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 Germany's Spreewald region, best known
for its pickles, boat rides and beer has
a surprising new addition: German Single
Malt Whisky.
Sloupisti whisky from the Spreewaelder
Feinbrand und Spirituosenfabrik in the
village of Schlepzig is being sought by
connoisseurs as far away as Japan and
has been holding its own against more
famous rivals from Scotland, Ireland and
the United States according to the
experts.
"The product has been well received,"
Spreewaelder owner Torsten Roemer said.
"There are big whisky fans in Germany,
word gets around."
Roemer knew he'd caught the eyes of
whisky's top aficionados last year when
whisky expert Jim Murray awarded
Sloupisti a rating of 94 points out of
100, one of the highest ratings, in his
annual "Whisky Bible".
"The rating has attracted a lot
attention and showed that whisky from
the continent can be very good," said
Roemer, who added the distillery to an
existing hotel and brewery business in
2004 and produced its first batch of
single malt in 2007.
Spreewaelder is one of some 40 whisky
distilleries in Germany and the first to
gain such international attention.
The former radiologist credits the
German oak barrels in which the whisky
is aged for the spirit's distinctive
taste.
"The barrels are the most important
thing," Roemer said. "I find they
account for 90 percent of the whisky's
taste. Anyone can make a decent malt
distillate, but the right selection of
barrels gives whisky its aroma."
Roemer procured barrels from southern
Germany's Franconia region as well as
from Berlin, about 100 km to the north.
The Franconian "barriques", which
previously aged German Silvaner white
wines, now age Roemer's Sloupisti.
Roemer said that it is not so strange
that remarkable whisky could come from
Germany given its centuries-old
tradition for brewing beer.
"If you like to drink beer and produce a
good beer, then it's simply taking the
next step," Roemer said. "And if you are
in a region that rewards or enables such
initiatives then it's rather easy."
Production is still on the micro scale.
The distillery produces three 225-litre
barrels of single malt annually.
Although Sloupisti is only available at
the source in Schlepzig, Roemer has on
request shipped small orders to
individuals throughout Germany and
recently sent an order of single malt to
devotees as far away as Tokyo.
"If we grow too large, then our casks
would empty in the blink of an eye,"
Roemer says. "That's of course not our
aim and intention. Previously we were a
niche product, a hot tip."
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