The U.K.’s Oxford Artisan Distillery recently announced its seventh batch of English rye whisky, Easy Ryder.
It’s a blend of nine casks chosen by Master Distiller Francisco Rosa as he looked to achieve what’s described as a smooth and intricate take on The Oxford Artisan Distillery’s heritage grains and distilling practices.
A statement from Oxford Artisan explained that with all of their rye releases, the distillery makes this whisky using heritage grains grown by the distillery’s regenerative and organic farming partners.
These grains require no pesticides, fungicides or herbicides, supporting sustainability and biodiversity in their fields. Easy Ryder is a culmination of farmers letting nature work a healthy field, restoring the land and supporting biodiversity with every harvest.
The distillers note that each cask selected for this expression has been through a different journey, from the starting point at the cooperage, to its size, the filling strength, its age and the warehouse in which it rested.
After three or four years of maturation, the new-make flavors have come to be nine different spirits, all with something in common.
This rye is influenced by the American oak of varying toasts, chars and origins, as well as the Moscatel Roxo cask. And they combine with the grain and distillery character as the oak complexity merges with the sweet and fresh flavors from the Portuguese Moscatel fortified wine cask from Setúbal.
The distiller notes that the result is a whisky which is creamy with aromas of pastry, chocolate, refreshing spice and a pronounced savory character.
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“Our flavor keeps evolving and slowly showing heritage grains’ true character as we continue our journey through time and flavor, rooted in our Oxfordshire surroundings,” said Master Distiller Francisco Rosa.
“When our grains evolve under fermentation with our in-house cultures, a lovely butter dimension comes to life which is then influenced by distillation and maturation, it deviates from custard or pastry to white chocolate, or bog butter as an earthy (field-like) expression of the grain. In this release, there is a pronounced savory character as a result of the sandy soils from Oxford combined with the sandy soils by the sea in Setúbal,” he added.
Bottled at 50% ABV, Easy Ryder has a suggested retail price of £55 for a 70cl bottle and is the distillery’s largest run so far, with 2,782 bottles now available through the distillery’s website and specialist whisky retailers.
You can find out more information or get a bottle at www.theoxfordartisandistillery.com.
The distillery opened for business at its purpose-built site in Oxford in the summer of 2017. It’s Oxford’s first-ever distillery and produces a range of spirits, including gin, absinthe, vodka and whisky, all with total provenance from grain to glass.
Oxford Artisan released the cask information for Easy Ryder as:
American Oak (AO)
Grade 1 Char (G1C)
| Cask #23
AO Heavy Char 3 years, 10 months 130L @ 59.0% filled 119L @ 59.5% harvested |
Cask #39
AO G1C 3 years, 7 months 225L @ 57.3% filled 203L @ 57.1% harvested |
Cask # 55
AO G1C 3 years, 4 months 228L @ 59.0% filled 212L @ 58.2% harvested |
| Cask #24
AO Heavy Char 3 years, 10 months 130L @ 59.0% filled 119L @ 57.5% harvested |
Cask #40
AO G1C 3 years, 5 months 230L @ 60.0% filled 212L @ 57.5% harvested |
Cask #59
AO Heavy Char 3 years, 4 months 226L @ 59.0% filled 210L @ 58.6% harvested |
| Cask #37
AO G1C 3 years, 10 months 225L @ 59.0% filled 187L @ 60.7% harvested |
Cask #41
AO G1C 3 years, 5 months 231L @ 60.0% filled 213L @ 57.9% harvested |
Cask # 295 Moscatel Roxo de Setúbal 3 years, 1 month (total) 210L @ 58.2% filled 208L @ 56.5% harvested Previously in AO Heavy Char for 2 years 225L @ 59.0% filled 210L @ 58.2% racked |
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