“I have always felt that Romanians deserve to have a single malt produced in their own country,” expresses Nawaf Salameh, founder and chairman of Alexandrion Group.

 

 

Salameh sensed it was his “mission and duty to use the natural resources in Romania to produce a premium single malt whisky” for all to enjoy.

Introducing Carpathian Single Malt, the first-ever single malt whisky produced entirely in Romania. Perfected at Alexandrion Saber 1789 Distilleries (along the Carpathian Mountains), the whisky combines 100% malted barley and pure Sub-Carpathian water; double-distilled, aged in first-fill white American oak barrels, and finished in ex-Romanian wine* casks.

 

Why did it take so long? “Maybe nobody had the courage to do that.”

Nawaf Salameh, founder and chairman of Alexandrion Group.

 

“[It’s] made using Romanian barley—one of the best in the world—as Romania is [ranked] top 20 producers of cereals in the world,” adds Allan Anderson, master distiller behind Scotch brands like Loch Lomond and Aberargie. “The water from the Sub-Carpathian hills is also a key ingredient. Few people know that Romania holds over 60% of Europe’s mineral water resources, and Romania ranks fifth in the E.U. in terms of natural mineral water production.”

 

Carpathian Single Malt is bottled at 46% alcohol without artificial flavor, colorant additions, and chill filtration.

 

“It’s best enjoyed neat, on the rocks, or by adding a bit of cold water to release the flavors, as the product is sold at 92-proof,” Anderson suggests. Also… “with friends,” he chuckles.

 

 

Three cask-aged expressions of the first Romanian single malt arrive stateside to select markets (New York, New Jersey, Florida).

• Fetească Neagră Cask Finish – Clove and candies on the nose, with plantain and pineapple on the palate. ”Feteasă Neagră is the most famous Romanian wine variety. It has a spicy, smoky fruit character and good tannin structure that gives the beautiful, natural [amber] color to our whisky,” Salameh shares.
• Madeira Cask Finish – Clean, copper color; scents (and sense of taste) include honey and raisin.
• Pinot Noir Exclusive – Raisin and raspberry round out the tasting.

“[Now] we put Romania on the map of single malt whisky producers,” Salameh concludes.

 

*Romania has more than 2,000 years of wine production history and is one of the largest wine producers in the world. Alexandrion Group becomes one of few global companies to utilize casks from their own wine production facilities for single malt maturation.

 

The post Introducing Romania’s First-Ever Single Malt Whisky appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News