Tag: #rockclimbing

Joadja is a relatively recent find for me and is already very special to me, both the location where it’s made, the distillery it’s made in and the whiskey itself.

Whiskey: Joadja Single Malt PX Cask Batch 7 48%

Country of Origin: Australia (Southern Highlands)

The location: Mt Boyce, Walkdown Gully Area

Joadja’s 7th batch of their sexy PX finished single malt comes in a convenient 200ml bottle, so when a whiskey loving mate suddenly wanted to drive to the Blue Mountains for a climb it fit easily into my pack, tucked in against a couple of small whisky glasses.

Mt Boyce is a favourite climbing destination – steeped in history the first ascents of these 70m+ cliffs were with outdated climbing equipment, to the point of being considered dangerously inadequate by today’s standards. Although modernisation has caught up with Boyce the crag retains some of it’s former glory with long, committing routes requiring equipment that can be slotted into the naturally occurring cracks and pockets of the cliff. This style of climbing is more arduous, and in many ways more rewarding, than more modern techniques. The ever present gusts of wind and the long line of jagged buttresses and deep amphitheres make it an atmospheric location.

It was here, perched on a rock in the sun, after ascending one of the classic routes of the area the we treated ourselves to a medicinal couple of drams of Joadja PX to settle the nerves.

I find Joadja’s offerings really exciting – beyond two whiskeys they also product a gin on site (with lemon myrtle a pleasantly dominating and refreshing note), an anise liqueur, a new make and they also import Pedro Ximinez (a fortified wine) from their hometown in Spain. It’s the barrels the PX is shipping in that are used to finish the PX cask whiskey. The whiskey spends two years on wood, any more and the PX influence would be overwhelming.

On the nose: Syrupy raisins, butterscotch,

On the palate: Christmas pudding

The finish: Is long and heavy, leaving you with the PX wine flavours long after you’ve put the glass down.

What do I think: This is a whiskey that excites me a lot. I really enjoy it and although it can be challenging I think that actually adds to the appeal – there is some burn but it suits the style, the PX dominates but it works, it’s super syrupy and sweet but in a sexy way. Two drams and I’ve had enough, but I enjoy those two drams a lot. Against other offerings in your local whiskey store this won’t seem like great value, but find me another estate produced two year old whiskey that drinks anywhere near as well and only then will I reconsider. Joadja don’t make a fuss about it, but their whiskey is an estate production – meaning they grow their own grain, use water from a spring on site and do all spirit distillation, barreling, aging and bottling on site. It gets more exciting when you discover this is a family team who use PX casks direct from their hometown in Spain to finish the spirit and the entire distillery sits within an abandoned historic village, nestled deep within the Southern highlands, south of Sydney. Joadja have only been producing since 2014 so given that and the size of their operation and their approach to sourcing the ingredients I think what they’re producing is very impressive and this is one distillery to watch.

What it reminds me of: Concentrated Aberlour 12 perhaps? Like the most intense sherry or PX cask whisky you’ve every had. Really it doesn’t remind me of anything specific, and that’s kinda cool.