For Sydney whisky nerds, craft beer diehards and anyone emotionally attached to Newtown-area alcohol production, this is probably about as local as whisky gets.
Two heavyweights of Sydney’s Inner West food and drink scene –Young Henrys (the beloved Newtown brewery) and Ester Spirits (the award-winning Marrickville distillery) – teamed up to release a trio of rare, limited-edition Australian whiskies.
The story behind them is a classic “happy accident.” Roughly a decade ago, shortly after Young Henrys opened, the brewers decided to distill some beer wash, put it into barrels, and essentially forgot about it in the back of their warehouse.
Ten years later, they rediscovered the barrels and partnered with Ester Spirits to finish, blend, and bring the liquid to market. It also marks Ester Spirits’ very first foray into whisky.
The collection features three distinct, highly limited releases:
9-Year-Old Single Malt
The Process: Brewed using a unique combination of pale malt and chocolate malt (giving it a distinct craft beer DNA), aged for nine years, and finished with a heavy sherry cask influence.
ABV: 45%
Price / Availability: $169 AUD (800 bottles available)
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10-Year-Old Rye Whisky
The Process: A rare decade-old Australian rye that was finished in unique Applejack (apple brandy) casks, creating a deep, complex, and spicy character.
ABV: 45%
Price / Availability: $169 AUD (Only 300 bottles available)
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10-Year-Old Full Proof Cask Strength Single Malt
The Process: The crown jewel of the collection. It is the raw, uncut, cask-strength version of the chocolate-malt single malt, offering maximum depth and intensity.
ABV: 55%
Price / Availability: $259 AUD (Extremely rare—only 150 bottles available)
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How to get it: Because of the hyper-limited bottle counts (only 1,250 bottles total across the entire project), these are being sold exclusively direct-to-consumer via the Ester Spirits website on a preorder basis.
