Theres a time for tradition and theres a time to go rogue. Solera was the first whisky where we borrowed from tradition then started asking questions. It left us with a whisky deemed world class not just by us, but award judges too.
Nose / Bright tropical and orchard fruits, caramel and vanilla.Palate / Toasty caramel and creme brle, banana, figs and sweet spice.Finish / Juicy and full with a lingering dry spice.
Solera, not only our name but also a traditional method the Spanish used to age their Sherry and keep it consistent. A fractional amount of each young cask is blended with more mature spirit. Its the inspiration for making our Solera and it means theres still a touch of our first ever cask in every bottle made today.
We source every Solera ingredient from just a days drive away. A quintessential grain like Australian malted barley was a no-brainer to start with. Then, for a bold, craft flavour we ferment our barley with brewers yeast.
Next, the barrel.
We wanted barrels with one hell of a history. Our Apera barrels, an Aussie fortified wine similar to Sherry, have typically held spirit over decades. Thats some seriously flavourful oak.
At first, maturation was a bit of trial and error. We were used to Scottish whiskies with age statements over a decade long. But we soon found out that wasnt Melbourne weathers style. The wildly varied temperature means whisky works harder in the barrel, absorbing flavour from the wood in a much shorter time.
With this elemental maturation, Solera is a neat reflection of Melbourne; wild weather and all.
