Little Lord Fauntleroy No. 03

Der kleine Lord N° 03 with Toffee, Vanilla and Licorice

Der kleine Lord N° 03 matures in American oak and rum casks, making it the softest in the series. Toffee, vanilla, and mild licorice replace the dark chocolate of the N° 02. An organic spelt spirit with 42% ABV from Werne.

Der kleine Lord N° 03 is an organic spelt spirit that has been matured in American white oak and rum casks. Ultimately, the cask determines how a spirit tastes, and the Ehringhausen distillery lets it rest there for years until the clear grain spirit has become an amber-colored spirit with a note of toffee. Sweet and savory at the same time, that is how it enters the glass.

Full-bodied, velvety, unobtrusive

On the nose, there is a sweet heartiness with a touch of raisin, the kind that only long maturation in casks can produce.

On the palate, it becomes full and creamy, carried by toffee and vanilla, followed by oak and finally a mild licorice. This very licorice is its signature, as it gives the finish a slightly rooty depth that is otherwise more commonly found in herbal liqueurs.

It is creamy, spicy, and mature, and the 42% ABV is surprisingly subtle. Anyone who places the N° 02 next to it will notice the difference immediately: there you have chocolate and intensity, here you have caramel and calm.

What the rum cask contributes

Before being used for the spelt spirit, a rum cask has housed sugarcane spirit for years, and some of that remains in the wood.

That is exactly where the toffee note comes from. The cask releases remnants of the molasses sweetness without a single gram of sugar needing to be added—and one is not allowed to add anything to a spirit anyway. At the same time, the American white oak provides vanillin and that soft coconut note for which this type of wood is known.

Two types of casks, two signatures, and the art lies in hitting the moment when both are in balance. Bottled too early, the spirit remains thin; bottled too late, the grain disappears under the wood. With the N° 03, that point is just right.

Four gold medals in six years

The N° 03 is the most awarded spirit from the distillery, and it has maintained this over a remarkably long period.

It won gold in 2017, again in 2019, once more in 2020, and again in 2022. That makes four gold medals spread over six years and several competitions. This is no longer a lucky snapshot, but proof that this quality can be repeated year after year. Hats off.

Continuing traditions while exploring new paths, as Theres and Georg describe their role, in this case also means trying out a cask that no one would have expected in a Westphalian grain distillery. They have been distilling in Werne since 1962, and the siblings have been running the business in the third generation since 2012.

At 16 to 20 degrees, without ice

Serve it at 16 to 20 degrees in a bulbous cognac glass as a digestif after a long evening.

It goes well with caramel dessert, baked apples, and a piece of nut chocolate, and it also cuts a fine figure next to an espresso. It does not need ice; it would mask the fine sweetness.

It is particularly suitable as an introduction to the series because it does not overwhelm anyone, yet shows everything that cask aging can do with grain. If you prefer something smokier afterward, move on to the kleiner Lord N° 04 with its peaty note. You can find the entire series and everything else from the house in the Ehringhausen Distillery assortment, and more spirits in our Korn selection.

The quietest of the three Lords, and yet it is the one that collects the most gold. Sometimes calm simply prevails.

Organic inspection body DE-ÖKO-005 – German Agriculture