I Tasted Australia’s Oldest Whisky – Here’s My Verdict

In Hobart, Sullivans Cove Distillery unveils two 25-year-old single malts – we had a tasting of each cast. 

In the quiet maritime air of Hobart, Tasmania, where the Derwent River meets the Southern Ocean, patience has always been the guiding principle at Sullivans Cove Distillery. Established in 1994, the distillery helped ignite what would become one of the most exciting movements in modern spirits: the rise of new world whisky. Now, more than three decades later, Sullivans Cove marks a milestone that few could have imagined possible at the dawn of its journey, the release of two 25-year-old whiskies, the oldest single malt ever to emerge from Australia, and one of the oldest from any continuously operating new world distillery.

In the 1990s, single malt whisky was facing tough times. Scotland saw 20 distilleries close their gates in the 1980s, with seven more falling to the same fate in the early 1990s. In the same period, just two new distilleries opened. Over in Ireland, only a duo of distilleries were making single malt: Bushmills in the North, and Cooley in the Republic. Japanese whisky was ticking along domestically, but global recognition was another two decades away. The notion that this island off the southeast of Australia might carve a name for itself in world whisky was quietly radical.

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Yet, as one of the earliest exponents of single malt whisky-making outside of Scotland, Ireland and Japan, Sullivans Cove built a dream on local grain and water, and on the belief that time would be the truest ingredient of quality single malt.

That conviction was rewarded in 2014, when a Sullivans Cove French oak cask, HH0525, was named World’s Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards (on which I sat as a judge), the first time a whisky from outside the traditional heartlands had claimed the title. I remember well the shock on the faces of my assembled fellow judges, which included some of the most experienced and celebrated whisky makers from Scotland, Ireland and Japan, when the winner was announced. And the world took notice, too. More awards followed in 2018 and 2019, confirming what Tasmanians had long suspected: that patience pays great dividends.

Now, after a quarter of century maturing, Sullivans Cove is releasing two of their oldest casks to close that circle.

The two barrels, both American oak ex-bourbon, one a refill, the other freshly filled, have been anointed as ready for bottling a generation after distillation. A statement of just how far both Sullivans Cove, and the wider world of whisky have come in 25 years; a chapter in the story of world whisky itself. Proof that time, when granted the right company, can turn a dream into legend.

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The first of these two extraordinary releases, both filled in 1999, is Cask HH0056, which has yielded just 134 bottles and is available to purchase by invitation only. Cask HH0010, drawn from a 300-liter American oak refill barrel, has produced 349 bottles, to be offered by ballot. Both will be priced at $4,500 AUD ($2,930). Just 50 bottles have been reserved for the global market, to be shared across London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

“To see two of our casks mature out to 25 years is something we did not expect,” recalls former distillery manager Patrick Maguire, who filled them. “We had hopes that our locally grown barley and pure Tasmanian water would be the basis for great things.”

Those hopes, long sealed in oak, have been vindicated. Current distillery manager Heather Tillott calls HH0056 “a seamless expression of spirit, oak and cask integration,” and HH0010 “a profound display of age and character.”

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Samples of each arrived on my desk, having made their way around the world from the far reaches of the Southern Hemisphere. The rarest of the pair, Cask HH0056 is listed as being filled on November 16, 1999 (decanted into the sample bottle on the May 6, 2025) and carries tropical fruit notes on the nose, with hints of banana, coconut, and jasmine. The ABV sits at 47.6% and gives a vibrancy to the floral notes. They list apple pie and vanilla on the official notes, and a creamy vanilla custard rounds off the aroma.

On the palate, there is more of the jasmine notes, but this time as jasmine tea. French pastry richness, with a thick, silky texture come next, followed by runny honey and a slight nutty note of almonds and praline. The finish is long, with peaches, white chocolate and a hint of oak spices. New world, or old is moot here: this is a fantastic dram, whatever the lineage.

The ‘older’ of these two siblings, Cask HH0010 was filled on October 12, 1999 and is a touch stronger at 47.8% ABV. This delivers a more robust nose, with hints of candied red cherry, dates, dark chocolate and fig leaf. The palate gives sweet sticky toffee pudding, nut brittle, honeycomb chocolate bar, and some leather notes. The finish is long, with liquorice and lime pickle. A different beast, with broader shoulders than the one-month younger cask, carrying more depth, but less elegance. One for before dinner, the other for after. At a push, I’d favour the elegance of Cask HH0056.

Tasmania’s mild, maritime climate, has done its work here. The island’s slow, steady seasons have allowed the whisky to evolve with grace, deepening in complexity without losing freshness; a rare gift in whisky, new world or otherwise.