Snowy Mountains Whisky? 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 Snowy Mountain Spirits Tawny!
Now Mark Newton is a man who enjoys doing things a little… differently. Not only does he independently age and bottle whisky in Australia’s highest location, he brings the new-make all the way from Tassie to do it.
The Snowy Mountains Spirits Tawny was born in Tassie, at the Old Kempton Distillery in fact! 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!
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: Lots of sweet spices up front for me – cloves, allspice and cinnamon over dried fruit and tinned apricot nectar.
Palate: Lovely viscous mouthfeel (almost liqueur –like), and initial burst of pepper but all the big stewed fruit comes right through like a wave.
Finish: Warm, chewy, lush and lingering. Coffee and dark chocolate, sweet spiced fruit mince and just a perfect cheek pinching citrus-like astringency.
This is a small, and let’s face it, high priced package, but it won’t disappoint once you taste it. The ‘Tassie distillation - Snowy Mountain maturation’ makes it hard to put a flag on, but I do know it’s a fantastic example of a Tawny matured whisky. Nicely warming, big and round and sweet – but with a lovely dry back edge that makes you pour just one more dram. Ok, and maybe one more after that…