Introducing Woodwater’s RED GUM matured whisky.

One of the many wonderful things about producing whisky in Australia is being able to trial and experiment with non-traditional casks for spirit maturation. A change-up from working with traditional oak maturation was something I always planned to do, despite all the potential unknown’s this would bring.

Not being traditional oak, some challenges presented, such as difficulty in stave shaping and wood charring at the cooperage (it was a very tough process). Expected cask maturation performance was also something I was unclear about.

The Red Gum was sourced from an undisclosed winery in the Barossa Valley, having previously been vats holding fortified wine for approximately 20 years before being coopered in Tanunda, SA.

In order to complement the expected flavour profiles of the hard wood, the mash bill for the new make spirit was a blend of various malted barley grains, including roasted and chocolate malts.

The end result is a whisky that is truly and undeniably Australian.