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 ‘BarrelHouse 28’ bottling – a NSW-based indy bottling company with a fantastic pedigree. BarrelHouse 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.
OUR TASTING NOTES
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.
FROM BARREL HOUSE 28
“We made the trip to Corowa to meet with the Dreaded Distiller (Beau Schilg) himself. Robbie asked him if he had anything that he thought was completely different from their core range and anything they had released in the past. Beau said that he had a young STR (Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred) Hungarian Oak red wine cask and he thought it was spectacular and really different. It turns out he was right. The whole BarrelHouse 28 team looked at each other after the first sip, smiled and nodded.”
You won’t have tried anything quite like this whisky before. It is batting well above its age statement and we could not be more proud of it.”
Nose: Dark brown sugar & cinnamon. Fresh cut oak, vanilla blackcurrant ice-cream and stewed fruit.
Taste: Dark cocoa, pear, custard apple and subtle spicy tannins.
Finish: Very long finish – Wonderful fruitful spirit with toasted spicy oak.
ABOUT BARREL HOUSE 28
When you walk into Barrelhouse 28 you will be greeted by the world’s finest barrels – floor to ceiling, our own copper pot stills and great spirits. In the footsteps of the Yarra Valley a region known for being incredibly discerning and only producing the highest quality produce. We carefully select the finest quality spirits locally and from around the world, then carefully age them with our own casks to make a unique, quality product that you can trust and will adore.
ABOUT COROWA DISTILLERY
By the banks of the Murray River, Corowa’s Flour Mill built our town from the ground up. Exporting grains across the country and around the world, she was a powerhouse. Until her doors shut in 1970 and the building was left to decay. It was the end of an era and our whole town felt it.
When two men with a love of footy and a passion for whisky meet, something beautiful happens: an idea to turn the town’s abandoned flour mill into a world-class whisky distillery. Ambitious? Yes. A little nuts? Maybe.
In every drop of Corowa’s finest, you’ll get a taste of true Australia. And that’s the way it should be. From the grains we source from local farmers, to the water we pinch from the Murray River, and our copper stills handmade right here, we’ve always supported local.
We’ve travelled across the world to master our craft and train under top distillery experts. From the Scottish highlands to the Tasmanian mountains, we’ve brought back their secrets and made it our own. Looking at this ancient craft through fresh eyes, we’ve captured its essence and created new processes for a refreshingly new take on whisky.
