“Have no fear of perfection - you’ll never reach it” - Salvador Dali

At Archie Rose, we’ve never been much for following the recipe. The whole point of what we do is, and always has been, to create something new. Our Trials & Exceptions series is where we do our experimenting. It’s the confluence of art and science - part laboratory, part studio - where our distillers and blenders can let their imaginations loose, driven by our thirst for discovery.

As Archie Rose Founder Will Edwards puts it, our Trials & Exceptions series is a way for us to share with you the research and development we do every single day. “‘In what is still a typically traditional industry, we’re having lots of fun seeking out new ingredients and raw materials and developing production techniques to push the boundaries and show what’s possible in distillation,” he says.

Trials & Exceptions uncovers our most exciting single casks and small batch trials, offering first-hand insights into the raw ingredients, processes and people involved in the production of our spirits. Over the course of the last few years, we’ve released 15 different products under the Trials & Exceptions banner. These have included world firsts, like a rye whisky smoked with Australian native timber, and experiments like our Sandigo Heritage Rye Malt Whisky, our first Trials & Exceptions release, which has informed how we make all of our rye whiskies now and into the future.

Here’s a brief look at some of the other weird and wonderful Trials & Exceptions we’ve released since its launch in 2020:

#01: Sandigo Heritage Rye Malt Whisky

#02: Hunter Valley Shiraz Spirit

#03: High Test Molasses Rum

#04: “A Whisky in Every Port” Port Cask Single Malt

#05: “Whisky Gone a Rye” #1

#06: High Test Molasses Rum Cask Single Malt

#07: Redgum Smoked Single Malt

#08: Good(e) Whisk(e)y

#09: Maidenii Nocturn Cask Rye

#10: Fancy Molasses Rum

#11: Stringybark Smoked Single Malt

#12: Refiner’s Molasses Rum

#13: Mill Molasses Rum

#14: Smoked Heritage Rye Malt

#15: Return to Sandigo Rye Malt

#16: Whisky Gone A Rye #2

Trials & Exceptions is also the place where happy accidents can find a home, because as a wise person once said, mistakes are just proof that you’re trying new things. We’re pretty sure no one came up with gorgonzola deliberately (who would’ve thought mouldy cheese would be delicious?), but we’re glad they did, and so we’re happy to screw up every once in a while in the pursuit of the unexpectedly delicious.

An example of just such a happy accident is our latest release - Whisky Gone A Rye #2. This is the second time (whoops), that a parcel of lovely Australian fortified wine casks that were intended for our single malt whisky were accidentally filled with rye malt spirit instead, making it one of the only rye whiskies ever made aged in Apera casks. Sounds like something we meant to do, right?

Are we mad at the mistake? Not really, because the first batch of Whisky Gone A Rye (Trials & Exceptions #05) was delicious, so we’re kinda glad to have this weird little cross-breed (can we call it an “Apera-doodle”? A “rye-a-poo”?) back in stock. The first batch also sold out in no time, so we’re happy to be able to offer it again to everyone who loved it, or wanted a bottle and missed out the first time around.