Boutique-y Tin Shed (Iniquity) 3-Year-Old Batch 1

The batch one release from Australia's Tin Shed distillery, home of Iniquity single malt whisky, bottled by Scotland's That Boutique-y Whisky Company.

This Batch 1 is part of the independent bottler's inaugural Australia series, which features eight whiskies from downunder distilleries, released in April 2021.

This three-year-old is a bizzare mix of casks, an ex-port cask that was finished in ex-pinot gris.

443 bottles in the release, with approximately half of that allocated to Australia.

TBWC's take on the Tin Shed: 

"This whisky was originally matured in two small Ex-Tawny Port casks, before being moved to an ex-Pinot Gris cask, a rare sight in whisky production. Being located so close to the Adelaide vineyards, Tin Shed are perfectly poised to experiment with unusual cask types such as this.

"For production, Tin Shed use Australian made copper pot stills, electrically heated. They’re short and fat, resulting in high copper contact and a big, oily spirit. Their annual capacity is just 41,000 litres. They started producing whisky in 2013 and where possible, their whiskies are made from local barley. They occaisionally smoke their barley with mallee root, from Australian Eucalyptus trees."

Nose: Cherry Bakewell tarts, Battenberg cake & dried apricot.

Palate: Thick and chewy, red berries and toasted malt.

Oak Barrel comments from a preview tasting of the series: 

A floral and bright nose, crushed flower petals and citrus with a backbone of dark fruits. The palate is chewy, cherries and wet oak and juicy red fruits.

TBWC on the label:

"Yeah, we’ve fallen for that ‘down under’ malarky with our Tin Shed label. Everything in the picture upside down. Corny eh?

"That’s founder Ian ‘Schmiddy’ Schmidt with his parrot on his shoulder, standing in front of his vine covered warehouse.

"Schmiddy was once a flagpole salesman, so our label just HAD to have one, the brand logo flag flying proudly."

One of Scotland’s most prolific independent bottlers, Boutique-y share an ethos with The Oak Barrel that whisky is meant to be drunk, whisky is meant to be fun. Known for their bright labels and excellent juice, they have bottled most distilleries in Scotland and are increasingly expanding to include whiskies from around the world – which is where this series of Australian whiskies fits in.

Their limited-edition labels are designed by Emily Chappell and reference interesting elements (or in-jokes) about the distillery. Their batches, which can be single casks or married from a number of casks, are bottled at the strength they deem the whisky is most enjoyable at.