Cape Byron Distillery in Byron Bay has become the first distillery in the world to make a Macadamia Liqueur Cask Whisky, launching on April 29, with a limited release of 550 bottles.
Barrel-aged whisky might have long been associated as a gentlemen’s-only domain, but evidence shows more women are drawn to the spirit as a top shelf choice, and this new limited edition release could be just the ticket to tempt the sweeter palette.
The Mac Liqueur Cask Whisky is steeped in the richness of macadamia nuts and wattle seed liqueur – imparting a decadent flavour hit of butterscotch, coffee and dark chocolate notes.
Women now account for more than 35% of the whisky market in Australia, and proof is in the distilled product, that the demand for a sweeter finish is desirable regardless of gender.
“Our followers and subscribers are 65% women, so yes we are experiencing more women exploring whisky,” says Cape Byron Distillery CEO and distiller Eddie Brook.
“We also know that this category is still very much a male-dominated 50+ demographic, so this new release is not so much a lure to the sweeter palette, but an exploration of our Mac liqueur and to showcase our provenance,” he says.
“Many whiskies have explored casks that held sweet-style sherry and fortified wines, but not really liqueurs and no one has tried seasoning their casks with macadamia liqueur before,” says Brook.
According to Brook, the new whisky is their most approachable to date. There is zero peat smoke, a subtle milk chocolate, roasted macadamia character with apricot marmalade finish.
“There’s a freshness from the rainforest maturation, we use full format size casks, so it’s not dominated by oak flavour and we are excited for whomever decides to enjoy this whisky,” he adds.
The Mac Liqueur Cask Whisky is a fusion of the distillery’s premium whisky craftmanship combined with Brookie’s Macadamia and Wattle Seed liqueur. It’s an experiment that’s worked in their favour.
“The original Mac Liqueur was placed into our ex-bourbon casks for several months creating a richer and bolder nut liqueur that we called Barrel Aged Mac and bottled at 30%abv,” says Brook.
“These casks have now been beautifully seasoned with the nut liqueur and we thought we’d have some fun with our whisky and finish the whisky in these unique liqueur casks. The result is Mac. Liqueur Cask Whisky, with a milk chocolate, cereal sweetness and buttery macadamia palate. We’ve previously seen various fortified wine with a rich sugariness to season casks before, but the influence of liqueur seasoning is a rarity,” he says.
