A couple of weeks ago, I got to visit Stork Club Distillery near Berlin. At the end of the private tour, co-founder Steffen gave me a bottle of their signature product – Stork Club Straight Rye. In its current form, the Straight Rye is still being made from stock that Steffen and his partners acquired from the production site’s previous owner (who called his drop Sloupisti back in the day). As the Stork Club boys had only bought the distillery in 2016, their own rye whiskey has just come of age. Let’s see when it will be officially released – after all, we are experiencing pretty wild and unpredictable times right now. Anyway, back to the dram I have in the glass as I type: Stork Club Straight Rye Whiskey is well renowned and decorated with multiple awards (including a gold medal at the 14th edition of the Meininger International Spirits Awards). It comes with neat, colorful packaging and cuts a fine figure on its own as well as combined with mixers. The latter is also the reason for the nickname “The Cocktail Rye”. While I have yet to try a longdrink or cocktail based on Stork Club, I have already sipped their whiskey neat on various occasions. And it always was a real treat!

by Tobi

Eye: Light chestnut brown.
Nose: Initially, I get roasted hazelnuts and toasted wood. Next, I smell dried apricots, wild strawberries, sweet cough drops and soft honey pie. And also mild spices. The deeper I sniff the whiskey’s fumes in, the warmer and sweeter the aromas become.
Palate: Stork Club’s Straight Rye Whiskey is sweet and chewy on the tongue – with a peppery bite underneath. Among others, I taste toffee, nuts, raisins, puff pastry and gingerbread. These flavors are accompanied by fresh notes (minty chewing gum) and spicy notes (green pepper corns). The whiskey feels balanced on the one hand, yet edgy on the other.
Finish: The fine aftertaste has citrus zest, caramel muffins, black bread with marmalde and After Eight slices. Plus more grapy, grassy and minty notes. It lasts for a fair amount of time and leaves the throat well greased and wanting more.

Type: Rye Whiskey
Region: Germany
Age: NAS
Alc. volume: 45 per cent
Bottle size: 0.7 litres
Price range: ~35 Euro
More info: https://stork-club-whisky.berlin/ (Distillery)

*** Whiskey bottle kindly provided by Stork Club. Thank you! ***