Tasting the all new Wheskykôrka 56,1% ABV (Single Sherrybutt Bunnahabhain) from ’Svenska Eldvatten’

On the 1st of April swedish independent bottler ’Svenska Eldvatten’ (’Swedish Firewaters’) released yet another exciting whisky at the swedish state monopoly liquor store. Tommy and Peter was very kind to send me a sample and I was very happy to receive it two days after the release, especially since it sold out that same day! 

The name of the whisky is a play with words of a famous Gothenburg seafood market called Fiskekôrka (Fishchurch) thus being modified into Wheskykôrka (Whiskychurch).

Anyway, the whisky is described as a more than usually peated Bunnahabhain matured in a single sherrybutt that was laid down in 1990 and bottled in 2012. The strength being 56,1% ABV. The cask was split between two local whiskyclubs and Svenska Eldvatten leaving 113 bottles for them to release. 

For whiskyfans outside of Sweden some of Svenska Eldvattens whiskies and rhums recently became available at ’Master of Malt’ so please check it out! Okey, let’s try it!   

Nose:

Very soft! The peat is definitely in the background. The sherry-influence is not overpowering, which of course I didn’t really expect judging from the color (but somewhere in my mind I guess heavy sherry was what I longed for ☺). Anyway the sherry-influence is rather soft. What there is a lot of though is milk chocolate, touches of cacao, in combo with some sort of distant mint. The sherry has left it’s mark though with things like very very soft caramelised melted raw sugar and really sugary sultana raisins. The alcohol is hardly traceable so everything is really soft… a wonderful interplay between the elements of this whisky! When really putting my nose deep in the glass and taking a deep breath there are lots of excotic elements, mostly on citric. Well, my mouth sure is watering which means it’s time to see what’s on the palate!

Palate: 

Aha! There is quite some sherry-influence on the palate, but mostly picking up on the caramelised sugar together with the raisins that was there on the nose. Maybe it’s re-fill sherry? Anyhow, in the very center of the palate, or what might be described as the focus of the whisky, we have a steady, firm, peaty-ness. Again, it’s not bursting with peat, not overly peated, but rather, firm and very much present. Surrounding this we have the excotic fruits from the nose, there is something citric yes, but here we also have pears, apples, and even a touch off passion fruit, things that I normally associate with bourbon-matured whisky. Finishing of is something almondy, some dried herbs and strangely enough a little little little aftertaste of ale/beer or it’s probably a malty-ness that I’m picking up on? Yeah, that’s probably it!

To sum up:

I think this Bunnahabhain was a very interesting experience, interesting combinations both on the nose and on the palate. Things are very well integrated here people! I was a little bit confused longing for big sherry-influence and huge peat, but no matter, this is a really pleasent experience and I’m really happy to have had the chance to try it, so once again a big thanks to Tommy and Peter of the Svenska Eldvatten, Sláinte! 

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