Australian for Whisky

Hellyers Road Distillery is the largest single malt whisky distillery in Australia, but they've only started bottling within the last 12 months. The distillery itself is actually located on Tasmania, an island best known (in the US, at least) as the home of the Tasmanian Devil.

And now for the geography portion of our program . . .

Tasmania is located approximately 240 kilometers off the coast of Victoria, almost directly south of Melbourne. Tasmania  has a population of around 500,000 with approximately 200,000 living in the capital, Hobart. The island is the smallest Australian state with a coastline of 3200 Km and a total north south distance of approximately 300 Km.

Back to the good stuff . . .

Whisky Tasmania was established in 1997 in Burnie (on the north west coast of Tasmania far from Hobart) and trades as Hellyers Road Distillery. Hellyers Road Distillery is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Betta Milk Co-operative Ltd. Established in 1956, Betta Milk (100% owned by Tasmanian farmers) processes and supplies fresh milk to the Tasmanian market.

Milk & Whisky?

Ian Locke, Chief Marketing Officer of Whisky Tasmania explains:

10 years ago the milk industry was deregulated - The milk producers were looking to diversify and Betta decided to go into alcohol production - the Hellyers Road Distillery was established in 1997. After 2 years the first cask of Hellyers Road Single Malt Whisky was lovingly filled in 1999.

Hmm. Whisky company owned by a milk producer. . .  not surprisingly, a Whisky Cream Liqueur (think Australian Baileys) is in the works. Should hit the market in Spring (Australian Spring, that is, which is Autumn in the northern hemisphere).

The bottle in front of me is approximately 5 years old.

Let me explain. I am not sitting with Ian Locke and Mark Littler (Master Distiller) in Tasmania. I am sitting in my office speaking with them on my cell phone. It's 7:20 pm here and it's 9:20 am tomorrow there. Back in March, Ian had sent me a bottle to try. It sat there with a growing number of other samples as I fixed up an 80 year old house; concentrated on some consulting work for several small liquor producers; and took a break from sampling with an eye towards reviewing.

Now it's time to get back on the horse. I decided to start with the furthest away. Ian tells me that the bottle in front of me is 5 years old - and that Hellyers Road only started bottling about 12 months ago.

The plan

Being based in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales are the focus of "in-country" marketing efforts. They are the closest states, but also the most densely populated. Ian isn't restricting himself to Australia, though . . . they've already established a foot-hold in Hong Kong will starting to get their toes in Japan and Thailand. Taiwan is the next Asian country in their sights. When I ask whether the focus on Asia is based on the strong market or the proximity, Ian  predictably tells me "Both".

They'd like to try India, but the combination of horrendous Tariffs along with limited production makes India a long-term goal.

Europe isn't on the radar, They don't think they can make much of an impact there, but the U.S. is . . . eventually.

They have laid down approximately 3000 casks so far - with plans to lay down an additional 500 casks in the next 12 months. Not enough to take on the world, but enough to target some key markets.

Pricing

In Australia, Hellyers Road currently retails for about $72 Australian Dollars (AUD) or about $61.50 USD; in Hong Kong it goes for $900 HKD or about $115 USD. By comparison Laphroaig sells for approximately $78 AUD; Glenfiddich $60 AUD; and Talisker $73 AUD.

What's the differentiator?

Mark tells me:

We are fresh, new. We're not trying to replicate or duplicate existing products. Not trying to look or be like Scottish single malts.

The Hellyers Road packaging looks like no Single Malt you've ever seen. In truth, the bottle shape, color of the whisky and artistic label bring to mind a rich Chardonnay rather than a whisky.

I like it. I've long chided the Scotch Whisky industry to cease their reliance on "Kilts & Castles" or "Weather & Heather" as a core of the marketing message. Flavor and life-style are the two key factors when considering promotion of any beverage. Whisky Tasmania took a cue from the Australian wine industry - and not the Scotch industry - and came up with some beautiful, but simple, packaging.

Does that look like a screw cap to you? It is. You can read some past stories about corks to see that the screw cap is the wave of the future - in whisky as well as wine.

Identity

The bottle proudly states that Hellyers Road is a Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky. Fair enough - in Australia, Tasmania is known for the quality of its food and beverage - the  Tasmanian name carries a lot of weight. But when I question Ian about the lack of geographical knowledge around the world, he admits that when they go world-wide they will likely brand as Australian - though he also admits that he probably couldn't pick out Nebraska on a map.

Tourism

Planning a trip to Tasmania? There is a visitor center at the distillery - including a cafe. According to Ian, Hellyers Road welcomes 80 - 100 visitors each day. Some are locals coming to take advantage of the cafe, but many are tourists from the Australian main-land, Asia and beyond.

The Whisky
Hellyers Road is distilled from 100% Tasmanian grown malted barley, using local Tasmanian rain water and yeast.

While they are not malting their own barley (instead sourcing it from Cascade Brewery in Hobart), the rest of the process - milling, mashing, fermentation, distilling, maturation and even bottling - is done on site.

The process deviates from the Scottish formula  in several notable ways. 1.) No peat here.  2.) the whisky is double distilled in pot stills which are constructed of both stainless steel and copper 3.) the distillate is matured in ex-Tennessee Whiskey (not Bourbon) American white oak barrels. The first few casks were ex-bourbon, but Hellyers Road switched of to ex-Jack Daniels casks early on...and have been quite happy with them.

At the end of standard maturation...currently around 5 years - they take the selected casks, marry them, dilute to just above bottle strength and then parcel it out, back into the maturation casks to marry for an additional 6 months before bottling at 46.2% (abv) - without chill filtration or the addition of any artificial coloring.

Distiller Mark Littler offers the official tasting notes for Hellyers Road Single Malt:

On first nosing a glass of Hellyers Road "Original" you will appreciate the smells of a pleasant and well-balanced complex of aromas of vanilla, citrus and floral elements.         

The citrus notes are a direct relation to the American white oak timber used for maturing single malts of Hellyers Road "Original" recipe, and the soft vanilla relates to the previously housed bourbon in these barrels.

At 46.2% ABV the flavours in the mouth are enhanced because our single malts do not require chill-filtration and this gives a well balanced and smooth drink.         

A hint of toastiness is evident in the back of the palate and this is from the barrels being char-fired prior to use.

As I previously noted, Hellyers Road has a nice Chardonnay-like color and shows some impressive body...almost viscous. Mouth-feel is substantial and oily. The nose is deep woods flora and I think I get slight licorice tones, followed by other spices. Then I taste. Strong vanilla and solid malt. It is smooth, but at 46.2% it's not as smooth as Mark thinks.

I immediately added a generous dollop of water and was greeted with a fresh lemony blast. The vanilla and florals were still there . . . but the florals turned to fresh cut wild flowers. The spices went away for the most part. But the taste was MUCH smoother. . . with a pleasant lingering finish.

Verdict? A thumbs up,

Not Scotch. Not trying to be. Doesn't need to be.

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Hellyers Road Distillery
Burnie, Tasmania, Australia
http://www.hellyersroaddistillery.com.au