EIFEL BEGAN DISTILLING IN 2008 WITH THE AIMS OF
PRESERVING THE OLD REGIONAL GRAIN DISTILLING TRADITION.
Germans have been distilling for much longer than in most parts of Scotland, and there are in fact 20,000 private distilleries in Germany!
Everything is done by hand by Stephan and his wife Carolin. Stephan mashes every Friday for Monday distillation and in turn mashes every Friday for distillation the following Monday. Carolin hand bottles and hand labels each bottle individually.
They distill initially in very old column stills with grist, following the traditional German method, and then again in a pot still. The spirit is distilled to 72-75% abv. Water is then added to lower it to 60% at which point it is sent back to the family property. The spirit is then aged in 50-500 liter barrels, depending on the final character of the spirit that Stephan is seeking out.
Stephan has worked as a wine importer and distributor for the past 35 years, and thus is able to get his hands on some of the finest barrels to age his spirits!
American, French, and Bulgarian oak casks are often used. When using Bordeaux casks, Stephan removes the tops and bottoms of the barrels, replaces these pieces with German oak, and then re-chars the barrels. This recharring has the effect of caramelizing the leftover red wines and creating exquisite flavors!
With the exception of the limited amount of product reserved for export to the US market, Eifel products are only available within the Eifel region, and are not even sold in other German areas like Berlin or Munich.
PRESERVING THE OLD REGIONAL GRAIN DISTILLING TRADITION.
Germans have been distilling for much longer than in most parts of Scotland, and there are in fact 20,000 private distilleries in Germany!
Everything is done by hand by Stephan and his wife Carolin. Stephan mashes every Friday for Monday distillation and in turn mashes every Friday for distillation the following Monday. Carolin hand bottles and hand labels each bottle individually.
They distill initially in very old column stills with grist, following the traditional German method, and then again in a pot still. The spirit is distilled to 72-75% abv. Water is then added to lower it to 60% at which point it is sent back to the family property. The spirit is then aged in 50-500 liter barrels, depending on the final character of the spirit that Stephan is seeking out.
Stephan has worked as a wine importer and distributor for the past 35 years, and thus is able to get his hands on some of the finest barrels to age his spirits!
American, French, and Bulgarian oak casks are often used. When using Bordeaux casks, Stephan removes the tops and bottoms of the barrels, replaces these pieces with German oak, and then re-chars the barrels. This recharring has the effect of caramelizing the leftover red wines and creating exquisite flavors!
With the exception of the limited amount of product reserved for export to the US market, Eifel products are only available within the Eifel region, and are not even sold in other German areas like Berlin or Munich.
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RATING:96 Points, Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible “Fabulous! What an inspired idea this is!” Eifel’s Rye Whisky is produced with a mash bill of 90% rye and 10% unpeated barley malt. The rye comes from the Eifel region of Germany, where rye has a history of being the classic bread malt for this poor and remote region of the country due to the fact that the climate and soil prevented wheat from growing there. The barley malt is sourced from within the European Community. The rye and barley are mashed in 1000 KG batches, with fermentation taking between 72 and 96 hours. The first distillation is done is a “very old” traditional grain column still including the grist. The second distillation is done in a small copper pot still. Alcohol strength is reduced to 60% abv before transfer into barrels. The spirit is then aged for at least 1 year in a combination of heavily toasted new and refill 150 and 225 liter barrels with interchanging oak and acacia staves, It is then aged for in refill Bordeaux wine barriques (mainly American oak) and finished in freshly emptied German pinot noir barriques. RATING:91 Points. Brilliant, Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible Eifel Single Malt Whisky is distilled from the finest unpeated European barley malt. The rye and barley are mashed in 1000 KG batches, with fermentation taking between 72 and 96 hours. The first distillation is done is a “very old” traditional grain column still including the grist. The second distillation is done in a small copper pot still. Alcohol strength is reduced to 60% abv before transfer into barrels. The spirit is then aged for at least 4 and a half years in approximately 80% freshly emptied and refill 225 liter and 500 liter French and German red wine barriques (mainly American oak) and approximately 20% 225 liter and 500 liter refill acacia barriques. Finally, the spirit is finished for at least 1 year in freshly emptied Sherry casks. |