Limeburners Port Cask Cask Strength

Re-tasted, 30 August, 2025 Limeburners has a strong following of fans in Australia but their whiskies seldom work for me. They craft well made, characterful spirit for sure but there is something about the casking that seems odd. A lot of Australian whiskies have a planky, resinous, smell and taste indicative of youth but I notice it particularly in Limeburners. Appreciating their whiskies always feels like hard work and I invariably want to follow a dram of their whisky with something else I know I will like. So, no changes to the previous review. Same comments, same rating, and for me it just barely scrapes through to a score of 83/100. ---------------------------------------------------------- Original review: November 1, 2024 Nose (neat): Fortified wine, pipe tobacco, balsa wood, raisins, figs, cloves, nutmeg. There is a strong ethanol hit and an earthy quality but young resinous wood aromas tend to push everything else aside. Nose (reduced): Berry notes, the wine aroma is sweetened, the dark fruits deepened and the resinous wood aroma reduced. Adding water is an improvement. Palate (neat): Big, sweet and hot tannic arrival with raisins, dates and burnt molasses. Lots of chewing tobacco in the development along with dark fruitcake, but it has a sour edge like it has been overcooked. Palate (reduced): Sweeter, the hot alcohol is tamed and the burnt fruitcake goes away a bit, but it's still present. The reduced palate is more satisfying. It does not gain complexity but it does have better balance. Finish: Medium. Toffee and sour apples fading to acidic cola. When water is added the palate lengthens and becomes a little sweeter. This is the second of my recently acquired tasting samples of high-strength Limeburners whiskies. As with every Limeburners expression I have yet tasted there is a forceful presence of young, resinous wood, like a combination of balsa and pine. This is out of control in some expressions but in others, like this one, it’s not so intrusive. I don’t know whether it is the particular casks they use, or the climate, or the distillate itself that produces this woody quality but I’m just not a fan. However, adding a dash of water definitely improved this dram. The nose gained integration and the intrusive woody quality retreated a good deal. The palate was likewise improved with the fruitcake, molasses and tobacco melding and softening. Allowing the reduced dram to rest in the glass for a while improves it even more. When tasted neat I was going to give this whisky 79/100 but after adding a good dash of water the rating is going up to 83. This is the second best Limeburners whisky I've tasted to date, but IMHO reducing it is compulsory. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)