On the 24th of September, South Africa celebrates Heritage Day. I was invited to the Whisky Shop’s Heritage Day celebrations and got the opportunity to try some proudly South African whisky. Except for Bain’s whisky, there was also Boplaas with their whisky and brandy, as well as the Helden Distillery with the Helden Hickory Wood single malt spirit.
I know that WhiskyBrother& Co have bottled a Young Single Malt from Helden distillery. And if the WhiskyBrother &Co team liked it enough to bottle something from here, I had to explore more of this Free States distillery.
The Helden Distillery is a South African whisky distillery situated in Parys in the Vredefort Dome. The Vredefort Dome is a UNESCO World Heritage area, the world’s largest meteor impact site. Helden is the Dutch word for “hero”.
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The Lead Distiller, Pieter van Helden was first exposed to the concept of distillation while at school. He went on to obtain a PhD in Chemistry. Pieter gradually matured from producing hobby-level fruit brandies (locally known as mampoer) to focusing on the art of whisky.
With a passion for Africa and innovation, the Helden Distillery was founded in 2018. They share premises with their brewing partner, the well-known The Dog & Fig Brewery. The focus is on combining sustainable African malted grains with innovative African wood maturation for their single malt and single grain spirits.
The Helden Hickory Wood spirit is a small batch single malt spirit is made from specially roasted South African malts and then distilled in a pot and column still. It is matured in toasted Hickory wood using AccelerAge technology.
With this technology, the Helden team seeks to “accelerate” ageing and bring products to market. At the same time, their traditional whisky matures in cask.
Helden Hickory Wood Single Malt Spirit Review
The Helden Hickory Wood is about 5 months old. It is not chill-filtered and is a natural colour. Only 174 bottles were produced. I have bottle 20/174.
COUNTRY: South Africa
ABV: 46%
COLOUR: Light Gold
NOSE: Caramel with ripe red grapes. A fruity sweetness with pepper and a floral note.
PALATE: Dry leather and wood with malt and fruity sweetness. Hints of nutmeg and cardamom mixed with cream and traces of toasted nuts. After standing for a few minutes, I get notes of fragrant tea roses. A medium body. A few drops of water makes it smooth and drinkable.
FINISH: Short finish with lemon pepper and wood. Floral notes with bits of rose and nutmeg.
RATING: EXCELLENT
The Helden Hickory Wood single malt spirit is too young to be called a whisky, but it drinks smoother than a 3 yo dram. Interesting and different. This young malt explores and expands the boundaries of what whisky can be. It moves away from the older way of thinking about whisky and looks at embracing new taste experiences. A distillery worth celebrating.
When you combine passion, technology and innovation, you get something individual. And if you like unique wood finishes, the Helden range should get a place in your collection.
The Helden Hickory Wood spirit retail for around R 450 is available online from the distillery, WhiskyShop and WhiskyBrother &Co. If you visit Parys, it is worth booking a private Helden whisky tasting experience. That way, you can experience the whole range of whiskies and learn about the production process and brand.
More from the Helden Range
The Helden whisky range consists of the Innovate Range, Limited and Premium, and the Summer collection. The Innovate range includes Cherrywood, Hickory wood finish, and New Make spirits.
An African Bonfire whisky will be part of the Premium collection. This will be a sorghum malt-based whisky that is matured using indigenous African Camel Thorn wood. I have tasted a bit of this, and it is delicious. It is going to be perfect for a bushveld braai.
Sample disclosure: I received this whisky from the Helden Distillery team. The review and tasting notes are my own honest, fair and independent thoughts about the whisky.
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