Camborne Tawny Cask

Nose: Prominent rancio, stewed fruit, grapes, aromatic wine-finished malt, citrus peel, and toffee. It presents a deep and highly appealing aroma. Adding water softens the nose and improves integration. Palate: A hot, intense arrival with significant cinnamon and ginger spice, somewhat balanced by a wave of sweet fortified wine. Caramel and chocolate emerge during development, but the underlying spirit and cask do not seem to be in harmony. Water significantly improves it, especially with time to settle, but the lack of integration remains obvious. Finish: Medium. Sweet dark fruitcake and spice biscuits. A long, lingering sweet dark fruit note comes from the tawny cask. Camborne whisky is a project from Angove's St Agnes distillery in South Australia. They have been producing award-winning brandy since 1925, and in 2015, they decided to run barley wash through their old stills. This whisky is strongly led by the cask, with the very fine tawny cask aromas and flavors instantly detectable. However, this fortified wine character is separate from the barley spirit, giving the whisky a divided personality. You taste the hot, spicy Angove spirit character (which seems much younger than its actual age), and alongside it, completely disconnected, you taste the cask. There is no integration. I would prefer to be more complimentary, and I definitely liked this whisky more than their Brandy Cask expression I previously tried, but it seemed to me to be a work in progress and not ready for public release—especially at its price. Angove has the potential to create excellent whisky, but with all due respect, they need to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate everything about their nascent project. I sincerely hope they do, because you can tell there is wonderful whisky here waiting to be realized. Tasted from a 30ml sample. "Average" 78/100 (2.75 stars).