A cask strength, single cask, ex-port cask from Tasmania’s much-loved Overeem whisky will be released as an exclusive expression at this year’s Sydney Whisky Fair.

As we move to within one month of the event, we are delighted to confirm the release, which is the first Fair exclusive for 2017.

GRAB IT HERE!

It’s something of a full circle for the event, as The Oak Barrel bottled an ex-port cask Overeem as one of its first ever Australian Whisky Fair exclusives back in 2013. In that case, a 20 litre port cask was matured in store and offered in 200ml bottles.

This time the cask we’ve selected, OHD-110, was a 100-litre port cask and will be offered in Overeem’s elegant 700ml bottles.

Years of supply issues (read: zero stocks) have kept Overeem away from Sydney Whisky Fair, but we’re beyond excited to have them return in 2017. Particularly in such a significant way.

The Overeem distillery began as a hobby for owner Casey Overeem, who commissioned a Hobart-made Knapp Lewer copper pot still and placed it in his garage. Some people put cars in their garage, other people put bars. Casey put a distillery.

Production started in 2007, with Casey filling 100 litre ex-port and ex-sherry casks. These came to maturation after five or six years, on average, and became one of Australia’s most cult-loved whiskies. They even made it across to the UK, where they were received rapturously.

Part of the initial Aussie whisky push, when Lark’s Bill Lark, Limeburners’ Cameron Syme, Bakery Hill’s David Baker and Sullivans Cove’s Patrick Maguire were telling the story Australian single malt whisky, Casey and daughter Jane Overeem became much loved fixtures on the Australian whisky scene.

A tough slog initially (“We make whisky in Australia?”) it was soon to be in a post-international award recognition world that demand for Overeem would quickly outstrip supply. Any period of time in the past that Casey decided to take some time off for a holiday was suddenly felt half a decade on, when both sherry and port cask expressions were unavailable for over a year respectively.

In January 2014 Casey sold the Overeem business to Lark, the distillery his gold mate and Australian whisky Godfather Bill Lark had established, although the stills remained in his shed at the end of the driveway at their family home.

After a period of planning and hand-over, the stills have now been moved and Overeem is now well-and-truly a sister brand to Lark. Excitingly for drinkers, the slow trickle of releases has started again.

After robust negotiations (read: begging on our behalf) Overeem agreed to sell us the full cask of OHD-110 and bottle it at 60%. An ex-port cask, it yielded 120 (and three quarters) bottles. It has been labelled OBWF-2017 and the bottles are individually numbered from 1 to 120.

OHD-110 was distilled on or about 6 May 2011 and settled 2 May 2017, making it just three days shy of six years old and right in that five-to-six year window of when Overeem expressions shine. We understand that this was distilled by Casey Overeem himself.

The Oak Barrel are offering an exclusive pre-sale to members who wish to secure a bottle, as a thank you to their loyal support over the years.

Bottles are now available to pre-purchase for $275 each, a discounted price for the pre-sale and the Fair itself.

Only a percentage of the actual allocation will be available for purchase prior to the Fair.

Head here to secure your bottle, which will be available for collection or dispatch the week of the Fair, which is week commencing Monday 21 August.

THE FACTS:

WHAT: Overeem Ex-Port Single Cask Bottled Exclusively For Whisky Fair 2017

SPECS: Cask OHD-110 labelled as OBWF-2017. Bottled at 60%, 120 bottles.

PRICE: Pre-sale price of $275 each.

AVAILABLE: For collection/dispatch last week of August.

WHERE: Click here.

 

 

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

 

Sullivans Cove: that Tasmanian whisky, the one that one that award and that has become so hard to find.

It took Patrick Maguire years of toil to become an overnight success. After joining the distillery in 1999 and taking control in 2003, Maguire has – more than most – seen the highs and lows of the modern Australian whisky scene first hand.

Certainly, 2014 was a monumental year for the small Hobart distillery and the wider Australian community when their French Oak Port Cask expression was voted the World’s Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards. But 2017 may serve to be an even more pivotal period for the distillery.

Casks distilled at the ‘new’ Sullivans Cove Distillery are starting to come online (TDXXXX named barrels are beginning to replace the old HHXXXX casks) and experiments laid down in the past decade are coming to fruition.

What a better opportunity, then, to take a good hard look at (and drink of) the future of Australia’s most famous whisky distillery as part of our Sydney Whisky Fair masterclass series. That driving force, Patrick Maguire, will travel up from Tasmania for an evening tasting at The Oak Barrel – the latest in his many visits to our Cellar Room.

Earlier this year Sullivans Cove released Special Cask, a single French Oak cask (barrel TD0202) which was previously used to mature Australian chardonnay. It was the distillery’s first new release in over a decade and sold out quite promptly, despite a $750 retail price which may have put it out of a few price ranges.

We’ve secured a Special Cask to crack open with Patrick, but we’re not stopping there.

Keeping with the theme of looking forward, rather than backwards, we’ll also be sampling something so secretive that we can’t tell you what it is, because we honestly don’t know.

It will be a pre-release of another ‘special’ cask (whether it’s called Special Cask or not we’ll have to wait and see) and may be at a slightly higher ABV than their usual releases. What we do know is that it will be Sullivan’s next limited release and we’ll be trying it before it hits the market at this event.

The third element of our looking forward will be a sampling of the distillery’s current new make – the DNA that will shape the style of Sullvans Cove Distillery for the next five, ten, 15 years.

Combine them with the current releases of their core range – the Double Cask, American Oak and French Oak – and we’ve got an evening that’s sure to be something very special.

Tickets are strictly limited (definitely one night only) and this tasting is part of the Sydney Whisky Fair Masterclass series, which allows us to host some truly awesome nights of whisky in the lead up to this year’s Sydney Whisky Fair.

What we’ll be tasting:

Sullivans Cove Double Cask
Sullivans Cove American Oak
Sullivans Cove French Oak
Sullivans Cove Special Cask
Sullivans Cove new make (not available for purchase)
Sullivans Cove Pre-Release Sample (details revealed on the night)

WHAT: The Future Of Sullivans Cove With Patrick Maguire
WHERE: The Oak Barrel, 152 Elizabeth St, Sydney 2000
WHEN: Tuesday 15 August, 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start
PRICE: Members $75 / Non-Members $85
TICKETS: The handful of final tickets will be issued via ballot. Please email scott@oakbarrel.com.au with ‘Sullivans Cove Masterclass’ in the subject line and your Oak Barrel member details. You will be notified if successful.

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

Tickets are non-refundable or exchangeable, so please make sure to check your dates before booking. Whiskies subject to change without notice due to unforeseen circumstances.

As part of a whirlwind visit to Australia and New Zealand, Alex Bruce – Managing Director of independent whisky bottler Adelphi and their distillery Ardnamurchan – will be returning to the Oak Barrel for a masterclass tasting.

Bruce is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable persons about Scotch whisky to have ever graced our Cellar Room, so we’re delighted to welcome him back. He’ll regale us with stories from Adelphi and the distilleries they work with, and Ardnamurchan, which already has a cult status despite not yet having a whisky on the market.

(The release of their very first ‘spirit’ sold out in mere hours.)

On the night we will go through a selection of the Adelphi range, tasting single cask releases that have been sourced and selected by Bruce and Adelphi collaborator, industry icon Charles Maclean.

We’ll also sample a couple of Adelphi ‘creations’, the staples that underpin the bottler’s worldwide reputation.

Full line-up of bottles to be confirmed in the coming days, but join us this July for an evening of pure Scotch whisky fascination.

Tickets are strictly limited and this tasting is part of the Sydney Whisky Fair Masterclass series, which allows us to host some truly awesome nights of whisky in the lead up to this year’s Sydney Whisky Fair.

What we’ll be tasting:

Adelphi Glenborrodale Batch 3
Adelphi Liddesdale (21-Year-Old Bunnahabhain) Batch 10
Adelphi Breath Of Speyside (new!)
Adelphi Glover Batch 4 (Scotch – Japanese single malt hybrid)

Plus expressions from:
Bowmore
Laphroaig

WHAT: Adelphi Whisky Masterclass With Alex Bruce
WHERE: The Oak Barrel, 152 Elizabeth St, Sydney 2000
WHEN: Monday 24 July, 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start
PRICE: Members $35 / Non-Members $45
TICKETS: SOLD OUT

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

Tickets are non-refundable or exchangeable, so please make sure to check your dates before booking. Whiskies subject to change without notice due to unforeseen circumstances.

It’s quite remarkable that such a little island is famous for producing whiskies of such force.

For as long as single malts have been consumed, Scotland’s Islay – a small Island in the Inner Hebrides with a population of about 3,000 – has been synonymous with heavily peated, smoky whiskies.

Once you’ve been to Islay it’s an experience that you’ll never forget, but also one you’re reminded constantly of every time you open a single malt raised on that cold, wind-swept landscape.

With the mercury dropping, it’s evident that The Oak Barrel is overdue for a smoky whisky masterclass, and we’ve just the theme for this July.

A whole range of new expressions from Port Askaig – from an 8-year-old right up to a 30-year-old – have landed in Australia. So we’re going to open them in a parallel tasting for a full on evening of peat, smoke, brine and fire.

Port Askaig is a tiny port village on the east coast of Islay. With a hotel, a dock and not a lot else – there is one obvious thing missing from the town: A distillery.

The Port Askaig whiskies are an independent bottling label from London’s The Whisky Exchange, one of the biggest single malt whisky institutions in the world. The label bottles single malts sourced from around the island, without disclosing their source.

Port Askaig have almost certainly bottled whiskies from a number of different distilleries over the years so it will be fascinating to (attempt to) discern where these have been sourced from in this sit-down masterclass tasting.

What we do know is that these are quintessential Islays – big and robust at youth and delicate and autumnal with age.

To top it off, we’re delighted to be welcoming one of Australia’s most entertaining and most knowledgeable whisky experts back to The Oak Barrel. Mr James Buntin has spent the past few years playing whisky ambassador throughout the UK, but has been lured back to the colonies. We’re really going to enjoy having that big, booming Scottish accent in our cellar room once more.

Tickets are strictly limited and this tasting is part of the Sydney Whisky Fair Masterclass series, which allows us to host some truly awesome nights of whisky in the lead up to this year’s Sydney Whisky Fair.

We’ll be trying the following:

Port Askaig 8-Year-Old 45.8%
Port Askaig 15-Year-Old Sherry Cask 45.8%
Port Askaig 19-Year-Old 50.4%
Port Askaig 30-Year-Old 45.8% (2015 Release)
Port Askaig 100 Proof 57.1%

Also, from the Elements Of Islay series…

Elements Of Islay Peat Pure Islay Blended Malt 45%
Elements Of Islay Peat Full Proof Blended Malt 59.3%

WHAT: Smoky Whisky Islay Masterclass With Port Askaig
WHERE: The Oak Barrel, 152 Elizabeth St, Sydney 2000
WHEN: Tuesday 25 July, 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start
PRICE: Members $45 / Non-Members $55
TICKETS: SOLD OUT

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

Tickets are non-refundable or exchangeable, so please make sure to check your dates before booking. Whiskies subject to change without notice due to unforeseen circumstances.

The final release of tickets to Sydney Whisky Fair 2017 is open, with the final pre-sale window for Oak Barrel members live.

The remaining tickets will be offered to the general public from 11am Thursday 29 June.

Please head here for all the details regarding tickets and sessions.

One of Australia’s best loved whisky festivals, tickets have been selling at record speed as we return to Australia Hall first the first time since 2014. The venue is located above The Oak Barrel bottle store at Sydney’s CBD.

In other news, The Oak Barrel is proud to announce that we’ve been recognised by the Icons Of Whisky Australia awards as a finalists for Best Single Outlet and Best Online Retailer.

We have already announced a number of distilleries from Australia and the world who will be showcasing at this year’s event.

More will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

Tickets are non-refundable or exchangeable, so please make sure to check your dates before booking. Whiskies subject to change without notice due to unforeseen circumstances.

The first release of tickets to the Sydney Whisky Fair have sold out!

Less than 48 hours after the Oak Barrel members pre-sale began and 24 hours after tickets went on sale to the general public, the first allocation – over 50 percent of the total capacity – has been exhausted.

Thanks for another record-breaking response to this year’s event, we can’t wait to share more news of what we have in store for 2017.

The remainder of tickets to this year’s event will be released in the second – and final – release of tickets in a week’s time.

Oak Barrel members will once again get an exclusive pre-sale, from 1pm Wednesday 28 June.

Any remaining tickets will be opened to the public from 11am Thursday 29 June.

We have also confirmed our next Whisky Fair Masterclass, to be held in the lead-up to the event, with Glenfarclas’ Ian McWilliam coming out from Scotland to open a 1966 vintage (and others).

We’ve also teased another couple of Australian whisky masterclasses over at the masterclasses page here.

So set your diaries – and tell your whisky companions to get ready – because once next week’s second allocation of tickets sell out there’s no more space left!

In the meantime, hopefully we’ll see you this weekend at The Oak Barrel’s Sydney Craft Beer & Cider Fair. The Sydney Wine Fair takes place in July.

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

Tickets are non-refundable or exchangeable, so please make sure to check your dates before booking. Whiskies subject to change without notice due to unforeseen circumstances.

This July The Oak Barrel will be hosting a very special Glenfarclas whisky masterclass, which for many of us will include some one-in-a-lifetime whiskies.

Joined by distillery stalwart Ian McWilliam, we’ll be cracking single casks and vintages from 1987 all the way through to 1966.

The Oak Barrel has long been a lover of Glenfarclas whiskies – you may remember we bottled our own exclusive release a few years back – and our businesses are similar in more ways than one. Both have very proud histories (the Grant family bought Glenfarclas in 1865, The Oak Barrel was founded in 1959) and remain fiercely independent and family owned.

The bottle is worth around $2,500 in itself.

Most importantly, whenever we celebrate Glenfarclas in our Cellar Room we tend to have a lot of fun together. (Anyone remember last year’s marathon masterclass?)

Ian McWilliam has long been an integral part of Glenfarclas, having started with the family business in 1991 (he’s been there over 26 years now to save you the math). McWilliam grew up in the region near the distillery and he joined their team shortly after finishing school as Assistant Head Warehouseman.

McWilliam spent 14 years on the production floor, helping craft the whiskies that are being bottled today, before he moved into the sales side of the business. His intimate knowledge and experience with Glenfarclas makes him one of the most highly regarded, and entertaining, whisky presenters in all of Scotland.

With McWilliam bringing across a couple of bottles from their legendary Family Cask, single cask series, The Oak Barrel will also be digging into the archives to present a 1977 vintage and the stunning 1966 Fino Cask. The latter was matured in oak which previously held the exclusive Fino strain of sherry and the bottle is worth around $2,500 in itself.

This evening of guiltily good whisky is part of the Sydney Whisky Fair Masterclass series, which allows us to host some truly awesome nights of whisky in the lead up to this year’s Sydney Whisky Fair.

We’ll be trying:

Glenfarclas 21-Year-Old
Glenfarclas £511.19s.0d Family Reserve
Glenfarclas 1987 Family Cask
Glenfarclas 1978 Family Cask
Glenfarclas 1977 Family Cask
Glenfarclas 1966 Fino Cask

WHAT: Glenfarclas Whisky Masterclass With Ian McWilliam
WHERE: The Oak Barrel, 152 Elizabeth St, Sydney 2000
WHEN: Wednesday 19 July, 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start
PRICE: Members $75 / Non-Members $85
TICKETS: SOLD OUT

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

Tickets are non-refundable or exchangeable, so please make sure to check your dates before booking. Whiskies subject to change without notice due to unforeseen circumstances.

The Oak Barrel is delighted to confirm that this year’s Sydney Whisky Fair will be returning to the historic Australia Hall for the first time since 2014.

With the first release of tickets set to go on sale tomorrow (Wednesday 20 June at 1pm), we’ve locked in the Hall – located directly above The Oak Barrel – for the August 25/26 event.

While we love the intimate nature of our Cellar Room and warehousing space, which has been the primary venue for Whisky Fair since its inception, Australia Hall gives us the opportunity to have a more open, spacious event.

It also gives us the opportunity to invite more exhibitors!

Sydney Whisky Fair is no stranger to Australia Hall and the event was most recently held there in 2014 (see picture).

The Hall is in the same building as The Oak Barrel, on level one. Entry and exit to the event will still be through The Oak Barrel bottle store.

Located at 150-152 Elizabeth St, the structure in which the Oak Barrel is located was built in the early 1910s, with Australia Hall added in the 1920s. An important building in Sydney’s history, it has long been a meeting place for diverse groups of Sydney’s communities – from indigenous Australians to German migrants, Christian societies and Greek Cypriots clubs.

Australia Hall is listed on the National Heritage List.

We’re proud to continue the Australia Hall tradition of bringing people together to learn, discover and laugh with Sydney Whisky Fair 2017.

Tickets to Sydney Whisky Fair will go on sale to Oak Barrel members Wednesday 21 June. Click here for info.

There will be three sessions to Sydney Whisky Fair 2017, with members tickets costing $90 and guest tickets $110 – a freeze in pricing from 2o16.

Session 1: Friday 25 August, 5.30pm-8.30pm
Session 2: Saturday 26 August, 1pm-4pm
Session 3: Saturday 26 August, 6pm-9pm

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

Tickets for the 2017 Sydney Whisky Fair will go on sale Wednesday 21 June at 1pm.

From 1pm Oak Barrel members will have the ability to purchase tickets through the Oak Barrel website. Members will have a 24-hour priority window to purchase tickets before the guest tickets are put on sale.

Guest tickets will go on sale Thursday 22 June at 1pm, pending availability.

Please note for 2017 all tickets will be sold on-line, you will not be able to buy tickets over the phone.

In order to purchase members tickets, Oak Barrel members will need to log in to their account when directed to the Oak Barrel website. If you are unable to log in, or do not know your details, please contact us here.

There is a limit of one members’ ticket per paid-up Oak Barrel membership. So, if you want to come with a group of friends (and they’re not already members) you might be advised to encourage them to sign up before tickets go on sale!

You are able to purchase member tickets for your friends who are also members by including their name in the ‘Special Requests’ box at the checkout.

Please note, that as memberships are processed manually there may be a 48-hour turn around in activating a new membership. We cannot guarantee that memberships purchased after 9am Monday 19 June will be processed in time for the Wednesday ticket release.

Not a member? Sign up here.

The first release of tickets will be live until allocation is exhausted. There will be a second and final release of tickets in late June.

Sydney Whisky Fair 2017 will take place Friday 25 and Saturday 26 August. In exciting news, we can also confirm we’ll be returning to Australia Hall for the first time since 2014.

A gorgeous, spacious setting, Australia Hall is in the same building as The Oak Barrel on level one. Entry and exit to the event will still be through The Oak Barrel bottle store.

Full details on Australia Hall next week…

New Whiskies In Store

Whisky Fair Masterclasses

Photos From 2016’s Whisky Fair

Western Australia’s Great Southern Distilling – the company behind the Limeburners brand – not only played big part in the formative years of modern Australian whisky, but they’re also responsible for some of the most powerful whiskies ever to come out of this Great Brown Land.

As part of the Sydney Whisky Fair masterclass series, which is a run of intimate sit-down events before the big dance on 25 and 26 August, we’re delighted to prepare The Oak Barrel‘s Cellar Room for some of their most powerful whiskies every.

Limeburners are regular attendees at the Sydney Whisky Fair, and will return in 2017 not only for the Fair, but a very special masterclass showcasing their top end peated expressions.

The unique forcefulness exhibited across the Limeburners range is amplified in their peated expressions.

Last year, the first release of Darkest Winter broke covers in the Cellar Room during a preview release masterclass, before being one of the most talked about whiskies at Whisky Fair 2016. At 65.1% it was the strongest whisky the distillery had ever released and this second edition continues that trend at 63.9.

To mark the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year with the least light – Limeburners are taking this second edition of Darkest Winter around Australia for some very select masterclasses. In tow will be four other peated whiskies, including the Heavily Peated (one of Australia’s most highly awarded expressions ever which is now worth somewhere around $700) and the yet-to-be-released Sherry Cask Directors Cut.

Australian peat is very different to the flavour profiles often associated with the big name Scottish expressions. When your product comes out of the ground, it’s always going to be a product of its environment and Albany, in South Western Australia, is a very different place to Scotland’s Inner Hebrides.

It means that the unique forcefulness exhibited across the Limeburners range is amplified in their peated expressions.

The tasting will be hosted by Limeburners’ Anthony Leadbetter, with the whiskies accompanied by meats and cheese.

What we’ll be trying:

Limeburners Darkest Winter Second Release 63.9% (Best International Craft Whisky 2017 – American Distilling Institute)
Limeburners Heavily Peated 61% (2x Best Whisky Australian Distilled Spirits Awards)
Limeburners Director’s Cut Peated Port Cask 61% (Gold Medal Australian Distilled Spirit Awards)
Limeburners Director’s Cut Peated Sherry Cask 61% (Upcoming release)
Limeburners Peated 48%

In total, the recommended shelf value of the whiskies is somewhere in the $2,000 vicinity. Discount pricing will be offered on the night.

WHAT: Limeburners Winter Solstice: A Night Of Powerful, Peated Australian Whisky
WHERE: The Oak Barrel, 152 Elizabeth St, Sydney 2000
WHEN: Tuesday 20 June, 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start
PRICE: Members $85 / Non-Members $95
TICKETS: [OAK BARREL MEMBERS] [GUESTS]

BOOKMARK THIS PAGE FOR ALL THE WHISKY FAIR MASTERCLASSES

NEW WHISKIES & SPIRITS AT THE OAK BARREL

*As some of these are as-yet-bottled expressions the line-up may change without notice

Tickets are non-refundable or exchangeable, so please make sure to check your dates before booking. Whiskies subject to change without notice due to unforeseen circumstances. 

– Scott Fitzsimons