Goodradigbee Jarrah

Nose: Similar to vodka with very faint floral and woody aromas. Palate: Bland. Alcohol, pencil shavings, a little generic spice, light cereal flavor. The texture is neutral and it lacks body. Finish: Non-existent. It simply stops abruptly. I hadn't heard of this until yesterday when I saw it at a pop-up stand at our local liquor store. It's an odd and unnecessary product. They refer to it as malt spirit, but it doesn't taste like new-make barley spirit and it has a raw alcohol character, suggesting it's likely made from wheat. There are some generic woody and cereal notes; it's clearly very young and by definition, not whisky. It's thin and characterless with no indication of complexity, maturity, or integration. Goodradigbee Distillers are not aging their spirit in oak casks for the mandatory 2 years to qualify as whisky. Instead, they are using Australian hardwood boxes (see the accompanying image) and aging for only a few months, which is a strange approach. They assert that a box offers a larger surface area for maturation, but in reality, the difference between a cube and a barrel is not significant, especially over just a few months. It seems more likely to me that they are simply avoiding the expense of acquiring oak casks and the cost of cooperage. I don't see the purpose of putting spirit into a small box for a few months, as this demonstrably achieves very little. It's certainly not a rapid maturation method like pressure-treatment with oak blocks or chips, which can achieve some level of maturation (if you're fortunate). This is essentially a failed experiment, and I noticed that on their website, they are now promoting a more expensive cask-matured "single malt" but carefully avoid calling it whisky. I'm unsure about these producers. They might eventually release a quality product, but at present, I couldn't endorse any of their offerings. This retails for AUD$79, and for that price (or less!), you can purchase numerous excellent genuine whiskies. "Inferior": 65/100 (1.5 stars)