Black Gate – 3 Year Old That Boutique-y Whisky Company Batch 1 (50cl, 46%)

This is a three year old Australian single malt from Black Gate, a New South Wales distillery with an annual output of just 3000 litres. It was bottled by That Boutique-y Whisky Company at 46% ABV, and the cask yielded 254 individually numbered 50cl bottles. Black Gate practise what it calls aggressive spirit maturation, using wine and sherry casks in a hot climate to make young whiskies with plenty of flavour. The nose is described as an old, dusty Cognac with ruby red grapes, dark sugars and burnt caramel. The palate is big, rich and oily, with the burnt caramel carrying through.