National Scotch Day is a great opportunity to enjoy a high-quality whisky or two, responsibly, it is also a great opportunity to see that despite very different histories there are a lot of similarities between Scottish and Australian whisky.
Scotch whisky has a history that dates back to the 15th century, and while Australian whisky can be traced back to 1822, the Australian industry that now produces so much great whisky really began in 1992, thanks to Bill Lark. This was the year that he managed to overturn laws, making it possible to distill whisky on a large scale.
Scotch whisky has strict rules in place especially around the casks that must be used to mature spirit. The Australian whisky industry, however, wants to drive innovation, so while there are some rules in place, Australian distillers have a much wider scope to create distinctive flavours.
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Archie Rose is right at the cutting edge of the art of whisky-making, with its state-of-the-art distillery underpinning its industry-leading credentials.
In Archie Rose’s pursuit of quality and flavour, their Single Malt Whisky is crafted using six different malts (while most distilleries will only use one malt in their single malts) and using the distillery’s unique ‘individual malt stream’ process, which sees each malt milled, mashed, fermented, distilled, and aged entirely separately. This system allows the production team to tailor every step of the process to the specific malt – including selection of yeast, cask type and location in the warehouse.
This also means the team can experiment and innovate with yeast and malt varieties often overlooked by distillers when determining the spirit’s eventual flavour profile.
“It’s a hell of a lot of work, but we do it because it allows us to get the most out of the malt, and really accentuate its key defining features,” Master Distiller Dave Withers says.
He adds: “Malt is such a fundamental part of our conversation about whisky,” Withers said. “It is our conviction that whisky starts life in the field, not the distillery.
Archie Rose founder, Will Edwards, said: “Working with these specialty roasted malts is incredibly challenging. From a processing and cost perspective, a heavily roasted chocolate malt typically yields approximately 10-15 times less spirit per tonne than a high-yielding traditional distilling malt, but the sacrifice in efficiency is absolutely worth it for the incredible flavours they contribute.”
Recent research from the Commonwealth Bank found that more than 50 per cent of Australian shoppers want to buy locally sourced and produced products. With quality, local and value all key consumer choices right now, there is no doubt that National Scotch Day is the perfect time to explore homegrown whisky.
“We are proudly an Australian distillery,” Edwards said. “We strive to [work] with Australian maltsters and farmers to develop new malts to push the boundaries of whisky production, improve sustainability, and showcase the best of what Australia has to offer.”
Archie Rose Single Malt Whisky, Rye Malt Whisky, and Double Malt Whisky are available via all good wholesalers, alternatively visit the Archie Rose website to explore their full range of whiskies.
So, challenge the status quo this National Scotch Day, and discover more with Archie Rose whiskies.