Melbourne’s new Apollo Inn and The Gospel collab on exclusive Rye Whiskey  

Melbourne CBD cocktail bar and Gimlet’s sister venue, Apollo Inn has called upon The Gospel to collaborate on an exclusive single-cask release for the venue.

The Gospel Projects High Wheat is a high wheat rye whiskey from a single cask selected by Bar Manager Cameron Parish and The Gospel Co-Founder Ben Bowles.

The limited release is available to purchase exclusively from The Gospel website and Meatsmith and Morning Market merchants, or over the bar at Apollo Inn from this week.

Opening in June, Apollo Inn is a new small bar from the team behind Melbourne’s celebrated restaurant, Gimlet, and is the first stand-alone cocktail bar under the Trader House group. The Gospel Projects High Wheat will be the first exclusive whiskey release to feature on the menu of curated cocktails.

“Gimlet has quickly become one of those places that feels like it’s always been a part of Melbourne’s fabric, yet is impressively only a few years young. When we were approached by Cam and the team to celebrate the opening of their new venue Apollo Inn, we wanted to honour their renowned level of hospitality by creating an equally refined whiskey,” Bowles said.

“This is the first time we have collaborated with a venue, and we feel this partnership is a special ode to Melbourne. The last Wheated Rye we released was one of our highest-rated whiskeys - it was featured in the Top 10 releases of 2021 by Oz Whiskey Review and scored 94 points by Ev Liong.”

The Gospel Projects High Wheat is distilled from a mash bill of 63% Mallee Rye, 31% Malted Wheat and 6% Malted Barley. It was double-barrelled for three years, first in New American Oak before resting in a second fill rye cask. It is highly aromatic, with notes of toffee apple, toasted chestnut, salted caramel, Mirabelle plum and cherry wood.

“My initial brief to The Gospel was to find something similar to what I enjoy - an American rye whiskey with a heavy charred cask - wanting to bring an added richness to the dry style typical of rye whiskey,” Parish said.

“All eight of the cask samples Ben presented were amazing. When he talked me through the mash bill of the High Wheat and the double-barrel maturation, inclusive of a heavy toast barrel, it matched perfectly to what I was looking for - there’s a sweetness, richness and toastiness to the whiskey.”

For the new High Wheat release, Parish has created two cocktails: the Cablegram and Manhattan Number 6.

A Cablegram is a riff on the classic whiskey highball, Rye & Dry, adding a twist of toasted soba to complement the toastiness of the whiskey. Black lime and ginger wine are used to cut through the depth of the toasty flavours.

The richness of the whiskey is best showcased in Cam’s Manhattan Number 6, which uses dry vermouth and Cocchi Americano, perfect for sipping alongside a plate of raw tuna and sobrasada.

The Gospel Projects High Wheat ($140) will be available exclusively from Apollo Inn and The Gospel’s website from 8:30 am on 9 August. There will be an exclusive pre-release tasting at Apollo Inn on Tuesday, 8 August, with bookings available on the Apollo Inn website.