Local Sightseeing: Whisky & shoes

29. March 2015

Most of you know that I am frequently travelling, hiking and taking pictures everywhere I go. I now decided to start a series called local sightseeing. Living in Vienna, I have of course lots of architectural, historical and artistic sights basically in front of my house. However, the more rural Niederösterreich (lower Austria) has some unknown or forgotten sights, some of which I will present in this new monthly series. My first post combines my passion for photography with my passion for shoes and Whisky.

Whiskylix

Whisky and shoes? You might ask how these will go together? Giving you some geographical background, lower Austria has 4 quarters, the one I went to yesterday is called Waldviertel (wooden quarter). Nomen est omen, in this sparsely populated area, you’ll find lots of wood. Almost at the border to the Czech Republic, two small companies have gained astounding success with their skilled crafts and trades.

The Waldviertler Shoes still produce handcrafted quality shoes. Taking a tour through their production area, you can watch all steps from leather cutting, applying the last and fixing the sole to the final product: My new boots made for walkin’:

About a 50-minutes drive away, you’ll find the whisky distillery Haider in Roggenreith. They use rye and barley as basis for their tasty whisky. Heating the rye to 90°C gives the whisky a honey-taste, roasting at 100°C liberates different essentials oils leading to a more nougat or coffee-like touch. Storing the Whisky in oak-tree barrels applies a vanilla note to the booze. Cheers!