Westernport Single Malt Whiskies – Batch 01

The Westernport small batch craft distillery is a passion project of two mates, David and Scott, who have poured everything they have into this distillery on the shores of Westernport Bay in Victoria. They make their whisky entirely themselves, with the entire brewing, distilling, ageing and even bottling done in-house. As a point of difference, they even took a course on coopering and focused on antique barrels for their rich, unique flavours.

I always have an eye on new and upcoming distilleries in Australia, so when David and Scott asked if they could send me some samples of their first release to review, I was more than happy to oblige. I always review whiskies as honestly as possible, regardless of whether they were purchased or provided contra, but I was genuinely very happy with what I tasted.

Sherry Cask – Batch 01

The first batch of Sherry Cask from Westernport is a single malt whisky, aged in a single 100 litre Australian sherry cask for around 5 years. It’s technically a non-age-statement as there is nothing depicted on the bottle, but the website discloses the ageing as “around 5 years”.

It was bottled at 50%, is non chill filtered and has had no colour added.

Appearance: Amber gold with thick, moderately slow running legs

Nose: The initially gives ripe cherries, caramel, and something that sits right between coffee and dark chocolate. There’s a faint wood spice note in there that comes across, not like rotten wood, but more like the wet oak of a barrel that has soaked up a lot of wine.

Palate: Raisins and caramel definitely hit first, with some dark chocolate in the middle of the mouth and a wonderfully oily mouthfeel. Mellows into burnt butter with a faint note of cinnamon and even traces of Apera. There is a wonderfully deep warming sensation in the chest without the palate being too ethanol forward.

Finish: Oily residue remains on palate, carrying the caramel, toffee and dark chocolate with delightful soft oak on the exhale.

Port Cask – Batch 01

The Port Cask has a similar story to the Sherry Cask – it’s a single malt whisky, aged in a single 100 litre Australian port cask for around 5 years. It’s also a non-age-statement but the website says it has been aged “around 5 years”.

It was bottled at 50%, is non chill filtered and has had no colour added.

Appearance: Amber with some faint reddish hue and thick, fast running legs.

Nose: There’s a balanced earthy note to the nose, with faint oak smoothly integrated with dark berries and an even sweeter note of caramelised plums.

Palate: The sweetness is quite fruit-forward, with raisins, sugar plums and other dark fruits. There is some honey and oak lingering in the background.

Finish: The fruit sweetness lingers but as that dissipates you get some vanilla and even a bit of chocolate.

Muscat Cask – Batch 01

The Muscat Cask has spent a few years in an ex-bourbon barrel and then moved into an antique 50 year old Australian muscat cask. It’s a non-age-statement, non-chill filtered with no colour added, bottled at 52%.

Appearance: Light amber with thick, moderately slow running legs

Nose: The first thing I picked up here is golden syrup, which is sometimes a background scent, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a whisky where it’s this much at the forefront of the nose. There’s also toffee and even a trace of nutmeg.

Palate: The golden syrup sweetness carried across on the palate, also bringing out toffee, coffee notes and delicate, creamy mouth feel that makes you second guess that 52% on the label.

Finish: The finish is nice and long, but mostly occurs at the back of the palate with sweet toffee notes, some orange marmalade and the background aroma of coffee beans.

As my first tasting of anything from Westernport, I was thoroughly impressed. These drink like a distillery that’s been releasing whisky for some time, after they’ve started getting into a groove. They’re complex, balanced, and aged well. They are not whiskies that are “good but could have spent a bit more time in the barrel.” They’ve bottled these at just the right time and I have to say, well done!

Westernport is a distillery to watch over the next few years.