
Roll out the Barrels
Exploring the fascinatingly esoteric world of casks with Sullivans Cove’s distillery manager Heather Tillott.
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From cask to glass Australia is now part of the conversation around premium whisky. At the forefront of the local scene is Sullivan’s Cove where Heather Tillot is the distillery manager. Here, she unpacks some of her process and provide’s insight into her take on cask maturation.
What exactly happens in the interplay of spirit and cask over time?
They both give elements to the relationship. The oak cleans up the rougher edges of the spirit, and together they co-create new flavours. Water, ethanol and oxygen kick many reactions along, with the end result being a wonderful collaboration of esters, aldehydes, phenols, ketones, sulphur, the list goes on. Throughout maturation, the spirit moves in and out of the cask wood, wisely guided by place, humidity, temperature, barometric pressure and, some argue, Moon cycles. Very much a part of the terroir discussion.

What are you looking for when scouring the world for casks?
There are the obvious considerations such as quality, potential for interesting single casks, continuing the legacy of our married releases, like the Double Cask, and marrying with our spirit flavour profile. But it doesn’t end there, as one of the most important factors is how the cask is treated at the cooperage: the nitty-gritty details of the shave, toast and charring have a massive impact on flavour profile and final product quality. The relationship between distillery and cooper is a beautiful thing, and one of the most rewarding, as a skilled cooper allows each cask to bring its best self forward for spirit maturation.

Is there something you see in each new spirit that guides you to a particular kind of cask?
It’s kind of the other way around: the questions is, how will the cask profile marry with our spirit hallmarks? While we have a few different spirit cuts for slightly different profiles, our spirit style across these cuts will always showcase anise, brine, citrus, a full body and creamy texture, and so we look for suitability with these essential Sullivans elements.

Thoughts on bourbon?
Vanilla and spice. A brilliant pair with the biscuity drive of malt spirit. A blessing from the American South.
And sherry?
Sweet, deep, fruity and completely iconic in the single malt world.
What excites you about casks drawn from Australia’s winemaking heritage?
Australia is home to some of the best winemakers in the world and has been producing fabulous wine for many decades. To be able to collaborate with this magic and history is both humbling and exciting from a creative perspective. We use casks which have given their best to wine; it feels as though the baton is passed along to us to work with these wonderful casks through their retirement. For our purposes, they’ve got plenty to give if they’re happy to sit back and relax in our bond stores for half a dozen or more years. In particular, Australian tawny casks have been, and continue to be, notorious and iconic for Sullivans. We can’t imagine not having them in our bond stores and the results in our bottles. There’s a deep sense of keeping the wonderful history of Australian tawny alive, which we don’t take lightly. And so in this sense, there is a fortuitously synergistic relationship between winemaking and whisky maturation. It makes perfect sense for an Australian whisky style to be defined by Australian wine casks.
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