$399.99
Heartwood 2nd Moment of Truth is Duckett throwing the rule book out the nearest warehouse door – a cask-strength vatted malt built not from finished whiskies, but from new-make spirit blended before it ever saw wood. It’s the first time an Australian bottler has married new-makes from different distilleries – Fleurieu and Fannys Bay – in the hunt for what Tim calls a “more complete spirit”.
That “Frankenstein” spirit was then aged in some outrageously seasoned wood: a combo of 30-year-old apera / 60-year-old sherry and 30-year-old apera / 70-year-old Topaque casks, all first-fill, all working overtime. Bottled in March 2022 at a thumping 60.1% ABV, just 233 individually numbered 500ml bottles made it out.
In the glass, expect full-bore sherry-apera-topaque intensity: thick, grapey sweetness, tannic grip, spice, chocolate and a long, mouth-coating finish – a sherried Tasmanian bruiser that still shows surprising balance. It’s already picked up serious praise, including 2023 Southern Hemisphere Whisky of the Year and 2023 Australian Vatted Blend of the Year in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.
Heartwood 2nd Moment of Truth – new-make alchemy, ancient casks and one very loud answer to “how far can you push a vatted malt?”.