Kinglake Distillery STR Cask Matured Australian Cask Strength Single Malt – TWC 10th Anniversary Limited Edition (500ml)
Volume: 500ml ABV: 60.2% Age: No Age Statement Country: Australia
The Celebration
This year The Whisky Company celebrates 10 years servicing our customers. We started out with one sole member of the team sourcing and writing about whisky over ten years ago. Today we are a proud Australian family owned and operated Independent company who employ a small local team. We have managed to lift our whisky offerings through the years from 1 bottle on our very first website site formerly known as Nippy Sweetie Whiskies to offering over 4500 products on our current website The Whisky Company. It’s always been about you, our customer and being dedicated to being sustainable and fair in pricing as well as allocations.
The Distillery
Kinglake Distillery is situated about 56kms north of the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It boasts a wonderful climate for producing single malt. The whisky here is created from scratch by owners Sam Lowe & Chantal Daniels. Grinding their own malt, taking local water from a mountain stream rising on the distillery property. It’s natural, pure and totally unfiltered. 80% of the barley is farmed and malted in New South Wales and each grower is known to the team at the distillery personally. Bourbon, port and sherry barrels are all individually re-coopered to their requirements. They distill using their 2500 litre copper pot-still which was handmade for the distillery by Tasmania’s premier still-maker Knapp Lewer, which was engineered to produce a heavy, flavourful spirit.
The Experience
We decided to keep things local with our limited release bottling and source a cask from The Kinglake Distillery. We visited this Victorian regional distillery in November 2022 and when we were there the team sampled some whisky straight from the cask. It was an incredible experience for all. There was one cask we could not stop talking about, so we decided to purchase it, mature it for a little longer and then bottle it at natural cask strength with no added colour and un-chillfiltered.
The Cask
STR casks are a type of cask that have become popular in whisky making in recent years. The name “STR” stands for “shaved, toasted, and re-charred”. This cask was made by taking a previously used cask, in this case a bourbon cask, and shaving the inside to expose fresh wood. The cask is then toasted to release flavours and aromas from the wood, before being re-charred to create a layer of charcoal on the inside of the cask.
The process of using STR casks in whisky making allows for a quicker and more intense maturation process compared to traditional casks. The fresh wood exposure from the shaving combined with the toasting and re-charring allows for the whisky to absorb more of the wood’s flavours and aromas in a shorter period of time. This can result in a more complex and intense whisky with flavours such as vanilla, toffee, and spices.
While STR casks are a relatively new addition to the whisky industry, they have been well received by both producers and consumers alike. Some distilleries have even started to use STR casks exclusively for certain expressions, resulting in unique and distinct flavour profiles.
The Label
The label was designed by our team and each member had input. We used the toasted and charred wood as the label image to represent the barrel used. The gold leaf text represents growth and resilience. A carbon neutral product to represent our constant focus on the environment and sustainability. We’ve also added a QR code with a music playlist (all Australian artists) to represent how we like to drink whisky. Scan the QR, turn up the volume and enjoy!
The Whisky
Bottled at 60.2% alcohol by volume, this was natural cask strength. It has not been chill filtered and there has been no added colouring. It’s straight from the cask.
Nose: For the more experienced whisky drinkers amongst us that enjoy a cask strength whisky then dive straight in. You’ll find the nose delivers a memorable experience. The aromas taking you back to school where you might have been served some school fete toffee in little cup cake liners with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top. Chocolate toffee fingers, the ones from the Quality Street boxes at Christmas. Freshly shaved coconut possibly a Bounty Bar aroma. Lemon sherbet lollies. Vanilla Panna Cotta. For the British ex-pats Kola Cubes. There’s one aroma though that whilst at times can be polarising, it works so well here – aniseed. It’s soft and balanced and ties everything together in the most endearing way.
If cask strength whisky is not your normal ‘cup of tea’, adding some water might benefit, the aromas are more subtle but the overall experience is more buttery, creamy and less intense. You can pick the aromas easier as the beast is released in your glass. The oils separating opening the whisky up more and delivering a very approachable whisky.
Palate: Now the taste at cask strength is all about salted caramel, very freshly made salted caramel, possibly caramel with a smear of good quality salted butter. Soft sponge cake initially, salted caramel then a hit of warm alcohol.
By adding water it changes, it’s soft and expresses more of a creamy rice pudding flavour. Baking spices and possibly soft nutmeg spice. It is definitely more earthy with a drop of water added.
Finish: At cask strength the final part of this wonderful experience is warm but not cask strength warm, it’s a pleasant 60.2% at the back of the palate. It’s medium to buttery and creamy and it has caramel sweetness with the salty part sticking around the from the palate.
The water makes this finish softer, medium to long with no warmth but lots of salty creamy notes and a floral hint there too.
The Cocktail
Check out the recipe and method here for the Bankhall Werther’s Old Fashioned, click here.
Or if you are a fan of a Whisky Sour then this might be right up your alley, Salted Caramel Whisky Sour, click here.
The Launch
We love the look of our label and we think it gives a sort of vinyl record vibe to this bottle of whisky. We’ve also added a playlist in the form of a QR code on the back label. So we’ve decided to release this bottle for Record Store Day 2023. If you did not know, Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday every April and every Black Friday in November to “celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store”. The day brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores around the world. Here’s is our contribution to this wonderful day, April 22nd 2023!
