Belgrove Distillery White Rye New Spirit (500ml)
Regular customers may be aware of the story of Frank Potts - an unassuming man, wine industry pioneer and an acknowledged engineering genius of considerable foresight. Enter the twenty first century and parallels can be drawn with another enterprising, pioneering Australian - Peter Bignell.
Peter is a true renaissance man – farmer, sculptor, engineer, coppersmith, environmentalist and bio-fuel chemist, and now the distiller of Australia’s first 100% Rye spirit. Peter applied his sculpting and engineering nous (the same abilities employed to restore the historic Nant Water Mill) to build his own 500 litre copper pot still, which he direct fires with his homemade bio-diesel (also used to run his tractors and heat his house).
Keeping things on a self sufficient and sustainable course, the rye grain he uses is also from the family’s Bothwell property. Originally planted by Peter at the tender age of fifteen to feed the property’s livestock, the same field now feeds his still, while the remaining dried mash goes to a swine of pigs where the cycle comes full circle as manure.
Peter’s 'Belgrove Rye Spirit' is, at present, not legally whisky. It’s spent no time in oak. It’s a 100% Rye (unusual even in America) that’s double distilled via a direct fired method - no steam coils or water jackets, just flame on copper. It takes attention and skill to manage charges like this. Mess it up and you get undesirable burnt flavours. Get it right and you can introduce some interesting toasty grain characteristics to the whisky as parts of the mash fall on 'hot spots' and are gently ‘roasted’ on the base of the still. This artisanal technique has been, and still is, much admired by the Scots, yet sadly, it's now rarely applied mainly for reasons of efficiency. The Springbank distillery at Campbeltown is one exception. Here “...the wash still is fired from the bottom by live flame and the spirit stills are heated by steam coils from inside. It is thought Springbank is the only distillery in Scotland to do this. Most distilleries these days use only the coils… [Yet] When other distilleries switched from direct flame heating to solely steam coil heating in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s many managers reported a change in the character of their spirit, and rarely for the better.”
The early results from Belgrove show real promise. They are also a piece of history in the making.
Early experimentation in oak selection for maturation is under way, and it seems Peter is driving for a refined and elegant Rye, opting for minimal wood impact, most likely old American oak which should retain the complexity inherent in the white spirit.
Tasting note [11-5-2011 DISTILLATION]: Crystal clear, silvery, slightly glycerous appearance. Initial nosings are captivating, fruity at first, then turning sweet gherkin-like. Aeration brings forward a sweet, crusty rye bread top note along with roast chestnut and a hint of toffee apple. A very inviting new make nose. The palate is gently spicy and more keenly grainy with an almost chewy texture (tastes faintly peaty?) Finishes like quality fresh rye bread with the crusty rye character re-asserting itself in the long, clean, dry aftertaste. Auspicious beginnings. Would make a novel white Sazerac? 40% Alc./Vol.
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