Co-created by one of Scotland’s most awarded Master Distillers, Jim McEwan, together with Cape Byron Distillery Co-founder and distiller Eddie Brook are two new Australian takes on a classic Scottish single malt. Many readers will already know of Jim McEwan who has more than fifty years of experience in the whisky business, having worked at Bowmore for 38 years, before overseeing the rebirth of Bruichladdich and most recently helping to get new Islay distillery, Ardnahoe, off the ground. Two editions are on offer: A Chardonnay barrelled limited edition, and this, the Cape Byron 'Original', aged in Scotland's traditional vessel of choice: American oak x-Bourbon casks. Says Brook, “They go together like a match made in heaven. [The whisky is] not overly dominated by the oak, it’s letting the spirit sing, and we’re seeing this marriage.” What partly accounts for the distinctive style is that the pair have resisted the temptation to use smaller barrels to ‘accelerate’ the ageing process. It's the opposite approach of most Australian distillers. “...We’ve got this climate that gives us faster maturation. Now that’s great, but it can also get too much, you can get too much tannin and then over-oaking in your whisky, ” Brook explains. "To avoid this, we only mature in full format barrels, between 200 to 300 litres in size". Specially designed warehousing facilities further offset Byron’s temperature extremes. According to McEwan, another factor is the distillery's proximity to the coast. “Walk down the barrel room... you’re getting that marine character and influence coming through" he says. "That moisture is falling on the oak staves, and slowly but surely, there’ll be a residue of salt and eventually as the whisky moves in and out, as the temperature increases, the alcohol will expand and it will touch the salt, and pull it back, and that brings a unique marine freshness to the spirit – quite different from anything else...” No surprise that McEwan reckons fans of Bruichladdich might taste some similarities in the Cape Byron spirit. “They’re not dissimilar. There’s no peat, [Eddie’s] using American oak, I used a lot of American oak Bourbon casks as well. I’ve used wine casks – and you’ve got all the wine casks there. There’s a similarity there between what I was doing in Islay and what Eddie’s doing here." As for the taste? Can't say there are many like this - either here or abroad - but you can appreciate why McEwen draws comparisons with Bruichladdich. Cape Byron's Original is a creamy, near voluptuous malt that defies its age. Peaches and cream come through with sweet barley and shortbread on the nose. The co-mingling of dried mango and juicy malt with the Bourbon vanilla aspects is nicely done, and there's a spicy edge adding vibrancy. At the finish, more peaches and cream, dried mango and a little grilled pineapple, pepper and coastal freshness develop. It's a whisky less about overt complexity, all about generous mouthfeel and precocious flavour. No doubt that equation will change over time. Right now, the creative forces behind the project have guaranteed one of the more compelling Aussie releases in recent years. Matured for three years in 200 litre ex-Buffalo Trace Bourbon casks. 47% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered. Batch 001 tasted. Notes from the producers... The colour of a Byron Bay sunset. The palate offers soft vanilla, creme brulee and biscotti characters, layered over distinct notes of pear, coconut and buttery macadamia.

The Dalmore story began in 1839 with Alexander Matheson who lived in the Highlands of Northern Scotland. Matheson found the rich peat and pure water sources of the Highlands to be the makings of a perfect whisky. He built a distillery in the area and produced small batches until 1886, when the Mackenzie family acquired his operation. When a member of the Mackenzie family risked his own life to save Scotland’s ruler, King Alexander III, from a charging stag, the grateful king offered a token of his appreciation by bequeathing the stag to the Mackenzie family as a symbol of valor and courage. And more than 130 years later, the stag head still appears on every bottle of The Dalmore. Today, Dalmore distillery has ten stone warehouses and eight pot-stills, several which date back to the late 1800s. Much of the distillery burned down during World War I while occupied by the U.S. Navy, but production resumed in 1922. The production process is meticulous and includes double distillations in copper pot-stills and aging in white oak and sherry wood casks.

With a wholemeal and honey quality to the nose and the odd smoky tangent. A sweet, fruity core and a long round finish. Dalwhinnie has a little bit of everything, peat, honey and backbone. A classic malt for everyone.

Rounded and smoky - like burning Applewood - with creamy toffee, aniseed, treacle and dates. A curious suggestion of juicy fruits, such as peach and banana. With a drop of water, reminders of Ardbeg's classic fragrance lime, pine resin, fennel, saddle soap and tar. A gentle waxiness, like fragrant candle wax, and hints of smoked herbs. An Oa gives a final subtle reminder of the sea with briny notes and seaweed but always accompanied with creaminess. A smooth, creamy texture leads into a huge syrupy sweetness, flavours of milk chocolate, treacle toffee, aniseed, orange and smoky tea leaves. Gentle, sweet spices (nutmeg & cinnamon), some cigar smoke, and a very unusual flavour of grilled artichokes. Wood is always present in the spirit, gently nutty and reminiscent of a carpenter's workshop. A long, sweet finish, with floral overtones, mint toffee and some gentle malty biscuit notes.

"Very high quality & teasingly complex peated malt." 95 points - Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2022 If your single malt selections are dictated by budget constraints, this will be a no brainer (so long as you don't mind a bit of peat). Conceived in 2006, Bruichladdich revived the Port Charlotte label from the Lochindaal distillery, operational between 1829 to 1929, two miles south in the town of Port Charlotte. Historical accounts from legendary British documentarian Alfred Barnard knew Lochindaal to produce only heavily peated malts, so the PC style is a replica of sorts. It started as 'PC5' with yearly follow-ups culminating in this general release 10 year old. Delivering a knock-out mix of lanolin, smouldering pine, butter menthol and vanilla cream that even the peat shy will fall for, it's superbly integrated, zesty, complex - and incredibly, at 40ppm the peat is not overbearing; Perfumed aromatics and a 50% ABV attack include Fisherman’s Friend lozenge, farmyard, dried grass and butterscotch as well as lanolin, oatmeal biscuit and chimney soot, followed by a finish that's delicately salty with dusty cocoa and hints of black tea. Both affordable and unanimously praised, it's one of those rare malts you can't fail to be impressed by. Matured predominantly in first-fill American oak casks, along with second-fill American and second-fill French wine casks, it comes bottled non chill filtered. 50% Alc./Vol. [2016 edition tasted].

Nestled in a quiet corner of Speyside, The Glenrothes Distillery has been crafting some of the world’s finest whisky since 1879.