Supplied
Archie Rose Distilling Co. recently unveiled their eagerly anticipated Australian Double Malt Whisky. The release has long been on the cards since the launch of the distillery’s Fundamental Spirits range in October last year, and we now know that this new blend of rye and barley malt whiskies will land at a competitive $85 (700ml).
The Double Malt will become one of the most significant Australian whisky releases of the year and follows hot on the heels of Manly Spirits Co’s Xplore Blended Whisky ($79), which hit the shelves a couple weeks back, and Iniquity’s Talamara ($99), another new sub-$100 malt whisky released by Adelaide’s Tin Shed Distilling Co. Throw in whiskies from Starward, The Gospel, Morris, Ned Whisky, 78 Degrees, Bond 7 and The Grove and there’s now a tidy group of Australian offerings between $70-$100 available.
This is the first whisky release from Archie Rose’s Banksmeadow distillery, which came online in 2021. Detailed information for each batch will, as per usual, be available on Archie Rose’s Spirit Data page, an amazing level of transparency for a whisky of this nature.
The rye and barley malt components are pot distilled and matured in Australian apera, sherry, Bourbon and virgin American oak casks. Currently, the components are between 2 and 2.5 years old and the Double Malt is made with a ‘solera’ system where, over time, component casks will be married together and each batch bottled from the solera. The final composition for each batch will land somewhere around a 50-50 ratio between rye and malt whisky, although that might slightly change in future.
Archie Rose Double Malt launch – Oz Whisky Review
At the launch event in Melbourne, some of the component whiskies used to create the Double Malt were on pour, and it was fascinating to see how the team arrived at the final marriage. Archie Rose’s meticulous master distiller Dave Withers was there to guide attendees through the process, and I briefly caught up with him to chat all things Double Malt. Clearly, he was excited to be releasing an affordable, distinctively Archie Rose whisky from the sci-fi Banksmeadow site.
‘We’ve wanted to take whisky to the masses forever. And most importantly, this release is about Australian whisky to the masses,’ says Withers.
‘Starward have been doing this for a long time and great props to them. When they brought Two-Fold out I think that really changed the game.
‘But the way we look at it is, Starward’s not our competition. Manly Spirits Co. is not our competition. Our competition is imported spirits that are already sitting in bar rails that don’t speak of the Australian experience. That’s what we want to change.’
Dave Withers, Archie Rose master distiller – Supplied
There’s no doubt change is brewing in Australian whisky, and releases like the Double Malt throw up a number of talking points about how the industry is progressing. But what actually is this new Double Malt? How should it be classified, and how would you describe it to the average punter?
‘We describe it as a blend of malt whiskies.’ Withers says. ‘This is not a blended whisky. This is made with malted barley, it’s made with some quite unique and rare types of malted rye and malted barley, and it’s made entirely by us at our site. When you start to apply that lens to it, it’s much closer to malt whisky than a blended whisky.’
I take Withers point there, but Double Malt isn’t a new term, as others have pointed out, and it comes with some baggage.
As a bartender, I’ve had customers confusedly ask for a ‘double malt’ more than a few times over the years. It has no meaning as a technical term, but I guess that, for some, it signifies a doubling in complexity over and above the vaunted and highly regulated (at least in Scotland) ‘single’ malt term.
Hilariously, this is the (unofficial) story of how the name was hit upon. Archie Rose’s head of hospitality Harriet Leigh overheard someone asking a bartender for a double malt and the team subsequently decided the term was apt for their new blend of malt and rye.
Supplied
It will be interesting to see how consumers take to the name over time, and I’m especially interested to see how the Double Malt is ultimately positioned: is this a sipping whisky or a cocktail whisky? Is it both? Does the distinction even matter?
‘I think it has to do all of the above,’ Withers says. ‘I think there are some solid examples of international brands that find that neat serve and also find the mixing serve. That’s what we’re trying to do.’
Withers thinks that the opportunities for Scottish-style whiskies in cocktails are fairly limited, and that the rye component in the Double Malt will hopefully open up more opportunities in American-style cocktails. But ultimately, they’ve tried to create something that will appeal to all camps – malt whisky lovers, Bourbon lovers, rye fans, Withers wants to engage everyone.
‘Maybe you’re a Scotch drinker, and it’s like, well, try this, there’s malt here. Or maybe you’re a Bourbon drinker – try this, it’s got a little bit of rye. There’s that kind of hybridisation that gives it a twist, gives it some interest and makes it more engaging.’
Supplied
Throw in the use of various rye and barley malts (pale malt, amber malt and rye malt) and the malt stream process to individually create the different components, and you’re looking at something that isn’t without precedent internationally but is certainly unique.
Stauning Rye Whisky and the recently launched InchDairnie RyeLaw are similar in style, while other Canadian and American whiskies are playing around with malted rye and barley in a comparable fashion.
But with the Double Malt being priced in a more affordable bracket, its mixability is key. I’ve tasted the Double Malt in an Old Fashioned, Manhattan and a Boulevardier, and with soda, ginger ale and Fever Tree Distillers Cola. Ginger ale and the cola were my favourite basic mixers, and while it absolutely works in cocktails, it’s not the simplest fit.
‘On the nose and in the glass by itself, I think the approach is right. But depending on what you pair it with in cocktails, you’ll get different results,’ says bar manager Lachy Boyle from Black Pearl, the award-winning bar that hosted the Melbourne launch event.
Archie Rose Distillery & Bar, Rosebery – Supplied
Could the Double Malt kick out a Bourbon, rye or blended Scotch from the bar rail?
‘I think it could,’ Boyle told me. ‘In a cocktail, it’s much closer to Bourbon, but if you try this side-by-side with a classic Rittenhouse-style rye, very different style of drink. It depends on the other ingredients you use it with, what vermouths, bitters or modifiers, etc. Doesn’t make it any better or worse for that. It’s characteristically an Australian spirit, which is great.’
As I wrote a while back, getting Australian whisky into bars and inspiring bartenders to mix with them is a huge challenge for the local industry. The trade have long held up price and supply as the primary barriers. But with multiple Australian whiskies now competing in that space, will the bar industry, which is so beholden to international conglomerates and their flagship products, finally get on board?
From October, two pre-mix RTDs featuring the Double Malt will also be added to the Archie Rose Fundamental Spirits range and they’ll certainly help to spread the Archie Rose story to an even wider base. The largest spirits category in Australia is, after all, dark spirit RTDs.
Only a few years ago, it felt like we were a long way off seeing the Australian whisky category hit the mainstream with offerings like the Double Malt. But now that time is arriving, and fingers crossed the masses, as Withers hopes for, will get behind this new stage of Australian whisky’s development.
