Camborne Brandy Cask

Nose: Hay, porridge, yellow fruit, a suggestion of vanilla, fresh-cut planks. Meadow flowers but it’s a reserved nose that never really opens in the glass. Adding water makes the nose less intense but does little else. Palate: Hot, spicy and effervescently spiky when taken neat. There is a lot of harsh oak tannin with a bitter quality. It’s a dry, hard palate and unfortunately it is not improved by reduction. I mean honestly, it’s like a mouthful of bitter, hot popping candy. Finish: Medium. Bitter malt and tannin. Although there is a youthful planky aroma on the nose that is common to many Australian whiskies at least this does not have the raw resinous edge of some. I enjoyed the aromas but the palate was not to my taste at all. This is an aggressive, hot whisky that almost crackles with hot cinnamon and ginger spice and there is a truckload of young oak tannin in every sip. Camborne whisky is a project of the St Agnes distillery in South Australia. They have been making prize winning brandy since 1925 and in 2015 they decided to try running barley wash through the old stills. I wish I could be more positive but tasting this was not a pleasant experience. I don’t think the brandy still they are using is well suited to whisky production and even if it made good new-make spirit this whisky tastes way, way too young (even though it is apparently 8 years old or more). It reminded me of Limeburners Bourbon Cask expression but it had all of the bad points without any of the good ones. It’s also on the expensive side and I’m very happy I bought a sample to try before spending a lot of money on a whole bottle. I also have a sample of their Tawny Cask (Australian port wine) matured whisky to try, and maybe it will be better. Sorry Angove, I love your brandy but if you want to persevere with whisky please invest in a dedicated pot still, buy bourbon barrels for primary aging and then finish the whisky in your excellent wine barrels … you need to get lots of copper and some subtractive charcoal in contact with that hot spirit somehow. Tasted from a 30ml sample “Inferior” 69/100 (1.75 stars)