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

Springbank 10 yo – Local Barley 2019 56,2% ABV!

Dear friends and followers alike! On friday last week I received a package from the nice people at Symposion containing a sample of the latest edition of Springbank Local Barley! As the name reveals this particular expression of Springbank has been produced using only barley that has been grown locally around Campbeltown. For this edition the barley (of Optic variety) comes from the High Cattadale Farm. 

The peating level is 12-15 ppm. Time of distillation is July 2009 and time of bottling is October 2019.  The whisky has been matured in a combination of bourbon casks (77%), sherry casks (20%), and port casks (3%). The whisky has been bottled at a (vatting) strength of 56,2% ABV. The number of bottles produced is 9000 out of which 522 has made their way to Sweden. Here it will be launched at the state monopoly tomorrow (the 14th of February) and you can view the product by clicking here.

Ok folks, let's review!

Nose:

Absolutely wonderful! This dram definitely has something that reminds me of a Laphroaig at cask strength. The centre of the nose is rather salt-y and leather-y. There is also something farmyard-y in the centre (let’s call it "hay"). The centre is surrounded by medium creamy vanilla and smoked almondpaste. There are also clear whiffs of mint and eucalyptus, meaning there is a medicinal thing going on here. It’s not really right to compare this with a Laphroaig though, cause this one is way softer (softspoken), reserved and subdued on the peat as well as overall. In the deep layers I detect a fruity sweetness; kind of a mix between lemon peel and figs dipped in mellow red wine. The strength/ABV goes unnoticed, so very soft indeed.

Taste:

Salty, salty, salty, mixed with peat! The leather from the nose is very much a part of the taste. Suddenly, passion fruit and mango flies by (!), it stays for less than half a second and then it’s gone (very fleeting indeed). When the saltyness and the peat mellows down we have a beautiful kick from the strength/ABV, this in turn evolves into dryness which evolves into a creamyness consisting of vanilla and melted butter (very slightly burnt), and all of the sudden a whiff of fruit flies by again (this time in the form of yellow kiwi). That’s strange! The aftertaste has quite a lot of dryness in it, reminding me of the taste/feeling of the peel from green grapes. The strength/ABV is present on the palate (the roof of the mouth) all the way through the aftertaste, manifesting itself as bubbles (carbonation) and black pepper-yness. The last thing in the aftertaste to leave my mouth and end the taste all together is ashes and a fleeting presence of elderflower syrup. 

Some reflections to sum up:

Even though it may seem otherwise from my notes on the nose vs. the taste, the nose is actually more complex than the taste; the nose is more deep than the taste is, and the different phases of the taste passes by quicker than what the nose indicates it should do, if you know what I mean. As far as my competence goes the taste does not really show any signs of the sherry casks and port casks used, but rather ”only” bourbon casks. On the nose there are however tendencies towards sherry cask maturation (ie. the figs dipped in mellow red wine) and that is absolutely a gret contribution in terms of bringing complexity to the composition. So, should you buy this whisky? Well, the nose itself is almost worth the cost, and the taste is (although not as complex as the nose) also very good. Definitely so for those of you out there who just love your drams salty and peaty.

Finally, a big thanks to Peter at Symposion for the great opportunity to review this 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 when permission granted by stating the source.

Pic borrowed from systembolaget.se

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. 

Whisky-honeymoon PART 3 – tasting Highland Park Valkyrie and Rebus30 10 year old

Dear friends and followers alike! Today I bring you PART 3 of my "Whisky-honeymoon" (sharing the whisky-related adventures that took place during the honeymoon me and my wife had in the beginning of this summer). For part one please click here. And yes, you are correct in noticing that part two, our visit to Bowmore Distillery has so far not yet been published, simmer down, it will come later (strangely enough, not very chronological ;) ).

Anyways, as you might remember from part one, before going to Islay my wife and I spent one night in Glasgow, and it was there that we more or less randomly bumped in to Martin Markvardsen (Senior Brand Ambassador at Highland Park) who turned out to accidentally be in Glasgow due to some travel-trouble. We joined Martin (and Vicky) at the Pot Still bar for some beers and whisky during which we told them that after Islay we were heading to Edinburgh, and guess what, so was Martin! While we were going there to do some touristing, he was going there to do four tastings (at the Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian) for RebusFest30; a weekend of literature, art, film and music that celebrated 30 years of Ian Rankins iconic fictional detective John Rebus (read more about it here). Being very friendly and generous Martin told us that we were more than welcome to stop by and join him during one of the tastings! Jippie! 

When in Edinburgh it turned out that my wonderful and beautiful wife was more keen on doing some shopping, while myself of course was more keen on tasting some Highland Park! :) When entering the Waldorf this was the set-up that met my eyes

The Line-up for the tasting was Rebus30 HP 10yo, HP12, Valkyrie, HP18

Since I had already tasted HP 12yo and HP 18yo a number of times and on a number of occasions, I decided to focus solely on Rebus30 and Valkyrie during the tasting and therefor did tasting notes only of them. 

Highland Park Rebus30 10 year old 40% ABV

The liquid in Rebus30 is the same as in the regular HP 10yo meaning, what separates the two is the presentation/the bottle itself.

Nose:

Increadibly creamy, lots of vanilla, in fact a very peaty-sugary/sweet/fruity/fudge-y kind of vanilla. Just a wee touch of yeast (wash) in here. The fruits are candy-peach, banana-something, medium ripe pear, and sugar syrup with lime juice. The peatyness is so smooth and absolutely soaked with soft but kind of fat vanilla. Concluding from the nose, a majority of the liquid in this one must have been matured in american oak sherry casks rather than european oak sherry casks. 

Taste:

Definitely starts off creamy! In fact, increadibly creamy, together with peach candy and overripe banana and/or banana jelly candy. Then some saltyness takes over, quickly moving on into a peaty spicyness. Medium dry or even very dry in the aftertaste. The creamyness in the beginning is very rich on vanilla and some banana jelly candy, but the main focus in the taste is definitely the peaty spice-yness. Great dram, and not as "simple" in style as I had thought it would be.

Highland Park Valkyrie 45,9% ABV 

Valkyrie is the first release in a series of three whiskies, each one of them telling a Viking Legend. The story of Valkyrie goes: "Plunging down from the dark heavens, the Valkyries would descend like avenging angels on horseback to comb the battlefields for the bravest of the fallen warriors, heroes fit to enter the great Norse god Odin’s hall, Valhalla" (please feel free to read more about it here). Here in Sweden Valkyrie will be released at the state-monopoly tomorrow (view the product by clicking here).

Now, from a whisky point of view, what sets Valkyrie apart from the "regular" HP-range? Well, it's the fact that it's peatier! In what way? Half of the whisky in the mix consists of whisky made from their heavily peated recipe, meaning made only from their own produced 45 ppm malt. The rest of the content consists of their "usual" recipe; made through mixing their 45 ppm malt (1 part) with the 0ppm malt (4 parts) they order from Simpsons Malting. For recipe in terms of the composition of casks for Valkyrie please do take a look at this video (from 5:50 minutes and onward) with Gordon Motion (Master Whisky Maker at Highland Park). Now what Gordon does not tell us in the video is the ages that went into Valkyrie. However, do not despair, during the tasting Martin told us the following: the 45ppm part is between 8-10yo, and the rest of the whisky is 17yo at it's oldest.  

Nose:

Definitely more peaty than the "normal" Highland Parks I've had so far, and definitely more peaty than the other three whiskies in the line-up. The peatyness seems almost toasted or medium charred. We have beautiful scents of dark oloroso sherry sweetness in here, but the interesting thing is that the sherry sweetness has an overtone of something citric (maybe something like lemon juice) and also very interesting some touches of watermelon (!) and salt liquorice. Covering/surrounding everything but the heavy peatyness is a beautiful heather-honey sweetness.

Taste:

Starts off very salty and quite vanilla-ish, but then "BAM!", the peatyness hits, and oh boy the peatyness is spicy indeed. After the spice and peat mellows down we have a beautiful creamyness mixed with sun dried grass in a field, and also mixed with bitter salad/greens (maybe something like ruccola). The fruityness in this one is smoked and/or ovendried slices of pear, together with dark and sort of "smoked raisins". Very interesting tastes and flavours in this one due to the high peatyness, a very "different" HP because of this. Ends with a soft and rich touch of vanilla and citrus (mellow and not to citric lemon curd).

Always great to meet Martin! And always time for a photo shoot :)
Martin holding Rebus30 10yo and myself holding Rebus30 30yo, one of very few bottles
produced for the Rebusfest and put away for charity auction.

Big thanks to Martin for inviting me to the tasting and for making my Whisky-honeymoon even more special, 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 material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com and by stating the source

Swedish whisky from Box Distillery – 2nd Step Collection 03 51,3% ABV

Dear friends and followers! Today I received a sample from the nice people at Box Distillery, so once again it is time for me to share my thoughts on yet another swedish whisky! The sample contains the concluding and third part in their series entitled 2nd Step Collection. The information I have received states that the whisky has been predominantly matured in first fill bourbon casks, in fact 76% of the whisky has been matured in first fill bourbon casks. 19% has been matured in american virgin oak and finally 5% in virgin hungarian oak. The peating level is 38,6 ppm on average. For those of you interested in all the details of this particular bottling, Box Distillery has been kind enough to provide them here. 

Here in Sweden, this whisky will be released on the state monopoly the day after tomorrow (6th of april), 4000 bottles (out of 8291) will be available and you can view the product here 

Nose:

When pouring a dram from the sample, a beautiful and soft peatiness spreads throughout the room. When putting my nose towards the glass and softly breathing in I pick up a soft but very evident note of fir/christmas tree. Intermingling with that note is wall fern/polypody and beyond that is just a slight touch of building timbre. Given the fact that the majority of the whisky has been matured in first fill bourbon casks I had expetected there to be a quite big presence of vanilla, however that is not really the case, the thing in focus here is rather first of all the fir and second of all the building timbre. Trying to move beyond that layer I do spot some gentle peat and some kind of medium-salty saltyness so to speak, some kind of quite salty liquorice, maybe it’s the wall fern/polypody that pops up again? Anyways, all in all on the nose it’s a quite ”simple” dram we’ve got here with maybe three to four basic fragrances going on. So nothing is really popping out or ”disturbing”, everything is very well integrated. Ok, let’s see what we have on the taste

Taste:

Mmm, great whisky! As is mostly the case with peated Box matured predominatly in bourbon casks, everything starts off with a delicate mix of salt and sweet. But then, it quickly moves on into more salt. I swallow, and then comes at first even more salt, but very fast it moves on into quite intense peatyness, slowly moving on into whipped cream without added sugar, and then boom (!), there’s the vanilla (I’m glad you’re here because I love you very much). Then, in the aftertaste (and this is the greatness of this dram), the peat evolves more, and more, and more. Beautiful. It’s not a very dry peatyness, rather medium dry (or maybe not even medium dry), but I experience it as quite dry and that is due to the fact that the peat just goes on and on and on. Taking another sip, just after the initial salt I discover some kind of exotic fruit, I can’t really put my finger on it but is might be some kind of melon… or even soft guava… interesting. In the very last phase of the aftertaste the peat gives way to the soft vanilla which becomes more and more evident, slowly fading away

To sum up: 

It strikes me now that this is in fact a very mature expression of Box, maybe even the most mature Box I’ve ever tried. There are no traces of yeast or new make going on here, neither on the nose nor on the taste. And of course I knew on beforehand that this is the oldest whisky from Box Distillery yet to be released, and that might subconsiously affect my feeling that it’s the most mature Box yet. So let me phrase is another way, this expression and the components that have gone in to it are very, very, very well blended together. Great job fellas!

Big thanks to the nice people at Box Distillery for sharing a sample of this whisky 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 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/copyright belongs to Box Distillery

Laphroaig Lore 48% ABV!

Dear friends and followers!

Before the summer, I was very lucky to receive a small package from the very nice people at Edrington here in Sweden. I opened it and to my great joy and excitement the package seemed to contain a leather-bound book of some sort! 

I opened the book and this is what first met my eyes 

I turned the first page and this is what I found

Yes! A miniature sample of the new Laphroaig Lore

Now, as you all might understand, the word “Lore” kind of draws on something like folk-lore. And in this case the “folk” is meant to stand for the “folk” of  Laphroaig, more specifically Distillery Managers of Laphroaig in past and recent times passing on “the Laphroaig traditions and his personal knowledge to the next, ensuring that the unique skills and process of this historic distillery can be found in every bottle” (laphroaig.com)

So the concept or idea behind Laphroaig Lore is the following: “Since 1815, each Laphroaig Distillery Manager has been the custodian of the craft to make the richest single malt in the world. Over the years, each has passed on their skills and traditions to the next generation to continue this legacy. To honour this passing of knowledge, our Distillery Manager John Campbell has created Laphroaig Lore, the richest ever Laphroaig. Lore, meaning the passing of a skill or tradition through word of mouth, is the story of how we make Laphroaig, encapsulating the craft passed down from generation to generation over two centuries” (laphroaig.com). 

Ok folks, that might be just enough background info, right? Moving on, Lore does not have an age statement, and even though one can find out at least some details regarding what casks have been used for maturation via laphroaig.com it’s all a bit “messy”… Luckily, my fellow blogger colleagues over at Whiskytower were lucky enough to be able to get an interview with the current manager/master distiller of Laphroaig, John Campbell, and this is what John shared on the topic of age and casks used for Lore:

“4 main flavours were created in Lore. We are looking to show what makes Laphroaig richer than all other whisky’s and the main characteristics we have already discussed. So we want peaty, fruity, floral and dry so I have added 6 different whiskys together to create this recipe. For Fruity I used 21 year old bourbons and 10 year old fully matured oloroso hogshead liquids, for Peaty I used 8 year old first fill bourbons (my favourite age of Laphroaig), for floral I used 8 year old Bourbons double matured into virgin European oak for 3 years and for the dry I used Laphroaig new spirit fully matured in quarter casks for 9 years (soo dry!!) and last liquid is a 15 year old liquid to add cask oils for depth of flavour” (link to the interview) 

So, now we know! Here in Sweden, Laphroaig Lore is released tomorrow (2nd of September 2016), and you can check it out here

Ok, let’s see what’s on the nose:

Well, unmistakably Laphroaig! Reminds me very much of the Laphroaig Quarter Cask, the Lore sort 

of has that big fat, and robust peaty-ness and oaky-ness that the QC has, but not just as much… I’d say that in total the Lore is more on ashes, burned seaweed/ burnt out fire on the beach, and also another kind of sweetness than the QC (from what I remember in my head that is…). The sweetness sort of draws on sherry-sweetness but also something like vanilla and coconut milk/Rhum (just a tad). I also get just a peedie hint of brown (raw) sugar and sniffing an emptied bourbon cask. 

Ok, let’s see what I pick up on the mouth:

Wow/Ouch! Very, very peaty indeed! And quite sweet, but just for a peedie bit, a second or so, cause after that it moves very quickly into the burned ashes, burned seaweed, cool! I’ve never felt any Laphroaig move into that specific flavour-phase so fast, this is a really interesting experience! What’s even more interesting is that one can really feel that John has used many very different expressions of Laphroaig in the mixture, in terms of complexity. One example of this, as I get it, is that beneath the ashes and the seaweed, I find the sherry sweetness (in this case dark raisins) and the burning power from what I assume can not be anything else then the use of the 9yo fully matured in quarter casks. So when I have the whisky in my mouth it really starts to “burn”, and when I’ve swallowed it first turns into soft vanilla for just a second or two and then it burns and evolves in this burning way more and more. The aftertaste goes on for about a minute and a half and leaves my mouth with first and foremost dryness, and then vanilla-sweetness… 

If you haven’t tried the Lore, don’t miss it! It’s a great experience to be had by all hard core Laphroaig fans out there!

A big thanks to the nice people at Edrington for giving the opportunity to try Laphroaig Lore before the release here in Sweden! Please make sure to follow my FB-page by going here, and my twitter-page by going 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 

copyright belongs to abbeywhisky.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! 

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Swedish whisky from Box – The Explorer 48,3% ABV!

Friends and followers! As you might remember, I very recently visited the Swedish distillery Box together with a small bunch of bloggers and colleagues alike, if you have not read that story yet, please check it out here. One of the reasons we were invited was to have an exclusive taste of their upcoming release The Explorer which will be released this friday, at least here in Sweden, so do check out the link to the release by clicking here! 

The Explorer is the third release in their series called the Early Days Collection. As you might know by now the people at Box Distillery are (and always will be) very, very, very open with their recipies and production process because they really want us to know what we are drinking, and how it was produced. This is of course the case also with The Explorer. 

So quoting (and translating) the press-release-kit I was provided with:

"The Explorer is mainly matured in bourbon casks, three different sizes, 40 litre, 100 litre, and traditional quarter casks at 130 litres. The ages vary from 3 years and 3 months, to roughly above 4 years. 61 percent of the whisky is peated, which gives The Explorer a quite smoky character. 

Much of the taste also comes from new oak. Ten percent of the casks are so called Fresh Oak, which contributes with lots of powerful tastes. The kinds of new oak used are three; swedish oak, hungarian oak and american oak. The casks have been charred from three given specifications; moving from medium charring up to heavily charring. The charring is of great significance for the features of the whisky and a very important part of the work behind the Early Days Collection"

Ok, sounds great, let's have a taste shall we?! 

Nose:

Gentle peat, soft smoke in mix with a very present but still restrained vanilla, sounds strange but it’s a bit hard to explain… to say that the vanilla definitely is there but not in the absolute foreground might be better… there is also some sugar-y-ish fudge, a bit of ”burned out campfire” (yay, my first time picking up campfire in a whisky!). I also pick up a touch of christmas tree, something citric but not very pronounced, the sweetness from overripe red apples… Veeery soft and quite fruity actually! Also, when it comes to the peat-profile/style of the peating itself, I kind of get a feeling of Connemara, yes! quite similar… (and you all know that I looove Connemara). One thing that is very obvious, compared to the previous releases is that on the nose there is no sign of, or anything at all reminding me of raw-spirit/new-make in this release. There was a wee bit of that in the previous releases, but non in this one. A very good sign. Let’s have a taste!

Palate:

The peat is the thing that hits the tounge first. More peat on the palate than I figured there would be judging from the nose! Very delicate mix of soft vanilla somewhere in the background of everything, but the most pronounced stuff on the palate, after the peat, is a variety of different fruits, sort of like overripe banana, peach (both the actual fruit and peach-candy), honey-melon, apple, a touch of new oak, and quite fire-y-ish wood so to speak… When holding the whisky in my mouth for a couple of seconds or three, really tasting it, almost ”chewing” the whisky, I find that first comes the peat, then the touches of/the feeling of new oak acts as a bridge that slowly moves on into the fruity stuff. An absolute seamless developement of tastes on the palate, I’m not kidding folks, this is very good stuff… such a great composition when it comes to the total balance and how the flavours develop and interact! And, as I observed on the nose with no ”new-make vibes”, it’s absolutely the same on the palate. Of course one feels that it is quite a young whisky, but this is very, very good for being this age, very smooth, this is definitely their best so far!

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Box Distillery for providing me with the opportunity to try The Explorer! 

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picture belongs to/copyright Box Distillery