Gouden Carolus Single Malt Sherry Oak

De Molenberg Distillery

Charles Leclef is a representative of the fifth generation of the Van Breedam family, millers and brewers in Mechelen since the 17th century. In 1990, he took over and modernised the family brewery Het Anker, located on the site of the former beguinage hospital. In 2010 he set up a whisky distillery on the family farm 'Molenberg' in Blaasveld (municipality of Willebroek), with the idea of producing a single malt distilled from the wort of the Gouden Carolus Tripel beer. This is a good thing, because in the past the Van Breedam family milled and distilled cereals to make genever.

The name Gouden Carolus also takes us back several centuries to the time when Mechelen was the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands. It refers to the golden shield of Emperor Charles V, for whom the Mechelen Brewers' Guild brewed a special beer.

 

Gouden Carolus Single Malt Sherry Oak

De Molenberg was the first whisky distillery in Belgium to use traditional Scottish pot stills, custom made for this project. A slow process of double distillation of the mash, which is made of malted barley only, produces a top quality distillate, which is then matured in oak casks for at least three years.

Gouden Carolus Single Malt Sherry Oak is also distilled from the Gouden Carolus Tripel mash. After an initial maturation in first fill bourbon casks and in house casks, it is aged in American oak Oloroso* sherry casks. This slow aging process in a variety of containers gives it a unique intensity and a complex aromatic bouquet of ripe fruit, vanilla and dark chocolate. This exceptional whisky is best enjoyed at room temperature (21°C).

* Oloroso sherry is aged without veil and is fully oxidised, unlike other types of sherry (jerez in Spanish, sherry in English).