taken all the way to NSW for maturation at Australian highest bond-store. On it’s arrival at Marks’ mountain top warehouse, it was decanted into a barrel with quite a history. 5 years holding Buffalo Trace Bourbon before being used for 4 years maturing rum at Queensland’s Beenleigh Rum Distillery.

The barrel was only settled at Mark’s for a matter of months though, before it was nearly taken by the 2019 bushfires that ravaged the area. This wonderful whisky has been bottled with no added colour and no chill filtering at a cask strength of 60%ABV.

For those members who don’t know, Old Kempton is a well-awarded small batch distillery located just north of Hobart. So how highly regarded is Old Kempton – well they took out ‘Best Australian Small Batch Single Malt’ at the World Whisky Awards in 2022, and have just won a silver this year!

This is a super small-batch, independent bottling of one of Tasmania’s finest distilleries, by a bloody nice fella who’s gonna do it his way… or be damned! I first tasted this rum cask expression at Epic in the Valley in March this year and was so bloody impressed I knew I had to order some on the spot for the SMWC – because once it’s gone, it’s all gone.

We introduced Mark Newton and his Snowy Mountains Spirits indy bottlings at the start of the year and those that bought a bottle know how good this extremely small batch whisky is. Our Members Extra is one of their oldest whiskies to date – at 9 years old.

Mark buys his spirit from a couple of select Tassie distilleries and matches them to casks he selects himself. He then matures them in the Snowy Mountains in Australia’s highest bond-store! These are extremely small batch whiskies and we are lucky to get some as Snowy Mountains Spirits is fast gaining a cult status around the country. Those who know, know!

So why does Mark go to all this trouble? Well one of the benefits of being in the Snowy Mountains is the large variations in temperature and conditions throughout the year. The hot dry summers and the cold snowy winters and storms have all added to complexity of the whisky’s profile. After all that hard work over the summer months the whisky has a well-deserved slumber over the winter months, except when it is woken by the winter storms or when it’s time for decanting!!

Nose: Right up front I get an interesting mix of savoury spices – almost curry powder, but then tropical notes of pineapple, and lychee become prominent

Palate: Very crisp and clean mouthfeel with some pepper – but very well behaved for the 60%abv. Crunchy granny smith toffee apple and definitely some funky banana notes there a well.

Finish: Gentle, but long and warming like a big hug. Alternating sweet and cheek-twinging astringent bursts.

Overall a very easy-to-dram 60% abv whisky. A few drops of water to unlock it saw no harsh burn at all on the palate. Pays it’s respects to it’s rum cask finish with the funky tropical notes that drift around the periphery, but never dominate.

We love what we do at Snowy Mountains Spirits.

We get our new make spirit from two award winning Tasmanian distilleries after having conversations with the distillers about what we are wanting to produce.

We source our barrels from around the world and bring the spirit and the barrels together at 1200 meters in the pristine Snowy Mountains of NSW.

We mature each individual barrel until it’s ready. This involves time and patience as well as a good nose and palate, particularly towards the end of the maturation. Of course, the size of the barrel will have a big influence on how long it takes the whisky to mature as well as how many summers they have gone through. The hot and dry Australian Alpine summers make the whisky work hard and cold snowy winters allow it to rest until the next snow storm!

The angels are thirsty in the Snowy Mountains and what we lose in “angels’ share” we gain in flavour and ABV.

This stunning whisky will be released at 60% ABV. The spirit is from an award winning Tasmanian distillery and the American oak cask is ex Buffalo Trace, used to store bourbon for 5 years and then ex Beenleigh Rum for 4 years. Adding to the layered complexity of this release.

The tasting profile of our whiskies is also enhanced because we don’t cold chill filter or flock* our whiskies, ensuring the natural flavours and textures remain in each bottle. 100% natural whisky from barrel to bottle!

Our whisky is all small batch, single malt, single barrels with high ABVs.

Although this very special Rum Cask expression has a high ABV even by cask standards, it is surprisingly soft and subtle on the nose. On the palate it has overtones of nana’s fruit cake and honeycomb with just a touch of wood. This whisky has a lovely syrupy sweetness with violet crumble flavours evident. The rum notes are still reminiscent of the barrel and is a nice nod to its providence. It finishes with a rounded oily viscous mouth feel and a medium length. It took our tasting panel to a tropical beach with sand, sea and coconut palms!