Smoked Ironbark Whisky: Australia's Answer to Peat
Peat aficionados should be pleased to learn that Goodradigbee Distillers is releasing a Smoked Ironbark Whisky.
The Ironbark Firewood Behind It
Back in November ’23 we spent two days woodchopping a tonne of Red Ironbark firewood from the Pilliga state forest. We buy all of our Red Ironbark from up there, and it is the reason our Ironbark Red Whisky is so smooth and soft on the palette. So it made sense to use the same wood to create a ’smoky’.
How a Smoked Whisky Is Made
When creating a ‘malt’, barley is flooded with water and just before it germinates, the malting company applies heat to stall that natural process. This is how distillers extract the most sugar from each grain of barley, and it is the sugar that is converted to alcohol by the yeast during fermentation. With smoked or peat whiskies, the germination is killed with heat and smoke. In Scotland, they burn peat under the barley, but in Australia, we use native hardwoods (well, Goodradigbee Distillers does, and we won’t vouch for anyone else’s process).
Ironbark is famous as an excellent source of firewood because it is so hard and dense. It burns hot and long - a little bit of red ironbark goes a long way. Interestingly, when putting it through a woodchipper, the very characteristics that make it great to burn worked against it. The first woodchipper we hired wasn’t up to the job. We needed a bigger, more powerful machine. Said machine managed (just) to chew through the ironbark, spitting out some chunks that landed across the street and also devoured the broom stick used to poke the blocks into the cutting blades. In the end we managed to create wood chips small enough to smoke the barley. It was very hot that day back in November, and one can’t help but remember the sweat and sunburn that resulted from this two day endeavour. However we were confident the effort would be worth it.
Interestingly, burning Ironbark around a campfire 20 years ago was the catalyst for Distiller John O’Connor think about using Australian hardwoods for maturation, as the smell of the woodsmoke contained hints of sweetness and chocolate, so it makes sense to assume that Red Ironbark firewood would make a great smoked whisky!)
The Phenol Levels
Voyager Malts produced the smoked barley, and its phenol count (a measure of smokiness) was off the phenol scale. A normal phenol rating is 30 - 60 but ours was over 100. So, when producing our experimental washes we blended the Voyager smoked malt with Cooeprs pale malt in a 50 : 50 mix. The result was a very , very strong smoky new make whisky. So when producing the next batch reduced the amount of smoke barley further to around 25%, and the results were fantastic. We produced a gentle on the palette but genuinely delicious smoked whisky that is sure to impress the fans of Scottish peat whiskies so common in the western isles.
Batch Releases
Batch one is ready to be released, so if you’re keen to sample a dram, email us and we can send you some to see what you think. Batch 2 will be stronger, with a mix of 40 : 60 so the phenol scale is up and the effects of the smoked barley more marked. We think it is not just unique but quite brilliant, and as peat whisky fans, we think it will find its place in the Australian whisky scene; unique Goodradigbee wood aged whiskies with a unique Goodradigbee twist. If we cant do something that has never been done before, we don't do it. So, for anyone who has enjoyed our Ironbark Red Whisky, we’re sure this will be an excellent addition to our range.
