Arbikie Distillery has revealed its first core-range whiskies; three new whiskies which will make up its permanent Highland Rye collection. The family-owned, single-estate distillery launched Scotland's first rye whisky in more than 100 years in 2018.
The three-strong Highland Rye range includes the Original, the Peated, and the PX. The Original is Arbikie's flagship rye, showcasing its rye, wheat, and malted barley mash bill and American-oak maturation. The expression reveals the "spice, smoke, and sweetness" of Arbikie's self-grown rye.
To make the Peated and PX expressions, Arbikie's Original whisky is matured in casks previously used for peated Islay whisky, and Pedro Ximénez casks, respectively. Christian Perez, head of maturation, explained: “The ultimate goal is to bring an experience to the consumer on the versatility of our single grain rye. The Original provides the building blocks to evoke unique combinations of flavour. The expressions were carefully selected to reach a specific mood or atmosphere for people to enjoy.”
Dr Kirsty Black, Arbikie's master distiller, added: “This is the next stage of Arbikie; by creating this new core range we continue the revival of rye in Scotch whisky distilling. As farm-based distillers, we want our raw materials to shine and this new family of Highland Rye does just that, each demonstrating the breadth of flavours this grain can produce. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!”
All the grain used to make Arbikie's spirit is grown on its own estate. The farm-to-bottle process means every stage of the whisky-making process happens on-site.
Iain Stirling, co-owner, said: “As a legacy family business, this is a very significant day in our journey to building a sustainable, family-owned whisky business. We’re very lucky to be able to grow all the grain that we need to distil, as this helps give our whiskies unique provenance as well as distinct flavours from our coastal location and the rich soils where our barley, wheat and rye grow on Scotland’s sunny and fertile east coast.”
For more information, visit arbikie.com.
