en primeur is a tradition that originated in the wine trade. The great estates of Bordeaux invite experts to taste and assess the young wines of the current vintage. Based on these evaluations, customers are then invited to subscribe for the wines. The precious drops are delivered two years later — only after they have been allowed to spend a little more time at the estate and in the barrel.
We wanted to do exactly the same with our whiskies. We invited professionals to the first enprimeur tasting of our clear grain distillates, before they even go into the barrel. In addition, distillates that had already been maturing in a barrel for some time were tasted as well. This gave the whisky experts a comprehensive picture of our rough diamonds and the different barrel types. Among those in attendance were falstaff writer Erhard Ruthner and the Whisky Nerd, who seized the opportunity to film a video with Josef and about the brewing wheat Hermann for his YouTube channel.
The spirits in direct comparison
In the first flight, we presented three clear grain spirits at cask strength — known in the trade as 'New Makes': Schlägler rye, barley malt, and corn. While some detected delicate popcorn notes in the corn, and the Schlägler rye was described as lush and fruity, intense, and challenging, the tasters were unanimous in agreeing that the middle glass — the spirit made from our own brewing barley malt — was the most aromatic, most characteristic, and most pleasing of the three. That makes us very happy, of course. After all, it's a confirmation of our philosophy and a wonderful first impression made by the new malting house.
The second group focused on different cask types. We presented similarly matured distillates from the following casks: Mostello sweet (naked oats), Mostello dry (barley), and a Barley Wine – strong ale cask (maize). Two conclusions emerged clearly from this. The Mostello cask gives the whisky a uniquely deep, mahogany-brown colour. The cask in which the dry Mostello matured also contributed a beautiful spectrum of elegant notes, ranging from dried fruit through dark chocolate to warm hints of vanilla and cardamom.
In the final two flights, guests first tasted different bottlings – that is, whiskies already available from our distillery. This was followed by a flight titled "Farthofer & Friends". The challenge here was to identify our whisky from four different – organically certified – whiskies from Austria and Scotland. An easy task for our guests, as the flights before had already revealed a very distinct Farthofer signature.
Our whiskies are created literally "from field to bottle" right here at our estate – from the germinating grain all the way through to bottling and labelling. That is what makes our whiskies truly unique. We will soon be offering our whiskies for subscription – by the bottle, by the case, and by the cask.
The tasting was accompanied by culinary delights from Theresia Palemetzhofer. She cooks at her 2-toque restaurant"Gasthaus zur Palme" in Neuhofen/Ybbs. She worked her magic with our own grain rice to create an emmer rice risotto with winter vegetables, and to finish, guests were treated to a malt ice cream. The grain rice "Emmer" and the malt both come from our own fields in Biberbach.
