Sullivans Cove American Oak ex-Bourbon Single Cask #TD0165

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 47.5% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

An American oak ex-bourbon barrel shapes this single-cask release from Sullivans Cove. Its long maturation brings together pronounced vanilla, creamy sweetness, stone fruit and oak spice. This non-smoky single malt comes from cask TD0165 and was released after 13 years as a distinct official bottling.

The whisky was distilled on 6 November 2006 and bottled on 22 January 2020. The cask yielded 203 bottles at 47.5% alcohol. It was neither chill-filtered nor given added colouring; its colour developed during cask maturation. The 0.7-litre bottle comes in gift packaging.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose combines the sweetness of crème brûlée with dates and apricots. Subtle dark wood notes sit in the background.
• Palate: The whisky feels full-bodied and creamy on the palate. Vanilla pudding accompanies plums, cherries and nectarines, while oak spice and caramel toffee complement the fruit flavours.
• Finish: In the medium-length, sweet finish, the fruit notes recall fruit salad with cream. Pronounced oak spice reappears intermittently.

Distillery/Bottler:

Founded in 1994, Sullivans Cove is based in Hobart, Tasmania. The distillery uses malted barley grown on the island and Tasmanian water for its single malts. Its current production methods include slow fermentation and double distillation. The team uses extended distillation times and reflux within the stills to encourage flavour development. Coiled-tube condensers, known as worm tubs, are also part of its equipment.

For maturation, Sullivans Cove uses casks with capacities of 200 to 300 litres and does not control the temperature in its warehouse. The whisky therefore remains exposed to Tasmania's natural climatic fluctuations. The team tastes each cask repeatedly over the years and decides when to bottle the whisky according to its development, rather than following a fixed schedule. Cask and bottle numbers on the side label allow individual bottlings to be traced.

Facts: