Originally posted by Whisky & Wisdom, below is a write up on our maritime whisky.

With so many new Australian distilleries appearing on the market these days, it’s a challenge keeping up with them all.  Whilst there’s no definitive or official number, industry folk estimate there’s currently around 120-140 malt whisky distilleries operating in Australia right now.  Of course, the number of distilleries with matured stock being marketed and sold is somewhat less than this (estimates hover somewhere around 90), but the point is this:  It’s an increasingly crowded space, and it’s become increasingly challenging for a distillery to stand out from the pack; find its point of difference; and tell a new story.  One name that’s definitely singing a new tune is the Waubs Harbour distillery, and its Waubs Harbour whisky.

Waubs Harbour distillery is in Tasmania and, as the name suggests, is located in a coastal location by the water.  This geographical fact forms the heart and backbone of Waubs Harbour and its narrative:  It is a maritime distillery.  The word “maritime” appears almost more times on the distillery’s website than the word “whisky”, and until you’ve checked out the distillery’s location, you could be forgiven for thinking they’re laying it on a bit thick.  By drawing comparisons to the likes of Talisker and other Scottish distilleries that talk up the maritime angle, my initial thoughts were that they were overplaying it.  And then you see the pictures….

As it happens, then, Waubs Harbour is seemingly more maritime than the Scottish distilleries it compares itself to!  Talisker may be right on the water, but it’s set beside a sea loch, and sits some 7km from the open ocean.  Old Pulteney is set back approximately 400m from the water, and even the famed distilleries on Islay are in relatively sheltered bays or nestled in coves.  By contrast, Waubs Harbour sits directly on the ocean, looking straight out at the Tasman Sea.