Sullivans Cove Double Cask American & French Oak

Is there any Australian whisky's you'd recommend? As an Aussie myself I'd love to try one out but they all seem stupidly expensive.

@SquidgyAsh Maybe you got a bad one? The Double Cask I tried was pretty damned good.

@Jason0142 So many of the Aussie whiskies are over expensive and part of the problem is that so many are single barrel releases which mean that quality fluctuates so much. You can have one bottle that is absolutely brilliant and then you can have another bottle that's just good. And sadly the price point for most of them is so close that you don't want to shell out $200 or so dollars for a whisky that's just ok.

I've enjoyed every single Limeburners I've had so far. Some definitely more then others. If you go here www.distillery.com.au/whisky.html I'd personally be eying the M85. I haven't had it yet, but I've had 6 or 7 different Limeburner batches so far and I'd have no problem shelling out $130 or so for a bottle. I've actually requested to be notified whenever they release a new batch so I can just automatically grab it.

Hellyer's Road is another one that I've enjoyed and from what I've seen it runs at around $85 or so a bottle. I've had I think their classic malt once and enjoyed it. Wanted to buy it on the spot. I've just picked up the Hellyer's Road Peated for around $70ish (Mind you I get a wee discount since I work for a company that sells it.) I'll let you know what I think, but I've heard nothing, but good things about it.

@Systemdown I KNOW!!! I remember you telling me how much you enjoyed it when you first tried it so I was looking forward to it when I saw it was on the tasting, but it was sadly the clear loser of the night at the table. I was sort of wondering at first if it was just me, but everyone else pretty much seconded my thoughts.

Personally I'm starting to wonder a little bit about the whisky bar Helvetica. I was there last night and we ordered a Glenmorangie Astar for my sister in law, a whisky that I've had quite a few times before and enjoyed each and every time. When it came out (I watched them pour it from the bottle) as she was nosing and tasting she said it smelled like soap which blew my mind. I asked her to see it and it really was very soapy. And flavor profile was very similar, almost like soapy fruit. I've had a few other whiskies there where the flavor profile was really off or just nothing like what other people were saying was their experience. I don't want to get into too much detail out of PM because I don't want to bad mouth them, but I too am wondering if it was just a bad bottle for WHATEVER reason. I'd be happy to try it again though :D:D:D

The Double Cask just won silver: whiskyintelligence.com/2012/08/…

And the French Oak (which I'll be sending you a sample of) won Gold.

Sure the bottle you tried wasn't oxidised or something? Really strange. The "flatness" and one-dimensionality of the whisky might suggest such.

Honestly I really wouldn't be surprised if it was oxidized. Like I said I've been having dodgy experiences at the bar. The Hakushu 18 yr old (my favorite Japanese distillery to date) was also awful as was the Glenmorangie Astar which I also love so like I said I really wouldn't mind retrying the Double Cask and correcting the review. I look forward to the French Oak though!!

is there any way to put this at just a neutral review until I can get a chance to try a fresh bottle of the Double Cask? Or a score that would suggest as such?

No reason to change your review - it's a valid review at a given time point for a given whisky. Maybe just leave a note for yourself to update the review in future with a score that reflects both this experience and the experience with a fresh sample (as I think it's good to reflect how a whisky changes with time, some do better than others, this seems like one that doesn't handle oxidation well).