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Sullivan’s Cove is planning to make a handful of brand extensions in coming years, and the first is to be Sullivans Cove American Oak Tawny, a single cask whisky. This whiskey comes from a single American oak cask that was previously used to age tawny (Australian port style) fortified wine. This differs from the traditional Sullivans Cove American Oak release, which use ex-bourbon casks. The flavor profile of the cask sits somewhere in between Sullivans Cove French and American Oak styles, combining the malt and vanilla sweetness of American oak with the rich dried fruit character of fortified wine.
According to Sullivans Cove Head Distiller Patrick Maguire, “When we filled these casks about a decade ago, we had already seen good results from American oak bourbon and French oak tawny casks, so we thought it was time to experiment with different kinds of oak. We couldn’t be happier with the results. We’ve laid more down recently but they won’t be ready for at least ten years, so this is a great opportunity to try some of our early successes.”
The first cask, TD0074, was aged for 11 years, bottled at 47.5% ABV and produced only 488 bottles. This cask will be made available to subscribers of the Sullivans Cove mailing list first, with any remaining stock released to the public at a later date.
