Husk Whisky 2021: Husk x Burleigh Brewing Co.

We’re a rum distillery with a Scottish Forsyth still. Why? Because we’ve always had a deep love affair with whisky.

Each year, just before the Husk Rum harvest starts, we make a unique batch of Husk Whisky in collaboration with a local brewery.

We have 4 years worth of batches ageing quietly in ex-Husk Rum barrels. We’ll likely start releasing these annual batches of Husk Whisky in 2023 - or whenever the spirit tells us it’s ready. Patience is a virtue!

Husk Whisky 2021: Husk x Burleigh Brewing Co

This year Burleigh Brewing Co created a special mash bill and Quentin headed to Burleigh Brewery on the Gold Coast to spend the day with the brewery team.

The ground malted barley was first mixed with hot water to break down the starch in the grain into sugar. Then after around an hour, the mash is pumped to the lauter tank to seperate the liquid sweet ‘wort’ (sweet barley juice) from the solid spent grain. Finally, the wort was transferred to a big kettle to be boiled for several hours, where juicy flavours begin to develop.

The ground malted barley mash

Two weeks later we received 18k L of fermented whisky wash.

We ran the still everyday to turn this wash into new make of unaged whisky. The smell of new make whisky filled the distillery for a week!

The last distillation, or spirit run, is the most important and we took our time (20 hours) to make sure we captured the very best aromas created during the fermentation. It smelled and tasted incredible.

We finished up at around midnight, had a knock off dram and went home to bed.

The last step in the process was to transfer the spirit into our ex-Husk Rum barrels to age for several years. During this time the flavours created in the fermentation, and concentrated in the distillation, will develop further and interact with the Husk Rum-seasoned wood of the barrels.

Each year we’ll have the Burleigh Brewing crew out, draw from the barrel and sample the ageing whisky until it’s ready to be bottled. Sign up to the Husk Rum Club newsletter below for release updates.