That ^^ looks like a win to me. I'm convinced there's shedloads of stuff we do because we do it that way, for no good reason: "Don't eat before going swimming" I seem to remember was drummed into me as a child, same sort of thing.
Anyhow, I habitually put malt into standard white loaves for flavour, and sometimes into wholemeal, because, why not? The strength of flavour of the flour (and, OK, the rye and caraway I add) demote it to a more insignificant role. Actually, the "you must put sugar into bread" is another of those things some people do for no good reason. Today I thought, "what if I used molasses in wholemeal?" I have to tell you the result is excellent, slightly darker but improved flavour and consistency, I recommend it to the house. It helps if you have molasses hanging around, molasses sugar might work, too. I used about 40g in an 800g flour loaf (at 65% hydration)