One Of A Kind Masterclasses On Offer At Archie Rose
Whisky lovers of the world unite! As well as offering an award-winning whisky range, we also offer a number of curated masterclasses at the Archie Rose Bar & Cellar Door in Rosebery for the curious and creative at heart. Expand your whisky knowledge, blend your own and sample some of the best whisky the world has to offer.
To give you a better understanding of our experiences and why education is a pillar stone for our brand, we pulled up a stool with Experience Hosts Ben and Jami.
What cements Archie Rose as a leader in whisky education?
J: Archie Rose is the perfect place to learn about whisky because all of our staff are passionate about what they do, they are passionate about the product, passionate about whisky in general and we just love talking to people about it. We are able to help people who have never had whisky before or don't think they like whisky find at least one that they can enjoy, helping further them on their whisky journey. Another aspect that sets us apart is that we are happy to meet everybody where they are, at every education level. I always like to pick on one person in my class who doesn’t like whisky and find out what they can tolerate in the hopes that it will open their eyes moving forward so they can see that whisky really is for everyone.
B: When it comes to whisky leadership and the education side of things here, firstly we don’t claim to be the ones who know everything about whisky. But what makes us stand out amongst the crowd is that all our hosts are very passionate. We are also very aware that the people coming in are coming in from all different walks of life. Sometimes they might be super nerds like us and they want to talk shop or it might be the very first time they are trying a whisky and that's why we really want to really emphasise the fact that we are here to have fun.
Why are our Masterclasses central to the Archie Rose brand?
J: With one of our core values being education it is important for us to be able to communicate with everybody about everything we are doing, how we are doing it and why we are doing it. We want to remove the veil of mystery that is distillation and go deep into the science of everything which is why we host these one-of-a-kind experiences. The reason whisky costs what it does is because of all the time and effort and skill that is put into making it. So I think it is really cool that we can showcase all of the inner workings of this process to our guests. It’s important, so they can appreciate the brand a little bit more.
B: I would say these experiences have been as successful as they are because of the staff. They see our passion, our enthusiasm. We aren’t just reading off a script or just going through the motions. We are genuinely really excited about what we are talking about. If people have curveball questions we are here to answer them. With our key pillars as well I often say that Will (Archie Rose founder) didn't want to be the titanic, the biggest, the brashiest, most showoffiest - instead, he wanted to be very focused on a number of key pillars such as education, transparency, innovation and accessibility. The idea for accessibility is that spirits are made accessible to all, and education comes with the idea that people are learning something without it being in a snobby way. The idea of actually appreciating a spirit as opposed to drinking a whisky purely because it's cheaper. And lastly, transparency because we don't have anything to hide, which is evident in our Spirit Data platform online!
What can participants expect from each masterclass?
J: All of our whisky experiences build upon each other, but that being said, you can take the same class twice but no experience is the same. Each host brings their own little special flavour, and we want to help guests connect with the whisky that they will love the most. If you want something that is really hands-on, the Blend Your Own Whisky Class is brilliant! Learn all about the whisky production process, and the huge variety of whisky types and find your flavour. If you want to learn more about Australian Whisky and dive more into what makes whisky here special and unique I would recommend the Australian Whisky Masterclass. Guests get to sample five Australian whiskies from across the country (because we want to share the love). And then if you are new to whisky and want to learn about it in general I would recommend the Introduction To Whisky class where guests learn (and taste) five different whiskies from around the world so they can have a general idea of what each type of whisky tastes like.
B: You don't need to be a master to be a part of these masterclasses, it helps to like whisky but we get a real mixed demographic of people who come through. I have had plenty of people who have come along and think they hate whisky or don’t drink much of it for example and they have told me that they have found a whisky that they have liked by the end of it, or that whisky isn't actually as bad as they originally thought or they have even discovered a new way to drink it!