The Art of Craftsmanship: Our Limited Edition Archie Rose Knife

To celebrate ten years of whisky, we embarked on a special collaboration to create what we think is the perfect reflection of a dedication to craftsmanship.

The original idea came the way many good ideas do, from some banter behind the bar during a lull in service. Archie Rose team member Hayden shared his preference for a bar knife with a non-serrated blade (serrated bar knives are more common behind the bar, as they are inexpensive and the blade remains sharp for longer). When properly cared for, a high-quality, non-serrated blade will stay much sharper and can be used to make much cleaner cuts when making garnishes. This sparked curiosity, and an interest in different bar knives spread throughout the broader team.

Around the same time, another bar team member, Riahne, had recently been promoted to Senior Bartender and celebrated a milestone birthday. Hayden had the thoughtful idea to gift them something special, a knife of their own, inspired by elements of the bar and distillery. Using some American Oak from one of our old whisky barrels and a copper ferrule spacer to reflect the copper our stills are made out of, he worked on handcrafting a knife, even charring the front piece of the oak handle to reflect the charring process of a whisky barrel.

Riahne’s knife soon garnered acclaim from behind the bar. With our tenth anniversary on the horizon, we became inspired to collaborate with a master bladesmith to create an Archie Rose stave knife, upcycling wood for the handle from our whisky staves. Over months, we collaborated with Karim Haddad and Tharwa Valley Forge on a limited edition run of 100 handcrafted knives. We worked closely together on a design that was ideal for slicing and dicing small items, with a delicate ridge along the timber that acts as a guide by which you can feel which direction the blade runs without needing to look.

The handles are hand-shaped primarily from ex-bourbon American oak (the charring from the inside of the barrel is still visible on some of the handles, so you’ll see a variety of colours) and made in Australia in their ACT workshop. The blade is ground from high-quality German stainless steel—made especially for knives—and is hand-polished before it is sheathed in its protective durable leather pouch. A knife made in a true labour of love, crafted to stand the test of time.

We’ve created these exclusive handcrafted knives as a gift of extraordinary appreciation for our community. With only 100 made, we’ll begin by gifting one of the knives to people who purchase all three bottles of our Single Cask Whisky series.

So, happy ten years of whisky from all of us at Archie Rose.

Shop the series at the Archie Rose Cellar Door on June 10, or online on June 11