With over 300 distilleries and counting, Australia enjoys more than its fair share of world-class whisky. The southerly state of Tasmania plays an outsized role within the category but, over the last decade, whisky brands from New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia have all won acclaim for their delicious and regionally distinct drams.
Here then are eleven Australian whiskies we think embody everything excellent about the country’s growing malt & grain industry. From critically acclaimed bottles by Sullivan’s Cove to more experimental fare from dynamic labels like Starward and Limeburners, see our shortlist of delectable Aussie drams below.
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Jump To:
- Archie Rose Single Malt Whisky
- Morris Signature Whisky
- Whipper Snapper ‘Upshot’ Australian Whiskey
- Kinglake O’Grady’s Stand Single Malt
- Overeem Port Cask Matured Cask Strength
- Limeburners ‘Director’s Cut’ Peated Port Cask Single Malt Whisky
- Lark Distillery Classic Cask
- Bakery Hill Double Wood
- Starward Solera
- Sullivans Cove French Oak
- Hellyer’s Road 7-Year-Old Peated Single Malt Whisky
Archie Rose Single Malt Whisky
- Distilled in Sydney, NSW
- Matured in Apera casks
- 46% ABV
- 700ml
Archie Rose might be best known for its array of flavoured and dry gins, but the Sydney distiller is becoming a force to be reckoned with when it comes to whisky.
The brand released its signature Single Malt in 2020, and since then, has raked in over a dozen awards — including the covetable title of ‘World’s Best Single Malt Whisky’.
Distilled using a new make spirit that is itself made up of 6 grains, Archie Rose’s flagship Australian whisky is matured (unusually) in a trio of casks. Apera and ex-bourbon provide the foundation, with the novel addition of ex-rye casks that have been aged by the brand for 36 months.
When tasting, expect shortbread and raisins on the nose; along with a lush palate of espresso, sticky date and apricot liqueur.
Morris Signature Whisky
- Distilled in Rutherglen, VIC
- Matured in ex-wine casks
- 40% ABV
- 700ml
Made by the popular Morris of Rutherglen winery, the aptly named ‘Signature’ whisky makes use of its production amidst Victorian wine country.
Matured at first instance in Morris’s own ex-red wine barrels, this Australian whisky is then finished in a range of fortified wine casks — lending it a warm coppery hue and aromas of orchard fruit and black cherry.
On the palate, look for well-integrated flavours of marmalade, cacao and dark berries. A habitual award-winner, this signature bottling most recently won ‘Double Gold’ at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Whipper Snapper ‘Upshot’ Australian Whiskey
- Distilled in Perth, WA
- Matured in Australian white oak
- 43% ABV
- 700ml
An unusual yet perfectly delicious expression from WA distillers Whipper Snapper, ‘Upshot’ was the brand’s first signature whisky — released back in 2016.
It is, in any number of ways, a unique offering: crafted predominantly (80%) out of corn and bottled from a single barrel. Conceived as the “modern version of a well-rounded Australian whiskey”, drinkers should detect aromas of toffee and cedarwood, along with flavours of butterscotch and nutmeg.
As a bonus? We can confirm that this makes one hell of an Old Fashioned.
Kinglake O’Grady’s Stand Single Malt
- Distilled in Kinglake, VIC
- Matured in ex-Bourbon barrels
- 46% ABV
- 700ml
Self-described as a distillery in a “strange and wild place”, Kinglake harnesses the land around it in a way relatively few Australian whisky brands do. Founders Sam and Chantal reportedly make all of the brand’s whiskies with “the distillery doors open” — and a source of unfiltered spring water that is particular to Kinglake.
The brand’s ‘O Grady’s Stand’ single malt is a great entry point, and represents what Sam and Chantal say “[they] love best” about the distillery terroir. Of four different malts used to make the whisky’s new make spirit, two are roasted with chocolate and peated in Scotland respectively.
Upon tasting, drinkers should expect a rich, palate-coating whisky: laden with flavours of dark chocolate, barley malt and fresh-cut grass. Certified carbon neutral.
Overeem Port Cask Matured Cask Strength
- Distilled in Huntingfield, TAS
- Matured in port casks
- 60% ABV
- 700ml
Bottled at cask strength, Overeem Port Cask Matured is a single malt of considerable intensity.
Sitting at a hefty ABV of 60%, after being aged in ex-French oak casks for 5 years, this particular expression of Overeem is a darling among Australian whisky connoisseurs: amply flavoured and built for long-term ageing.
From a maker’s point of view, the details are all predictably excellent. Water used in this bottling’s new make spirit is sourced from the Derwent River, as is the barley used in the mash bill.
When tasting this multi-award winner, be on the lookout for whiffs of orange peel and salted caramel. On the palate, the port cask lends tones of spiced red fruit and candied orange, ebbing into a long viscous finish.
Limeburners ‘Director’s Cut’ Peated Port Cask Single Malt Whisky
- Distilled in Albany, WA
- Matured in ex-bourbon and port casks
- 61% ABV
- 700ml
Based out of a distillery at the edge of Princess Royal Harbour, Limeburners has been quietly cultivating a reputation as one of the best whisky makers in Western Australia.
Within the premium range, Head Distiller Cameron Syme utilises the brand’s very best barrels in order to craft ‘Directors Cut’: a range of limited single-batch whiskies epitomising the “very best” of what Limeburners has to offer.
Currently, the ‘Peated Port Cask’ (drawn from a single barrel numbered ‘M337’) is our favourite in the range. Aromas of crème brûlée and cherry are joined by flavours of charred maple and caramelised sugar. As with other expressions in the Directors Cut range, the fact this whisky is drawn from a single cask means that future batches will possess their own (highly collectible) eccentricities.
Lark Distillery Classic Cask
- Distilled in Pontville, TAS
- Matured in sherry & port casks
- 43% ABV
- 500ml
Modelled after the same recipe that founder Bill Lark penned when he founded his eponymous brand in 1992, the ‘Classic Cask’ is a multi-award-winning whisky and standard bearer for Tasmanian single malts.
Double-distilled and bottled at a crowd-pleasing ABV of 43%, ‘Classic Cask’ is one of the most versatile Australian whiskies to make our list. Brewed for a more viscous mouthfeel and richer palate, we rate it for its effectiveness in different serving styles. (Hint: Try it in a ‘Rubus Old Fashioned’.)
In the glass, expect notes of citrus and toffee apple; followed by a palate that balances fruity malt and rich plum pudding flavours.
Bakery Hill Double Wood
- Distilled in Kensington, Victoria
- Matured in bourbon & wine casks
- 46% ABV
- 500ml
Since its humble beginnings in suburban Melbourne some 20 years ago, Bakery Hill has gone on to become a trailblazer in the indie whisky space (even winning the Whisky Bible award for ‘Small Distillery’ of the year in 2005). With expressions like its signature ‘Double Wood’, it’s easy to understand why.
Conceived as a reflection of the enriching impact oak can have on unpeated new make spirit, ‘Double Wood’ is matured in a duo of ex-bourbon and French oak wine casks. Intriguingly, for the former category, Bakery Hill buys its bourbon barrels from Jack Daniel’s.
Each batch is pulled from a single cask, in order to ensure (in the brand’s own words) “you get every ounce of flavour without blending”.
Festive aromas of clove, golden syrup and warm plum pudding give way to a similarly rich palate: full of stewed orange marmalade and subtle hinds of well-integrated oak. In a phrase? Christmas in a Glencairn glass.
Starward Solera
- Distilled in Port Melbourne, VIC
- Matured in apera barrels
- 43% ABV
- 700ml
This three-time gold medal winner, from the Melbourne-based operators at Starward, is a recurrent reference when it comes to best-in-class Australian whisky. Named for the Australian sherry casks in which the spirit is aged, each batch of ‘young’ Starward Solera is blended with a fraction of mature-age spirit.
In theory? That means that even in the newest run of Solera bottles, there’s a whisper of the very first casks used to produce this groundbreaking Starward expression.
On the nose, drinkers can expect the influence of the apera casks to make themselves known through a medley of raisins, vanilla and orchard fruit notes. The palate is dense with flavours of figs, banana chips and a hint of nougat. Fun fact: it’s also the basis for the brand’s original Whisky Crumble cocktail recipe.
Sullivans Cove French Oak
- Distilled in Cambridge, TAS
- Matured in ex-tawny casks
- 47% ABV
- 700ml
A Tasmanian single malt that helped to put Australia on the New World whisky map, Sullivans Cove French Oak needs little introduction. This expression was previously a two-time champion at the World Whiskies Awards (most recently in 2019) and is now, thankfully, also a part of the brand’s core collection.
A powerhouse of a dram, in the most literal sense of that word, it marries Sullivan Cove’s signature 10-year-old spirit with French oak previously employed in the making of fortified wine.
Rich in flavour and extravagantly textured, this whisky opens on notes of bramble, dried roses and manuka honey. With a few sips drinkers will detect flavours of dates, nutmeg, and a distinctively tiramisu-like quality.
Like the top-flight bottlings of Limeburners and Bakery Hill, each Sullivans Cove French Oak batch is usually drawn from an individual cask: meaning no two releases are the same.
Hellyer’s Road 7-Year-Old Peated Single Malt Whisky
- Distilled in Havenview, TAS
- Matured in ex-bourbon casks
- 46.2% ABV
- 700ml
Another famed Tasmanian brand with an award-winning heritage, Hellyers Road is best known as “Australia’s oldest operating whisky distillery”. Its single-cask editions factor significantly into the excitement of Australia’s whisky community, but earlier this year, Hellyers decided to go the (relatively) accessible route with its new 7-year-old age statement.
Leaning into the distillery’s “maritime climate in Northwest Tasmania”, this new release is crafted using peated barley that is sourced from Inverness, Scotland. The resultant spirit is fused to first-fill ex-bourbon casks from the historic Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky: combining in a whisky that is subtly sweet, saline, and not so peaty that it alienates casual drinkers.
As of May 2024, it was also a gold medalist at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
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