Sullivan’s Cove Single Cask Brandy

Sullivan’s Cove Single Cask Brandy

Brandy: Australian Brandy

From: Tasmania

House: Sullivan’s Cove 

Style: Single distillery, single vintage 

Colour: Pale amber

ABV: 50.5%

N: Chocolate, toffee, orange, salt caramel, butterscotch, cashews, hints of smoke. 

M: Light body, warm, tingly, loosens slightly. 

T: Salty sweet. Toffee, salt caramel, chocolate, orange peel, butterscotch, hints of tobacco leaf. 

F: Long. Molasses, butterscotch, salt caramel, chocolate, hints of orange peel. 

Comments:

Barrel TDB009. The master distiller at Sullivan’s Cove has a background in wine, and this brandy is one of the things she makes that harks back to her roots. It’s very good, fragrant and fruity, with a savoury edge. It’s not like the whisky at all, which is, oddly, sweeter than the brandy. It’s is lip smacking though. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Whalebone Cask Aged Brandy

 Whalebone Cask Aged Brandy

Brandy: Australian Brandy

From: Western Australia 

Style: Single distillery

Colour: Amber

ABV: 40%

N: peppermint, red grapes, black pepper, honeydew melons, hints of peaches. 

M: Medium body, tingly, static, cool. 

T: Sweet. Red grapes, black pepper, black tea, peaches, hints of anise. 

F: Medium. Black tea, coffee, black pepper, red grapes, anise. 

Comments:

This brandy is from a whisky distillery, or at least, I think its core product is distilled grain spirit aged in wood. Nevertheless it’s quite tasty, and different from the usual European brandies that I tend to have. I’m not sure there is a style to Australian brandies in the same way that Australian whiskies are developing a style, but it’s distinctive all the same. 

No age statement of course, but that’s hardly unusual. Lots of peppery spicy notes, which is the distinctive bit. It’s quite sweet, which leads me to believe it’s quite young. Exciting hints of anise, something fairly unusual in my experience. 

Verdict:

I like this. 

Lot 1990 Pot Distilled Single Batch Brandy

Lot 1990 Pot Distilled Single Batch Brandy

Brandy: Australian Brandy
From: South Australia
House: Penfolds
Style: Single distillery, single vintage
Colour: Rose
ABV: 42%

N: Raisins, strawberries, marmalade, magic marker, coconut water, leather, hints of toasted coconut.

M: Medium body, cool, turns syrupy, slightly numbing.

T: Bitter sweet. Raisins, marmalade, palm sugar, fresh baked bread, black tea, hints of leather.

F: Short. Coconut water, palm sugar, raisins, fresh baked bread.

Comments:

Vat B271, date in wood 18/04/1990.

This brandy is roughly 28 years old, and has been aged in three types of fortified wine casks. It's got plenty of the usual brandy flavours - raisins and marmalade are particularly prominent - but it's got a cereally edge to it, alongside coconut water on the nose. The latter intensifies to slightly bitter, rich palm sugar on the tongue, and makes tasting this spirit a very interesting experience.

I never knew Penfolds made brandy. It turns out that this is very much an experiment, being the results of a distillation run nearly three decades ago. It's part of the Penfolds Special Bottlings series (another expression is a red wine fortified with baijiu), so I expect that it's unlikely to be repeated.

Now I try not to think too much about price when evaluating spirits. A drink is worth whatever people wish to pay for it, although some quality drinking experiences may be had for a lot less than certain other quality drinking experiences, and some dearly priced drinking experiences are not altogether pleasant. But I was extremely surprised when I found this brandy for a fraction of the price of a Penfolds Grange 1990 red wine. Granted the distiller (and wood master) may be less experienced, but the underlying fermentation and grapes are the same.

What does this show? Well, I'm not sure. All I can say is that I'd rather drink the brandy than the wine, it's nearly as good, and more easily available.

Verdict:

I like this a lot