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AND AWAY WE GO! KWM 2020 Whisky Calendar Day 1: Millstone Rye KWM Cask

Posted on December 16, 2022

by Evan

Welcome to Day One of our 2020 Kensington Wine Market Whisky Calendar. From now until door number 25, you are stuck with me for this journey - at least if you plan on reading along. Whether you do read these blog posts daily or not, you are in for a treat with this year's Whisky Calendar. There is a tremendous variety of whisky to be discovered behind those doors - but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Let us start at the beginning with Door Number One. Crack that door open and you should find a Glencairn whisky glass waiting to be filled with whisky from today's bottle: Millstone Rye KWM Cask.

That is right, we are starting with a Rye Whisky and a Single Cask selected by us at Kensington Wine Market. This is the second cask of rye we have had bottled for us from Zuidam Millstone Distillery of the Netherlands.



The Zuidam Distillery was founded in 1975 in Baarle Nassau, which lies in the southern Netherlands near the border it shares with Belgium The Founder, Fred van Zuidam, had accumulated two decades of previous experience in spirits production before deciding to make a go of it on his own. Under his care, the distillery started by making a line of premium liqueurs using natural ingredients, from grain to fruit to herbs and spices used. This methodology continues to this day, as Zuidam spirits are made with no artificial colouring or flavouring. This goes for all of their products, be it their Cassis Liqueur (which is delicious by the way), Apple Flavoured Gin, Dutch Courage Old Tom Gin, Premium Genever, or Single Malt Whiskies.

Zuidam's first experiments in whisky-making started in 1994, and regular whisky production commenced four years later in 1998. Even then, the Zuidam family showed patience, not releasing their first single malt whisky commercially until 2007. The first bottling was a 5 year old. It was also the first release to use the Millstone name, which was a reference to the use of Dutch Windmills to stone-mill the malted barley. Nowadays, the use of windmills is no longer enough to supply all of the grist needed.

Fred’s son Patrick van Zuidam is now in charge of whisky and spirit production at the family distillery, and under his influence, the distillery’s line of whisky has stretched into a variety of different styles and grains, including Rye and three-and five-grain blends. Further experiments in growing their own barley are ongoing with the stated goal of being self-sustainable when it comes to grain soon.

2020 was a year of change for Zuidam, as it was for all of us. They did what many distilleries have done this year, and switched to producing alcohol for Hand Sanitizer for a while. They also moved their equipment to a new stillhouse, which should be in production right about now.



Let's talk about the rye now, as that is what we will be tasting today. Personally, I find all of the spirits I have had from Zuidam Distillery to be interesting. Their Rye is the best spirit they make in my opinion. The regular Millstone 100 Rye is rich, dense, and earthy. What you will be tasting from this first mini bottle in the 2020 KWM Whisky Calendar is our 2nd single cask of Millstone Rye that has been bottled for our shop. Shall we dive in?

Millstone Rye KWM Cask - 54.7%

* Full-sized 700ml bottles will be available in early 2021 - In the mean time, check this Single Cask Millstone Rye out *

Made from 51% Malted Rye and 49% Unmalted Rye distilled and aged in American Virgin Oak. It is Single cask selected by Kensington Wine Market and bottled at a cask strength of 54.7% ABV.

Evan's Tasting Note

Nose: Pine sap, lemon jujubes, mandarin orange slices plus the fresh and bitter peels, apple cider, cloves, spearmint, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla pods, and gingerbread cookies. It noses like you combined a wonderfully bitter Amaro with a botanical gin.

Palate: Apple strudel, lime green jelly beans, fresh mint, fresh dill, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom again, toasted almonds and walnuts, ginger liqueur and a touch of London Dry Gin.

Finish: Still full of fresh citrus and herbaceous notes with a dash of nuts and spices thrown in the mix.

Comment: This is very nearly a ready-made-cocktail-at-cask-strength of a Rye. It is fresh and botanical with a nice amount of oak to add to it all. It is less dense and more dainty than the regular Millstone Rye which I also enjoy. If you wanted a rye for all seasons from spring to winter, this might just be it!

There you have it! One door down, only twenty-four more to open. See you tomorrow for door and day number two!

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool

 

 

This entry was posted in Store, Whisky, Tastings, KWM Whisky Calendar 2020, Whisky Calendars

 

 

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