The Identity is a soft, light and floral whisky from Riverbourne Distillery and Edition 6 is no exception to the this. A spirit driven whisky with the signature narrow cut, ensures the creation of this sought after hand crafted Australian Whisky.
It is matured in 2 x 50L & 1 x 25L French Oak Barrels which previously had Red Wine from the Napa Valley, California. They have been scraped, re-charred and re-coopered. Then Virgin American Oak ends are used on the heads. These combination casks allows no dominant factor of the timber to overcome the delicious flavour of the spirit.
Tasting Notes
The warmth of the spring sun is exhilarating and fresh. Walking around the field is relaxing, stepping over fresh cut hay which has a light caramel nuance. After breathing in, you get the sweet aroma of Honey Suckle and tranquility.
As your journey continues, you see bees flying across the field and supplying their hives with bountiful honey. This sweetness you can already taste on your lips. Small amounts of warming peppery flavour of Allspice entice your senses and you exhale contently. As the sun sets you keep a balanced set of warming spice, sweetness and fabulous floral notes.
Colour: Old Gold
Nose: Caramel and Fresh Cut Hay open the aroma. Honey Suckle slowly emerges.
Palate: The Sweetness keeps one salivating via subtle honey comb. The floral Honey Suckle blossoms, whilst small amounts of All Spice linger.
Finish: Medium drawn out finish with equal combination of sweetness, spice and Honey Suckle blossom.
Distillery | Riverbourne |
Name | Identity - Edition 6 |
Distilled | 17 May 17 (Cask 68), 04 Sep 17 (Casks 82,83) |
Cask | 2 x 50L & 1 25L American / French Oak (ex Red Wine) |
Cask Numbers | 68, 86, 95 |
Bottled | 07 Oct 19 |
Bottles | 248 |
ABV | 48.0% |
Size | 500ml |
Riverbourne Distillery
Established in 2015 and located 50 minutes to the South East of Canberra. This remains the local distillery of Canberra and fondly Riverbourne's water is sourced from the same river which feeds Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin. Martin Pye founded the Distillery and leveraging from his background as a Chemist (4th Generation) he embarked on a journey to follow his passion. His craft began distilling Rum and this led to perfecting his Whisky.
At a height of 1060 metres, this makes Riverbourne one of the highest distilleries in Australia and adds to its unique maturation. Fresh spring water is used in the production and Riverbourne remains one of the few distilleries in Australia which hand mashes their Barley. When it comes to the fermentation, Martin's deep knowledge of ester profiles and fermentation really shines above the rest. He uses a single 900 Litre Traditional Pot Still which is steam driven and jacketed. This bring a softer style of spirit by allowing balanced and uniformed heat in the boiler.
A variety of imported and local barley are used, along with a noteworthy cask selection for maturation. While nestled around the Talaganda State Forrest and Deua National Park, it feeds fresh air for maturation. However the real beauty comes in the afternoon when the sea breeze is feed up the Clyde Mountain giving a much cooler climate which optimises the maturation of Riverbourne spirit.
With an annual production of 5,000 litres, it allows Riverbourne's artisan spirit, to remain crafted by hand and passion.