Belgrove Peated 100% Rye Australian Whisky (500ml)
Volume: 700ml ABV: 50% Age: No Age Statement Country: Australia
There’s no distillery in the world that we know of that is as raw as Belgrove. Peter Bignall the owner and operator is a whisky wizard. He grow his own ryecorn to produce 100% rye whisky. He built his own copper pot still from scratch which is powered by biofuel which is used cooking oil, from a roadhouse next to his farm. Hot water is also biofuel heated. Peter’s tractors, forklift and truck also run on Biodiesel made from the used cooking oil. The only significant material Peter brings to the farm is waste cooking oil and the main product to leave is whisky. The spent mash is fed to the Belgrove sheep. Cooling water comes from the nearby dam and the waste water is either recycled or used for irrigation, including the next rye crop. Brewing and diluting water is harvested from the roof of the distillery farm sheds – there’s a lot of farm sheds. Yeast is often reused. This operation resinates with the terms “sustainable” “closed loop” “small carbon footprint” “green” “farm based” “value adding” “craft” “low food miles”. Belgrove Distillery is the future of whisky distillation with low impact on the environment and high impact on flavour. Jim Murray well known whisky writer and author of The Whisky Bible has rated this whisky ‘Liquid Gold’. We urge you to delve deeper.
When asked why he created this whisky Peter said, “I love peated whiskies and I hadn’t heard of any peated rye so I decided to make a barrel of it to see how it turned out. I dug some peat from the Central Highlands (Brown Marsh Bog) dried it then burnt it in my malting drum enclosure. The smoke infused into the wet grain and then the heat eventually dried it out. Only 20% of the grain was peat smoked, but it was heavily peated. (no idea of the ppm) The malt was then processed in the usual way by adding 80% unmalted rye grist to the mash. I will have to find a spare day very soon to go and dig some more peat to make a few more barrels. Then 3 years away there might be some more peated rye.”Using 100% Rye grown by peter himself. Could this be the most sustainable whisky on the planet! We’re excited by it and you should be too. Bottles at 50% ABV.
Distillery Tasting Notes
Nose: Slightly meaty, cold smoke, quite sweet with some vanilla and honey fudge
Palate: Smoky and fruity, quite sweet with some cold ash aromas, caramel, earthy like a campfire in a warm summer rain, burned apricot,
Finish: More warm smoke towards the end, slightly meaty, still earthy like a warm summer night with some rain drops falling on a paved road.
