Even better than the real thing? Non scotch whiskies that should be on your radar!

Episode 1: The Belgians are coming!

Gouden Carolus Folle Blanche 2022 anniversary edition. 46% ABV, natural colour, unchillfiltered, 16000 bottles, app. €55-€60 (50 cl bottle)

Ok, so my summer break lasted a wee bit longer than I intended. Usually I take the liberty of not posting new content for 4 or 5 weeks, but due to the combination of work related deadlines, taking some time off with the family and a rather long list of ‘to do’s around the house, I simply couldn’t get round to writing new reviews before recent. In any case: I’m back, and I’ve planned and scheduled my topics for the months to come, so we should be ready to kick off the 2nd half of 2023.

I realise picking a topic about non-scotch whisky to blow off the dust from my blog page might not be the most obvious choice, given that most of the whiskies I’ll be reviewing in the weeks to come will not always be easily available for many. But as I see it as my solemn duty to spread the word about good whisky (someone else already claimed the words ‘whisky evangelism’ – bastard!) regardless of where it’s being made, I am more than happy to try and get you to shift your focus of attention away from (y)our beloved Scotch for a while and point you in the direction of what else is out there.

To kick off the new series, I decided to keep it close to home, with one of my local distilleries. ‘Stokerij De Molenberg’ (I won’t expect you to try and read or pronounce this if you’re not a Dutch speaking native, so I’ll make it easier on you: it translates as Millhill distillery) has a really interesting backstory to it.

The distillery is owned by the same people who also own and run the nearby citybrewery of ‘Het Anker’ (The Anker) in the town of Malines. Both the beer and the whisky are named Gouden Carolus (Golden Charles), after the Spanish emperor Charles V who ruled half the world in the 16th century and who was born and raised in our neck of the woods, when cities like Ghent, Antwerp and Malines formed the center of Northern Europe’s economic and political power. It is in that same city of Malines, halfway between Antwerp and Brussels, that the story of Gouden Carolus was born as well. From origin a medieval brewery run by nuns, it was revived in the late 19th century and has since been in the same family for 6 generations, growing from strength to strength. It also functions as the warehouse for the whisky, as the distillery itself, which can be found in a small village some 10 km/6 miles away, is too small to have warehouses on the premises. The distillery also has quite a bit of provenance and pedigree, as it dates back to the 17th century. Obviously, whisky wasn’t really a thing in these parts back then, but jenever (basically another grain based liquor) most certainly was and still is. At the start of 20th century, it was mothballed and soon after, largely dismantled too. However, it was revived around 2003 by Charles Leclef, the 5th generation of the aforementioned brewing dynasty, when Leclef was looking to expand and branch out from the brewing business. The small derelict farm distillery owned by his family seemed like exactly the right project to make this happen. Restauration began in 2009 and a year later trial batches were being run. These initial whiskies didn’t exactly turned out successful and soon after the decision was made to start from scratch and rethink the entire operation. With a lot more success this time round, as the new take did get a firm nod of approval from whiskylovers. The whisky from ‘De Molenberg’ now really hit off, and soon after the standard expression became an established success, new additions were added to the core range (a sherry cask finished one, a peated expression and very recently a whisky fully matured in madeira casks). Also, they’ve been releasing special releases every year around November to celebrate their anniversary. The 9th and most recent installment in those series, is this ‘Folle Blanche’ expression, a whisky that was triple matured in ex-bourbon caks, their beer casks and then for a full 3 years in cognac casks (hence the name ‘folle blanche’ – the grape variety used to make most cognac).

Edit: as Stefan Nowak pointed out in the comments, the common grape variety these days is Ugni Blanc, as Folle Blanche is becoming an increasingly rare grape variety used for making cognac.

So provenance and historic references a plenty here, and while it makes for a great story, it doesn’t say anything about the actual quality of what is being produced today. I am happy to report that as the years progressed, they have really won me over, both with their core range expressions as with these annual releases. It’s one of those whiskies that’s pretty decent at a young age but which significantly improves as stock matures further and the knowledge and understanding of the people making it, increases.

Another fun fact: the base for all of their whisky comes from some of the wash from the sister brewery, set aside for distillation. The new make is then consecutively matured in their special ‘Het Anker’ casks (their beer casks, made from port casks I believe), ex bourbon casks, and for their anniversary editions the malt is then given a third maturation, in this case another 3 years in cognac casks. These anniversary editions have rapidly become something ‘collectors’ and investors took an interest in, and tend to creep up in prices on secondary soon after release. However, these used to be 8000 bottle releases but as stock and capacity grows over time, the outturn gradually increases each year as well. While easily available in Belgium and the Netherlands, distribution elsewhere is still rather limited. See it as an incentive to visit my neck of the wood and find out for yourselves…

Nose

Fruity, with a zesty, grape - yeast-like dusty touch, sitting on a crystal clear yet ever so gentle grassy-floral note. Some (tropical) fruits with kiwi and blood oranges. It’s not unlike Inchmurrin 12, in fact, with that combination of grassy and fruity notes with a bit of a twist to things. It’s subtle and layered, but never shy or ‘discrete’. Simply put: absolutely beautiful on the nose.

Palate

Again that combination of grassy – floral notes with a zesty tang to it. Slightly soapy – funky in the best of ways, making for a bit of a fizzy, effervescent mouthfeel with a subtle woody bitterness.

Finish

Medium long, emphasizing those grassy – floral and grape notes.

Final thoughts

This isn’t just a very good non-scotch whisky, this is a very good whisky – full stop. Basically, the standard profile of Gouden Carolus is quite reminiscent of a light and fruity scotch single malt, and seeing how this expression builds on that standard malt, it only blooms and blossoms even further. The extra maturation in those cognac casks is an absolute hit, making this a very good example of the rise and rise of world whisky. So good, in fact, I’ll happily pardon the 50 cl bottle it comes with, and so good, that I’ll be looking to replace this if I can still find it at MSRP. 86/100. Go Belgium!