Our Story
The launch of a single malt whisky matured in Romanian wine casks is a world premiere. Romania has more than 2,000 years of history of in wine production and is one of the biggest wine producers in the world. Alexandrion Group, through Alexandrion Rhein 1892 Domains, its wine division, produces some of the best, internationally awarded wines in Romania. Its vineyards are located in the Dealu Mare (Big Hill) region, on the 45th parallel, similar to the Bordeaux region. In 2021 Hyperion Fetească Neagră 2016, a premium highly appreciated wine within the Alexandrion Rhein 1892 Domains portfolio was awarded the Double Gold medal in the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. Fetească Neagră is considered to be one of the best Romanian red wines, exhibiting spicy, smoky fruit flavours and good tannin structure. Alexandrion Group became, thus, one of the few companies in the world that use barrels from their own wine production facilities to age single malt whisky. This is a unique collaboration that will be further enhanced in the coming years.
Our Master Distiller
Deep in the Sub-Carpathian hills, our distiller has been quietly maturing the first Romanian single malt whisky, since 2017.
To make the Carpathian Single Malt a reality, we needed a master distiller: an artist and a craftsman who could use this land’s flavored malt, blend it with the pure sub-Carpathian waters and use his skill, knowledge and decades of experience to nurture this unique single malt experience. Such a man is Allan Anderson, a master distiller with Scottish and Irish heritage and 30 years of experience in producing both Scotch whisky and Irish whisky.
The combination of Scottish know-how, Romanian malt, pure Sub-Carpathian water and superb wine barrels, make Romania a perfect country to produce this high-quality single malt, that single malt aficionados will soon discover.
“This whisky perfectly showcases our distillery terroir. The huge flavor impact of our malted barley, the pure Sub-Carpathian water combined with the unique flavor of Romanian & Spanish wine barrels make Carpathian an exquisite whisky, that, without doubt, will become one of the best in the world as it further matures. The maturation in warmer weather vs Scotland (+5⁰C on average) might explain the unique, milder character of this superb whisky”.
“When I first visited the Carpathians, the first impression was the untamed beauty of the snow-covered mountains dotted with pine trees everywhere, fresh air that had a whiff of pine needles & wild juniper: it was definitely a welcome escape from the busy city landscape”, he remembers.
INSPIRATION
“I stayed at a lodge in the grounds of Peles Castle, a beautiful hidden Royal residence which nestles in the mountains and, on that day, with the snow falling, it was very magical in a way that was very similar to Scotland, with clear water running in the nearby river, mountain fresh air, valleys like Scottish Glens but mountains, although similar to the Scottish ones, more dramatic in height and presence. I thought this would be a good place to make single malt whisky!"
That evening we went for a walk and wondered why the streets were empty with no one around…. the reason was quickly given to us when a restaurant owner ran from her premises to tell me that a brown bear and her cubs were looking for food and showed me the footprints in the snow – I realized then that this is still a wild untamed part of the world, perfect for making Carpathian Single Malt whisky, just like my Scottish forefathers had done many centuries ago in the Mountains & Glens of Scotland”.
Our whiskies have a natural colour resulted exclusively from the maturation in casks and are unchill filtered to ensure a natural, full-bodied and flavorsome product.
He also discovered the purity of the Sub-Carpathian water that springs from the ground, the rich depths of maturation in a climate that is about 5 degrees Celsius higher than in his native Scotland, marrying whisky with wine casks to create the most impressive collection of wine and cognac matured single malts in the world.
Every drop of Carpathian Single Malt starts its life as the rainwater in the middle of the surprising nature of the Carpathian home to the most developed wildlife in Europe.
Our wine casks are sourced from prestigious producers of famous wines varieties: Porto, Sherry etc.
