Image – Archie Rose Distilling Co.
Firstly, I’d highly encourage you to read Dave Withers’ wonderful piece on the story and history behind this new Red Gum Cask single malt whisky.
I first heard the story and saw the casks when Dave was showing me around the Archie Rose Banksmeadow site back in December 2020. What a yarn! There’s exceptional heritage and passion behind the making of this whisky, and that shows in the final drop.
I’ve visited many wineries across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia in the last decade where parcels of these old native wood casks have been hidden away for decades. Records that I’ve come across indicate that native wood casks have been used to mature wine, spirit and beer in Australia since the late 1800s, possibly earlier. However, they were understandably derided for the unwanted flavours they introduced.
It was only very recently that winemakers, distillers and coopers cottoned on to the utterly unique proposition these casks can bring to aged whiskies, rums or even brandies.
Unfortunately, most of these old red gum and jarrah casks and vats, many of which date back to the 1920s, 30s and 40s, were disposed of or turned into furniture. But some have survived, so I’m hoping that this bottling is the first of more to come. (The second fill potential here is even more exciting.)
Both myself and Ev Liong have been covering this little native wood whisky trend for a number of years now. Leigh and Bree Attwood at Backwoods have been leading the charge, while a number of other distillers are learning about how best to harness the powerful flavours these woods inject into their whiskies.
Long term, there’s still a lot of scepticism around the viability of the practice, because it seems likely that native wood needs to be seasoned and treated for many years before it can be used to successfully mature spirit.
But for the moment, put aside your prejudice and get out and try this new Archie Rose expression.
