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We all know the adage about making lemonade when life hands you lemons, but what about when life instead delivers a load of Vienna malt? If you’re the distillers at Portland, Oregon’s Westward Whiskey, who by accident received the lightly toasted variety of malted barley typically used by brewers in place of their usual order, you make a new style of whiskey.
Distilled in 2019 and released as an exclusive to Westward’s Whiskey Club earlier this year, to say that Vienna Malt Single Barrel is unusual is a bit of an understatement since distillers almost universally favor the use of the pale, enzymatically rich cereal known as distiller’s malt over any other type of malt, including Vienna. It is not, however, unprecedented.
Glenmorangie Distillery’s director of whisky creation Dr. Bill Lumsden was inspired to formulate a scotch single malt based on his love of coffee. To do so, he turned to a roasted malt. Figuring that roasted malt might bring to whisky some of the flavors and aromas the roasting of coffee beans brings to his morning beverage. Lumsden created a mash with 20% chocolate malt and aged the resulting spirit in a combination of virgin, sherry, and bourbon oak.
In the more freewheeling United States, the way was led as far back as the mid-1990s by what could easily be called the country’s first specialty malt whiskey, Anchor Distilling’s Old Potrero. Anchor founder Fritz Maytag fused scotch single malt distillation techniques with America’s historic love of rye to create a whiskey distilled entirely from malted rye, a grain then uncommon even in craft brewing.
Distilleries like Westward, with its craft brewing background, and Chattanooga Whiskey, for whom specialty malts form “a foundational component” of their whiskeys, followed suit, as did others in the U.S., Canada, Scotland, and even Australia. For Ru-tele˙ Marc˘iulionyte˙, who studied the use of specialty malts in whisky while earning her PhD in brewing and distilling at Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University, such practices represent a massive vein of untapped potential.
“Specialty malts can provide an amazing range of flavors, from caramel and raisin (crystal malt), to hazelnut and chocolate (lightly roasted malts), to coffee and even smoky aromas (heavily roasted malts),” she says, “However, such malts are often overlooked by distillers, as they have lower amounts of fermentable sugars, which means reduced alcohol yield.” Further, Chattanooga’s chief product officer Grant McCracken notes, “malt” is a word that applies to more than just barley. “We use a lot of different malted grains, including barley, wheat, rye, triticale, oats, and rice,” he says, “While the varieties are pretty much endless, it’s something of an uphill battle explaining that to those who view malt as exclusively pale, delicately flavored malted barley.”
Putting all these malts together can be a challenge, which is why Rabbit Hole Distillery founder Kaveh Zamanian favors a “culinary approach,” tasting the ingredients before assembling them in a recipe, much like a chef does.
“American whiskey has a tendency to focus on the bottom line, which precludes the use of specialty malts.” he says. “But as I like to say, bourbon is 51% corn and 49% possibilities, and I like to explore that potential.” —Stephen Beaumont
Specialty Malt Whiskies to Try
94 Glenmorangie Signet Scotch Single Malt, 46%, $350
Distilled once a year, the use of chocolate malt delivers mocha aromas and flavors of bitter chocolate balanced by sweetness and spice.
92 Chattanooga Rye, 49.5%, $45
With 60% of the mash made up of pale, caramel, and chocolate malted rye, this boasts a forest-full of aromas and an almost chewy texture.
90 Old Potrero 6 year old Rye, 48.5%, $65
A mash of entirely malted rye provides ample berry and spice aromas and a rich spiciness on the layered palate.
90 Westward Vienna Malt American Single Malt, 45%, $100
The lightly kilned Vienna malt produces fresh grain aromas with fruity undertones, and sweet vanilla and coconut on the palate.
89 Rabbit Hole Cavehill Bourbon, 47.5%, $65
70% corn and 10% each of malted wheat, malted barley, and honey malt provides a honey-ish nose and a light, fruity-caramel sweetness.
