Carpathian Distillery Puts Romania on the Whisky Map

Bordered by Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary, Romania is better known for wine than whisky, but that could be changing. Nawaf Salameh founded Carpathian Distillery in 2017, and appointed Allan Anderson as master distiller. Anderson was employed at Loch Lomond Distillery for nearly 20 years before working at Invergordon, Aberargie, Slane, and Great Northern Distilleries. Carpathian’s single malt is made from Romanian-grown barley, and their cellars include whisky maturing in a wide variety of cask types including bourbon, Romanian wine from their sister winery, Spanish sherry, cognac, madeira, and French wine casks.

Carpathian Disitllery Whiskies to Try

91 points Carpathian Single Malt Romanian Wine Cask Collection Feteasca Neagra Cask, 46%, $50

Feteasca Neagra is a grape variety grown in Romania used to make a deep ruby red wine. Master distiller Allan Anderson used European oak Feteasca Neagra casks to finish the whisky, imbuing it with aromas of black currant cassis, lilies, Parma Violets, cacao, blueberries, and some savory notes. On the palate, there’s orange and vanilla sweetness, with honey, peppercorn, gingerbread, cocoa, cassis-laced caramel truffle, and stewed tea.

90 points Carpathian Romanian Wine Cask Collection Pinot Noir Cask, 46%, $50

An attractive nose of summer fruits on first impression, with aromas of strawberry, red currant, floral bouquets, vanilla cream, and white pepper. There’s a lovely subtleness to the Romanian pinot noir wine-cask maturation here, showing heather honey and red currant flavors, plus some hot pepper, then caramel, vanilla, dried fruit, damson, and toffee as the spices settle down and the flavors round out.

89 points Carpathian Single Malt Spanish & Portuguese Wine Cask Collection Oloroso Cask, 46%, $50

Finished in a 500-liter oloroso sherry cask after a primary maturation in first-fil bourbon, the tantalizing aromas are layered with vanilla, caramel, cherry, mixed peel, sherried fruitcake, and subtle spices, showing a deft touch from the finishing vessel. On the palate there are warm fruits, red summer berries, citrus peel, cherry, raisin tea loaf, plum, and a consistent presence of clove and ground peppercorn.