Waubs Harbour Founder's Reserve (Batch 02)

Nose: Smells of fortified wine, red berries, dark cherry syrup, alcohol-preserved prunes, baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), port-infused pipe tobacco, and leather. A massive aroma. Palate: The initial taste is surprisingly different from the nose, starting with a flood of malt extract, peanut brittle, and salted caramel. The influence of the fortified wine becomes prominent later in the palate, bringing a wave of Christmas cake and pudding flavors – cherries, preserved citrus peel, raisins, plums, dark malted cereal, and dark chocolate. It has an oily texture that's excellent when neat, but I preferred it with a bit of water. Finish: Lasts a medium to long time, with notes of fruit cake, salted caramel, and bitter coffee. This distillery was established in 2018 in Bicheno, on Tasmania's east coast. It's situated on the former site of an oyster hatchery, with some of the original hatchery buildings repurposed for the distillery. It's located right on the waterfront, similar to Bowmore on Islay, and like Bowmore, it ages its casks by the sea. The distillery is deliberately aiming for a maritime influence on their whisky, employing Scottish production methods suitable for consistently cool temperatures and high humidity. They are also developing their own unique yeast strains, which is a significant advancement for the local industry. This whisky was aged exclusively in Australian ex-French oak tawny (port) casks and bottled at a "reduced" cask strength of 62% ABV. It's a key offering in their lineup, released in batches of a few hundred bottles. Expect variations between batches. A very potent, assertive, and rich whisky. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was more challenging than the distillery's other offerings. Ultimately, despite my admiration, I still favored their "Original" expression. For a high-strength whisky, it wasn't unapproachable or overly dominated by alcohol, but it felt more welcoming and interesting (and frankly, better balanced) when diluted to below 50%. Interestingly, the tannins didn't seem as prominent as in the "Port Storm" expression, possibly due to cask selection. I also noticed very little maritime influence in this expression. I believe the intense cask character overwhelmed everything else, which is a common issue with heavily port-influenced Australian whiskies. Like their other products, I find their pricing a bit steep, especially for 500ml bottles, but this did not affect my rating. "Good": 83/100 (3.5 stars)