Kia Ora! From our SOLD OUT highlight whisky of 2023 we are off again to the land of the long white cloud for another of NZ’s finest whiskies – This time a SINGLE CASK expression – The Thomson Whisky Cask Ninety Four – bottled EXCLUSIVELY for you!
Now you may remember that back in 2023 we released the celebrated Thomson Manuka Smoke Whisky into Australia –to say we got some positive feedback is an understatement. In fact, we got so much excellent feedback that we thought we should try another of their expressions – this one exclusive to the Club!
This time around though, we’re going to put Thomsons to test with a classic combination of un-peated, bourbon cask matured whisky. The spirit for this expression was filled in a 200L American oak single ex-bourbon (Jim Beam) cask for 5 years (put down on September 2019) before being disgorged and cut to 46.5% for bottling. Mat Thomson (Head Distiller and Owner) came across the cask when he was doing his monthly barrel survey and flagged it right away. He phoned me and said “this one’s ready. It’s delicious. It’s an early cask of ours so it’s special to share this with you all”. What else could we do but say “Giddy Up Mat”!
Mat Thomson believes that this ‘tried and true’ formula is the best way to evaluate the skill of the distiller as there’s very little to hide behind. No smoke to smooth out roughness or patch over deficiencies in the distillers’ craft, no massive fruity influences from dripping fortified casks. Accordingly, Mat steered me towards a single ex-Jim Beam cask that he felt showcases his own talents perfectly!
Interestingly, Thomson’s began life in 2009 as an independent bottling company specializing in NZ spirit (principally from the now-closed Willowbank Distillery). However, Mat Thomson was doing a little experimenting in home distillation at the same time – and in 2014 the Thomson’s took the big step and built their distillery, beginning production of their own whisky and moving out of indy bottling.
In keeping with their ethos of using what is around them, the raw ingredient in all Thomson Whiskies is 100% New Zealand grown malted barley, from the Canterbury region of the South Island. The malted barley [in this case] has been kiln dried without smoke, capturing all the rich flavours of the terroir of Canterbury and the months of sunshine typical of the environment. Canterbury holds a number of world records for the highest yield of barley grown, showing it’s a prime location. It’s a cooler, drier place than the North Island and the ground water comes directly from the Southern Alps.
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: Classic ex-bourbon matured nose – lovely fruit notes, sweet fairy-floss, vanilla in spades, jasmine-y floral notes to boot!
Palate: Lovely viscous mouthfeel with just a little pepper, then waves of stewed granny smith apple and blind-baked short crust pastry ready to fill with sweet candied peel skirting around the edges
Finish: A medium finish with a see-saw of pepper-then-fruit and back again and a re-emergence of floral notes as it fades.
This is a lovely, decadent, sweet whisky that is eminently explorable over a dram or three. A sublime, well integrated spirit with more than enough layers of flavour to keep any whisky lover coming back to explore further.
Not just any brandy – but a dual gold-medal winning Australian brandy from a distillery that has perfected grape to glass.
FROM THOMSON WHISKY
Sharing cask Ninety Four with our Australian drinkers is a real pleasure and we can’t wait for you to try it. It’s a layered whisky, with some big warm flavours, delicious oak influences, and we particularly love the spice notes that linger.
We mash at Hallertau Brewery in Riverhead, onsite with our Distillery, and ferment the wort using distillers yeast for a fairly long 5 day period. We find we get a more robust whisky with this, including malty, biscuity flavours.
We double distil our single malt in our hand beaten copper pot stills and the high copper contact is important to us. The necks of our stills are shorter than some meaning an oily spirit with plenty of flavour carrying over into the late cut. You’ll notice that in the mouth feel and the way the whisky coats the pallet nicely.
Mat commented recently that he often asks to try a distilleries Unsmoked whisky from an ex-Bourbon barrel (regardless if it’s what they’re known for or not) as in these whiskies you can identify the raw skill of the distiller, with no smoke aspect to hide behind. It’s like ordering the steak at a new restaurant – you’ll get the quality of the ingredients, the skill of the cook and the magic of that particular kitchen right there on your plate – it sums up the character of a distillery and it’ll show you everything you need to know.
Of this cask Mat Thomson says ‘it’s a well-structured whisky with good mouthfeel. I’m getting elegant layers of stewed fruit, vanilla, and a little spice hit that floats in the finish. Very moreish.’
We can’t wait to hear what you think of Cask Ninety Four.
ABOUT THOMSON WHISKY
2009…Born out of creativity and a love of single malt whisky, we started Thomson Whisky as a side project in our spare room in Auckland. Launching a single malt whisky brand as a hobby, at the time, was a little left field. Most people thought we were nuts. We were running off the smell of a damp whisky cork, but we quietly knew we were onto something. We just kept tinkering, working and building, until we had to give up the day jobs to focus wholeheartedly on this all-consuming new whisky project.
Thomson Whisky began as an independent bottler, carefully selecting old stock New Zealand whisky from the Willowbank Distillery, Dunedin (closed in the late 90s). The aim was to bring out some beautiful old liquid, bottle whiskies that New Zealanders could be proud of, and to share our whisky journey with anyone who liked the good spirit. We figured if it didn’t sell, we’d drink it ourselves. We didn’t get that lucky.
For years prior, Mathew Thomson had been home distilling and experimenting with smoking barley on the family BBQ. Since 2005, experiments with Manuka wood smoke had been a focus, and constant tweaks to recipes ensued. A new world of flavour was opening up.
Creativity is still a dominant principle in our distillery. We are creating a new New Zealand whisky, not a copy of whiskies seen elsewhere in the world. Our whiskies are a living response to our unique natural environment, our resources, local know-how and honesty about being a young distillery. We’re not replicating but helping to define what New Zealand whisky is, brand new.
We launched our own production distillery and Thomson HQ in 2014, with a 900-litre hand beaten copper pot still that was commissioned out of Portugal. Setting up onsite at the Hallertau Brewery on the outskirts of Auckland meant we had an expert brewing team next door, barrels from local New Zealand wineries on tap, access to high quality malted barley, good water, and a start. We could begin our journey of laying down casks.
Today we create premium craft whisky and gin, using traditional methods for contemporary ends. With two hand-beaten copper pot stills and two gin stills in operation, our distillery hums with all natural ingredients, elbow grease and the centuries old process of spirits distillation. It’s about a passion for the spirit, people and climate, and a total respect for the process.
Thomson Whiskies are made using just three ingredients: water, yeast and malted barley. They’re aged in a range of casks, including ex-bourbon barrels, New Zealand wine casks and some miniatures. Our smoke comes from native Manuka wood and South Island Peat. Our gins use fresh botanicals and we’re heavy handed on the juniper, resulting in weighty, flavourful spirit.
