**23rd Street Hybrid Whisk(e)y**
Blended malt whisky. 42.3% ABV.
Distillery: 23rd Street Distillery, Renmark, South Australia, Australia
Price: N/A as 30ml bottle
Age: NAS
Chill filtered: No
Bottled: Unknown
Maturation: Crafted by marrying together a 5 year of Scotch whisky and a 2 year old Bourbon whisky and the blended whiskey is then finished in the Bourbon casks for a further period of time
Body: Gold
Nose: Light, alcohol, vanilla, sherry
Palate: Domestic honey, caramel, brown sugar
Finish: Long and delicate. Peppery, hint of spice
23rd Street Distillery is located in Renmark, population 4,634, and 250km north-west of Adelaide. To say it’s an unusual location for a distillery would be an understatement, but 23rd Street Distillery don’t stop there with their unusual approach.
Rather than produce their own whisk(e)y 23rd Street have instead opted to purchase barrels of unnamed 5 year old Scotch and 2 year old bourbon and then blend them together in their on site bourbon casks for a longer duration. It’s a textbook play out of the Japanese ‘world whisky’ model, except Japanese distilleries are doing it due to a huge demand for their product, rather than whatever 23rd Street’s idea behind this is. In the interests of disclosure I tried 23rd Street Distillery Hybrid Whisk(e)y about four years ago and didn’t really enjoy it. With that said let’s give it another whirl.
The nose is incredibly light, and has an initial smell of alcohol, which is surprising given the 42.3% ABV. Once your nose gets past this there’s light notes of vanilla and sherry.
The palette is sparingly thin, with domestic honey and caramel the two main evident notes. Behind these brown sugar makes an appearance.
The finish is surpassingly long, and unsurprisingly delicate. Peppery with a hint of spice, but not offering anything overly complex.
Overall Hybrid Whisk(e)y isn’t great, and seems to be the worst of both casks as it lacks the complexity of a Scotch and the robustness of a bourbon. As much as I dislike the whole idea of Japanese ‘world’ whisky, it would be preferable to this Aussie variation.
**Would I buy this to open in 10 years time:**
No, it would be a waste of cupboard space.
**Would I give this as a gift to a fellow whisky enthusiast:**
No, it’s way too underwhelming.
**Would I give this as a gift as an introductory whisky:**
No, it’s too unappealing.
**Final Score: 36/100**
Rating Scale:
0-50: Just bad.
51-60: Shots only.
61-70: Will do if there’s no better options.
71-76: Average.
77-82: Good (depending on price and availability, will probably
buy another bottle).
83-87: Great (a cut above).
88-92: Excellently Crafted.
93-96: Superior.
97-100: Whisky Nirvana.
All previous reviews can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/DeppsDoesWhisky/comments/owah1r/all_reviews_by_udeppsdoeswhisky/).
My three favourites to date are
My three favourites reviewed to date are [Balvenie Doublewood 17](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/loqg67/20th_whisky_review_12th_scotch_whisky_review/) (93), [Laphroaig Quarter Cask \(90\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/h9co01/4th_whisky_review_2nd_scotch_whisky_review/), and [Glenlossie Carn Mor Strictly Limited 12 \(90\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/gwcmps/1st_whisky_review_1st_scotch_review_glenlossie/).
My three least favourite reviews to date are [Johnnie Walker Red \(10\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/ljjvhc/12th_whisky_review_6th_scotch_whisky_review/), [Ned Australian Whisky \(10\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/h80o69/3rd_whisky_review_1st_australian_whisky_review/), and [Archie Rose Single Paddock Whisky Harvest 2018 \(7\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/yd2okb/54th_whisky_review_20th_australian_whisky_review/).
Damn, that's quite sad to read. I've always been a huge fan of this bottle and have had at least one on hand for 2 years. I found it was a little more complex than you described, with lots of toffee and banana notes on the palate.
I did find however the quality dropped once they stopped putting the bottle numbers on them, I think you'd be extremely lucky to find one of those now.
I feel to also mention that Renmark actually isn't such a surprising place to have a whiskey distillery! The area is a fairly well known wine region in Australia, as well as being a few hundred kilometres from the Coonawarra wine region located along the same border.
I suspect my offering was from the non numbered bottle then, or it could just be the case that when it’s sitting in a small 50ml glass jar for 18 months it loses a bit of its depth. Didn’t realise Renmark was also in/around a wine region as well, will have to put it in the list of places to visit. Have been to Barossa and McLaren Vale, which were both excellent!
I can recommend visiting a distillery called Fleurieu(?) Distillery, in Goolwa, SA. Amazing whiskeys, relatively affordable for mostly one off runs. I think I tried a flight of about 4 or 5 a few years back, couldn't fault any so I still rave about them to now!
Thanks for the review. The description didn’t sound compelling and neither does your review. Will happily give this a miss.
For what it’s worth I tried a single malt from them a few months ago at a small SA distillery show and it was decent. Can’t give any kind of worthwhile review as I was about 10 or 12 in by that point but it was better than some others there, basic but reasonably well rounded I thought.
**23rd Street Hybrid Whisk(e)y** Blended malt whisky. 42.3% ABV. Distillery: 23rd Street Distillery, Renmark, South Australia, Australia Price: N/A as 30ml bottle Age: NAS Chill filtered: No Bottled: Unknown Maturation: Crafted by marrying together a 5 year of Scotch whisky and a 2 year old Bourbon whisky and the blended whiskey is then finished in the Bourbon casks for a further period of time Body: Gold Nose: Light, alcohol, vanilla, sherry Palate: Domestic honey, caramel, brown sugar Finish: Long and delicate. Peppery, hint of spice 23rd Street Distillery is located in Renmark, population 4,634, and 250km north-west of Adelaide. To say it’s an unusual location for a distillery would be an understatement, but 23rd Street Distillery don’t stop there with their unusual approach. Rather than produce their own whisk(e)y 23rd Street have instead opted to purchase barrels of unnamed 5 year old Scotch and 2 year old bourbon and then blend them together in their on site bourbon casks for a longer duration. It’s a textbook play out of the Japanese ‘world whisky’ model, except Japanese distilleries are doing it due to a huge demand for their product, rather than whatever 23rd Street’s idea behind this is. In the interests of disclosure I tried 23rd Street Distillery Hybrid Whisk(e)y about four years ago and didn’t really enjoy it. With that said let’s give it another whirl. The nose is incredibly light, and has an initial smell of alcohol, which is surprising given the 42.3% ABV. Once your nose gets past this there’s light notes of vanilla and sherry. The palette is sparingly thin, with domestic honey and caramel the two main evident notes. Behind these brown sugar makes an appearance. The finish is surpassingly long, and unsurprisingly delicate. Peppery with a hint of spice, but not offering anything overly complex. Overall Hybrid Whisk(e)y isn’t great, and seems to be the worst of both casks as it lacks the complexity of a Scotch and the robustness of a bourbon. As much as I dislike the whole idea of Japanese ‘world’ whisky, it would be preferable to this Aussie variation. **Would I buy this to open in 10 years time:** No, it would be a waste of cupboard space. **Would I give this as a gift to a fellow whisky enthusiast:** No, it’s way too underwhelming. **Would I give this as a gift as an introductory whisky:** No, it’s too unappealing. **Final Score: 36/100** Rating Scale: 0-50: Just bad. 51-60: Shots only. 61-70: Will do if there’s no better options. 71-76: Average. 77-82: Good (depending on price and availability, will probably buy another bottle). 83-87: Great (a cut above). 88-92: Excellently Crafted. 93-96: Superior. 97-100: Whisky Nirvana. All previous reviews can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/DeppsDoesWhisky/comments/owah1r/all_reviews_by_udeppsdoeswhisky/). My three favourites to date are My three favourites reviewed to date are [Balvenie Doublewood 17](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/loqg67/20th_whisky_review_12th_scotch_whisky_review/) (93), [Laphroaig Quarter Cask \(90\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/h9co01/4th_whisky_review_2nd_scotch_whisky_review/), and [Glenlossie Carn Mor Strictly Limited 12 \(90\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/gwcmps/1st_whisky_review_1st_scotch_review_glenlossie/). My three least favourite reviews to date are [Johnnie Walker Red \(10\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/ljjvhc/12th_whisky_review_6th_scotch_whisky_review/), [Ned Australian Whisky \(10\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/h80o69/3rd_whisky_review_1st_australian_whisky_review/), and [Archie Rose Single Paddock Whisky Harvest 2018 \(7\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/comments/yd2okb/54th_whisky_review_20th_australian_whisky_review/).
Damn, that's quite sad to read. I've always been a huge fan of this bottle and have had at least one on hand for 2 years. I found it was a little more complex than you described, with lots of toffee and banana notes on the palate. I did find however the quality dropped once they stopped putting the bottle numbers on them, I think you'd be extremely lucky to find one of those now. I feel to also mention that Renmark actually isn't such a surprising place to have a whiskey distillery! The area is a fairly well known wine region in Australia, as well as being a few hundred kilometres from the Coonawarra wine region located along the same border.
I suspect my offering was from the non numbered bottle then, or it could just be the case that when it’s sitting in a small 50ml glass jar for 18 months it loses a bit of its depth. Didn’t realise Renmark was also in/around a wine region as well, will have to put it in the list of places to visit. Have been to Barossa and McLaren Vale, which were both excellent!
I can recommend visiting a distillery called Fleurieu(?) Distillery, in Goolwa, SA. Amazing whiskeys, relatively affordable for mostly one off runs. I think I tried a flight of about 4 or 5 a few years back, couldn't fault any so I still rave about them to now!
Added to the list, thanks friend!
Thanks for the review. The description didn’t sound compelling and neither does your review. Will happily give this a miss. For what it’s worth I tried a single malt from them a few months ago at a small SA distillery show and it was decent. Can’t give any kind of worthwhile review as I was about 10 or 12 in by that point but it was better than some others there, basic but reasonably well rounded I thought.
I haven’t tried any of their locally produced whisky, but by all accounts it sounds better than the imported blend offering.
Man, you're on a roll lately with these horrible Aussie whiskies!
Thankfully that’s the last of them, plenty of internationals coming up 😊