Morris Smoked Muscat Cask

Limited Availability Age: NAS ABV: 48.3% Source: Morris Distillery, Rutherglen, Victoria Spirit: Australian Single Malt Maturation: Heavily Charred Oak, Muscat Cask Finish Size: 700ml Early British settlers may have seen the whisky-making potential of North-East Victoria when they named a local hamlet Rutherglen after the small town just outside of Glasgow. In the early days, it was real rather than liquid gold that brought fame to the region. When the precious metal became scarce it was wine, particularly fortified, that sustained the region’s wealth. The Morris family’s story of producing world-class fortified began five generations ago when George Francis Morris planted their first vines in 1859, just outside of Rutherglen. They are regularly awarded for the quality of their tawnies, aperas, topaques and muscats but as delicious as they are, we’re more interested in what happens next. Rather than roll these precious fortified casks out the door to eager whisky makers the craftsmen at Morris decided to restore their original 1930s hybrid copper-pot and column still and start making whisky of their own. Their whisky is a story of provenance with distillate made from a mash of 100% Australian malted barley aged in barrels from premier local wine regions. Its specialness comes from finishing in its own fortified casks, hand selected for quality. This whisky started its maturation in heavily charred ex-wine casks before finishing in award-winning Muscat barrels. We’re huge fans of this ‘smoke and fruit’ combination and this whisky is no exception. Polished jarrah to the eye, the nose is a combination of clean white smoke mingling with raisin fruits and blackberry jam. The smoke dissipates to release the rich and complex Morris Muscat characters. The palate shows hints of charred pineapple with a light dusting of smoked paprika. Dark sugars are followed by crisp apples. The finish shifts gear leaving you feeling like you’ve just had chili-infused dark chocolate, dipped in smoked apple jam. A deliciously flavourful Australian malt.