Archie Rose whiskies will finally make their debut on shelf in the coming weeks.
A limited-edition Chocolate Rye Malt Whisky is launching on June 27, followed by the release of its first core range Rye Malt Whisky from August 1, nearly five years on from when the Rosebery, Sydney based distillery first began making whisky, gin, vodka and rum.
Chocolate Rye Malt Whisky is single batch of eight Australian Apera (Sherry) casks yielding 1148 bottles under the Archie Rose Concepts label, reserved for the rarest and most interesting releases.
The only whisky of its kind in Australia, Chocolate Rye Malt Whisky uses choc rye, rye malt and barley malt to yield flavours of caraway, mint, shortbread, violets, hot chocolate and fruit jams.
From August 1, batch one of its Rye Malt Whisky will be released as the first of the core range of Archie Rose whiskies.
Work-in-progress cask samples of Archie Rose Rye Malt Whisky have already been awarded Best Australian Whisky at the IWSC Awards in London 2018 and Best Australian Rye Whisky at the consumer-voted 2019 Spirits International Prestige (SIP) Awards in California.
Using selectively sourced rare malted rye and the finest malted barley from progressive malt houses, paired with virgin American oak casks air-dried for 36 months and matured in the maritime air of coastal Sydney, it showcases Archie Rose’s focus on malt, and approach to working with rye, being a far more difficult malt to process than barley.
“Our vision for whisky has always been to speak of our experience as Australians, utilise the incredible raw materials available to us, and strive for genuine innovation in what is typically an extremely traditional industry” said Archie Rose founder Will Edwards.
“We have crafted a distinct, charming and flavoursome spirit which showcases the quality of its components, being unique malted rye, local malted barley and incredible, painstakingly 36-month air-dried oak, as well as the innovative production methods we employ in the distillery.”
The distillery noted that it was passionate about malt being the fundamental building block to its whiskies. Backed by its conviction that whisky starts life in the field rather than the distillery, Archie Rose is working with Australian growers to support this ethos.
“We’re working with growers in Griffith, NSW to revive heritage rye and barley strains and together creating malt crop volume and diversity to support our own products and the future growth of the Australian whisky industry,” said Archie Rose Master Distiller, Dave Withers. “Our overall goal is to source all of our seven varieties of malt from NSW, which would be a pretty special result, and one we will be incredibly proud of.
“A successful brew, fermentation, distillation or maturation is only as good as the malt you start with. We want to put malt back onto the agenda.”
Edwards added: “We’ve spent an enormous amount of time in research and development, looking at how we can create a rich and engaging, complex yet approachable whisky, and we believe we’ve made something really special.”
The Archie Rose whiskies journey is supported by its new Botany distillery, scheduled to commence operations in late 2019. The distillery has been engineered and custom built to support and complement Archie Rose’s unique production processes; including its six-malt single malt mash bill, and extensive use of specialty roasted malts and malted rye.
The Botany site will also enable Archie Rose to convert its existing Rosebery facility into a dedicated research and development site, focused on new production trials and limited-edition products.
Archie Rose Chocolate Rye Malt Whisky will be available from June 27 from the bar at Archie Rose Distilling Co. in Rosebery, Sydney and online at www.archierose.com.au – RRP: $149.
Archie Rose Rye Malt Whisky “1st Batch” will be available for purchase via a ballot allocation drawn on July 27 or from August 1 via www.archierose.com.au and the bar at Archie Rose Distilling Co. in Rosebery, Sydney – RRP: $119.
