Swedish Whisky from Smögen – Sherry Project 2:1 Sherry Octaves 4yo 53,6% ABV

Dear friends and followers alike! When working the Beer & Whisky-festival in Gothenburg in late March I ran into Pär Caldenby, the distillery manager/master distiller of swedish west coast distillery Smögen. To my great joy he was very keen on sharing a sample of the first release in his second series on the influence of sherry cask maturation, rightfully named Sherry Project 2:1.

This first release in this new series consists of a vatting of 18 so called Octaves (50 litre casks) that previously were used to mature (oloroso) sherry. The Octaves are made from american white oak and are fresh/first fill. The casks were filled with heavily peated new make (in Smögens case meaning just above 50 ppm) in april 2013 and drawn from cask/bottled on the 6th of May 2017 at 4yo and held 53,6% ABV. The casks used are number 18-35/2013 and they gave 1382 bottles. Please feel free to read Pärs own words on Sherry Project 2:1 in the picture below (click the pic to enlarge):

Since Sherry Project 1 dealt with the particular impact and style of sherry quarter casks it could be that this new series Sherry Project 2 might deal only with sherry Octaves of different ages, but, that is just speculation from my part.

Here in Sweden Sherry Project 2:1 will be released tomorrow (1st of June) and you can view the product by clicking here. 1056 bottles will be available. 

Also tomorrow, Smögen Single Bourbon Cask 18/2012 5yo (the sister cask of Smögen Wee Swede 17/2012) will be released, only 276 bottles available and you can view that product by clicking here. 

Ok, let's see what we have!

Nose:

Very intriguing! There are mainly two layers. The first layer is sort of a mix of fruit and ”perfume”; we have slices/pieces of orange, lemon peel, peach candy and interestingly enough apple cidre and wine vinegar (first time for me to find vinegar). The second layer consists of some really earth-y stuff; we have green peppercorn (perhaps even green peppercorn-gravy?), cookie dough, rich/full-bodied vanilla almost moving on into newly ground vanilla-flavoured coffee. There is also definitely a smell of pine-needles. In fact, the smell of pine-needles is almost moving on into cinnamon in some hard-fetched way… What about the peat? The peaty-ness is definitely to be found in the earthy layer, and for being Smögen the peat is very, very soft and almost impossible to be separated from all the vanilla and vanilla coffee going on here. Very interesting mix of fragrances!

Taste:

Wow, wow indeed… actually starts off on the fruity/perfum-y side of things, quite citric with the apple cidre and wine vinegar dominating but we also have dark raisins making an entrance. But all of this is very, very briefly (1-2 seconds or so) because after that some really beautiful and fat vanilla takes over (vanilla pod and heated full-fat cream) moving quickly into all the earthy stuff; here we definitely also have some earth (soil) and moss, but most of all the peat is in the center of attention. Actually it’s vanilla-peat and pine needle-peat! Lots and lots of vanilla intermingling with very soft peat. I would describe the peaty-ness sort of as a mix between Laphroaig and Bowmore. Thinking of the aftertaste, it takes this whisky a short amount of time to arrive at the aftertaste, however, what does linger in the aftertaste is all the vanilla and all the soft peat. 

To sum up:

For me, this is not a typical or ordinary sherry matured peated whisky (if there is such a thing, but you know); I did expect some of those classic sherry-fragrances and sherry-taste, such as lots and lots of raisins and dried figs. However, I did not find anything resembling a typical sherry matured peated whisky, the raisins did not make an entrance until the taste and it was not at all what i thought of first. One can tell that this definitely is american oak, and that is because of all the vanilla. Concluding with just one more thing, the mix of vanilla and peat in this one is absolutely wonderful! Big thanks to Pär for sharing a sample of Sherry Project 2:1 and for the opportunity to review and try it before the release! Sláinte! 

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 likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com

Swedish Whisky from Hven – Alioth 45% ABV

Friends and followers alike! Today is World Whisky Day and what better way for me as a swedish blogger to celebrate this than to review a swedish whisky?! This time around it's time for the latest release from swedish Hven Distillery, I received this very nice and good looking sample bottle a couple of weeks ago and now it's finally the right time to try it. In fact, I am very glad to have been invited to the release event on site, but very sad not to be able to go (unfortunately it's hard for me to make it on a week day...). Anyways, the name of this whisky is Alioth, that's right, you guessed it, it is the fifth release (and star) in the series drawing its inspiration from the constellation called "The Big Dipper"!

The press-release that I received contained info on the recipe, please feel free to read it in the photo below:

Alioth is still available at a number of swedish monopoly stores and you can view it by clicking here. Ok, let's see what we have here!

Nose:

Peat is definitely in the foreground here! The level of peating seems to me to be slightly above medium. Connected to the peat is also black pepper, slightly burnt wood/burnt log of wood, and also some green and damp moss. That is, very forest-y in style. Above the peat and forest layer is a very evident freshly squeezed lemon juice mixed with a sligth touch of pinneaple juice, brown/dark sugar and grain. Surrounding all of this, in the distance, is on the one hand cold coffee with lots of milk in it and on the othe hand we have a very soft vanilla (the kind of vanilla that is in the swedish candy ”sugar cubes”). Ok, let’s move on to the taste!

Taste:

Oh, so incredibly soft and smooth! Also quite sweet actually. I did not expect that at all (given the evident peat I thought this was gonna be quite peat-y and quite salty…). Lots of vanilla, lots of fudge, a hand or to of the cold coffee with lots of milk. And as noted, quite sweet and sugar-y indeed, but this time a mix of white and dark sugar. Interestingly enough, the burnt wood stuff from the nose is also on the taste but it moves quickly (1-2 seconds) into medium salt liquorice. The peat does not show itself until after all of this, that is, in the very end of the aftertaste. After the peat has settled down some oatmeal porridge developes together with evolvment of more fudge and vanilla

To sum up: 

This is a very interesting dram, and when I say ”interesting” I don’t mean odd or ordinary; what makes it interesting is rather that what I expect from the nose does not really show itself as I had thought it would on the taste, to me that is interesting and quite rare. Besides this fact it is also very smooth, soft and sweet and alos very well balanced. The taste comes thorugh perfect on this strength and I would not want a higher ABV. A great everyday dram but with an extra little oumph when the peat kicks in at the end. Thumbs up!

Big thanks and Sláinte to the people at Hven Distilley for the opportunity to taste this whisky before being released! Sláinte! Please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my twitter-page by clicking here, and my instagram by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com

Swedish Whisky bottled by Bergslagens Distillery – Sherry Darling Lightly Peated 5yo 58% ABV

Dear friends and followers alike! Once again I was fortunate enough to receive a package from the people at Bergslagens Distillery. This time the label states: "Sherry Darling Aged 5 years sherry casks lightly peated". This is the second release in a series of three (please feel free to read my thoughts on the first release in the series here). 

Just as I wrote in the post of the first release in this series, and as you all know by now, this whisky has not been produced or distilled by Bergslagen Distillery but it was distilled at the (now closed) Grythyttan Distillery. This is in other words an independent bottling by Bergslagens Distillery. 

The pressrelease states: "The Whisky has been matured in a number of 50 litre [sherry]casks for five years". Well people, that was kind of secretive wasn't it?! Once again, sadly, there is no mention either of type of sherry (but I'm guessing Oloroso) or of what kind of oak (european or american). Also no mention of exact number of casks. The pressrelease does state that the 58% ABV is cask strength (but I wonder, is it rather not vatting strength we are dealing with here, and watered to that exakt ABV?). Maybe, sometime in the near future, Bergslagens Distillery can share some more precise info on these details as Smögen Distillery and Box Distillery usually do. 

However, to my immense joy, and to your satisfaction, I happen to know that "lightly peated" in the context of whisky produced at Grythyttan Distillery in fact means 15 ppm. With that said, this release will be available tomorrow (tuesday the 2nd of May) in three of the state monopoly stores located in the swedish town of Örebro. It will also be available to order via the order-assortment. In total, 840 bottles will be available. Ok, let's see what we have this time around! 

Nose:

Not at all an extreme sherrybomb this time (compared to the unpeated sherry darling that I have as a reference, as you can see from the pic below). Although there is a lot of sherry influence going on here it is somehow subdued. Instead of the extreme raisins that we had in the unpeated sherry darling, we have in this lightly peated version something mould-y going on, the mould on brie cheese. We also have medium ashy-y vanilla, the peel of sunwarm red gooseberries and a slight touch, just a tad, of very earthy peat. Yes, earth (soil), and sugar coated dried figs. Also, this ligtly peated version is calmer on the alcohol; I can without any problem at all take a deep, deep breath with my nose without feeling any alcohol at all! Now that’s just wonderful! There is also a sweetness in this one that is very, very mouthwatering, maybe something like freshly squeezed orange juice with lots and lots of white sugar in it (the emphasis is definitely on sugar), well, that’s it, now I just have to have a taste!

Taste:

At first everything is so sweet (syrup) and i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-y smooth, so smooth! When swallowing, everything gets medium dry very fast. Than an explosion of flavours occurs; it literally screams of vanilla leather, medium dry milkchocolate, cold-brewed coffee, sugardrenched dried figs springled with freshly squeezed sugared lime juice and finally some wonderful peat! Very big on the flavours, meaning that a lot is going on, but not at all overwhelming. Rather more-ish (”I want more!”), and the best thing is the peat, it is in perfect balance with all the sherry-stuff going on here, wow! 

pic borrowed from systembolaget

To sum up:

For me, this is a lot better than the unpeated version. This one is a sherry bomb but not an extreme one. The peating-level sure is perfect for this amount of sherry influence. Ok people, hold on, because taste-wise this is by far the best sherry matured swedish whisky I have tasted so far! And, I realised it the second at which I swallowed and felt the explosion of flavours, mmm… Big congrats to the people at Bergslagens Distillery for closing this deal and big thanks for the opportunity to taste it before being released! Sláinte! 

Please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my twitter-page by clicking here, and my instagram by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com

pic belongs to/copyright Bergslagens Distillery