Swedish Whisky from Hven Distillery – St Raphael 40,9% ABV!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! Today I bring you my review of and thoughts on a soon to be released whisky from Hven Distillery called St Raphael, the first release in their new series called Seven Angels. The recipe for this whisky goes like this: in 2010 new make made from unpeated malt was filled into a total of six casks out of which five are french oak casks from Allier that have previously matured Italian wine; two Cabernet Sauvignon casks, two Merlot casks and one cask that matured a sweet wine made from the grape variety Vespaiola. The sixth cask in the mix was an american oak cask that previously matured Vodka from Hven Distillery. The whisky was bottled at (watered to) 40,9% ABV. 

All in all the six casks gave 2302 (50cl) bottles out of which 1600 will be available at the swedish state monopoly this tuesday (16th of March). The product can be viewed by clicking here. Ok folks, let's do some reviewing!

Nose:

When taking the screwcap from the bottle and pouring the whisky into my glass, there are instant whiffs of crispy citrus flying by alongside the red candy in bassetts wine gum. Nosing lightly into the glass I find very smooth and elegant scents of even more citrus now intermingling with homemade blackcurrant juice. Shaking the glass vividly and nosing properly there are more rich, deep, and full-bodied scents coming through; in the first layer there is elderflower, dryness as if coming from blackcurrant leaves, and licorice. In the second layer there is dark and rich vanilla with hints of overripe banana, tobacco (sweet cigarillos), and chocolate fudge. The low ABV makes this whisky easy to nose and at the same time it seems to both let through and support the scents in the bottom layer.

Taste:

Well folks, it’s sweetness and dryness at the same time! The sweetness is a bit sugar-y and definitely has both an elderflower and a sweet licorice feel to it, almost sweet and ”sour” actually. The dryness consists of medium heavy tannins, a spicyness that I just can’t seem to pin down, lemon peel bitterness, and almond paste that somehow seems a bit ”angry”, ”agressive” or maybe fire-y. When the dryness and the spicyness has calmed down and the aftertaste enters there is first a fast peak of elderflower coming through, then a tad of rubber, and finally it ends very quickly indeed on vanilla with elements of citrus fruit seeds, chocolate, and a whiff of coffee beans.

Some reflections to sum up:

The best thing about this whisky is the nose, It’s both intriguing and interesting and there are elements and layers that can easily entertain you for half an hour. Also, the ABV, albeit low, really does carry the nose and those beautiful scents in the second layer. The taste however is all in all a bit to fast for me. Also, in my taste the dryness is too much in focus and when the aftertaste enters the whisky fades out too fast and ends on tasting just… plain and simple good whisky. For the sake of the taste (and aftertaste) I would have wanted a higher ABV, but I can guess that at the blending stage that option was probably opted out since it would have resulted in even more dryness and tannins. Summing up: this is not a bad whisky, it’s just not as good as I had hoped for (basically all of the whiskies I’ve tasted from Hven to date have been really good and so my expectations were rightfully set high). Its flaw is the dryness, a dryness that sadly makes the taste rather one-dimensional.

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 systembolaget.se

Swedish Blended Malt Whisky from Smögen & Hven – Bländande 55,5% ABV!

Friends! Last week Pär Caldenby, the Distillery Manager/Master Distiller at Smögen Distillery, contacted me by e-mail giving me a heads up that some upcoming products would come my way in the form of samples. Yay! The package arrived at the beginning of this week and one of the samples was marked "Bländande". The sample contained a swedish blended malt whisky and the name of this whisky is of course a pun, a play with words on the fact that it is both a blend and that the result of the blend is of bländande quality, meaning of blinding/dazzling quality. Bländande is a collab between Pär at Smögen and Henric Molin, the Distillery Manager/Master Distiller at Hven Distillery. This is (most likely) the first ever blended malt whisky using whisky produced in Sweden! 

The recipe consists of roughly equal parts whisky from the two distilleries. Both parts are made from heavily peated barley. The whisky is 8 years old. In total nine casks were used: four virgin chinquapin barrels (Quercus muehlenbergii) containing Single Malt Whisky from Hven Distilley, and four 1st-fill bourbon barrels (ex-Makers Mark) as well as one Oloroso Sherry Hogshead containing Single Malt Whisky from Smögen Distillery. The blending was carried out by Pär and Henric. Prior to bottling the whisky spent more than a month marrying, and was then bottled at (watered to) 55,5% ABV. Bottling took place at Smögen Distillery, while distribution is taken care of by Hven Distillery. More than 3000 bottles were produced in total.

Curious for some more info/details I sent an e-mail to Pär with a few questions which he kindly replied to. You'll find his answers in italics:

1). What is the ppm for the respective parts from Smögen and Hven?

The phenol-content in the malt of Smögen is fully [well above] 50ppm. For Hven it is somewhat lower but still definitely heavily peated.

2). The whisky has been watered to 55,5%, what ABV did the respective parts have before watering took place?

The ABV in the casks were well above 60% before dilution.

3). Was the sherry hogshead european or american oak?

American white oak.

4). In a commentary field on facebook it is said that half the contents of the sherry hogshead was used for this bottling. Is this info correct?

Half the hoggie was used, that is correct. Sherry casks can easily dominate so one has to use them with good judgement.

5). Can you share an exact number for the marrying time, and in what kind of vessel was the blend married?

Fully [well exceeding] one month. A [steel] tank.

Ok folks, there you have it! Here in Sweden 2600 bottles of Bländande is available this Tuesday (24/11) at the state monopoly, and the product can be viewed by clicking here. Now, let's analyze and see if the result of this blend blinds and dazzles me!

Nose:

Lots of dark and rich scents lurk about, great deapth. Very mature. The first things that pop up is the center scents consisting of dark fugde, something chocolate-y, ”fruity vanilla” (red berries and vanilla) and also a quite big malty-ness. Surrounding the center is of course peat, but it’s not really the Islay-style kind of peat (that I would associate with Smögen); there is a lot of peat but it’s rather soft and at the same time earthy (rich soil), and when pouring some of this whisky in my hands, rubbing them and nosing, the peat manifests itself as live coal/embers, leather and a whiff of mint. It might be just in my mind but I can kind of feel (recognize) which scents are from Smögen and which are from Hven, meaning both identities/distillery characters are present. At the same time, this is a really sucessfull blending project with perfect integration where the two parts become one.

Taste:

Wow, just wow! Old Laphroaig on sherry casks, spot on! This is definitely my kind of whisky. It tastes like 18 years or older but the peat has not calmed down (as it would have if it was that old and from Islay). On the contrary, the peat is very much alive, vivid, with an earthy, rich, chewy character to it. I’ve never tasted a Swedish whisky that tastes like this one. Magic is in the air and all nerds out there should be really happy that this project happened. Trying to ignore/set aside the absolutely wonderful peatyness for the sake of further analysis, I find dark raisins, black treacle and traces of sweet acidity (as of sour milk) in home baked bread, honey sweetness, sugar coated/caramelized ashes, and a wonderful smoky malty-ness. 

Some reflections to sum up:

Buy this whisky. Or you’ll truly miss out on something great!

Finally, a big thanks to Pär and Henric 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 borrowed from systembolaget.se

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 Hven Distillery – Alkaid 45% ABV!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! On the 27th of February, the swedish distillery Hven held a press-tasting for their latest release. It was a great feeling to once again receive an invitation to attend the event, but most unfortunately I was not able to attend... However, to my great joy a very generous and beautiful mini-bottle containing 10cl arrived in my postal box in the beginning of the week, and so today I'm very glad to be able to share with you my review of it! 

The latest release is actually the last bottling in their eight-part series drawing its inspiration from the constellation called "The Big Dipper"; hence, this release has been namned "Alkaid". As usual when it comes to whisky from Hven Distillery the press-release contains very detailed info on the recipe:

"Out of the nine casks who are part of the mix, the recipe is 12,35% lagermalt, 9,5% chocolate malt/ale malt, and 78,1% peated malt. The casks used are: one cask of Petrea oak from Allier which previously held chateau margaux, one cask of Faginea oak from Portugal that previously matured Oloroso sherry, five casks of Muehlenbergii oak from Missouri that was previously used for maturing Hven vodka, and two casks of Robur oak from Bougogne that has been used for maturing wine from Maculan" (my translation). 

The whisky will be launched tomorrow at the swedish state monopoly and you can view the product by clicking here. Ok folks, let's see what we have here! 

Nose:

Mmm, the nose somehow reminds me of autumn… all in all the body of this dram is medium-heavy. In the top layer we have something citric/sourish (drawing almost on lactic acid/swedish sour milk), carbonic acid and/or fizzy bubbles, and medium-ripe red apples. In the middle layer we have evident chocolate barley, dark vanilla, marzipan, and something forest-y (actually forest mushrooms). The third layer, the bottom one, is where the medium-heavy body truly comes through, displaying evident notes of medium-heavy peat, salty-ness, and salt liquorice. Everything in the bottom layer says: ”This whisky shows great maturation!” 

Taste:

Wow! The first thing on the taste is salty-ness, and judging from the nose I really did not see that coming! The salty-ness is mellow but at the same time evident. Then we have a slight whiff of brownsugar sweetness and dark vanilla that developes into a beautiful malty-ness, in turn slowly moving on into bread/loaf sweetened with baking syrup, in turn moving on into crackers (something like the Digestive brand), and then, in comes the peaty-ness! A very malt-y and almond past-y peatyness in fact, with evident milk chocolate shining through, yummie! This part of the taste also has something ”roasted” going on… it has a slight bitterness to it and the ABV makes my chest warm. The first phaze of the aftertaste gives sundried grass, leaves of green tea, and leather which rises to the roof of my mouth. The second phaze has some traces of sugar sweetness and at the same time makes my mouth go medium-dry. At the very end of the aftertaste the malty-ness and grassy-ness lingers on.

Some reflections to sum up:

Firstly, I do feel that the nose mediates mature whisky more than the taste does. So even though I’ve written more notes on the taste than on the nose, don’t let this fool you; the nose is (somehow) more ”complex” and ”unique” than the taste, and when the peaty-ness and the salty-ness has passed away on the taste it is mostly about the malty-ness and the medium-dryness. Still, that part my friends is a beautiful one for sure! It has been very interesting, and I feel privileged to have had the honor, to follow and review the different releases in this series, and I really look forward to discover what’s next for Hven!

Finally, big thanks to Camilla at Hven for sending me this sample and for the great opportunity to review the whisky before its 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 associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and by stating the source. 

Swedish Rye Whisky from Hven Distillery – Hvenus 45,6% ABV!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! The day before yesterday I finally received a long awaited package from Swedish Distillery Hven containing their new and highly anticipated release Hvenus (the package had taken a slight detour via my old hometown Örebro...). Venus is marketed as a Rye whisky and the following info is provided by the distillery in their product sheet:

"Every batch comprises of 42 casks blended together, aerated and very gently filtered before bottling at 45,6 %vol. No charcoal filtration, no color or sugar added just well- made whisky matured on the best American oak (Quercus Alba) we could find. The final grain recipe after blending the forty-two casks from four different recipes together are; 78,6% rye, 11,9% wheat, 4,8% corn and 4,8% barley. The casks are matured three to six years, partially in warehouses with controlled climate conditions. All to create a whisky with unique smoothness and bouquet".

My interpretation of this info is a). this is the first batch (there will be more batches) of Hvenus Rye, and b). we are not talking about a mixed mash bill consisting of rye, wheat, corn and barley, rather we are talking about four separate whiskies each made from these grains, then matured, and then blended and bottled.

Here in Sweden Hvenus is released at the state monopoly tomorrow, and you can view the product by clicking here. Ok, let's see what we have on the nose!

Nose:

Very much like a bourbon with a high proportion of Rye in it! Or maybe something like a young but fullbodied grain whisky... anyways, aside from loads of vanilla which has a grain-y kind of bite or tang to it, I also pick up something very violet-ish paired with lemon juice (mouthwatering stuff folks!). When nosing deeper and harder some very gentle wood/oak pops up. The wood, which draws more on european oak than american oak, is definitely and interestingly enough paired with something just a tad metallic (rusty iron/sun warm train tracks). The strength/ABV does not feel above 40% and there are no signs of this being a young whisky. In general, this is a very ”calm” dram, where nothing on the nose feels ”out there”, in other words, absolutely great balance! Ok, let’s taste!

Taste:

Mmm, once again, great balance for sure! Starts of very, very soft on gentle vanilla and banana candy (bananskum), there is more vanilla than banana candy. Quite fast into the immidiate taste it moves on from there and into that grainy bite from the nose and a slight touch of the strength pops up together with herbyness and spicyness. In the distant, there is also some spruce/fir. The taste ends rather quickly, leaving me with a slight bitterness; bitter almond, white sugar syrup and maybe a tad of light liquid honey. Once again, there are no signs of this being a young whisky, except for the quite short taste/taste development.

To sum up:

To me, this is definitely a great everyday dram, although with some degree of complexity both on the nose and on the taste (I’d say that it’s more complex on the nose than on the taste). The taste ends quite quickly and has some watery elements to it (in the aftertaste), but it’s a great feature that the whisky actually does have a bit of power (alcoholwise) and herbyness to it on the taste, since this makes the restrained flavour-jorney exciting and interesting, and you really understand that this is a Rye whisky! Also, a great experience that there is now a Swedish Rye whisky that will hopefully stir the swedish whisky scene up a bit! And hey, for 395kr ≈ €39, this is really some serious bang for the buck! 

Finally, big thanks to Camilla at Hven for the opportunity to try this stuff! 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 associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and by stating the source.

Pic borrowed from systembolaget.se

Swedish whisky from Hven Distillery – Mizar 6:1 45% ABV!

Dear friends, supporters and followers alike! On the 28th of February, the swedish distillery Hven held a press-tasting for their latest release. It was great to once again receive an invitation to attend, but very, very sadly I was not able to attend... To my great joy a generous sample of 10cl arrived not that long ago and so today I present to you my notes and thought on this whisky! 

This latest release is the continuation of the series drawing its inspiration from the constellation called "The Big Dipper". 

This time around our eyes are fixed on the star called Mizar. The name of the whisky hence is Mizar, with the addition of 6:1 (the sentences in italics in the quote below explains why :) ). The press-release contains very detailed info on the recipe, as follows: 

"The recipe is 58,8% Lager malt, 35,3% peated malt (38ppm), 5,9% Chocolate malt. The distillate have matured between seven and ten years on; 64,7% Muehlenbergii oak from Missouri, 23,6% Petraea oak from Allier and 11,7% Robur from Bourgogne. The whisky was married on seven Quercus Petraea barriques that previously held Chateau Margaux Premier Grand Cru. An additional seven casks with the same recipe have been kept for further finishing. This whisky will be released in September 2018. The traditional whisky phenols measures to 20ppm, however the contributing phenols from the chateau Margaux casks elevates the total phenols to 32ppm" (source).

Mixar 6:1 is still available at a number of swedish monopoly stores and you can view and order it by clicking here. Ok friends, let's see what we have this time around!

Nose:

Sugar-y sweetness, zyrup, partly resembling the sweetness of some kind of swedish red jelly candy (zoo, boats, or ferrari bilar). Immediately below this sweetness is a grain type of spicyness that is intermingling with what seems to be the spicyness of new swedish oak accompanied by christmas tree, resin on an old spruce, and spicy but sweet vanilla. I detect no peat, no smoke, but there is plenty of candied/burnt sugar. In the very bottom layer (the base) I find roasted sunflower seeds, slightly burnt. All in all, a quite forest-y dram.

Taste:

Starts off on a very, very delicate and well-balanced, oh so soft, peat with very discrete notes of medium-dry oloroso sherry. Also quite spicy and tannin-y in style, with an almost medium body. When swallowing the tannins and the medium dryness increases quite alot and burnt milk chocolate, bicycle inner-tube, and vanilla appears. After that, sadly, the dram turns almost water-y in style (there is so to speak not much body for the taste to rest on) and the tastes that remain is vanilla sweetness and syrup made of raw-sugar cubes. A slightly bitter dryness also remains in the very end of the surpisingly short taste

To sum up:

The start of the nose is very interesting and sort of classic Hven. It’s interesting that I did not detect any peat on the nose. The delicate peat in the taste is absolutely beautiful and well-balanced, as well as the nice hints of (what reminds me of) oloroso sherry. Unfortunately this dram did not take me all the way because of the ”water-y” style and the lack of body. It’s in no way a ”bad” dram but in line with my preferences the whisky could’ve easily spent some more time in the casks. Hopefully Mizar 6.2 will satisfy my preferences! 

Big thanks to Camilla at Hven Distillery for sending me a sample and for the opportunity to review it despite not being able to attend the release! 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 dot com and by stating the source 

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 from Hven – Megrez 45% ABV

Friends and followers! Once again I've been sent a nice package from the nice people of the swedish Island distillery Hven! This time it contained their latest whisky "Megrez" (one of the stars in the constellation "The Big Dipper"). Megrez was released about a month ago and now I finally have time to review it! 

The info regarding maturation etcetera that I have received from the distillery is the following: 

"The Base in Megrez is 5% Chocolate malt, 40% Peated malt [26ppm] and 55% Pilsner malt. The distillate has matured on 8,4% French Petraea, 33,4% French Robur and 58,2% American Muehlenbergii. The whisky has had a finish on Spanish Quercus Robur. These 500L marrying casks have previously held Pedro Ximénez Sherry... (...) This whisky is bottled at site of the distillery holding 45 vol%, no carbon- or chill filtering, no colour or other additives. It is organic certified and natural, as should be. Every bottle is individually numbered and controlled before being waxed by hand"

Sounds great right?! Ok, let's see what we have here! 

Nose:

When nosing on a distance of say 5 centimetres from my nose I pick up a sweet kind of brown sugary nose with really interesting hints of iron or some other kind of metal… I also pick up something like weak and refrigirator cold coffe, touches of milk chocolate mixed with that iron thing again. With the nose in the glass I feel a soft peat, dried peach, vanilla in the background and leather in the very distant. There is also something wine-ish, or port-ish, moving towards an oloroso-esque nose. Nosing deeply and even closer I feel something a bit, not really sour but, citric in combo with that iron thing again, hmm, interesting with that iron thing, I’ve never really felt that before… In general, the nose is medium dark in style, quite fruity (peach) and medium peat.

Palate:

Sooo incredibly smoooooth! Wow… Very much on brown sugar, soft vanilla, overripe banana, whisky soaked dark raisins, and a slight but thick or forest-y kind of peaty-ness… also milk chocolate and in the distant that cold coffee thing is present. Taking a bigger sip the citric stuff shows itself for fractions of a second but quickly moves on into what might best be described as a very appealing ”malt-y character”… Taking an even bigger sip the aftertaste has a medium ”burn” to it that gives a bit of a fire-y charachter, nice!

To sum up:

People, if there was a price in the category ”Perfect balance”, tastewise, this whisky would definitely win the gold! This is a masterpice in balance, not meaning boring of course but perfect balance between all the elements in first and foremost the palate. The peat-yness is present to perfection, just enough peat to match the overall character, wow!

Big thanks to the nice people at Hven for the opportunity to try this beauty!

Please make sure also to follow my FB-page by going here, and my twitter-page by going here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes 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@gmail.com

Swedish whisky from Hven – Tycho’s Star 41,8% ABV

Friends and followers! Thursday last week I received a nice package from the nice people of the swedish Island distillery Hven! Happy times cause so far I’ve only reviewed one whisky from them (read about it here) so it was with great pleasure and anticipation that I received a sample of their next release called ’Tychos Star’. Swedes can read about it here and my international readers are most welcome to read about it here! 

Complementary information which I received from the distillery is the following:

In other words, it is distilled from three different varietys of barley/malt (un-peated Pale Ale malt, Chocolate malt, and peated whisky malt). Matured in heavily charred Quercus Muchlenbergii from Missouri (58,2%), heavily toasted Quercus Petraca from Allier (33,44%), and medium toasted Quercus Robur from Bourgogne (8,36%). Also, it’s organic and no chill-filtration or coal-filtration has been done!

In Sweden it will be released tomorrow (1st of december), in 213 systembolaget stores and will be sold for 495kr. For international buyers it is available at Master of Malt. Let’s see what we have here: 

Nose:

Very elegant with gentle and soft peat, a glass of cold cocoa/milk chocolate, whipped wholefat cream with vanilla, something citrus-y mixed with dark raisins and dried figs is quite evident in there, that is to say some sherry complexity. Interestingly enough there is also some white wine and/or red apple juice/something cider-esque in there, very complex stuff indeed. I believe this is a quite young whisky but I must look really hard to find evidence for it, I really have to put my nose in there to find something yeast-y/something ferment-ish and something new oak-y and it’s definitely not the center of attention, which I really must applaud!

wow!

Palate:

Oooh! Definitely seems sherried, and soo soft! Well, this is really good stuff peoples! I really recommend this dram, why? Cause I’m absolutely struck by the balance and the complexity of this dram… as I said, it begins soo soft, there is sherry sweetness mixed with oh so gentle peat, slowly moving on into almond paste/marzipan and a slight pepper-y-ness and herb-y-ness, the peat is evolving into something dry indeed, the red apples comes back, a quite long afteratste with vanilla, herb-y-ness and a bar of milk chocolate. Can not at all find the yeast/fermenty stuff and the new oak-y stuff that I looked after and that was so hard to find on the nose… Even the strength is perfect, sure feels like 46% ABV, I would not change a bit. It tastes kind of like a 10-12yo whisky, say something like a slightly peated Edradour on 2nd fill sherry casks… 

To sum up:

Even though the price here in Sweden might suggest that this is an ”everyday dram”, I would definitely say that this is far more than that, in fact this is very good value for money! So, in conclusion a job well done and big congrats to Hven Distillery! And to Master Distiller Henric Molin: you’re simply a wizard of whisky! Big thanks also to Camilla at Hven for sending me the sample! 

In order to receive weekly updates on everything SamuelWhisky, please make sure also to follow my FB-page by going here, and my twitter-page by going here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes 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@gmail.com