Zuidam Dutch Rye 5 Year Old

A few months ago, my good whisky buddy Sjoerd from NL, had arranged a bottle share of American whiskies (i have yet to post my notes!, wow. i am way back). anyways, he was kind enough as to add a wee sample of this very nice rye by a Dutch distillery by the name of Zuidam.

Zuidam distillery goes back to 1975 when it was set up by Fred van Zuidam. His idea was to build a small artisanal distillery, and He built a small distillery of 300 square meters with 1 small copper still and 1 small production line. Today Zuidam is a family run business ran by the sons of Fred Patrick and Gilbert , and the distillery is much bigger : 3600 square meters with 4 brand new copper stills, over 1000 oak barrels, 4 production lines and a modern tank storage.

In addition to producing whisky Zuidam distillery also produces liqueurs , Gin,Genever,Korenwijn etc. You can find more information in Sjoerd’s excellent Blog post written after he visited the distillery.

Zuidam Rye whisky 5 yo , 40% ABV , £47

Nose: Vanilla, Definitely big rye notes here, You could have fooled me this was an American Rye whisky! Spices galore too, cinnamon,cardamom,cloves, Banana peel. Palate: Bitter sweet, with vanilla, bitter oak, Rye notes, Banana again, spices and wet inside of a barrel. Finish : Spicy,bitter and quite short. it’s Bang, then it’s gone. A nice seeping whisky on a summer day, one cube of ice won’t hurt methinks.

Bottom Line:

This is a nice whisky, It could have fooled me for an American rye. Nice nose, and palate, and a little short on the finish. Excellent sipping whisky for a summer day. An ice cube would come in handy . As for the price, It’s not cheap, but it’s unique.

This whisky is part of our whisky world beaters tasting. It surprised us all at the Whisky Tasting Club. In fact, it made the final of our own Whisky World Cup in July where it gave some of the worlds big hitters one hell of a contest.

Nose: Rich and welcoming, but complex, with some candy stick, sandalwood, leather saddle and soft toffee. Some musk and five spice in the mix. Palate: some youthful notes but with a beguiling mix of candy stick, glacé cherries, sweetcorn, mint toffee, hickory, and raspberries. Finish: rich, full and sweet with only a nod to spicy rye.

this whisky is not cheap, but its worth trying. In many ways its quite different to American rye.

They have just bottled a peated whisky which I'm keen to try.