Borders Malt & Rye - A unique dram from the borderlands - Blog post by Luka Gottschalk

Our Whisky Blogger Luka Gottschalk takes a trip to the Lowlands and tastes The Borders Distillery product Borders Malt & Rye Whisky

Post by Luka Gottschalk

The Borders Distillery is a fairly new distillery located on the border between England and Scotland, hence the name. The distillery opened in 2018 and has only begun to cautiously enter the spirits market here in the last couple of years.

Today's theme is their product called Malt & Rye, which has just gone on sale in Denmark. This is a very special product, a Scotch whisky consisting of malt and rye. It is 4 years old and is not cold filtered despite its low alcohol content of 40%. Because of this, it can appear hazy if you want to add a few ice cubes to your glass. This is the only downside to having a whisky that is not cold filtered. We get a product with a deeper flavor expression when the cold filtration is omitted!

Malt & Rye will in future be released as batch bottlings, which in short means that there may be slight differences between batches. The first and so far only batch of Malt & Rye is called WS:01 and each bottle is individually numbered. The mixing ratio of the 2 existing grain varieties is: 63.8% rye and 32.6% malt. Now that the formalities are over, it's time to taste the work!

BORDERS MALT & RYE BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY - 4YO - 40% ABV

Color: It possesses an incredibly light and grainy yellow color. I would be surprised if there is added color here, but I have not managed to confirm it.

Nose: Sweet, spicy and balanced. The distillate itself is the focus here, rather than heavy sherry casks. I can smell sweet licorice, oat biscuits, chocolate and gummy bears.

Palate: The taste doesn't offer as many notes as the aroma, I get some pepper nuances and a gentle sweetness. It is very mild and easy to drink.

Finish: The aftertaste is on the slightly bitter side and lingers for a little while with some fruity-acidic nuances.

Conclusion: This is a beginner-friendly and very easy-drinking whisky. The malt is given some leeway despite the almost 64% rye and rounds out the usually dominant flavor that rye brings with it. There is potential and I'm sure the experience would be significantly better if the alcohol percentage moved above 46%. They might be persuaded to bottle future batches at a higher alcohol percentage if we shout loud enough!

At the end of the day, we still have a tasty and, if nothing else, very gentle product that will work brilliantly as an introduction to the world of whisky

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