Morris Australian – Single Malt

The Single Malt from down under!

DISTILLERY	Copper and Grain Distilling
REGION	Rutherglen, Victoria – Australia
AGE	NAS (But aged for at least 3 years)
STRENGTH	44% ABV (88 Proof)
MASHBILL	100% Malted Barley
MSRP	~$60

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GLANCE

Clear with medium to deep intensity. Dark gold with a polished wood hue.

NOSE

Clean with medium intensity. Wildflower honey, oak and honeydew. Bright strawberry with blueberries. Notes of caramel with a hint of mango. As it opened up more I got aromas of coconut, dates and raisins. Very lively nose

PALATE

Medium sweetness and medium flavor intensity with a watery to mouthfilling texture. Not oily or very viscous mouthfeel. As on the nose I got some more wildflower honey but this time with biscuits and stewed fruits (strawberry & blueberry jam). There are some earthy + vegetal notes with dates and raisins. In the middle of the palate there are flavors of apricot and fig. Towards the back of the palate caramel and vanilla enter. Also, towards the back of the palate there is some ginger and dark chocolate as well. But these flavors towards the back-end of the palate fade fast.

FINISH

Short medium and simple. Honey, tobacco with vanilla

CLOSING REMARKS

I first learned of Morris couple years ago at a whisky event, where their master distiller Darren Peck led us through a tasting of their core lineup. At the time I was very intrigued and left the event with Morris very much on my radar. For Morris, the power of flavor comes from their barrels. Morris Whisky comes from the famed Morris wines where they are known for producing award-winning fortified wines.

Casella Family Brands acquired Morris Winery in 2016 and whisky production began in the same year. The collection of rare, fortified wine barrels at Morris presented an opportunity to produce some truly unique single malts. The barley is 100% Australian malted barley. They utilize a copper pot and column still which has been on the property of Morris of Rutherglen since 1941. Their flagship single malt is aged in a combination of american and french oak ex-Shiraz and Cabernet red wine barrels from Australia. Then it is finished in a combination of Morris fortified barrels.

Now on to the single malt in question. This whisky has personality and it has some character. The nose is an amazing bouquet and invites you in for a sip or two or three. The palate continues the hype created by the nose but then flavors begin to fall of fast. The end of the palate is quite muted. Finish is quite uneventful. After chewing, I was able to pick up on more flavors but they aren’t evident from the get go and take some time to appear. The spirit appears young and its youth shows. I really liked how the Morris’s multiple level aging + finishing process yielded an overall well balanced product with some great flavors. At a $60 price range, if you want to try a single malt that’s not from Scotland but has some flavor complexity of a great Scottish single malt – this might fit the bill. This is a very solid product and I look forward to trying other expressions from the distillery. Cheers!

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