Introducing the latest Oak Barrel exclusive whisky, from one of our favourite Australian brands, Remnant (Nant); we present The Drop Bear. The Drop Bear is an absolute belter of a whisky – distilled in 2011, and matured for 12 long years in a single sherry cask, before being bottled in 2023 at a colossal 67.2% abv!
Peter Bignell has a unique classification system for the Nant single malt that is released under the Remnant brand. Casks adorned with a purple dot don’t meet his high standards; those marked with a black spot are considered exceptional, and those marked with an animal (platypus, cow, owl etc) are considered to be the very best of the best – the Drop Bear is one such cask!
So how did we land on the Drop Bear for this release? Well, despite this whisky’s massive abv of 67.2%, it is ridiculously easy drinking (several industry veterans who tasted a sample of it, in a blind tasting, guessed 48%-54% abv). So, much like the humble Drop Bear, this whisky lures you in with its friendly and approachable appearance, but packs one helluva wallop!
Expect notes of caramel, marmalade, chinotto and a rich, oily, malty palate.
The Remnant story:
Remnant was born out of the debacle that was the Nant barrel investment scheme; the worst white collar crime in Australian whisky history. It is the brainchild of legendary Tassie distiller, Peter Bignell.
Based in Bothwell, Tasmania, Nant distillery produced, and continues to produce (albeit under the Lark banner), phenomenal single malt whiskies. However, a problem arose, as Remnant tell it, “A little over ten years ago [redacted] started a scheme to help finance growth of his fledgling whisky company [redacted]. It is possible in those early days that [redacted] intentions were good but it wasn’t long before [redacted], given a big endorsement by Whisky Bible author Jim Murray, was in financial trouble and [redacted] was selling empty barrels and stealing from other barrels to bottle and sell.”
“Fast forward a little and those investors left with the remnant of the failure were stuck between a rock and a hard place due to [redacted] refusal to fulfil [redacted] contracts in place with investors.
“Enter Peter Bignell of Belgrove Rye Whisky fame and his hastily formed consortium. Peter, a gentleman if ever there was one, felt the pain of the [redacted] investors and put together a rescue deal to purchase the barrels and set out to bottle the whisky that almost never saw the light of day.”
It’s important to bear in mind that these investors, the victims of this $20M scheme, weren’t large, faceless institutions, but every day Aussies, many of whom were financially ruined by it. Many got absolutely nothing out of the deal, however, some were “fortunate” enough to at least be stranded with a barrel of whisky. It’s been said that a certain [redacted] company offered these victims cents on the dollar for these barrels, and that another individual, an executive from [redacted], also independently offered slightly more to establish [redacted] company. It wasn’t until Peter and his consortium founded Remnant, that these victims were finally offered fair market prices for their barrels and were made whole.
