Century on the rocks

The specialist journalist from Germany claims to have such a tight schedule that he could only make it to the "christening" of the Swiss Highland Single Malt Whiskey Ice Label Century on the Jungfraujoch by helicopter. The group of less rushed media people experience the breathtaking ride on the Jungfrau Railway up to the Joch surrounded by Japanese tourists without any extra sausage. There, the Century matures at minus four degrees in an ancient oak barrel in the even older glacier ice at 3454 meters above sea level. "When we heard about maturing in ice, we thought it was a marketing stunt," says Sonja Petignat, an expert at the Swiss Federal Research Institute Agroscope, "but every single vintage of this whisky has its own bouquet, which also depends heavily on the particular American oak barrel. The cold and humidity cause a special maturation process that we can't fully explain, but the result is striking and convincing!" The interview with the ETH graduate expert takes place in an enchanted cave in the Ice Palace. Several barrels of Swiss Highland Single Malt Whiskey Ice Label serve as a backdrop, which blossoms into a full bouquet in the glacial ice.

Brewers on new paths

How did Rugenbräu, the traditional beer brewery in Interlaken, come to distil whisky in the first place? "Our company has always been innovative," explains Bruno Hofweber, CEO and co-owner of the family business. "When the revised Alcohol Ordinance allowed whisky to be brewed in Switzerland in 1999, we immediately gave it a try. Our expertise in beer production helped us here, as the basic ingredients - barley malt, water and yeast - are the same."

The first edition of the Swiss Highland Single Malt Whiskey in 2008 was soon sold out in an edition of 3500 bottles and at the proud price of 129 francs. The efforts were rewarded with awards and medals. The effort required for this quality product is considerable and the quantities are small compared to the whiskies from international distilleries.

But why an ice whisky? "In a conversation with a renowned Scottish whisky distiller, he said that the nearby sea contributes a lot to the quality of the Scotch," explains Hofweber. "We don't have a sea, but we do have a sea of ice on the Jungfraujoch." This is how the project that Rugenbräu is implementing in collaboration with the Jungfrau Railway came to fruition.

The "Century" is the birthday whisky of the Jungfrau Railway, which began operations on August 1, 1912. 1291 bottles of the Century Ice Label are filled in special bottles - to commemorate the year the Swiss Confederation was founded. A lot of numerical magic for a malt distillate! Adolf Guyer-Zeller (1839-1899) was also invited to the launch. Wearing a period tailcoat, the builder of the Jungfrau Railway, impersonated by an actor, emerges from an artificial fog bank to the applause of the guests and celebrates the railroad and whisky with some apt remarks. Urs Kessler, CEO of the jubilant Alpine Railway, also joins in the applause.

Bruno Hofweber and Silvia Mettler, his communications consultant also based in Interlaken, are turning the launch of the Century Ice Label into an informative top event with impressive venues at the distillery in Interlaken and on top of the Jungfraujoch.

Technical poetry in the ice palace

The tasting in the crystal-clear, high alpine natural cellar brings a smile of pleasure to everyone's face. "Dark amber to oak-coloured, with a hint of golden mountain sunshine" is how the whisky is characterized, "with a body of pleasantly soft texture".

The whisky lyricism reaches its peak when a connoisseur describes how the "slightly woody aromas and tart notes are combined with vanilla and caramel to create a beautiful interplay and an impressive balance".

After so much specialist poetry, the audience, warmed from the inside, also understands that each bottle of the ice-matured "Century" costs a proud 345.40 Swiss francs (the figure is based on the altitude of the ice grotto - albeit with a decimal point). Packaged in handmade wooden boxes, accompanied by a certificate and a leather pouch with original stones from the excavated material used to build the Jungfrau Railway. The anniversary distillate is so exquisite that some of the precious bottles will probably never be opened, but kept in whisky collections for posterity. Incidentally, the busy specialist journalist from Germany missed the event on the Jungfraujoch because the storm of the century made the helicopter flight to the eternal ice impossible. Here's to a "Century" on the rocks! Werner Catrina