Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 22 March 2019

German whiskey booming as micro distilleries keep popping up

By DAVID RISING cally moonshine — to pro-
Associated Press vide the daily 200-millileter
SCHLEPZIG, Germany (AP) (about seven-ounce) ra-
— Bastian Heuser swirls the tion for coal miners in the
snifter of deep amber whis- industrial Ruhr region.
key before taking a sip, “There used to be a really
noting its sweet caramel crazy korn culture in Ger-
flavor that soon opens up many years ago,” she says.
with hints of spices, nuts “And korn is nothing more
and dried fruits. than an un-aged whiskey
It’s not a single malt from with somewhat less alco-
a verdant Scottish glen, hol.” Whiskey can be made
nor a sour mash from the from many different grains,
hills of Tennessee. This is an and has to be aged at
award-winning German least three years in either
rye whiskey produced by oak casks that have previ-
the tiny Spreewood Distill- ously been used to mature
ery , nestled in a small town other liquor, or virgin oak
among the fields and for- casks.
ests of Brandenburg about Malt whiskey is made from
an hour’s drive from Berlin. malted barley and can
German whiskey is little only be called Scotch if
known outside the country, produced in Scotland, ac-
and the industry is still tiny In this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 photo, a wooden nameplate displayed on the main entrance of a cording to EU regulations,
compared with others, but historical reconstructed building of the German whiskey maker Spreewood Distillery in Schlepzig, and is predominantly ma-
isn’t unaffected by major Germany. tured in used oak casks. The
international issues, with Associated Press German product is known
distillers seeing both oppor- man whiskey production British food and beverage Scotch and already on as single malt.
tunities and dangers with was worth 11.6 million eu- exports, the Scotch Whisky bourbon, Habbel sees op- Bourbon must contain at
Britain’s decision to leave ros ($13.1 million) — neg- Association is increasingly portunity for German distill- least 51 percent corn, and
the European Union and ligible when compared concerned about Britain’s ers. “Maybe the consumer rye whiskey predominantly
Europe’s trade spat with with Scotch whisky exports looming Brexit exit from the who has always drunk rye grain.
the U.S. over new tariffs. alone that year, worth European Union, especially Scotch will look over to the Both are typically aged in
Both issues may seem far some 4.4 billion pounds if there is no deal on future distillery next door and turn virgin oak barrels.
away from the Spreewood ($5.8 billion). trade relations. to the German product,” German distillers tend to fo-
Distillery, established in re- With such a small overall “Brexit represents a seismic she says. cus on using the raw ingre-
furbished farm buildings production of about 6 mil- shift for our industry and But if the whiskey tariffs turn dients readily available in
in the town of Schlepzig, lion liters (about 1.6 million one which our members into a long-term issue, Heu- the area, making whiskey
home to about 600 people, gallons) in 2017, German are working hard to plan ser says it would be to no- from rye, wheat, spelt and
where the emphasis is on whiskey is mostly sold on and adjust for,” the asso- body’s benefit. other grains, Habbel says.
a small, craft product cre- the domestic market. But ciation says, noting that the Right now, Spreewood only “I don’t think there’s such
ated from locally sourced that doesn’t mean that dis- EU is the single most valu- exports small quantities of thing as a ‘German whis-
ingredients. tillers like Heuser and Hab- able market for Scotch. whiskey to Britain. But it’s key,’” she said.
“From grain to glass, we do bel aren’t watching inter- Across the Atlantic, when hoping to increase that, “The distillers are particu-
it all here,” Heuser says at national politics, with whis- Trump imposed tariffs on and is eyeing possible ex- larly proud that in Germany
the distillery he has run with key featuring prominently European steel and alu- ports to the U.S. down the there is tons of diversity.”
his two partners since 2016. in two major current issues minum, the EU retaliated road. When Heuser took over
“The only thing we don’t — Brexit and U.S. President last year targeting “typi- “The U.K. is a very important Spreewood in 2016 with his
have is our own field of rye, Donald Trump’s protection- cally American” products, whiskey market, especially partners, it was producing
but maybe that will come.” ist tariffs. including Harley-Davidson to launch brands, because brandy and other liquors
More and more micro oper- With 90 percent of Scotch motorcycles and bourbon they’re just very open to- as well as small batches of
ations like Spreewood have whisky exported, account- whiskey. ward it,” says Heuser, who whiskey.
been opening up in recent ing for 20 percent of all With duties looming for worked as a bartender in The three decided to be-
years, focusing on small London in a previous life. come Germany’s first dis-
batches of quality whiskey. “And the U.S. is a huge mar- tillery to concentrate solely
Nobody quite knows when ket, especially for whiskey.” on rye whiskey.
it happened, but today dis- Despite being sold mostly “If you focus on one thing
tilleries producing whiskey domestically, German whis- you can be really good at
in Germany outnumber keys are gaining interna- it,” Heuser said.
those in Scotland, about tional recognition. In 2017, Heuser says part of the dis-
180 to 130. a single malt from Hab- tillery’s appeal is its serene
“It’s crazy how many Ger- bel’s Hillock Park Distillery setting and natural ap-
man whiskey distilleries won double gold and was proach. In addition to us-
there are these days,” Ger- named the best whiskey ing grain from the nearby
man Whisky Distillers’ Asso- in the world by the “World fields, it draws water from
ciation president Michaela Spirits Award.” the river that flows through
Habbel says. “Of course Hillock Park is one of the the tiny town, which at-
the fact still is that German oldest German distilleries tracts about 40,000 eco-
whiskey only accounts for In this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 photo, Bastian Heuser co-owner of producing whiskey today. tourists each year. Its brand
0.4 percent of the world German whiskey maker Spreewood Distillery tests rey whiskey The business grew out of name — Stork Club — refers
market.” during an interview with the Associated Press in Schlepzig, the distillery’s production to large birds that can often
Germany.
In 2017, the entire Ger- Associated Press of “korn” liquor — basi- be seen flying overhead.q