Rue de la Chartreuse, a first of its kind whisky made by Amber Lane Distillery, will be released to the public on 16 May in celebration of International Chartreuse Day.
With just 230 bottles available, the Central Coast distillery said it is the first ever whisky to be aged in a Chartreuse cask.
Famous for its yellow and green colour, the herbal liqueur originated at a French monastery using a 400-year-old recipe.
Amber Lane Distillery Co-owner, Rod Berry, said the goal was to pay homage to the traditional Chartreuse liqueur, which is steeped in about 130 botanicals.
“This whisky has been a five-year labour of love for us and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome,” he said.
“The recipe for Chartreuse is such a closely guarded secret – the monks even have botanicals not included in the recipe delivered to the distillery to disguise the correct list of components – so we knew our offering had to have the depth of flavour, richness and vibrancy of the much-beloved Chartreuse liqueur.
“The whisky’s name is also a tribute to the traditional Chartreuse, with a French spin on Amber Lane.”
The whisky was first aged in a single bourbon cask before moving into a 225-litre Yellow Chartreuse cask for seven months, resulting in a vibrant yellow dram, according to Berry.
It then returned to the bourbon barrel to rest before water was added to bring the spirit down to 46 per cent ABV.
“Our mission is to take people on a whisky journey, hence the ‘lane’ part of our moniker,” Berry said.
“In this case, we wanted to take people down a French laneway – the Road of Chartreuse – where they can try something that has never been done before.”
Amber Lane’s tasting notes for the whisky include honey, botanicals, lemon meringue, vanilla, gentle spice and a hint of aniseed.
The 700ml Rue de La Chartreuse is now available for wholesale with an RRP of $195.