We dig into the samples from the Whisky Tour of the World from Gravity Drinks once more. This set contains 24 samples of whiskies from all over the planet. Launched ahead of the festive season, it is now still available online.
We’ll visit Germany, Austria and Finland, starting with Beverbach Tri-Cask, a single malt whisky from Hardenberg distillery in Germany. They produce it with the classic pot still / double distillation method and mature it in Kentucky bourbon casks, new American oak and German Napoleon oak barrels. I believes this refers to the age of the Annweiler forest where the oak was grown.
Beverbach Tri-Cask (43%, OB 2024)
Nose: light and easy, with a pronounced sourness. Green apples, lemons, unripe pears, merely on the same level as the youngish layer of cereals. Then some grassy / minty notes and a light hint of grappa. Fresh oak shavings in the background, although reasonably well dosed.
Mouth: quite a sharp onset. There’s still a firm sourness (unripe peach, citrus and pear) which moves towards ginger with metallic overtones. Then some mild vanilla and light honey sweetness. More raw cereals though (porridge, whit bread), along with white pepper and just a hint of marmalade.
Finish: on the short side, with more cereals and a light nuttiness.
This seems to get good reviews (mostly from German magazines though) but I don’t think it stands out from the abundant newish distilleries. It’s light and fresh, without any important shortcomings, but it remains a very young and neutral spirit.
Now we move to Austria. Distillery Krauss produces Sulm Valley Whiskey, a bourbon-style whiskey (hence the ‘e’) made mostly from an ancient corn variety that is grown especially for them in Sulm Valley. The spirit matures in new toasted American oak casks. Although the distillery website mentions an ABV of 48%, my sample states 46% ABV.
In 2022 they won the award for Best World Whisky at the Las Vegas Global Spirits Awards. An award which was then often falsely mentioned as Best Whisky in the World, which is obviously not the same…
Krauss Sulm Valley Whiskey (46%, OB +/- 2024)
Nose: a rather typical mix of dry oak shavings (Ikea pack style) with mashed banana and mildly sweet corn. Then hints of new leather satchel bags, with growing layers of orange and vanilla.
Mouth: a lot of sweet corn now, with honey and vanilla. The back to mashed bananas (and banana ice cream) while oak spice grows stronger. Aniseed, white pepper. The woody component is quite loud though.
Finish: medium length, mostly on wood elements, with firm pepper and nutmeg. Faint hints of roasted coffee beans too.
An interesting Austrian take on American whiskey. It’s not as sweet as I expected, which is good, but then it also adopts the blatant woodiness of its American exmple. Not entirely necessary, but not bad either. Score: 75/100
Last one for today: the Rye Malt from The Helsinki Distilling Co. The distillery started in 2014 as the first distillery in the city in over 100 years.
Their Rye Malt expression is an excercise to balance the smoothness of barley and the spiciness of rye. It is bottled in numbered releases, always a small batch of a handful of casks, aged around 3-4 years, but always different. This being a sample specifically produced for Gravity Drinks, I’m not sure whether it equals one of the batches that is available in large bottles.
Helsinki Whiskey – Rye Malt (47,5%, OB 2024)
Nose: scorched plywood and fresh oak shavings. A new sauna? Then plenty of rye bread. Underneath there are some aniseed, caraway seeds, hints of apples and sour berries. Also green bell peppers, a faint floral edge and a light whiff of vanilla.
Mouth: sweeter than expected. Toffee notes and candy sugar, with yellow apples. Also a lightly synthetic sweetness, like the glue of a post stamp (well, the ones that you needed to lick yourself). Light biscuits. Then back to anise, juniper. More malty than the nose, but overall still a little too woody and rough.
Finish: medium, quite green and mildly bitter now, with grassy notes, young wood and some rye spice.
I find these hybrids hard to score. I like some of its aspects, but down the road it doesn’t really come together yet. A different mindset is required if you’re approaching it from a malt perspective, and maybe more time is needed, with less active wood. A different rum cask version is available from The Whisky Exchange. Score: 78/100