El Rey del Mundo Regional Release Asia Pacific ‘Aniversario’ 2012 – Sullivan’s Cove French Oak Old & Rare Whisky HH0600.
Long time since I have done a Kenfessions and my apologies for that. Largely as the last four – five months, I have smoked about one cigar a month, thanks to circumstances. Shingles laid me flat out for several months, unable to do anything, and that led to hospital. On the mend, infinitely better than I was. And exile should be coming to a close, so I will be able to relocate and set up the new home shortly, fingers crossed.
So at the moment, still at Hastings Point and Sunday arvo, I thought what a good time to have a crack at a Kenfessions. I have lamb shanks cooking for dinner and got some work done this morning, so to my favourite spot in the world for a cigar – outside, not far from the Ocean. The plan, as always, a good cigar and then something worthwhile to match with a top book or two.
I was going with an old Talisman which has been floating around – I think it was the only cigar the police recovered from the scumbag thieves who robbed me about 18 months ago (the silver lining was that it motivated me to sell the house, which I had been meaning to do, and relocate but with Covid, the timing left me exiled out of Queensland for months – one hopes that the pair of them, the cops did catch them, each got to share a small cell with a very large angry man called Guido who made them his pets).
Anyway, I have been reading ‘Velvet is the Night’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia which is a cracking thriller about political unrest in Mexico in the early 70s and the government crackdown. Next off the rank was to be ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ by George Saunders, which has rave reviews (and some less than rave reviews) but won the Man Booker in 2017. It just so happened that I had an El Rey del Mundo Regional Release Asia Pacific which I misread as a 2017, so thought it would make a nice match for the book. Turns out it was the 2012 ‘Aniversario’. Whoops.
And to drink, the remains of a leftover sample of a stunning whisky, the Sullivans Cove French Oak Old & Rare Whisky HH0600 (no pic, as not the usual bottle).
I can understand why some liked the book but seriously, a giant collection of quotes and a weird slightly supernatural account of the death of Lincoln’s child and whether he goes up or down after he fell off the perch with all manner of trapped souls contributing their thoughts. Personally, I soon gave up. Bored me senseless, though I did try. One of those pretentious, look how original and clever I am books, and the judges fell for it. When one thinks of some of the winners of this award over the years, this did not deserve to sit with them. This alongside Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’? Please.
So, it has been put in the understandable mistakes box and I returned to finish the ‘Velvet…’. A cracker.
The cigar?
Well, before I had a chance, a magnificent hawk or falcon – hard to tell from my angle – began hovering over me, about twenty feet above. Glorious bird. It disappeared a few minutes later and returned with its mate and they hovered for ages, in lockstep, riding the drafts. Just magnificent. I was wondering if they were around because this morning, we had around 60 black cockatoos along the shore. Not uncommon to have 5-6 but I have never seen anything like this number. Really fabulous stuff. Then the hawks saw a fat gull and all three disappeared at high speed. I expect that some hawk chicks enjoyed fat gull for dinner. The hawks returned later.
The cigar. Lovely. Even cold, before lighting, there was caramel and creamy notes. Beautifully made, it smoked well throughout. That caramel and creamy coffee was there from the start and continued through to the finish. A Robusto Extra – 54 x 150 which is slightly different I gather and called a Geniales – it is a whopping ring gauge for me. But a lovely subtle, under mid-weight strength cigar throughout. Some toast, but beautiful white chocolate notes soon emerged and stayed with us. Really enjoyed it. 94 for me.
The whisky. These guys make brilliant whiskies. They release them, at seriously expensive prices, on their website but they sell out almost immediately, every time. This one was teak and caramel with more of that white chocolate and orange rind. So it matched the cigar as well as one could ever hope. Just wow!
I just checked online, as I know that this one sold out. A local retailer did have it for a mere $2,000 a bottle. Did not realise that before I knocked off the remainder! Only 356 bottles were ever released.
To conclude, I have dug out parts of a piece I did a while back for Quill and Pad on Sullivans Cove. This is much more about their brandies, which is a rare sideline, but it will give you an idea.
Imagine a whisky distillery with a track record like this:
1. The head distiller has been inducted into the global Whisky Hall of Fame.
2. Winning the “World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt” prize at the World Whiskies Awards in 2019 (for the French Oak Single Cask Whisky, for the record).
3. This followed winning the same award in 2018 (for the American Oak Single Cask Whisky).
4. That meant becoming the only distillery in history to win that award twice.
5. In 2014, the French Oak Single Cask Whisky was also named “World’s Best Single Malt” at the World Whiskies Awards, making Sullivans Cove the only distillery from its home country to ever win that award.
6. Over recent years, Sullivans Cove’s various malts have won more medals, awards, trophies, and golds than Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt at their peaks.
7. It is not just the critics who are enamoured: a bottle of the American Oak Single Cask Single Malt sold for a national record at Christie’s, going for £6,600. Proceeds went to charity.
8. Throw in a heap of accolades for its whiskies from Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, including a Liquid Gold ranking and a Best Malt award.
9. And finally, a number of international awards for the brandies – not a bad sideline.
Accomplishments like that must surely fall to one of the truly famous Scottish distilleries? One with a long and distinguished history with a series of much-loved whiskeys enjoyed by malt lovers the world over. A distillery with endless barrels of ancient nectar, a household name.
Not quite.
The distillery in question is only celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this year (this was a couple of years ago, if I may intervene), and not even it would dispute that the early years were somewhat uninspiring. How it has turned things around! And quickly.
Sullivans Cove: what is it?
Sullivans Cove in Tasmania could hardly be further from Scotland, but in double-quick time it has established a record that most distilleries around the globe would envy.
The original Sullivans Cove (if there was ever a possessive apostrophe, it would seem lost in the mists of time) was established back in 1804 as a town on the Derwent River. Today, that town is known as Hobart, the capital of the Island State.
For a convict settlement at that time, it is no surprise that alcohol played a serious role in community life. By 1824, there were 16 licensed distilleries operating throughout the region, and undoubtedly many more that may have been a little less legal – the typical backyard stills.
It all came to a grinding halt when a devoted campaigner against alcohol, John Franklin, became governor. He immediately put a stop to all distillation, a ban that lasted until 1990.
That ban was finally overturned thanks to the efforts of another pioneer of the Tasmanian whisky industry, Bill Lark of the Lark Distillery (which opened its doors in 1992). Sullivans Cove followed in 1994.
As mentioned, the early days of Sullivans Cove may have been less than exemplary but under new ownership in 1999 things turned around.
This would all be a little academic if these whiskies never crossed Bass Strait to the mainland or, more importantly, ventured further afield to various export markets. At the moment, there are around a dozen and a half markets, mostly European, and the distillery also ships to private customers.
Whisky is the main focus, but Sullivans Cove also produces exceptional brandies as well as gins and vodka.
Most of the whiskies tend to be very small production, sometimes a single cask or perhaps two casks. Prices vary throughout the range but expect to pay between AUD$200 and $450 depending on the product.
There are a series of different oaks used and these, in turn, have had varied past lives. An example is the current release, aged twelve years as a Single Cask, made in French oak previously used for local white wines. Being a single cask release, there are only 327 bottles in total for the world.
Sullivans Cove has recently released its oldest product, an 18-year-old whisky. It is not an easy task to find one, but these spirits are definitely worth chasing.
The brandy project started around a decade ago when Sullivans Cove distilled around 40 casks of Huon Valley wine (chardonnay and pinot noir as well as some sauvignon blanc and gewürztraminer) in French oak casks. While the quality of its whiskies must be raising eyebrows in traditional regions, these brandies should certainly be giving some famous old names nightmares.
The bad news regarding the brandies – a Single Cask (135 bottles at AUD$280) and a Double Cask (1,287 bottles) – is that they were barrelled around a decade ago, but the distillery has not made brandy since.
Once these are gone, it will be a very long time before you see any others. In other words, if you see a bottle, grab it. The XO Single Cask Tasmanian Brandy might just be my favourite release of all from Sullivans Cove.
The processes at Sullivans Cove include avoiding chill filtration, believing that by doing this, a method that leaves all the “oils and fats” in the whisky, the texture and depth benefit. Rather, they give the whiskies an extended period of settling at ambient temperature, so that “the heaviest particulate can fall out of solution and be removed with a simple paper filter.”
This process is called flocking. And Sullivans Cove goes a step further with some whiskies, avoiding this entirely so the whisky sees no filtration and is completely natural.
Sullivans Cove: tasting notes
The Single Cask Brandy XO can’t escape a small note of oakiness, but it does not intrude. Key to this spirit is the gloriously enticing texture, amazing length, and great complexity. There are notes of cinnamon, nectarines, glacé orange, and vanilla with a hint of honey.
The Double Cask Brandy XO is a little lighter, more approachable, and less cerebral than the Single Cask Brandy XO, but is equally a joy to drink.
Finally, one of the recent whiskies, the Double Cask Single Malt Whisky (AUD$220), which won the Best Australian Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards 2018 and gold at the World Whisky Awards, is double distilled. The barley is local, and the oak is a mix of French and American. It is wonderfully complex with great length. Has some sweet stone fruit and malted notes, honeycomb, caramel toffee, and lemon butter on toast.
If the concept of Australian whisky sounds like an oxymoron or a punchline, track down some of the Sullivans Cove releases. They will open up an entirely new world to you.
KBG
