James Austin, a bonafide Scot, managed to get his hands on our Bakery Hill Classic, Double Wood and Peated Malts through the generosity of a friend. Below, we enclose his very complementary thoughts on our Australian take on the very Scottish tradition of whisky! "Perhaps Australian whisky has the potential to become the new yardstick for scotch worldwide"...indeed!
Hi David,
I was kindly given a miniature set of your 46% malts to sample from my friend and on the basis that I am a Scot and I love whisky. Not the worst qualifications I suppose, but hardly enough to entitle me to provide a knowledgeable critique, so please consider my review as nothing more than an average whisky-lover's opinion.
I started with the Classic Malt, on my friends advice. Never having tasted Australian whisky before, despite its light and delicate appearance I was expecting quite a rough introduction. But to my surprise the Classic Malt was a real treat. There was no harshness at all; it slipped over easily with syrupy edges, but at the centre was an almost effervescent core that I have never encountered in a whisky before. Great stuff.
Next on the instruction list was the Double Wood. Having just finished the Classic Malt I was hoping for another whisky of at least comparable quality, and I can tell you I was not disappointed. This is an awesome malt. If the intention here was to emulate a true Scotch classic then in all respects the Double Wood is a resounding success. In a blind tasting I would defy anyone to pick this whisky out as anything but a genuine Scotch single malt. The flavour was beautiful and deep, it seemed a pity to swallow it, but when I did it fairly caressed the back of the throat. What can I say? One of the best whiskies I have had the pleasure to experience. Congratulations.
Finally I moved on, somewhat reluctantly, to the Peated Malt. I say reluctantly, not only because I had finished the Double Wood (ah what a scotch), but also because peated whiskies are not really to my liking. It is a personal thing of course, but I always think the acrid taste of peat is like the smell of someone's cold discarded pipe long after it has been smoked. So you will not be too surprised when I say that the Peated Malt was my least favourite of the three whiskies. Nothing to do with the quality, only because I dislike peaty whiskies. Having said all that however, it was still a very drinkable scotch (I drank it all of course ), and as peat whiskies go it would stand its own against any from Scotland. Interestingly, the peat has a distinctly different flavour to any Scottish or Irish peat that I have ever tried, and in fact it was more pleasant. I had been spoiled by the Double Wood however; the Peated Malt was never going to live up to that.
So in summary I would say that the Bakery Hill distillery is on to a real winner with the 3 single malts that I sampled. They are easily a match for most Scottish malts and are better than most. Who knows, perhaps Australian whisky has the potential to become the new yardstick for scotch worldwide? And as a Scot that's not easy to contemplate. Please continue the excellent work, and good luck!
Best Regards,
JA
Well, there you have it, folks. A Scottish single malt admirer in Scotland showing some definite fondness for our unique Australian product! What more resounding success could you hope for?
