These days, you can find whiskey finished in pretty much every type of cask—sherry, of course, as well as wine, port, tequila, rum, and even amaro, to name just a few. But how about barrels previously used to age Chartreuse? In what it is calling a first for the category, Australian distillery Amber Lane is releasing an extremely limited run of single malt whisky that has been given a Chartreuse finish, but you’ll have to head Down Under to get a taste.
Amber Lane is a newcomer to the whisky scene, having opened in 2017 in the state of New South Wales, but it’s already won a few awards in its relatively short existence. The team there makes single malt that is normally aged in sherry butts and ex-bourbon barrels, which is par for the course. This new single cask whisky, Rue de la Chartreuse, was initially matured in a bourbon barrel from the Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky. It was then put into a Chartreuse barrel for an additional seven months of aging, and finally returned to the bourbon barrel to allow the flavors to marry before being diluted to bottling strength of 46 percent ABV.
If you’re unfamiliar, Chartreuse is a French herbal liqueur made using 130 different botanicals that has been around for centuries (the exact recipe remains a secret). It is produced by monks at the Monastery of the Grande Chartreuse in the Chartreuse Mountains of France, and it comes in green and yellow expressions (the green is higher proof). Over the past few years the price of Chartreuse has gone up due to an increase in popularity, particularly during Covid when people were experimenting with making cocktails at home more frequently, as well as a decrease in production.
Rue de la Chartreuse was finished in a 225-liter yellow Chartreuse barrel and, according to a recent Drinks Digest story, has been endorsed by the Chevalier of the Order of Chartreuse (specially trained monks). “Our goal was to pay homage to the traditional Chartreuse liqueur,” said Amber Lane co-owner Rod Berry in a statement. “The recipe for Chartreuse is such a closely guarded secret—the monks even have botanicals not included in the recipe delivered to the distillery to disguise the correct list of components—so we knew our offering had to have the depth of flavor, richness, and vibrancy of the much-beloved Chartreuse liqueur.”
Given the limited nature of this release (just 230 bottles), it will not be available to purchase here in the U.S., although it’s possible a bottle or two will appear on the secondary market. If you’re heading to Australia, however, Rue de la Chartreuse is available now for purchase ($195 AUD, or about $125 USD) for wholesale, and will be available to the public starting May 16, which is also the completely made-up booze holiday International Chartreuse Day.
Authors
-
Jonah Flicker