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Water of Life – Ailsa Bay and Whiskey Hunt Australia

For anyone remotely following this series, it should not come as a surprise that I thoroughly enjoy exploring and discovering new whisky variants, especially those of the peated and Islay persuasion. 

While there are always drops that aid in expanding one’s horizon with merits that take what the respective region is known for to new heights, experiencing smoky whiskies that I have not yet had the opportunity to try make me borderline giddy – even more so, when they take their approach to the phenol part content in parts per million formula seriously and treat it as something more than a mere novelty factor to reel in unsuspecting customers.

Enter Ailsa Bay.

Ailsa Bay is a distillery that has been on my “to try” list for the longest time. Their juice does come in an aesthetically pleasing and artfully designed vessel, which not only stands out in your local liquor store but due to its bigger sized opening and the fact a regular measured pourer will not fit it, will potentially result in a bigger serving at a tasting. 

The fact that they seem to have a scientific approach when it comes to calibrating their peat versus sweet ratio, to then further refine their expression by maturing new make spirit for six to nine months in small sized traditional Bourbon casks before letting predominantly virgin American Oak casks do their magic in a bid to achieve a precise balance of oaky sweetness and smoky notes.
As a matter of fact, Ailsa Bay has taken things to the next level and singlehandedly introduced an analysed measurement of sweetness identified, i.e. complementing the established and benchmarked PPM with an SPPM one.

Let’s get to it:

Upon pouring a dram of Ailsa Bay’s 1.2 batch, the nostrils are tickled by waves of soft ashy smoke, which encapsulates vanilla, chalk, white chocolate sweetness and orangery nuances, sitting against a solid backbone of refined bacon-esque oakyness.
What the nose promised, fully unfolds on the top of the mouth, which is where Ailsa Bay’s meticulous approach to blending comes to fruition and pays dividends: I love how meaty and peaty components are artfully married with a sweetness that is nuanced by hints of condensed milk, burned sugar and butterscotch.

The complexity of the flavour spectrum on offer is beautifully rounded out with a dry elongated finish culminating in a crescendo of flowering sweetness.

Summa summarum:

An expertly crafted and brilliantly balanced malt that with its affordable price tag should be specifically appealing to non-peat heads looking for an accessible entry point into smoky territory, as despite Ailsa Bay emanating from the Lowlands, it effortlessly stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the better entry level Islay whiskies, being every bit as full of character, but being a tad lighter overall. 

Whiskey Hunt Australia 

While we have covered a wide array of spirits as part of this series, the focus of the lion’s share of instalments was dedicated to Scotch. While whiskies from the ole world certainly constitute a focus area, American Whiskeys and varieties ranging from Tennessee whiskies and Bourbon via spicy Rye and Wheat to unaged Corn is a wide field that has to offer gems galore and when it comes to guidance, I am lucky to have come across an entity known as Whiskey Hunt Australia.

With its tenet to be a forum for all things derived from moonshine bottled directly after distillation, usually with water added to reduce it to drinking strength, Whiskey Hunt Australia aims at showcasing the character of a distillery’s respective spirit in its most natural form. 

With Whiskey Hunt being a telling name, it should not come as a surprise that they are never not on their mission to track down exclusive barrels from their favourite distilleries, to then bottle them and make them available as limited releases for enthusiasts. 

Given their longstanding background, their passion and expertise in the realm of whiskey and the relationships they have forged with distilleries, their access is unrivalled and results in the ability to create unique experiences by facilitating the whole process from the distillery to your door.

Needless to say, WHA’s releases are usually lapped up within hours, which results in their emissions being some of the most sought after not just on terra australis.

The care and commitment when it comes to the curation of each individual release and distinct flavour profiles is inspiring and WHA has carved out its own unique niche in the ever expanding world of spirits by elevating the contents of barrels to something far greater than the mere sum of the individual constituents would suggest.

It was through WHA that I was first exposed to the Wilderness Trail Distillery. 

Based out of Kentucky, the distillery’s focus is firmly set on provenance with all of its grains sourced locally. Based on their traditional sweet mash process, their Straight Rye Whiskey expression is based on a three-grain recipe. Upon approach aromas of banana, vanilla and meringue hint at what is going to unfold on the top of mouth, counterpointed by charred oak and toasted walnuts. With a finish reverberating with vanilla, cinnamon and black pepper, it leaves one lusting for another dram.

A personal highlight of the WHA range is their 1792 Full Proof variant with the barrel having been picked by Master Distiller Danny Kahn. Clocking in at 62.5% ABV, the nostrils are tickled by a complex melange of toffee, vanilla and cinnamon, the flavours of which are rounded out on the palate by a delicate spiciness, which is complemented by a carefully calibrated oakiness. 

Whistle Pig Farm is a distillery that I have heard Bourbon enthusiasts rave about for the longest time. It was about high time that I got my first taste via WHA’s single barrel pick of an almost eighteen year old drop, the aromas of which overwhelm the nose with 
a wonderful blend of bright and lively notes set against dark and savoury ones, interweaved with honeyed vanilla and subdued rye notes.
A “Head Honcho” indeed with lingering fruit flavours, honey, and vanilla front and centre flavour-wise and a wonderfully elongated finish culminating in a crescendo of pine and musty wood notes.

Old Forester Distillery is one that I have had great experiences with. WHA’s barrel pick starts off with its trademark oaky, sweet caramel, vanilla, and gently smoked grains up front, to the then step things up with citrussy, cider-esque and candied fruit notes, before the affair is rounded out by toasted grains, cinnamon, banana and spicy highlights. Essentially, it provides what I consider one of the quintessential Brown Forman experiences, with this expression being an example par excellence for its merits.

Barton’s 1792 Bottled in Bond is a dram is based on a  ~7.5 year old bourbon bottled at 50% ABV and flavour-wise, is a tour de force traversing peppery, sweet cinnamon and pronounced rye territory comprised of woody, nutty and dominantly sweet nuances.

WHA’s Barrell Craft Spirits Single Barrel pick is another cracker and one of the more delicious rye cask strength drams I have had so far. It has a well-calibrated yin/yang going on ping ponging between a dominant melange of oak, peppery spices, leather and tobacco and honeyed vanilla and delicate floral notes, all of which are clearly distinguishable. Too damn bad that not unlike WHA’s other belters, this one has long sold out.

Summa summarum, Whiskey Hunt Australia is an entity that should be on the radar of anyone remotely interested in American Whiskeys. No matter if you are situated on terra australis or not - if you ever get a chance to snap up a bottle of the WHA barrel picks, you better move fast because if you blink, they are gone.

The Formative Years – Jan Hammer

Long before underground culture sucked me in, there was an American neo-noir crime-drama TV show being broadcast long past my bedtime on Saturday evenings, the weekly forty-eight minutes of which fascinated me immensely. 

While the scripts and stories were shite or non-existent at best – I doubt there has ever been a concept beyond the brainstorming memo “MTV cops” - the fact that the show was stylized beyond belief, drawing on 1980s new wave culture, and integrating contemporary music captured me and had me transfixed in front of the screen on a weekly basis. 

Clearly, the focus was firmly set on evoking emotions and delivering eye feasts galore rather than engaging plot lines, with the producers going as far as excluding certain colour schemes and going at great lengths to bend scripts to instead find suitable props and settings.

Apart from the incorporation of countless hits from the 1980s, the synthesized soundtrack fascinated me, which was created by Jan Hammer who was tasked to exclusively score the show with his instrumental pieces.

Needless to say, I had to get the original soundtrack on tape, so I could listen to it on my Walkman while trying to channel my inner Sonny Crockett in the best way possible, given that I was a prepuscendent lacking both the means and knowledge on how to acquire the necessary wardrobe nor having the ability to sport a designer stubble. 

At least I owned quite a bit of official merchandise in shades of pink, peach, fuchsia and other pastel colours along with posters of Sonny Crockett’s vehicles, i.e. Ferrari Daytona and Testarossa, and the sailboat he lived on.

Jan Hammer was the one-man band that contributed the integral wall-to-wall sonic component to the show with his swaggering Fairlight CMI synth arrangements that drove the narrative and covered at least thirty minutes of each episode. In other words, the man created pretty much an album per episode, which could have not come at a better time as Miami Vice was the first TV show that was presented in stereo in a cinematic way that was very movie-like.

It was the first time that I perceived TV music to be more than a utility and a facet that took on a life of its own.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer

Blackman’s, Bucketty’s and Bells Beach Brewing

Now, that’s quite an alliteration that we got ourselves here today with three veritable heavyweights in the domain of Australian craft brewing:

Blackman’s Brewing is based out of Torquay, surrounds that are known for its surfing culture and not necessarily on the map when it comes to craft beer breweries – something that founders Renn Blackman and his wife Jess set out to rectify. 

With Renn having honed his craft by not only studying the theoretical side of brewing but substantiating it with stints at a range or local breweries, Blackman Brewing as we know today incarnated eight years ago.
With the nomenclature being informed by the family name, the brewed emissions continued the tradition with names of the beers being derived from the Blackman family’s extended constituents, some of which I have been acquainted with recently – at least in liquid form.

Take for example Reginald the IPA, which being a West Coast India Pale Ale could not be better suited for Blackman’s Brewery and its surf culture inspired context. With an ABV of 6.2% we got an extremely sessionable IPA on our hands, which upon approach tickles the nostrils with its citrussy and stone fruity aromas, which rest on a well-calibrated foundation of maltiness and a bitterness that accentuates the piney highlights. Delicious.

Now, let’s dial things up a notch with Arthur, the Smoked Porter. I am usually not a big fan of dark beers, however, I do harbour a weak spot for Teutonic Rauchbiers, which is where Arthur excels with layers of smoke resting on a backbone of dark chocolate, nuttiness and orangey confectionary. 

Given the smoke, it would make sense to amplify the merits of e.g. a peaty Islay whisky, but I instead paired it with a dram of Springbank and it complemented it perfectly.’

Continuing the examination of Blackman’s in a vertical manner, the next level is reached with – wait for it - a Gin Barrel Aged Choc Berry Dark Ale. Subdued in the alcohol department with a moderate 6%, this dark brew has been matured in barrels that previously held Pinot Noir followed by Navy Strength Gin, with the result being a tour de force in the dark and sour realms of beers interweaved with cherry, coconut and dark chocolatey nuances. 

My favourite of Blackman’s range however is its Red IPA, which proved to be a veritable heavyweight, clocking in at 7.5% ABV. I love the triumvirate of hops comprised of Citra, Galaxy and Idaho 7, resulting in a passionfruity assault of cantaloupe and mango sitting against a backdrop of malty caramel.

Let’s move locations and head to wine country, i.e. the Hunter Valley to the picturesque Bucketty, where a brewery with the same name originally started its operations before its plan were shut down by the local council and they decided to relocate to the beaches North of Sydney, where they infused their brewery and taproom with the flavours and aesthetics derived from the location it emanated from to create a third place for people to connect.

Bucketty’s Lager is an integral component of their core line-up with head brewer Tony D’Astolfo channelling his alchemy in the creation of a German style pilsner, however, it would not be Bucketty’s if there was no idiosyncratic twist added. In this case, American hops play a dominant role, which adds a refreshingly citrussy facet to the earthy and medium malty flavours. 

Not bad, not bad at all.

While I have not had opportunity to try Bucketty’s other brews, their West Coast IPA plays in a league of its own. 

See, if you look at Bucketty’s at large, it is hard not to see the meticulous attention to detail – from the setup of their operations via the website to their exquisite range of merchandise.

With Bucketty’s head brewer having grown up on the West Coast of the US, mastering their WCIPA is obviously something close to his heart and it shows as in terms of dank and piney aromas, things are taken to the next level. 

Yes, there are hints of citrus, tangerine and tropical fruits lingering in the background, however, the focus is firmly set on huge hop aromas with an understated malt character, culminating in a dry finish to again let the wonderful melange of Amarillo, Mosaic, Simco and Strata hops take centre stage.

I can only hope that one of Tony’s next projects will see him tackling a hopped out double IPA…

Let’s revisit Torquay again…

As elaborated on early on in this instalment, Torquay and its context are heavily inspired by surf culture and given the quality of breweries mushrooming in the area, it proves to be a quite a hotbed and fertile ground for luminaries in the realm of artisanal beer crafting to set up their operations.

With a background in car engineering, which saw the founders not only work but also experience the local brews in Bavaria and the US, Bells Beach Brewing emitted its first brew six years ago in form of a Saison, which instantaneously was graced with a craft beer award. 

Not bad given that it took another two years until Bells Beach transitioned from gypsy brewing enterprise to setting up their own proper brewery, which eventually came to fruition in 2018.

Bells Beach’s core expression, i.e. Bird Rock, is a medium bodied brown ale and one that is situated on the deliciously sweet and syrupy end of the spectrum. 

I would go as far as claiming that it would make a borderline perfect dessert beer as the melange of distinct caramel flavours are interweaved with espresso highlights and further substantiated by nutty and dark chocolatey flavours. A malty, slightly oaky bitterness sits against a backdrop of citrus tinged flavours and a subdued fruitiness.

Not a bad start at all.

However, the expression that won me over is Bells Beach’s Edge Wet Hop IPA as with a grain bill comprised of light crystal, Munich and Caramalt and a winning quartet in the hop department, i.e. Cascade, Chinook, Magnum and Centennial, it showcases expertly everything I love about a great IPA:  

Waves of citrus and pine, set against a well-calibrated bitter bite, which culminates in a dangerously moreish caramel finish. 

With a moderate ABV of 6.2% a wonderfully sessionable brew that delivers on all fronts and one that has me savouring every sip and sniff with its beautiful bounty in the aroma.

Looks like once travel restrictions are lifted, a visit to Bells Beach’s Torquay will be in order…

The Formative Years – This is Boston . . .

I vividly remember the first time I got to listen to Modern Method’s This Is Boston, Not L.A. compilation, which ignited a passion for bands with a chip on their shoulder from the “Athens of America” that lasts to this day. The compilation comprised songs of seven bands, five of them having played an integral in shaping American hardcore at large and my outlook in particular.

Jerry’s Kids open proceedings with their first ever recordings, delivering six flawless smashers, Proletariat followed infusing the flow of the compilation with their idiosyncratic Wire-esque brand of punk rock and Marxist outlook on things. 

Groinoids offer a neat interludium before the F.U.'s warming things up with a quartet of straight forward slashers, before Gang Green take things to another level with what at the time blew minds with their speedy and thrashy approach.  Decadence deliver a hit with “Slam”, a song off their 4-song demo, which is worth tracking down. The compilation culminates with The Freeze, whose eight tracks with their dark lyrics and original melodies are another highlight. 

The Freeze’s evolution from their first “I hate tourists” 7” via the This Is Boston compilation and their  contribution to the Unsafe At Any Speed 7” compilation to their fantastic “Guilty faces” 7” from 1982 is fantastic with the bands pumping out gem after gem.

While SSD never really resonated with me to the extent the aformentioned bands did, another hardcore band that had a tangible impact on me during my early teens was Siege, the sound of which pushed the envelope and created the foundation for what was to become labeled as “power violence”.  What a mayhemic onslaught their demo was with its rapid-fire delivery and guttural vocals.

Deep Wound, yes J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr’s first band, and its first self-titled 7” must be one of my all-time favourite early hardcore releases before they ventured on, took a few pages from Siege’s playbook, which saw their musical output spiral into a maelstrom of fast-core songs that helped to create the blueprint for grindcore and experimental noise acts.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer – Aether and Bojak Brewing

Aether Brewing is another craft brewery that over the last couple of years has been on my peripheral vision, yet it took five years into their existence for me to finally sample some of their finely brewed emissions.

With the name being a thinly veiled reference to Greek mythology, their mission statement being centred around the pursuit of not merely brewing perfection but on creating experiences for their customers based on the aromas and flavours of their beers along with  the design of their artwork adorning their tins offering eye candy by following an overarching theme, expectations were quite high.

With a core range offering staples like a mid-strength Pilsner and sessionable lager along with an accolade decorated Pale Ale, I was first drawn to their much fabled out Hop, Skip & Jump IPA and their black IPA, with the latter being one of the more unusual offerings within the realm of India Pale Ales. 

Being a West Coast IPA variant, Aether’s Hop, Skip & Jump overwhelms with an avalanche of citrussy aromas that are married with deliciously resinous characteristics derived from the quartet of Citra, Simcoe, Columbus and Galaxy hops, which are accentuated by stone fruity nuances.

The whole affairs is rounded out nicely by a perfectly calibrated malty bitterness, clocking in at 70 IBU. An excellent strong-bodied IPA that makes me deeply regret that I missed out on Aether channelling its alchemy in the creation of a hemp based IIPA and a much fabled about Irish red ale with bone marrow. The latter should give an indication of Aether’s intrinsic willingness to experiment to push the envelope and take things to the next level flavour-wise.

Let’s move on to the oxymoron that is the Black As Your Heart India Pale Ale. Being not exactly the biggest fan of dark beers, I was intrigued as to where the verdict was going to land on this one. 

While one might think that flavours would clash or overwrite one another, what Aether has accomplished in this case is a well-composed melange of hoppy, resinous fruitiness with the expected rustic, malty roastiness of the malty backbone shining through. 

The result is the diametric opposite of a one-dimensional experience as it starts off with a taste of what one would normally expect from an IPA to then take a left turn into stouty territory, with coffee and dark chocolatey flavours taking on a dominant role

I paired it with a dram of Ledaig 10 and it resulted in one of the more enjoyable and intense boilermaker experiences I have recently had. Despite the strong flavour components and an ABV of 6.7%, the Black IPA is a dangerously moreish little number.

Talking of darker brews – towards the end of the eighteenth century scientist John Michell proposed that gravity in the vicinity of massively compact objects can be powerful enough for not even light to escape. 

Not claiming that Aether’s Event Horizon expression was brewed in a black hole but as the name suggests, Danzig would be proud as it is the equivalent of Burzum in the world of beers. Compared to Aether’s Event Horizon, the abovementioned Black As Your Heart IPA shines fluorescently in comparison.

Porter by nature, as the blackness of the pour suggests, flavours are dominated by a malty, roasty richness, which still leaves space for subtler notes of dark chocolate and delicately sweet highlights to shine through, courtesy of vanilla beans that have been aged in spiced rum. 

With their attentional to detail as far as every facet of their brews is concerned, I can only hope that Aether Brewing will continue to expand their distinctly flavoured IPA range and am looking forward to their future creations.

Let’s travel South to Victoria, where a fiercely local brewery operates under a moniker derived from the founding couple sons names’ being merged. 

Bojak Brewing started out as a small brewpub before spreading its wings to make a splash on the crowded Melbournian craft beer scene, which given the amount of quality brews on offer around Melbourne is not an easy feat to accomplish.

With a core range comprised of a Teutonic pilseners, stouts and sours, Bojak’s Calypso Hazy IPA won me over straight away. 

As the name suggests, this lil’ number comes with a bit of a Caribbean vibe with flavours being on the juicier end of the mango and pineapple spectrum, accentuated by earthy hints of wheat and oats, culminating with a deliberately subdued bitterness. 

With an ABV of 6.4%, an extremely sessionable IPA that lends itself perfectly well to become a trusted companion on hot summer days.

Let’s venture on have a look at an expression with quite a fitting name, i.e. the Season Changer.

The season we are changing to is colder one, where one feels like cosying up in front of a fireplace, lusting for a US style brown ale with bold malt-based flavours.

Low on fruity esters and resting on a backbone of caramelly, nutty dark chocolate flavours, the melange of Chinook and Centennial hops complete the picture by counterpointing the malty backbone with their citrussy and resinous characteristics.

A medium dry finish rounds things out with a mid-high hop bitterness.

My favourite of the expressions I sampled from Bojak is the Legal Mess extra pale ale, the malt base of which is situated on the lighter end of the spectrum, with a well-calibrated subdued bitterness that leaves the spotlight for the hops to shine through.

Essentially, Legal Mess is the best of both worlds - an incredibly hoppy Pale Ale with IPA characteristics:  Medium bodied, refreshing and with just the perfect amount of supporting malt character.