Well last week I promised some articles on various different things in home brewing and I still have not written them, unfortunately the Christmas season has caught up with me.

But what I will tell you about is a fantastic meal I had last night.

In the South East of South Australia just outside a town called Mount Gambier is a restaurant called the “Barn Steakhouse” which obviously specialise in Steaks, but they have an excellent range of very good wines and spirits as well which complement their meals very well.

I did not have a huge night out, only 3 drinks for the night, I was driving (it’s 5-10minutes out of MtGambier)

I started the evening with just a Cascade Premium Light beer with just a Tomato, Basil and boccichini Bruschetta.

With my steak (Chef’s special Rump steak) I had a very nice Balnaves 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Coonawarra regional in South Australia, I love red wine, but I’m not good at descriptions (I’m not a wine snob – I just enjoy it rather than try to make myself look good with fancy desciptions of a wine’s characteristics), but I recommend this one.

I do not normally indulge in deserts, but the offering from the Barn Steakhouse is difficult to turn down, I had the Spanish style cinnamon doughnuts with a rich chocolate sauce and an icecream that was very nice but I could not work out what was in it (tasted great though)

And the main event of the evening perfect a glass of Talisker 10 year old Scotch

I’d never tried Talisker before, but I will again!!

Once again I’m not good with descriptions of this drink so I’ll use the description from Wikipedia

Character

Talisker is known for its above average peat content, and "salty" (or "spicy") character. While the brand is generally well-accepted and sells well, the high phenol level and distinct taste may prove "challenging" for the casual whisky drinker. The distiller began producing special bottlings of the whisky for connoiseurs in the early 2000s, with a 20 and 25 year bottling (where previously only a 10 year and 18 year were available). The 25-year bottling was, despite being more expensive than the 20-year bottling, distributed more widely. Both have proved to be relatively popular.

The malt used is peated to a phenol level of approximately 25 parts per million (ppm), which is quite high. Additionally, the water used for production, from Cnoc nan Speireag, flows over peat which adds additional peatiness to the whisky.

Both Johnnie Walker and Drambuie (a liqueur, not a whisky) use Talisker as a component of their blended drinks; its presence is most notable in Walker's Green Label 15 Year Old Pure Malt.

Bottlings

10 years, bottled off-site

18 years, unavailable in some areas

20 years, limited run of 9,000 bottles

25 years, limited run of 25,000 bottles

30 years, limited run of 2,958 bottles

Distiller's edition, finished in amoroso casks

History

The distillery was built in 1830 by Hugh & Kenneth MacAskill, and expanded in 1900. During this early period, the whisky was produced using a triple distilling method, but changed to the more conventional double distilling in 1928. The distillery was nearly destroyed by fire in 1960, however five exact replicas of the original stills were constructed to preserve the original Talisker flavour.

Talisker was a favourite whisky of writers Robert Louis Stevenson & Henry Vollam Morton, and contemporary bassist Christopher Sadlers.

The distillery operates five stills, two wash stills and three spirit stills. All the stills use condensing coils rather than a modern condenser, which are believed to give the whisky a "fuller" flavour (itself an indication of higher sugar content).

Please Note: I have nothing to do with this establishment, I’ve been here several times and always enjoy it there, my wife loves it, even though it is a steakhouse and my wife is vegetarian, they always do her a fantastic vegetarian meal everytime we go (they do need prior notice!!)