Sullivans Cove distillery

In addition to the Lark Distillery, Sullivan’s Cove founded in Tasmania in 1994 is certainly one of the most successful and well-known Australian whisky distilleries. Sullivan’s Cove Single Cask French Oak won the “Best Single Cask Single Malt” award in 2014 and 2019 putting Australian whisky on the international stage for the first time. It is therefore the only distillery that has won this title twice so far. Founder Patrick Maguire sold the distillery to a group of private investors in 2016 in order to raise capital to expand the brand.

How do Sullivan’s Cove single malts taste?

Sullivan’s Cove whisky is often full and creamy characterized by exotic fruits and grain notes. Various spices can also be found again and again in the single malts. Chocolate flavors are often associated with Sullivan’s Cove.

production

Sullivans Cove uses 100% Tasmanian barley for their single malt. It is distilled twice on copper stills that were made in Tasmania. Sullivans Cove mainly uses 200 liters Ex-bourbon barrels and some French oak barrels for maturation. Some barrels previously held sherry and port. Each bottle is filled and labeled on site.

Sullivan’s Cove is based on the production methods of single malt Scotch whisky. The distillery is located on the Australian island of Tasmania, which, by Australian standards, has a comparatively moderate climate. In the south, the higher levels of precipitation and the temperate climate offer good conditions for whisky production.

History

Sullivan’s Cove was founded in 1994, just two years after Bill Lark became the first Australian to acquire a license to distill whisky in over 150 years. For several years, Sullivan’s Cove produced inconspicuously then in 2007 the distillery won the “Best Other Single Malt Whisky” category at the World Whiskies Awards with its single malt. This put the countries burgeoning whisky rebirth on the radar of whisky fans. In 2014 at the World Whiskies Awards the big bang followed. With the award “Worlds Best Single Malt Whisky” Sullivans Cove surprisingly moved into the Hall of Fame of the whisky scene.

In the same year the distillery moved into new buildings, quadrupling its production capacity. In 2019, Sullivans Cove was even able to repeat the success and thus accomplish a feat that no other single malt had ever achieved winning the title again, and showcasing the constant quality of the distillery.

Sullivans Cove factsheet

Can I tour Sullivans Cove?

Yes Sullivans Cove distillery is tourable. On Trip Advisor the distillery has been rated as excellent by 53 of 77 tours to date. This gives Sullivans Cove an overall rating of 4.5