Editor’s Letter, by Harriet Leigh
The most wonderful time of the year is upon us. Gay Christmas is here.
This year is our fourth proud year of supporting Mardi Gras. We’ve been an overjoyed partner every step of the way. Everyone at Archie HQ gets into the swing of it. Rainbows descend upon us, as they tend to do. We’ve weathered many storms together—from COVID, which never seemed to end, into the SCG, out of the SCG. Closed borders. Mask mandates. It all seems so long ago, and yet it’s sort of permanently ingrained in our psyche. Mardi Gras is as much about resilience as it is about pride. The queer community has long known how to throw a party and to do it in whatever form the law allows. So while last week's news of Fair Day being cancelled was truly gutting, together we’ve weathered a lot worse than asbestos, and we’ll continue to do so.
Enough of the things that won’t happen because there is so much that will. And we’ll be pouring our hearts and gin into all of them.
We loved Ultraviolet last weekend at the National Arts School (another beloved partner of ours and host to March’s StickyBeak Festival. We're looking forward to the events we’re hosting at the Archie Rose Bar & Cellar Door in Rosebery, and, of course, the many parties, gatherings and events happening across bars, galleries, clubs and the streets.
We’ll also be playing our new conversation card game, “Tell it to me Straight”, encouraging each other to tell funny and embarrassing stories with pride and resilience. We’ll play while drinking our Straight Dry Gin, of course. It only makes sense.
And when we feel like switching it up, this month, we’ll be drinking our brand new Heavy Cane and Red Gum Cask Single Malt Whisky—two completely different spirits on opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a bright and lively white rum, and the other is a mellow, rich whisky with a story beyond compare.
In this issue, we’ve asked Dave (our master distiller) to share the powerful story behind the whisky with us. It’s such a deeply personal story for Dave, and it’s produced a truly remarkable whisky. We’re all very proud of it, and we hope you all enjoy drinking it.
Unusually for us, we haven’t created any cocktails for this spirit. We genuinely believe that to appreciate it truly, you should drink it neat or with a touch of water or a little ice.
We’ve also asked the bar to tell us about their top-selling cocktail—their take on a Batida— otherwise known as a Weis bar whipped up with a shot of Heavy Cane. It’s impossible not to fall in love with this drink - and it’s so easy to make at home.
- Harriet Leigh, Head of Hospitality at Archie Rose Distilling Co.
