When you’ve been around for a decade, won countless awards and cemented your legacy as one of Australia’s best spirits producers, picking just one achievement as your proudest might seem like a challenge. For Archie Rose founder Will Edwards, however, the new Single Cask Whisky Series stands head and shoulders above the rest. The commemorative release, unveiled to celebrate the label’s 10th anniversary, represents Archie Rose’s highest-quality whisky product, something the brand proudly describes as the “pinnacle of its whisky-making endeavours”.
As part of the new series, three limited-edition releases will be made available in Batch No.1, which officially debuts in June 2024. Among them, you’ll find a Stringybark Smoked Rye Malt Whisky, Heritage Rye Malt Whisky and a Single Malt Whisky. Importantly, however, the three new drops are merely the beginning. Edwards confirmed that consecutive batch releases will arrive every year, with each release aiming to showcase three outstanding whiskies.
“Respect for ingredients has always been at the heart of what we do, and these single-cask whiskies are the purest expression of those ingredients,” Edwards said. “Especially in terms of the painstaking work we put into selecting the best oak in which to mature our whiskies, each cask has a unique story, and a unique flavour profile.”
“It’s an amazing thing to come across a cask and say, “This. This one right here. That’s the essence of what we’re trying to achieve.” It’s a big step for us to be releasing these single casks as it represents a level of maturity for our whiskies, and the company as a whole, that we’ve been working towards for a decade.”
According to Edwards, every whisky in the series is hand-selected by the distillery team from the 35,000 casks currently sitting in the Archie Rose bond store. More often than not, this spirit will make up one of the brand’s much-loved blends or finishes, however, the new Cask Series changes all that. As master distiller Dave Withers explained, the new range celebrates casks that deserve to shine on their own, with the whisky bottled and released uncut and unblended at cask strength.
“These single casks are carefully selected because the production team found something truly remarkable in them,” Withers said. “A quality that could not be diluted by other high-quality casks in a blend. Each one of these single casks had to be bottled on their own to let their beauty shine.”
Archie Rose Single Cask Series
Batch No.1 of the new Archie Rose Single Cask Series kicks off with three new releases, each embodying a different component of the label’s uniquely Australian story. The Stringybark Smoked Rye is made from NSW heritage rye grain, custom-smoked exclusively for Archie Rose over sustainably harvested Australian native stringybark.
The 65.1% ABV bottling has been matured in second-fill French oak, giving it an extremely complex and nuanced oak profile that Withers says beautifully compliments the smokey, spicy heritage rye. According to Archie Rose, this cask was set aside from the 2023 Trials & Exceptions #14 series as an incredible single cask worthy of its own bottling, a decision that is now coming to fruition.
Conversely, the Heritage Rye is perhaps the best example of Archie Rose’s grain profile, paying homage to Australia’s rich history of fortified wines. The 68.2% ABV Single Cask Heritage Rye is a cask strength, single cask of the Riverina sourced heritage rye malt whisky, fully matured in an Australian apera cask.
“The heritage rye profiled in this whisky has been specially cultivated in Western NSW, from heirloom rye grain, that has a darker, smaller seed than modern conventional rye,” the label wrote. “It features an earthy, fresh rye bread aroma with a toasty and biscuity-like sweetness and a classic spicy finish.”
Finally, the Single Cask Whisky Batch No. 1: Single Malt is a celebration of Archie Rose’s whisky-making efforts. This single-cask release is heavy on malt-driven flavours and boasts a rich fruit profile and balanced apera cask influence. At four and a half years old and full cask strength (66.9% ABV), Single Malt is the oldest cask of the three whiskies, with the concentration of flavours delivering a whisky that is both powerful and incredibly complex.
The first drop of the Single Cask Whiskies will be available exclusively at the Archie Rose Bar & Cellar Door and via the label’s online store from 10 June. The Smoked Rye is available for AUD$269, the Heritage Rye is priced at AUD$299, and the Single Malt Whisky will set you back AUD$349. Each Single Cask Whisky bottle will come in a limited edition display box and for those who want to snag all three, a new Archie Rose Whisky Stave Knife, created together with knifemaker Karim Haddad, will be offered as a complimentary gift with the purchase of the set.
