The drink is composed of both single malt and rye malt whiskies, and is said to have come about from the accidental vatting of the two spirits by former Cellar Hand, Tim Goode.
Goode explained to The Shout exactly how the blend was created: “I was about to start a filtration and grabbed what I assumed was the right vat off the pallet. Little did I know that the vat had been swapped over. So thinking I had the right stuff, this bulk liquid was sent for filtration first and the second lot of liquid went through and was tainted with everything from the previous filling.”
Master Distiller Dave Withers and Senior Spirits Blender David Fisher from Archie Rose tasted the hybrid whisky before memorialising it with a release.
“To ensure we could share the serendipitous folly of Mr Goode further, we decided to add a few more barrels of Single Malt and Rye Malt Whisky to the blend, finessing the flavour and ensuring we can tell more whisky lovers about the beauty of chance in the whisky world,” Withers said.
Fisher describes Good(e) Whisk(e)y – the latest offering from Archie Rose under its Trials & Exceptions label – as the “best of both worlds”.
“Good(e) Whisk(e)y is truly the perfect blend and is a delicious mixture that has far exceeded our expectations. It’s a fun, flavourful ride combining the very best of our rye malt and single malt,” Fisher said.
Making the most of his love of spirits and passion for distilling, Tim Goode has since risen to the position of Distiller at Archie Rose.
“If you had told me in 2016, when I was a fanatic whisky nerd just starting out behind a bottle shop counter, that I would have a whisk(e)y with my name on it, from Archie Rose of all distilleries, there is no chance that I’d believe it, yet here we are,” Goode said.
“It’s a cohesive and well-balanced dram and the distillers have done a brilliant job turning it into something I am so incredibly proud of,” he added.
Good(e) Whisk(e)y has a cask date of April 2016 to August 2019. The grain recipe consisting of rye (pale malted rye), heritage rye (pale, amber and choc malted heritage rye), and barley (pale, peated, amber, caramel, aromatic, roasted and chocolate malts).
Good(e) Whisk(e)y is available online and from the Archie Rose Cellar Door in Rosebery, Sydney.