Welcome to your exclusive Christmas Whisky! The second cask ever filled at Chief’s Son Distillery (and currently the oldest at the distillery) and one of their sought-after limited-edition Family Casks – The Chief’s Son Cameron 16!
Fully matured for 6.5 years in a French Oak, first fill Sherry cask all the way from Tonnellerie Sirugue cooperage in France and bottled at 49.5% ABV, the Cameron 16 is a lightly peated, fruity bombshell of a whisky that is absolutely perfect for sharing around a table of hot pickings, cold cuts or even fresh seafood (it’s absolutely brilliant with oysters).
How ever your family rolls on Christmas, this rich, fruity (almost rummy) whisky with just a touch of smoke (only contains 10% peat smoked malt in the mash bill) will most definitely fit right in. At a smidge under 50% ABV, will have no problem flambéing the plumb pud – if you can bare to burn it!
At it’s heart, the modern ‘Australian Christmas’ is a time for celebrating with family and in that spirit, we couldn’t think of a better ‘Family Whisky’ to offer our members to celebrate over the Christmas table this year. Chief’s Son has made it a tradition to have their three kids each fill a cask every year. Last year we were honoured to release the very first of these ‘Family Reserve Casks’ – the ‘The Chief Son Aiden 16’ and this year we are equally honoured to be able to offer the second of these treasured casks – ‘The Cameron 16’ exclusively to our members for Christmas.
This is the oldest cask at Chief’s Son – and only the second family cask ever filled at the distillery (The Aiden 16 we offered last year was the first – Aiden is minutes older than his twin brother, Cameron so he got to fill the first cask!). But now, The Cameron 16 is another year older.
There’s no denying it, Christmas is nearly upon us and with the uncertainties of local deliveries these days (not to mention the inevitable December rush), we wanted to make sure our members had a ‘Christmas Whisky’ or two that would definitely reach them in time for the big day. To that end we’re offering our ‘Christmas Edition’ whisky in November. We’ll still be offering a December whisky (and Members Extra) but adjusting our schedule is near on impossible, and so our December whiskies may not arrive in time for the 25th for many of our members.
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: Lot’s of sweet ripe fruit salad up front. Pineapple, Banana Passionfruit Pawpaw and green apple. There’s also afternoon Jasmin flowers and honey in the mix.
Palate: Instantly mouth coating and delightfully big and round! The briefest pepper flash makes way to all the juicy fruit mince, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves you could ask for. There are sweet burnt caramel notes in there too.
Finish: Fruit, spices, caramel and honey dance around a distant campfire. Rich and rolling and super satisfying.
This is truly a big, fruity whisky that matches perfectly to the tastes and smells we commonly associate with the festive season. In fact my first comment to the Chiefs Son team on trying my sample a few months ago was it shared some fruity ester notes often found in aged pure single rums both in the nose and on the palate. The small amount of peated malt incorporated into the mash bill ensure that all similarities to rum stop there – adding a depth and roundness of flavour that truly satisfies – without making it all about the smoke.
FROM CHIEF’S SON
Each year our three children fill their own named casks. This tradition has created our Family Reserve range and is only offered to true enthusiasts. As our 3rd born (by one minute to his twin Aiden), Cameron filled this cask in 2016 at the age of four, thus ‘The Cameron 2016’. We are incredibly proud to be offering The Single Malt Whisky Club this unique and special bottling and in doing so recognise the SMWC as some of the sharpest whisky palates in Australia.
Based on our 900 Standard, this bottling is 6½ years old from a 225L 1st fill, French oak, ex-sherry cask. At 49.58%ABV it offers a rich expression drenched in maple syrup, smooth old rum, rich toffee and jam, with a glaze of orange zest and deep soft peat.
As a twin barrel to ‘The Aiden 2016’, it was originally coopered by the Tonnellerie Sirugue cooperage in France, who utilise natural air drying of oak and open oak fire bending of staves. Used for both Red Wine and then Sherry/Apera, the used barrel was re-coopered in South Australia using traditional coopering techniques, including slow toasting to caramelise the remaining sugars and then creating a heavy char layer.
APPEARANCE: Mahogany, brilliant clarity, 8/10 viscosity.
NOSE: Maple syrup and rum, sweet vanilla peaches, rich honey and cardamom
TASTE: Old Rum, fig jam with soft spices, rich toffee and orange zest
FINISH: A medium finish of fresh tobacco, fruit tingle lollies and rich mild peat.
ABOUT CHIEF’S SON
The Chief’s Son distillery is a family owned and run small batch distillery set on the picturesque Mornington Peninsula. Run by the McIntosh family, the distillery name refers to the Gaelic meaning of the family name McIntosh – ‘Son of the Chief’ (“Mhic an Tòisich”). The ‘900 Standard’ name comes from the 900 years since the establishment of the ‘Mcintosh’ name.
“For the past 500 years of our family’s long history, whisky has been at the epicentre of love and laughter, life and death, tears and triumphs. Our ancestors transformed exactly the same ingredients, utilised the same ancient craft and derived the same level of enjoyment as we do today. And going forward… it reaches so far forward past our future, connecting through the generations.”
Chief’s Son is handcrafted single malt whisky – made by utilising the very best of artisan ingredients, small batch processes, hand selected barrels and a totally manual distillation system.
