Nicks Wine Merchants Project Release
Some places don't need to announce themselves. Nicks Wine Merchants has been part of Melbourne's fabric since 1958, family-owned and four generations deep, and now one of Australia's most awarded independent retailers. They taste and score almost everything before it hits the shelf, and stock over 1,300 whiskies. Not because they have to. Because that's what they obsess over.
When the opportunity came to collaborate with Nicks on a Project Release, there was no hesitation on both ends. Fanaticism recognises fanaticism. The Gospel Projects series is born from an obsession with making the world's best rye whiskey. Every release is a single cask, one barrel, one pursuit of perfection. This release is our two obsessions bottled.
Yuri Chlebnikowski is the fourth generation of the family and the man behind this selection. We sat down with him to talk about growing up inside one of Melbourne's great institutions, what drew him to whiskey above everything else in the portfolio, and what it took for this particular cask to earn its place. Read the interview below and head to Nick's Wine Merchants to get your hands on a bottle (release scheduled for Saturday 16 May, on World Whiskey Day)
-- Nicks Wine Merchants is four generations deep. Do you think that obsession with finding exceptional bottles is something that’s inherited, or does each generation have to discover it for themselves? When did you realise it had properly taken hold for you?
To answer more generally, like most retail businesses, we’re partly driven by where customer demand takes us. About twenty years ago, we recognised a growing consumer interest in whiskies of all kinds, and we started making concerted efforts to expand our range, create promotions and educate ourselves and our customer base. We do try to keep the market interesting by regularly importing new and sometimes exclusive lines, while frequently offering more mainstream whiskies at direct import prices. It makes us both diverse and highly competitive.
-- Nicks covers everything, wine, spirits, the lot, but you’ve carved out a reputation as 'the whiskey guy'. Was that always your lane, or did whiskey pull you in over time? What was the moment it clicked?
As above, the answer is more mundane than the question suggests. Historically, we were primarily a wine merchant, but since experiencing huge growth in the whisky market, we have pursued that further and whisky is now a significant part of the business, as you can tell by the range, which must be close to the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere. That’s also why we’ve become a bit of a magnet for whisky and spirits enthusiasts nationally. Tasting whiskies remains part of that; however, keep in mind, there are hundreds of new releases each year in Australia. We only taste a relatively small number.
-- You taste a large volume of spirits. At this point, what does a whiskey actually need to do to stop you in your tracks?
Most whiskies fulfil the basic sensory criteria of having satisfactory aroma, flavour concentration, balance and length. A whisky that grabs our attention is one that excels in one or more of those criteria. A truly great whisky does that too, while bringing a quality to the table that is distinctive, perhaps even unique.
-- Tell us about this cask selection. What made this one stand out? What was it telling you that the others weren't?
This cask yielded a rye with a lovely richness while retaining character true to the genre. It also had little burn or bittersweetness at the finish. The overall balance just felt right compared to the others. It simply delivered everything you’d want in a high-strength rye at a very reasonable price.
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NB: This Project Release is available exclusively through Nicks Wine Merchants. We are not selling any bottles through our webstore.
