Sullivans Cove Completes Unbroken Lineage of Australia’s Oldest Whiskies with 23-Year-Old Ex-Bourbon Cask

By Ben McKimm - News

Published: 21 Feb 2026

ShareCopy Link0

Readtime: 4 min

Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here.

• Sullivans Cove releases a rare 23-year-old single cask whisky.
• Priced at $2,500, it marks the end of the “HH” era.
• Only 194 bottles of Cask Nº HH0619 exist worldwide.
• This release completes the distillery’s unbroken line of aged whiskies.

You know you’re old when you remember the old days of Australian whisky. Well, not the really old days when a couple of moonshiners decided to age the stuff in port wine barrels, but just over a decade ago, before Sullivans Cove became the first distillery outside Scotland or Japan to be named the World’s Best. It was a monumentous occasion that put the little island at the end of the world on the map, and finally had the rum-drinking folks on the mainland itching to get down to Van Diemans to get a taste of the award-winning stuff.

Back then, most of the world’s whisky enthusiasts were just trying to get their hands on one of the limited edition bottles. It was hard to get, and it still is, but that’s for good reason. The distillery was thinking ahead, ten, twenty years and tucking away some of their best in the hopes that it would one day carry on that legacy. With careful management from Patrick Maguire and Heather Tillott, the fruits of their labour have now been revealed.

None is more scarce and sought-after than the ‘HH’ era releases, which span four years from 1999. Remember that this is a decade before the whisky boom, so only 162 casks were filled in total (approx. 32,400 litres). Today, the brand releases another to the world: the Sullivans Cove 23 YO American Oak Ex-Bourbon Single Cask Nº HH0619, priced at AUD$2,500 and available for purchase on the distillery’s website in very limited quantities.

Sullivans Cove 23 YO American Oak Ex-Bourbon Single Cask Nº HH0619 Specifications:

Here are some key details for the cask:

• Cask Filled: 21/05/2001
• Decanted: 25/02/2025
• Age: 23 Years, 9 Months
• Bottles: 194
• Alc/Vol: 47.6%

It’s rare that a whisky of this magnitude is available for public purchase, let alone online. We’d be lying if we didn’t mention that it’s a sign of the times, a tough one for the spirits industry across the board, driven by taxes and cost-of-living pressures. However, it presents an opportunity for those whisky enthusiasts who have long wanted to add a piece of Australian whisky history to their collection.

These are the tasting notes for Sullivans Cove 23 YO American Oak Ex-Bourbon Single Cask Nº HH0619:

• Nose: Creamy and inviting, with the soft, sweet warmth of buttered sourdough and vanilla custard. Bright sparks of pine-lime cordial and charred pineapple lend vibrancy, while creaming soda and prune juice nod to a sweeter, nostalgic core. Unmistakably HH era spirit.
• Palate: Luscious, creamy, with a juicy, mouth-coating grip. Sweet oak and vanilla musk form the foundation, layered with maple syrup, shortbread and cookie dough. Bright bursts of milk bottle lollies and fruit leathers unfold into peaches, strawberries and a flicker of roasted pumpkin.
• Finish: Endlessly indulgent. Buttery shortbread and pine nuts give way to fireworks of juicy fruit – lemon drops, passionfruit, sherbet, vanilla wafers. Long, full and sweet.

“Seriously special — a whisky of immense character and unmistakable gravitas,” said Heather Tillott, Distillery Manager, on the release. “Both art and archive, it captures the historical significance of the HH era and the sheer joy of flavour without restraint.”

This release completes the ‘HH’ era of casks, including the flagship 25 Year Old American Oak (Casks HH0010 & HH0056), released in October 2025, which claims the title of the oldest single malt ever bottled in Australia. Cask HH0056 was strictly by invitation, while HH0010 was released via public ballot. Sitting above again is the 24-Year-Old American Oak Apera Finish (Cask HH0005), released in mid-2025 and an extremely rare cask that spent nearly a quarter-century maturing.

Finally, the bottle we see here can be purchased on Sullivan’s Cove Distilleries’ website right now via the link below.