Archie Rose – Rye Malt Whisky

12 Aug

Archie Rose – Rye Malt Whisky
Sydney, NSW.
ABV: 46% (malted rye with malted barley; matured in virgin American oak).

Australia's most internationally awarded rye, and the bridge between single malt and American-style rye. It was named World's Best Rye at the World Whiskies Awards in 2020 – a result that wasn't a one-off: it has since taken World's Best Rye at multiple international competitions, including the US ADI Craft Spirit Awards and the World Whisky Masters in London. It’s made from malted rye rather than the raw rye of American tradition – a distinctly Australian softening of a hard style. Archie Rose Rye Malt Whisky is the whisky that proved local rye could beat the world. Even better: unlike almost every other bottle at this level, this whisky is both genuinely affordable and widely stocked; it’s that rare world-beater that you can walk into a bottle shop and buy off the shelf. If you take one whisky from tier one of this list, this is the one you can actually start with tonight.

WhiskyAustralian WhiskyThe World ChampionsArchie Rose

Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com

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