Trappers Hut 9 year old IB Tasmanian Distillery

I recently attended A Tasmanian Whisky Appreciation Society (TWAS) tasting night, where the theme of the night was the state of Tasmanian whisky. We tasted the Sullivan's Cove Double Cask, the Nant first release single malt, the Trappers Hut 9 year old, a Lark Distillery special TWAS bottling, a small batch Hellyers Road, an Old Hobart Distillery Sherry Barrel, as well as young spirit from the new Mackey's Disitllery and from a barrel from independent bottler Tim McDuckett (I'm really not sure of the spelling of this person's name - so if I got it wrong, I do apologise!).

The third dram of the night was the Trappers Hut 9 year old independent bottling of Tasmanian Distillery (the same distillery that produces the Sullivans Cove line) spirit. As it turned out, I ended up finding a seat at the same table as the Trappers Hut crowd, and they seemed to be genuinely lovely decent people. Between them and sitting with Patrick Maguire, I definitely felt like the smallest fish in a pretty big pond - luckily they were very friendly fish!

This bottling was matured in an american oak bourbon cask, and if I recall what they were saying is the second of three casks, with stocks basically all gone after selling well at a local craft fair!

The nose was warm and malty with vanilla and spiced honey notes. Just a hint of alcohol bite, but very pleasant!

The taste started gently warm, but built to a spicy heat over several seconds. Creamy vanilla, a hint of nuttiness with nutmeg and cinnamon. Very engaging, and more complex than my limited time with this spirit allowed me to note down.

The finish was of medium length and was made up of fading spicy creaminess.

This was a genuinely fun little malt. It reminded me of the Arran 10 year old, not because it tasted the same, but because, somehow, it had the same sort of charm about it. It didn't really stand out in any way, but somehow it made me enjoy it far more than it should have! I couldn't help but have fun with this one, and that charm pushes this one from an 8 to an 8.5!