Are you ready to get your hands on the sibling to the WORLD BEATING Amber Lane Silk Road? The very FIRST BATCH of the Amber Lane Silk Lane is all yours!
The Amber Lane Silk Lane is made of the same process and cask types as the multi-award-winning Silk Road. The only difference is the lower abv of the Silk Lane…and the spectacular price point!
The original Silk Road smashed it both at home and abroad (Gold Medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards and the Royal Australian Distilled Spirits Awards) and we know the Silk Lane is going to be wearing its own gold very soon!
Matured for over 5 years in three stages – initially, virgin American oak casks for 12 months prior to moving through two different ex-bourbon casks (Heaven Hill) for the next four and a bit years, for total of 5 years and two months in wood. This single cask release (and subsequent Silk Lane releases) has then been bought down to a very healthy 48%abv for bottling.
Amber Lane is one of Australia’s most well respected and awarded distilleries. Since their launch in 2018, Amber Lane have been wowing Australia’s whisky-loving community as well as cementing Australia’s reputation as a producer of world beating whisky. There’s hardly a product on their website that doesn’t have at least a couple of medals associated with it!
A huge part of Amber Lanes success lies with their use of large-format casks only. You won’t find any 25 or 50L casks in the Amber Lane bond store. The other component of the ‘Amber Lane process’ is their use of the ‘Cognac tradition of aging’ – moving all of their maturations through multiple barrels, each beginning with an initial maturation in virgin oak.
We are absolutely stoked to be launching a new product for Amber Lane and the Single Malt Whisky Club are getting the very first batch all for us! Please welcome the Silk Lane Batch #1 SMWC Edition.
This is a new line for Amber Lane and we’ve been honoured to have the first batch all for ourselves – they’ve even put our logo on the label!
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: Masses of American oak goodness – citrus peel, vanilla, floral notes by the bouquet, some almondine, a rich oakeyness underlying and all wrapped snugly in a creamy -almost banana- custard cloak. Let it sit in the glass for a few minutes and a lovely earthy-umami comes through too.
Palate: Deliciously creamy mouthfeel with just a little wave of pepper which precedes a tsunami of apricots, honey, biscuit spices (there’s a real Arnott’s Malt-o-Milk biccy vibe in there) and a citrus peel piquantness that sees in the finish
Finish: Delicious and nutty finish – that almondine from the nose really comes back with a honey drizzle that sweetens it right back up again just as some salted taffy emerges to see it out.
Wow! This whisky is a ride. So many facets that jump out, creep in, skulk away and then re-emerge! And what a roller-coaster of flavours – sweet, salty, umami all well-represented and all playing nicely with each other (if only our kids could take this example!). Those who tasted the multi award-winning Silk Road know what to expect. This is basically that whisky with a dash of water added. This is truly ‘Silk’ by name and by nature!
For $99 you get a 19-year-old blend of single malts from Glengoyne, Glenrothes, Macallan and Tamdhu!
FROM AMBER LANE
Amber Lane has become one of Australia’s most awarded whisky producers, winning the Champions Trophy at two major Australian whisky competitions in 2024, as well as being rated Australia’s equal best single malt at the International Wine and Spirits Competition and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2024.
This Silk Lane release, exclusive to the Single Malt Whisky Club, is the first appearance in Australia of what is destined to be one of Australia’s favourite single malt whiskies. It’s bigger brother, Silk Road, which was bottled at a whopping 58%, was rated Australia’s most popular whisky at The Whisky List Shows around Australia in 2023, as well as winning Gold Medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2023, the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards 2023, and the Royal Australian Distilled Spirits Awards 2023. Stocks of Silk Road are sold out, with a new release slated for release later in 2025.
Now comes the little brother, Silk Lane, at a deliciously quaffable 48% ABV exclusively through the Single Malt Whisky Club. Like its big brother, this release of Silk Lane has been created by ageing new make in premium virgin American oak (Kelvin Cooperage, 3 years air-dried) for 12 months, followed by extensive resting in ex-Bourbon casks (Heaven Hill). The effect is exquisite, with rich spice notes and viscosity from the oils of the virgin cask, which then integrate beautifully with vanilla, honey and citrus from the Bourbon cask, softening to create a unique and utterly delicious drinking experience.
This release has spent time in three separate barrels in the Amber Lane barrel warehouse – virgin American oak cask 305, Heaven Hill Bourbon cask 059 and finally Heaven Hill Bourbon cask 111. This methodology of moving spirit through several casks is reflective of the Amber Lane style, which emulates the great Cognac tradition of France, where spirit is exposed to virgin oak and then moved through several other casks to create complexity, balance and softness. The spirit has been bottled at 5 years and 2 months of age, and is non-chill-filtered to ensure all of the goodness of this whisky can be enjoyed by the consumer.
ABOUT AMBER LANE
The Amber Lane story was forged in the stars. Friends and fellow amateur astronomers Rod Berry and Phil Townsend were enjoying dark rural night skies at Coonabarabran NSW during 2017 when serendipity intervened. During a daytime excursion in the region, they stumbled upon a small whisky distillery, and a dream coalesced. A sense of destiny has marked every step which has followed.
Located just outside of Wyong on the central-coast of NSW, Amber Lane have been making their spirit since 2018. However they only came to market in April 2022 to allow the spirit to more extensively mature and develop complex notes not achievable in younger casks.
They use large format casks – 250 and 300L sherry casks from Spain, and 200L Bourbon casks from Heaven Hill in Kentucky. Using larger barrels means that the beautiful barley sweetness of the new make (which we are very proud of) is not drowned by the cask. We want to showcase the spirit as well as the quality of the casks, and to create whisky that is complex and balanced.
Amber Lane strives to produce refined, beautiful and delicious whisky in a traditional style which brings satisfaction and joy to all those who partake. They focus on bringing together the natural sweetness of the barley in the new make with high quality aged casks from Spain and Kentucky that bring depth and richness to every dram.
