söndag 18 oktober 2020

Swedish Whisky from Hven Distillery – The Nose 44,9% ABV!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! Today I bring you my review and thoughts on an upcoming release of swedish whisky from Hven Distillery called The Nose. You guessed it, this whisky is a tribute to the Master Blender (a.k.a The Nose) at the Hven distillery. You may not however have guessed that the name of this whisky also hints at the famous astronomer Tyco Brahe who lost the tip of his nose in a duel involving swords, and as a replacement is said to have worn a copper nose on an everyday basis but a golden nose for parties (very fancy, right?). Well, folks, that's just about as much storytelling I will indulge in for now...




The recipe goes like this: new make made from lightly peated malt has been matured in a total of 21 casks; 14 french oak casks that previously held Bourdaux wine (Petrus, Margaux, Latour), and 7 american oak cask, some virgin, some that previously held Vodka from Hven Distillery. The whisky was then transferred into spanish oloroso sherry casks for "marrying". The age of the whisky is 8-12 years old and has been bottled at 44,9% ABV. Here in Sweden it will be released on the 20th of October available at the swedish state monopoly. The product can be viewed by clicking here. Ok folks, let nose and taste The Nose!

Nose:
A very unique nose, that’s for sure; at first nosing there is juniper berries, but also juniper needles and/or fir, bark, and a medium touch of tar and asphalt with a hint of peat and dried grass. With that said, kind of a mix of forest, autumn, and industry (”industrial”; a slight feel of truck diesel). Below this dominant and rather harsh layer I find light yeast acidity, fresh pear, a bold vanilla, raisins and dried moist dates.


Taste:
The harshness and industry is gone, in favour of autumn and deapth! We have a dry and exciting spicyness, rye/cereal, warmth, dark viscous honey, liquid almond paste, roasted malt, milk chocolate infused with coffee beans, the feel of european oak slightly drawing towards manzanilla. And then, boom! A bold dryness hits my mouth, a feel of bubbles/carbonation jumping around on my tounge, dryness in the roof of my mouth as well as throat. After a while things calm down and the aftertaste gives a whiff of peach, pancake batter, water with light honey, and soft/sweet vanilla.


Some reflections to sum up:
Now that's a jorney for sure! The taste has few similarities with the nose, the nose might in fact be a deterrent to some people given its unusual-ness, but those who taste shall be rewarded. Very intriguing and interesting both on the nose and the taste. The nose of The Nose is quite complex indeed, the taste is more straightforward and not too dry. The aftertaste is soft and sweet and feels kind of like a mix of spicy Speyside and a luxorius, well-composed high quality, blended scotch.

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Hven Distillery for the great opportunity to review this whisky before it's release! For kind of weekly updates please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my instagram by clicking here, and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures and videos likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or is associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and when permission is granted by stating the source.

Pic belongs to Hven Distillery

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