The state of German Rye Whiskey

Single Malt from Germany already is quite normal, but rye and other US style whiskeys are a bit of a novelty. I already featured the Stork Club rye whiskey here on the blog. However, Florian Faude is new to the game. So, I thought I put both distilleries head to head!

Florian took his time, but now came up with two different whiskies. The first one is a rye whiskey distilled from grains from Boetzingen, malt and spring water. Florian ages the new make in American Oak casks for three years and bottles it at an ABV of 48 %.

Hazelnuts and rye

The oak spices are the first thing you notice when you try Florian’s rye. You can find a lot of oak up front followed by typical cereals notes. Next, I got a lot of candied violets and a lot of hazelnuts. All in all, the whisky tastes great, but it still needs a bit of ageing with a lot of influence from the new oak.

Rye and wheat

For his second whisky Florian mixes rye and wheat. There is a bit more rye than wheat in the mix. The spirit ages in new American and European oak, also for three years. Afterwards, the whiskey is bottled at 45 % ABV.

Mellow, but a lot of fresh oak

The Roggen + Weizen has similar notes to Florian’s rye with grain notes and also some candied violets. Yet, the oak takes on an even more prominent role. The fruity aspects of the Roggen are pushed back a bit. It still is a great whiskey for its age, but I do prefer the pure rye.

Pure rye malt

We continue with the Stork Club Rye Whiskies. The first one I want to review here is made from 100 % malted rye. The Stork Cluh Rye Malt uses three different types of rye malt with one of them being chocolate malt. After the distillation the new make ages in individually toasted American and German oak barrels.

Too much chocolate (malt)?

I did not notice it on the first try, but the Rye Malt really tastes of dark chocolate and butter. Apart from that, it reminded me of apple brandy with some apple flavoured sweets notes. However, all in all the whiskey comes off as a bit unbalanced. I really think that a bit less of the chocolate malt might have been better for it. Nevertheless, the whiskey was interesting to try.

Straight rye whiskey

The second Stork Club is their signature Straight Rye. For the mashbill Spreewood Distillers use malted and unmalted rye from Brandenburg. The whiskey ages in specially toasted American and German Napoleon oak casks. After the ageing, the whiskey is bottled at an ABV of 45 %.

Sweet honey notes

When it comes to the Straight Rye Whiskey, you can find the typical grain characteristics in the taste. However, they are accompanied by a range of sweet notes reminding me of honey. Apart from that, I also got a distinct hazelnut flavour. The rye surely makes for a good sip and works well in cocktails. Yet, it lacked a bit of complexity.

Aged in Laphroaig casks

For the next rye, Spreewood Distillers takes their 100 % rye and ages it in Laphroaig single malt casks. Next they blend the rye with whiskey aged in First Fill American and German Napoleon oak casks. In the end, the whisky is bottled with an ABV of 50 %.

Smoke and rye notes

Well, what do you get if you age your rye in a peated single malt cask? Exactly, a slightly smoky rye whiskey. However, the smoke takes on more of a bonfire characteristic. Apart from that, the typical rye notes shine through. I enjoyed the combination very much, the smoke adds to the complexity and really works well with the rye.

Full Proof

The last Spreewood Distillers rye I tried was the Full Proof. For this bottling they use a combination of American and European oak barrels together with wine and sherry casks. The whisky is bottled at nearly cask strength of 55 % ABV.

Typical rye notes

The Full Proof rye first starts with typical rye bread notes. On top of that, I found hazelnuts and walnuts in the taste. Combined with a lot of spices in the taste and a whiff of fruits, this makes for the most interesting rye from the Spreewood Distillery. You should really get a bottle of this!

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. Two ryes were provided by Faude Feine Brände.