On International World Whisky Day, Sunday 19th May, the joy in our house is especially great: the Bio-Whisky aus Schlägler Roggen 2014 was awarded Gold by the most prestigious spirits competition in the USA. The accolade from the 10th New York International Spirits Competition is a tremendous compliment to us: it is, after all, our very first whisky made from this rare ancient grain, and it struck gold on its very first entry. And there are only three barrels of this batch.
The New York International Spirits Competition
With over 32 litres of spirits consumed per capita compared to Austria's 14 litres and Germany's just over 18 litres, the USA is a significant spirits market. Positive ratings are correspondingly important for distillers. Among the many competitions out there, the New York International Spirits Competition is considered one of the most important. What sets it apart from others is, firstly, that only retailers and bartenders do the tasting, and secondly, that spirits are evaluated not only within 60 product categories but also by price bracket. So a whisky at US$50 is not compared to one at US$100.
Traditionally, the New York International Spirits Competition is of great interest to American producers — only around 15% of submitted spirits come from other countries. At the tenth edition of the competition, just one producer each from Germany and Austria entered a spirit — and the Austrian was Josef Farthofer.
Gold!
"Let's give it a go. There are plenty of rye whiskies in the world, but the Urkorn Schlägler Roggen has a very distinctive flavour finesse. I want to find out now!"Josef recalls the decision about entering his very firstOrganic Whiskies from Schlägler Rye 2014. And what do you know: the whisky impressed the seasoned US judges straight away – Gold for Farthofer!
In total, 600 spirits from 29 countries were entered into the 10th New York International Spirits Competition. Our whisky was awarded Gold as one of just 43 whiskies, with only four whiskies receiving Double Gold.
From the field to the bottle
There are not many schnapps distillers who can truly deliver "From Field to Bottle."
We can do this. And this is something we are especially proud of: all raw materials come from within a 30-kilometre radius of the distillery. The three whiskies currently available are trendsetters when it comes to sustainability and resource-conscious production.
Farthofer Bio Whisky Schlägler Roggen 2014
We grew the grain for our Whisky Schlägler Roggen 2014 ourselves on our 45-hectare organic farm in Biberbach in the Mostviertel. The field is called Obere Erlgrube, and the soil formation is fertile loam. After the harvest, the Schlägler Roggen was milled using a hammer mill and mashed as a raw-grain mash with clear, fresh water from the family's own spring on granite, then brought to the boil. Once the heat was reduced, organic malt was added as a natural enzyme to support liquefaction and kick off the saccharification process. After distillation, the distillate was stored in a brandy cask (medium toasting) and matured for three years in the listed historic cellar house in Öhling, before being bottled at cask strength of 55% vol. There are three casks from the very first vintage of 2014, with slightly larger quantities from the following vintages.
