Sunday, 18 June 2023

Hellyers Road 2004 Peated 16 yo

 
 
 
61,7°
Distillery : Hellyers Road - Australia
American Ex-Bourbon Cask 
Original Bottling 
Limited Edition
Single Cask 
Bottled in 2020
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength
Slightly Peated
 
 
 
Hellyers Road is a micro-distillery which began to produce in 1999 in the depths of Tasmania, just on the other side of the world. Its production does not exceed 120,000 liters of pure alcohol per year, which is very little. It's been about five years since it started to be known in Europe, and its reputation is enormous. Here we have a 16-year-old aged in a single American Bourbon cask, and sold exclusively in France via La Maison du Whisky, under the French Connections label. 192 bottles were filled. Only detail that is not mentioned, the peat rate remains an enigma, but I estimate it at around 20 ppm. Please note that there are several Peated Hellyers Road distilled in 2004, but this is the only one to be bottled at this age.




Let's Taste It : 
A fairly fruity, farmy profile, delicate candied lemon, meringue, and very dry hay. The peat is not too strong, earthy, very well integrated. Yellow fruits, cereal fragrances, good depth. Summer scents, which are not bothered by peat, it's rare. On the palate, it's a little more conventional, but well made, a bit coastal and salty, delicate and sparkling fruits, apricot, white plum. Very nice and very long finish, more farmy, biscuity, a little creamy. Ripe wheat.
 
In Short, 
It's great. A very original profile, farmy, earthy, but also very fruity, even sweet. What I like the most, it's that there's nothing to do with Islay, and even with Scotland. It has his own identity. Not how I imagined Tasmania either, but this is a good surprise. Moreover, when it came out, the price was nearly o.k. Now, more or less three years later, it's a bit too expensive for my likings, but you can still order it if you are less reasonable than me. 
Score : 90









                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :
 
                                          Josh Meloy - Already Dead

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