Cask strength whisky release yielding 171 bottles
Details
500ml: 63.7%alc
Region: Mendooran, NSW
Cask type: 100L Sherry Cask
Cask No: BG054
Bottler: Black Gate Distillery
Distilled: July 2016
Bottled: October 2018
Individually numbered.
Following off the huge popularity of the Black Gate Peated Sherry Cask #BG055 that virtually sold out at the distillery overnight comes another peated sherry-cask whisky from the creative minds of Genise and Brian Hollingworth, owners/distillers at the Black Gate Distillery. You can’t have too much of a good thing right! 😊 This single malt whisky comes in at a slightly higher ABV. (0.1% higher to be precise)
Again, there’s no doubting the collector appeal here as it’s certain to be a sell-out, but we’d like to imagine this one been savoured for what’s inside the bottle.
Lavish and sweet on the nose with subtle wafts of peat that really comes to bear on the palate in between hints of sticky dates and toffee. The finish is long and creamy with a serious smokey tale. It’s big and bold, a take-no-prisoners whisky, absolutely everything we love about Black Gate wrapped up in a sherry bow.
John Atkins (verified owner) –
It might be 63.7 ABV but this is a smokey hearth – not a bonfire. There is something altogether more homely about it.
You know what I love about Australian Whisky? – It’s Australian….you have access to the best whisky AND the makers….Blackgate is a great example. Interested in the origin and style of the peat, I emailed Blackgate from their website and before I’d even taken another sip, I get a reply from Brian and Genise Hollingworth. The progenitors of this peaty prize. Australian Whiskey is a conversation, not a product. It’s a home cooked meal. And like a good meal, made with TLC, it has no meaning until it is enjoyed by someone else. You are not a customer, but an integral and important piece of the process that brings meaning and purpose to the whole. A meal not savoured is just a plate of ingredients. A whiskey not supped with care and curiosity is just Bairds peated malt imported from Scotland (Oh by the way, that was my answer to my question)
I am a fire-eater. My mouth dancing with little mini super novas, creating a new universe out of the black nothingness of the cold winter night sky. Warmed to the core. Burnt toffee with some sweetness there. Toasted marshmallows….with some fresh mint in the background. Those Candy canes from Christmas.
This is not a strong smokey beast. I was expecting to take my medicine…but it starts with the medicinal qualities of a Laphroaig and then comes back to the fire within – more Kilchoman? But why compare? This is not a “generic” scotch, but a yardstick.
If you love your peated whiskey and you desire to be part of something bigger and more important than yourself – Home is where the hearth is, and Blackgate is stoking the fire.
David K –
Fantastic review John – Keep them coming – I agree with you, no need for comparisons, this is Black Gate – Pure, sunburnt and honest – Brian and Genise dance to their own beat. Enoug said! 😉 ….. Dave – The Old Barrelhouse