Review // SLYRS Bavarian Rye Whisky

If there’s any type of whisky I’ve really started to explore, it would be rye whisky. Together with my love for dark and sturdy rye bread (I blame/thank Finland), rye whisky definitely has a visible presence in my home. And thanks to this SLYRS expression, I also know that there’s quite a lot of varieties of rye out there… The more you know!

Text by Mickaël Van Nieuwenhove
Photography is © SLYRS Distillery and © Mickaël Van Nieuwenhove

The SLYRS Story

I you’ve never heard of SLYRS before, now’s the time to start paying attention. There’s really no shame admitting that you haven’t heard of the leading German single malt whisky brand, which is also available in more than 20 countries. There is shame, however, in dismissing this distillery because it’s not Scottish, Irish, American, or Japanese. That would be an unforgivable error!

The history of SLYRS (at least the name), goes all the way back to the year of our Lord 779, when five monks from Ireland and Scotland built a monastery in Schliersee, slap-bang in the Bavarian wilderness. The monks called their monastery SLYRS, after the location it was built at.

Centuries later, more precisely in 1994, when brewer and master distiller Florian Stetter visits Scotland on a tour of Scottish distilleries, and notices Bavaria and Scotland have quite a lot in common: mountains, clear water, clean air, etc… As a bet, he proclaims to be able to make a first-class whisky in Bavaria… and proves them right! There’s truth to the saying that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it…

Slyrs Bavarian Rye Whisky

But what’s the story behind rye? Well, if you had asked me a couple of years ago which country 'I’d connect with “rye whisky”, I’d say the USA, because it’s a drink that I’ve heard mention in Westerns and in TV series before.

If you were to ask me know, though, I’d elaborate by stating that it’s mostly found in colder countries, as rye has the characteristic of growing quite easily in a colder climate, even in the poorest soil! In that way, rye is the ideal grain to use to feed people in a cheap way. And it’s delicious too!

Now, using it for distillation, however, is a bit more difficult. Rye is not an easy grain to work with in the whisky production process. It turns out the grains get ‘sticky’ when mashed, which obviously means

Still, plenty of distillers are focusing on using rye for their mash. Most of them, like SLYRS, use it in combination with two other grains such as barley and wheat. This is why rye whisky is not a ‘single malt’, as it has more types of malt in the mash.

Just like there are multiple varieties of barley that are used in whisky distillation, so too is there a plethora of rye species to talk about. A bit of googling will lead you to a report of a study conducted by a farmer / distiller on the topic of rye varieties which has a conclusion that plenty of people had already guessed: the type of rye used in the mash determines the flavors of the distillate. If you’d like to read up on it - though it’s a bit technical - you can do so here. This brings me to the specific rye variety that is used in SLYRS’ rye whisky: ancient Bavarian grain rye, which produces a rather sweet malt.

Now you know what to look for when you start sipping that dram of SLYRS rye.

Tasting Notes

Time to get down to business. Based on the information above, and the 41% ABV, I expect this expression to be nicely balanced between sweet notes and spices. The rye has to be noticeable somewhere, right?

If I put my nose to the bottle, I immediately pick up an aged cider scent, which is quite surprising, but lovely, as I quite like cider. It deepens towards the scents of fruit salad that’s been in the fridge for a day or two, or even the typical scent of the spongy fruit cubes in sangria. There’s a vague cinnamon note there as well, which also reminds me of a warm fruit dessert a friend of mine likes to make in the oven. That’s a reference that’s useful to maybe 2 people, I know. Sorry.

The flavors start off subdued and ‘on the surface’, but once you have a second sip, they start to develop further as the flavor profile deepens. There’s more spices to be found here, with hints of allspice, a bit stronger cinnamon note, and even a bit of liquorice. These are all carried through by the same sweet note which can also be found in the nose.

The finish is drawn-out and leans towards a drier mouthfeel, with puffs of powdered spices drifting around in the mouth. It’s remotely like doing the cinnamon challenge, except from a great distance and actually pleasant.

As I suspected, this is an easy sipper, which would pair well with a warm fruit dessert such as the spiced hot fruit bake dessert by healthyfitnessmeals.com. Check out the recipe here. Feeling adventurous? Add a scoop of sugar-free vanilla ice cream. You’ll thank me later…