Coastal Stone and Big River Distilling
Manly Spirits - Coastal Stone
Well, this one has been a long time in the making…
Manly Spirits and their quality gins have been on our radar for the longest time and we have been making a beeline every time we discovered a booth of theirs at gin tasting conventions.
Needless to say, when we learned about Manly Spirits having released their very own single malt whisky brand, i.e. what has become known as the ‘Coastal Stone’ Element Series, it was high time to zero in on their endeavours.
Comprised of five unique and distinct whisky styles from five different casks, the Coastal Stone Element Series started out with a Sherry cask style, with the remaining expressions, i.e. shiraz, port, bourbon, port and pinot meant to be released over the next couple of months, with the common denominator being that the first fill casks have matured for an average of four years with the barrel selection from Tasmania and South Australia having been informed by Scottish policies. The nomenclature of the series is a telling one as the casks have intentionally been exposed to the unique climate, the maritime elements and raw nature of Sydney’s Northern beaches, with the ingredients sourced locally, thereby adding a distinct grain to glass approach.
The first expression of the Coastal Stone Element Series I got to acquaint myself with was the Sherry cask, the bouquet of which tingled my nostrils with cherry, rich dark cocoa tinged notes and cinnamon spicy highlights courtesy of the Seppeltsfield first-fill Apera and Sherry Casks.
What was promised on the nose, was continued on the palate with especially the cherry and chocolate nuances materializing on the top of the mouth with an elegant viscosity, backed by dark fruity flavours and a welcome dose of vanilla.
The elongated finish meanders between stone fruity and oaky territory before culminating where the journey started, i.e. dark chocolate.
Next up was the Bourbon Cask expression, which won me over straight away with its vanilla and burnt biscuits exerting their appealing magic upon uncorking.
On the palate, things open up and while vanilla still takes on centre stage, it is flanked by apple, borderline cidery, warm honeyed notes, before being rounded out by a sweet and oily finish, set against an interestingly oaky and leathery component.
A well rounded early highlight with an immense level of depth and a perfect companion for a boilermaker in combination with a Mountain Culture IIPA.
While I find the Pinot and Shiraz expressions intriguing , the highlight of the wine casks informed variants was the Seppeltsfield Tawny Port casks based Pavlovian response evoking Port expression.
At cask strength, this little number is a tour de force in vibrancy:
An orangey, creamily sweet nose opens up a spectrum that ranges from stone fruity nuances to cherries and vanilla cake, which with the first sip seamlessly transitions onto the palate by adding peppery and nutmeggy highlights that sit against a backdrop of a foundation comprised of raisings and bourbon vanilla.
The beautiful, near endless finish leaves one lusting for another dram with its tannic and sweet highlights that reverberate and linger with spicy remnants. A hell of a delicious dessert dram.
My only grievance is that due to having had mini samples, I have yet to encounter Coastal Stone’s award winning designer bottles, which are fabled to have eroded contours of weathered cliffs and capped with a sandstone stopper.
Big River Distilling
Within the five years of its existence, Canberra-based Big River Distilling has established itself as a veritable heavyweight on the firmament of Australian craft gin distilleries, which is not further wondrous given the Chief Beverage Engineer’s expertise and highly developed palate in the realm of winemaking and viticulture, which served as a foundation from which he set out to reinterpret and innovate what gin could be.
If I had a pinpoint the DNA of Big River Distilling’s approach to channelling its alchemy in the realm of artisan gin creation, I would condense it to the middle ground between citrussy, savoury, herbal and floral notes in a bid to pay homage to the Canberra terroir as well as to local botanicals , thereby counterpointing alcoholic notes and the endeavour to have it culminate in a crisp finish.
The fact that Big River Distilling’s bottles are easy on the eye with labels being created by local artists does not hurt either.
My first exposure to Big River Distilling was via their core expression, i.e. the Canberra Dry Gin, which is essentially a nod to the much lauded, tried and tested London Dry style. Infused with botanicals from the Canberran environs, it adds an idiosyncratic note and sense of place and character to it.
With juniper notes assertively taking centre stage, flanked by the grounding, earthy characteristics of angelica root, liquorice and cassia, the subtly nuanced citrussy highlights are derived from a melange of lemon myrtle, oranges, coriander and lime.
What I love about the Canberra Dry Gin is the well-calibrated spectrum of flavours, with the aforementioned being further accentuated and rounded out with Australian mountain pepper leaf, which adds a distinctly spicy and savoury dimension without being overpowering.
The remarkably long finish culminated with the slightest hint of cucumber, leaving one lusting for another sip.
Given the complexity of the drop, I find that adding tonic is only detracting from the experience and I can only hope that Big River Distilling is considering to branch out into the creation of their own whiskey range soon.
