Ten Years of Archie Rose Whisky
This year, we’re celebrating ten big years of Archie Rose, which means ten big years of whisky-making, too. Here we recap it in a ‘brief’ history of Archie Rose whiskies.
With an enduring mission to bring the highest quality Australian spirits including whisky, gin, vodka and rum to the world, we’ve been distilling and laying down casks since we started Archie Rose in 2014 at our original distillery home in Rosebery, in what we like to describe as a series of “tests and triumphs.”
White Rye
The first of these triumphs emerged in March 2015 with the launch of White Rye, the new make foundation released to showcase the rare malted rye and barley behind our Rye Malt Whisky before any oak interaction occurred. While its an unaged new make, it was a three-time Winner of World’s Best Whisky, including the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, Beverage Tasting Institute and American Whiskey Masters, and was also named Australia’s Best Rye at the International Wine and Spirits Competition. An early high-achiever, you could say.
Chocolate Rye Malt Whisky
In 2019, we released Chocolate Rye Malt Whisky, one of our first whisky releases, as a statement of intent to showcase the diversity of flavour possible from varying the grains used. Drawn from a single batch of eight casks, its flavours of caraway, mint, shortbread, violets and hot chocolate pair with dried fruits and sultanas from maturation in re-shaved, toasted and charred Australian apera (similar to sherry in style) casks. This is just one of our website-breaking releases over the years. It sold out within the hour.
Rye Malt Whisky
Then came our award-winning Rye Malt Whisky, crafted using rare malted rye and the finest malted barley from local Australian malt houses, paired with virgin American oak casks, air-dried for 36 months, and left to mature in the maritime air of coastal Sydney. Soon after release it was named the World’s Best Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards and has gone on to win three other 'World's Best' whisky awards.
Archie Rose x Kaiju! Beer Behemoth Aged Spirit
Our first whisky-related collab under the Archie Rose Concepts label was with Kaiju! Beer, with whom we made a Hopped Rye and the Archie Rose x Kaiju! Beer Behemoth Aged Spirit. The latter saw us take one of Australia's hoppiest and highest-alcohol beers and distil it two and a half times in our 300L copper pot gin still. We then aged it in 50L and 20L ex-bourbon barrels to create a minor release of only 91 memorable bottles.
Smoked Rye Malt Whisky
We continued to explore the depth of flavour with Ironbark Smoked Rye Malt Whisky, which was achieved using smoked water created by melting huge blocks of ice in the Three Blue Ducks wood-fired oven, next door to our Rosebery Distillery, with sustainably sourced NSW ironbark.
Single Malt Whisky
After six years of maturation, 2020 was the year our Single Malt Whisky made it to the bottle. Our Single Malt Whisky has been awarded Australia's Best Single Malt Whisky seven times: San Francisco WSC, World Whisky Masters, World Whisky Awards, Luxury Masters, SIP Awards, Bartender Awards, ASCOT Awards, as well as the Best World Whisky at the ASCOT Awards. Crafted to highlight six Australian malts instead of the traditional one or two, it's one of our two signature whiskies, and with 35,000 casks of whisky now under bond in warehouses around Sydney, we can't wait to take it to the world.
Whisky In Every Port & Sandigo Heritage Rye Malt Whisky
In 2020, we documented a journey between old and new world port casks with the release of Whisky in every Port. The same year saw our first Trials & Exceptions release: the Sandigo Heritage Rye Malt Whisky . Made with malted landrace rye sourced from fourth-generation NSW farmers, this grain has grown continuously near Sandigo, NSW, for over 60 years, adapting to weather, including droughts, floods and storms, to evolve into its own distinct strain.
Archie Rose x ST. ALi Blasphemy Coffee Whisky
We collaborated with Melbourne's ST. ALi coffee roasters to produce Blasphemy, a Coffee Whisky that unites our Single Malt Whisky with ST. ALi Orthodox & Wide Awake Coffee.
Red Gum Smoked Single Malt Whisky & High-Test Molasses Rum Cask Single Malt Whisky & Maidenii Cask Rye Malt Whisky & Stringybark Smoked Single Malt Whisky & Beauty and the Beast Stringybark Single Malt Whisky & Single Paddock Whisky & Good(E) Whisk(E)y
2022 was a year of intense experimentation, with the release of Red Gum Smoked Single Malt Whisky (one of Australia’s very first smoked whiskies infused with red gum timber smoke and the start of our trials with native timber supporting our efforts to move away from imported peat), our High-Test Molasses Rum Cask Single Malt Whisky, the Maidenii Cask Rye Malt Whisky, Stringybark Smoked Single Malt Whisky, and our first Harvest whisky release, Single Paddock Whisky. It was also the year we released Good(e) Whisk(e)y—a true example of “trials and exceptions” which came about when former Cellar Hand (and now Distiller) Mr Goode accidentally blended our Single Malt and Rye Malt Whisky, creating a new hybrid that Master Distiller Dave Withers thought was so brilliant it deserved a release!
Sandigo Rye Malt Whisky, Smoked Heritage Rye Malt Whisky, Stringybark Smoked Heritage Rye Malt Whisky, Double Malt Whisky and Whisky Gone A Rye #2
2023 was a year of reflection with our Return to Sandigo Rye Malt Whisky and Whisky Gone A Rye #2, and also included the release of Smoked Heritage Rye Malt Whisky and Stringybark Smoked Heritage Rye Malt Whisky. The year finished with the release of Double Malt Whisky, as part of the Fundamental Spirits range and the first Australian malt whisky available locally for sub $85, in line with our mission of finally giving Australians the option to choose authentic local whisky instead of imported whisky.
Lunar New Year Single Malt Whisky & Heritage Red Gum Cask Single Malt Whisky
We kicked off 2024 with a Lunar New Year Single Malt Whisky wrapped in beautiful artwork by Louise Zhang and launched our Heritage Red Gum Cask Single Malt Whisky, too, an exceptional whisky that pays tribute to Master Distiller Dave Withers and the winemaking legacy of his father and grandfather: a limited edition single malt whisky matured in a cask made from Australian native red gum used to mature apera fortified wine for many decades.
If you’re still with us, you’ll be equally amazed at the diversity we’ve released over ten years. Those that have endured and made their way into our core range of spirits, as well as all of the Concepts, Harvests, Trials & Exceptions and Limited Edition bottles that have been enjoyed. The wonderful thing is we still feel like there’s so much to explore. Whisky forever.
