Swedish Whisky from Norrtelje Distillery – Single Sherry Cask no.43-250!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! A couple of weeks ago the Sales Manager at Norrtelje Distillery contacted me and wondered if I was interested in tasting a soon to be released whisky produced by them. "Of course" said I, and a couple of days later a sample showed up in my mail box. Now, this is the second release (at the swedish state monopoly) of whisky from this distillery, and this is the info I have about it:

The barley was organically grown in the landscape of Östergötland, and malted by Viking Malt in the city of Halmstad. The malt is unpeated. In the production process water from the well of the farm that the distillery is located at was used. Distillation took place in april 2016. The new make was filled into cask 43-250, a 250 litre oloroso sherry hogshead, on the 24th of September that same year. It was bottled straight from the cask without filtration on the 13th of January 2020 at 48,7% ABV (which I assume to be cask strength). The cask gave 193 70cl bottles out of which 185 will be available at the swedish state monopoly this Tuesday. The product can be viewed by clicking here. Ok friends, let analyse!

Nose:

At a distance from the glass (30cm) there are whiffs of sweet malt, sugar sweetness (syrup), and sultana raisins. Nosing closer to the glass (10cm) I find obvious notes of a nice sherry maturation (dried dark raisins, dried figs), light honey, and a slight touch of juice from canned pinneaple. When nosing straight into the glass there is apparent yeast, a yeast that has some peat and also some wood in it. The sherry maturation/style has unfortunately not fully overcome the yeast. In the deep bottom layers I find a beautiful liquorice and/or mint (the flavour, not the plant).

Taste:

Starts off on dark raisin sweetnes and some saltyness which fastly morphs into a mixture of yeast and new wood that thankfully quite quickly (2-3 seconds) moves on into a kick from the ABV and then we have medium peatyness, almond paste with whiffs of bitter almond, grassyness, and dryness. After these stark/strong flavours we have pear (not quite ripe), something red (apple?), dry vanilla, vanilla custard, and the almond paste comes back. In the aftertaste there is a mellow sherry sweetness, and the taste actually ends kind of in the same way as the nose did, with a pleasent mixture of peat and mint.

Some reflections to sum up:

If one has the ability to look past the yeast on the nose, nosing this whisky is a pleasure; it is complex and it contains some goodies, especially the sultana raisins, the pinneaple juice, the hint of peat, and the liquorice-/mint-vibe going on. On the taste, all in all, the yeast is less of a problem since it fades as fast as it does. Here too there are goodies, especially the medium peatyness, the dry vanilla and the sherry sweetness. Eventhough this edition of whisky from Norrtelje Distillery shows yeast both on the nose and on the taste it is definitely more mature and grown up than their first release (which was 6 years old mind you). Considering that this release is only three years old I think that it is ok that there is a little yeast in there (something I have experienced before in young whiskies/early releases from other swedish whisky distilleries). In my opinion Norrtelje Distillery has clearly moved forward and improved their whisky making skills. Congrats and good for you!

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Norrtelje 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/copyright belongs to Norrtelje Distillery

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

Swedish Whisky from High Coast Distillery – Silent Mills O2!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! Today I am very happy to bring you my review/tasting nostes of an upcoming release from High Coast Distillery/High Coast Whisky called Silent Mills 02 – Sandö. Before we talk the specifics of maturation etcetera, here is some background info from the site of the distillery:

"Silent Mills 02 – Sandö is number two in a new category that develops and deepens the theme of the pedigree and authenticity of our Origins series. The High Coast, and its nature and history, is the backbone of our brand and the source of inspiration for our whisky. With Silent Mills, our historical origins in the northern forestry industry come into focus and the whisky is linked to our Origins edition, Timmer. Where Timmer draws inspiration from forestry work and log-driving along the river Ångermanälven, the Silent Mills series develops the story and highlights all the sawmills that have lined the river and which have long ago sawn their last log. Like Timmer, all Silent Mills editions are peated and are matured on 200 liter bourbon barrels. The crucial difference between Timmer and the Silent Mills series is that we add other barrels to Silent Mills to deepen the taste and create a whisky with more complexity and an exciting tonality [...] In Silent Mills 01, it was American new oak that added spice and clear vanilla tones. In Silent Mills 02 – Sandö, it is instead selected sherry casks that deepen the taste. [...] Like the previous edition, and the upcoming ones in the Silent Mills series, the whisky is bottled with an alcohol strength of 51%".

So, some details: the barley used was peated to 44-45ppm. Whisky matured in 20 bourbon casks (volume around 200 litre per cask) and 4 oloroso sherry hogsheads (volume around 250 litre per cask) were blended together. The youngest whisky in the mix is 6.01 years old and the oldest is 7.69 years old (giving and average age of 7.35 years old). The whisky was watered from cask strength (in this case 62,4-64,3% ABV) to 51% ABV. In total the casks gave 10318 bottles out of which 2500 will be (initially) available on the 13th of October at the swedish state monopoly. The product can be veiwed by clicking here. Ok folks, let's review!

Nose: 

This dram has two general profiles/styles going on at once. Sometimes when I nose my attention is drawn to profile number one: wonderful soft lemon zest (a touch of watered orange juice in there), a tad of lemon-sugar sweetness and at the same time very fruity fresh. Overall incredibly fruity. At other times when nosing my attention is drawn to profile number two: Smooth, deep, elegant but ’dark’ peat. Leather, and in the deapths a complex vanilla with a slight touch of almond. In the very bottom there is a cup of hot chocolate with a splash of peat in it. All in all very intriguing, mature, and kind of like a smooth Laphroaig.

Taste:

Starts off on ”burnt” sugar, caramelized pan-fried lemon-slices and peated pear, and then moves quickly on into a lump of dried up almond paste, farmhouse, earth/soil, smoke/ashes, liquorice penicillin, wet leather slippers and at the very end we have parsnips pan-fried in a lot of butter topped of with sweet peat. Wow, what a journey of flavors! 

Some reflections to sum up:

The nose is very different from the taste; while there is (in part) a very fruity profile on the nose the taste is mostly concerned with rough and rustic stuff! I would not really say that I pick up/spot the sherry matured aspect of this dram (but it is after all only around 20% of the liquid that has been matured in sherry casks). All in all this is a very good, complex, and well composed whisky that brings the drinker the best of two sides. Looking at the age of the whisky it is a job incredibly well done! 

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at High Coast Whisky 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.

In lack of a photo of the Silent Mills 02 bottle. Pic borrowed from systembolaget.se