Swedish Whisky from Smögen Distillery – "Dante", 10 years old!

Dear friends! The day before yesterday I received a package from Pär Caldenby, the Distillery Manager/Master Distiller at Smögen Distillery and to my great joy it contained a trade sample of the first ever 10 year old whisky from the distillery! 

This whisky is a tribute to, and has been namned after, Pärs and the distillerys bloodhound Dante. The text in the picture below is written on the side of the label of the bottle as well as on the side of the box/carton:

This pic belongs to Pär/Smögen Whisky.

The recipe for this whisky is a follows: in april and may 2011 newmake made from lightly peated barley (10-12 ppm) was filled into four 1st-fill Sauternes barriques (french oak, 225 litres each). Three of the casks had been very lightly roasted and one had been roasted to medium/medium plus. In may 2021 the whisky was bottled at cask strength 57,8%. Roughly 1560 bottles have been produced in total out of which 1296 will be available tomorrow at the swedish state monopoly through a so called web-launch. The whisky can be viewed by clicking here.

A part of the beautiful bottle label. Pic belongs to Pär/Smögen Whisky.

Ok, the time has come for some analyzing!

Nose:

The surface showcases a beautiful mix of subdued lemon peel and yellow raisins! Below, everything is very, very silky and smooth; we have vibrant leather, green mint, barleywater (almost ”porridge” in fact) and thick, creamy almond paste, and mouthwatering white chocolate with an earthy base of vanilla. Wow! Surrounding everything is an incredibly well-rounded and smooth peatyness with just a tad of sweet liquorice bordering on black tea (earl grey style).

Taste: 

Starts off on medium salt-yness and moves on quickly into a brief sugar-y sweetness that in turn transforms into sugar coated lemon sponge cake with a kind of ”dirty” or ”broken” vanilla style to it. The vanilla hides dried grass (on bog) with a hint of sweet sackcloth in the upper register. This then moves on into a dry and somewhat spicy (”hot”) black pepper. It is actually now that the peat makes its entrance, and it is much more heavy than I had expected! The peat and the alcohol fumes rises to the roof of my mouth realeasing dusty sea salt and soft smoke with a tendency towards very light gunpowder. A delightful creamyness with a hint of orange marmalade and ashy pinneaple makes my mouth water and these are the last tastes before everything slowly fades away and calms down leaving the tip of my tounge slightly dry.

Some reflections to sum up:

The nose is very mature and has a depth that I could nose for a very long time. The nose actually feels a lot older than 10 years, perhaps something like 15? The rough style of Smögen whisky really comes through in the taste, especially so in the late tastes and the 10 years on casks has not quite restrained this rough profile. Even though we are talking about lightly peated barley this whisky really tastes like a classic Smögen whisky with lots of ”Character, charisma and quality”, and as mentioned has a lot more peat in it than what I expected based on my impressions from nosing. Tastewise it is very hard to say where the main tastes end and the aftertaste begins. The transitions are really nice and subtle and I’d say that it is precisely this that defines maturity. All in all, regarding maturity, I think that the scents on the nose are more developed and refined (more mature) than the tastes and as previously said, it will take several years on cask to further restrain the tastes of a Smögen Whisky.

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

Swedish whisky from Smögen Distillery – 8yo 57,8% ABV!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! Today I bring to you my review of the very first 8 year old whisky from the Swedish distillery Smögen! When working the Gothenburg whiskyfestival in april (for Edrington Sweden), Pär Caldenby, the Distillery Manager/Master Distiller of Smögen Distillery, came by the stand/booth and told me that if I wanted to review this whisky I just had to pop by his stand and sample it, yay! A fantastic offer indeed! 

This whisky is a vatting of four (european; french) 1st-fill Sauternes barriques (225 litre each). The casks were filled in March 2011 with heavily peated new make, and bottled at a natural cask strength of 57,8% in April 2019. The casks gave 1628 bottles in total. 1272 of these bottles will be released at the swedish state monopoly this thursday (190509) through a so called web-launch. Please view the product by clicking here. (Please note that Systembolaget has messed up the ABV; it is not 60% but 57,8%). Ok folks, this is so exciting, let's do some analyzing! 

Nose:

The overall style on the nose is medium dark with a really nice depth and great balance between saltyness, peatyness and sweetness. I sense three layers. The bottom layer shows a medium heavy foundation where the sauternes plays the lead role in the form of ”the ususal suspects”; dried figs and dark raisins, but also overripe pear and interestingly enough (a whiff of) overripe banana and/or banana peel gone brown. These scents can generally be described as ”sweetness”. In the middle layer the saltyness and the peatyness intermingles with a close to seamless integration. The peatyness however holds the upper hand and has a very intriguing touch of vanilla drawing on milk chocolate infused fudge. The top layer is more basic than the other two, simply showcasing something citric. Here the ”alcohol”/ABV gives the perfect punch with just a slight touch of sourdough bread (”yeast”?). 

Taste: 

”As usual” with whisky from Smögen Distillery it all starts of on saltyness. From there on however things are a little bit different than ususal; we move on into soft sweet liquorice and from there instantly on into something very milk chocolate-y, something very smooth and creamy, and medium dark vanilla-esque. The smoothness, creamyness and the vanilla goes on and on for a very long time (a token of great depth and maturity). When it does let go it transforms or evolves into a malty/chewy taste and it is actually not until this point in the flavourjourney that peatyness, farmhouse/barn and leather comes through. This last part of the taste is very chewy and tasty indeed. Mmm! The aftertaste is dry at first but when all the flavours come together with the creamyness, it makes water/saliva run in my mouth which creates a great sensation manifested in the desire to have another sip, and another after that… 

Some reflections to sum up:

This whisky definitely has great depth both on the nose and on the taste! Things are a bit more deep than in previous releases which shows that the whisky coming from Smögen Distillery is starting to come of proper age. Also the general balance is great both on the nose and on the taste. The high alcohol/ABV is noticeable only on the nose (on the taste it didn’t even cross my mind). Well, a big congrats to Pär on the first 8yo, a job well done! 

Finally, big thanks to Pär 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 by stating the source. 

Pic belongs to/borrowed from Smögen Distillery

Svenska Eldvatten – Silent Swede Sauternes 61,2% ABV!!!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! When working at the Borlänge Beer and Whiskyfestival in November last year, Peter Sjögren of swedish independent bottler Svenska Eldvatten (Swedish Firewater) came by to tell me that if I wanted to I was welcome to pop by their stand to see if they had anything that I was interested in reviewing. Well, of course I wanted to and of course they had; I instantly spotted their upcoming release Silent Swede (no.3) Sauternes, and so today I bring you my review of it! 

As can be understood from it's name the whisky has been produced at now defunct swedish distillery Grythyttan (a distillery that was located in Lillkyrka), and the whisky has been matured in a cask that previously held Sauternes wine from France. Some further details: the malted barley used has been peated to 16ppm, the cask size was 225 litres (hence a barrique) and gave a mere 352 bottles. The whisky has been bottled at an age of 7yo (201109/201810) at cask strength of 61,2% ABV. This whisky will be released at the swedish state-monopoly tomorrow (along with Silent Swede (no.4) Virgin French Oak) and you can view it by clicking here. 

Yesterday I sent a text to Peter simply asking for some more info on this series, and this is what he very kindly replied: "The idea behind Silent Swede is to create a whisky-library on a defunct swedish distillery, and hence create a series that will consist of only single casks, in full size. As usual we bottled these casks after having tried them and assured their quality, just as we always do! Since the quality of the whiskies that we try is the determining factor, the number of releases in this series has not yet been decided. The intention with this series is that the casks that we select will always and only be honest and straight forward single casks, in other words, no batches. The casks must deliver properly in order to at all come into consideration for a cask selection. 

To only get around 350 bottles from each full size cask at quite a young age can seem little indeed, but all the whisky that was in the casks when we bottled them has been bottled as Silent Swede, we haven't shared with anyone. We don't really know why the casks contained so small amounts of whisky but one factor that has a great influence on the volume is that the casks have not been matured in a particularly cold warehouse. This might also explain the high ABV". 

So, now that we know a little more, let's review!

Nose:

Incredibly raisin-y and very sweet! Apart from the raisin sweetness (a mix of dark raisins and sultana raisins) there is also some kind of ovenbaked-red-apple-slices-sweetness and in the distance sweetness from cooked beetroot together with a touch of woody elder flower. In the layer above the sweetness we have something else going on, something a tad ”funky”, that involves quite evident notes of old wood/cask, old marzipan, moist almonds, and leather, combined with a faint touch of turpentine and/or yeast. Perfectly integrated in this layer we have a mediumsoft peatyness lurking around… all in all a very intriguing nose, with absolutely no sign whatsoever of the high ABV, a nose that I could sit and nose and nose on and on for a very long time. 

Taste: 

Wow! Quite the opposite from the nose indeed! Starts off with great power from the ABV together with peaty saltyness (somehow sea saltyness but minus seaweed), and then instantly (in the matter of mili-seconds) we are moving on to salt and sweet (almost something ”sour” in fact) and on from there we move into blackpepper. All of this really happens in the the few first seconds. In the second phase comes old leather and some earthy notes (moss, earth, mouldered/decayed leaves), herb-y-ness, and most of all dryness, dryness, dryness… In the midst of the dryness some of the funky stuff from the nose actually pops up as a third phase, but now more in the shape of new swedish oak with a touch of yeast. The fourth and final phase rounds off on a mix of peat, coffee beans, cocoa beans and in the distant a faint touch of sackcloth

To sum up:

So interesting that the nose and taste differs so much from each other in so many ways (for instance how different the ABV is felt on the nose vs. on the taste; a really powerful dram tastewise). Interesting also that the funky stuff from the nose actually appears on the taste aswell. My favourite stuff from the nose is definitely the sweetness together with the peatyness, and from the taste the first phase together with the dryness in the third phase and also I like the fourth phase. This whisky is definitely a must-purchase-whisky, not only because it’s from a defunct swedish distillery but also since it’s a whisky that tastes soo different from how it behaves on the nose. All in all, a great cask selection!

Finally, big thanks to Peter at Svenska Eldvatten for the 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 by stating the source.

Pic/copyright belongs to Svenska Eldvatten

Swedish Whisky from Smögen – Triple 5 yo 54% ABV

Dear friends and followers! About one and a half week ago, I spent my time working for Edrington at the Linköping Whiskyexpo which was great fun as usual. What was also very fun was that I passed by the stand of swedish west coast distillery Smögen to have a quick chat with the distillery manager/master distiller Pär Caldenby. So what was the purpose with the quick chat? Well, it was of course to see if Pär had anything special up his sleeve for me to review! So, did he? Oh yes indeed, I was very lucky to collect a sample of the coming release called "Triple"! 🙂

So, what is so special about this coming release? Well, it's a release of the (so far) only triple distilled whisky from Smögen! On the label below it is described as being "intended as an experiment". The whisky is 5 years (and nine months) old and has been fully matured in two Sauternes Barriques (European oak, 228 litres each). The cask numbers are 5/2011 and 6/2011. The malt is heavily peated, in this case meaning slightly above 50ppm.  The new make was filled in March 2011 and the whisky was bottled in January 2017. The two casks gave 882 bottles out of which 696 will be available at the swedish state monopoly by web-release, this thursday (the 16th of february) 10 o'clock (view the product here). 

The info and the words of Pär about "Triple"

But hey, we need some more info right? So, with the hope of gaining some more info on this particular bottling, likewise to be able to share this very exclusive info with you my fellow friends and followers, I sent an email to Pär with a couple of questions. You will find his answers in italics:

1). When you double distill, what is the ABV of the new make coming out of the spirit still? 

The heart of the spirit run is roughly 70% ABV, in winter slightly higher.

2). When you triple distill, what is then the ABV of the new make coming out of the spirit still?

For the triple distillation (...) the heart is closer to 75% ABV

3). To what ABV did you water this triple distilled new make before filling? 

The watering at filling was to around 70% ABV. Also, this batch is watered also at bottling [from the cask strength 66% ABV, to 54% ABV]. It is great at 54% ABV, even if it does stand just a little more water if one prefers that.  

4). Is this the only time you've done triple distillation, or is there more of this stuff maturing in the warehouse as we speak? 

These were the only two casks containing triple distilled whisky. I'm thinking about triple distilling again.

5). The two sauternes barriques used for this bottling, are they "fresh"/first fill, as was the case for single cask 7/2011, or is it second fill? I came to think of this when I discovered that the "Triple" is slightly lighter in color than the SC 7/2011 

The sauternes barriques used are first fill/fresh, but with a light toasting level, while SC 7/2011 was medium plus toasting level. [The toasting level] makes a huge difference. 

           

Ok folks, now we know a lot more, so let's see what we have here

Nose:

Very fat and big! Boasting of first and foremost whipped full fat cream, dark vanilla fudge almost even chocolate fudge, dark sugar moving into light swedish baking syrup (treacle/molasses?). All of these things are in the first or main ”layer”. There is even a tad of cold coffee in there. All these things are almost inseparable, tightly clinging together to one another and really hard to tell a part. As far as the second layer is concerned there is just a tad of baking yeast and something reminding me of the peel from swedish Ingrid Marie (red winter) apples. (Damn, now I can’t stop thinking about cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla custard…). The peat? Well, it’s very, very chocolate-y in style but also sort of having a barbecue in the woods. Wow, this sure is a complex dram… everything is extremely well integrated... Ok, let’s have a sip!

Taste:

Salt and dark sugar begins and they are completely inseparable! So is all of the earthy peat and the light milk chocolate that follows, also the very, very soft vanilla cream. Everything blends together in a really fascinating way, wow… When swallowing, a gently dry peat evolves together with even more milk chocolate. There is also actually, interestingly enough the red apples from the nose, but not peel this time, rather ovenbaked apple pulp or flesh. At the start of the aftertaste, with my mouth closed, the light alcohol ”rises” in my mouth, moving towards my ”upper mouth” (the pharynx), then follows the baking syrup. For a while, in the late aftertaste, everything gets more and more thick and meaty, or rather chew-y, yes very chewable. 

To sum up:

This dram is very comlex and most of all, everything is so well integrated. I can’t think of any scent, any flavour, or any of all the elements going on here that does not cling together or intermingle with one another. To try to describe this in another way, I can only come to think of one word and that word is, mature. Yes, this is a mature whisky, and an extremly enjoyable one, both when it comes to the nose and the taste. Now, I am well aware that I’ve drawn this conclusion many a times when I’ve tasted the different releases and expressions from Smögen, but this time it is even more so! To me, this whisky seems way older than five years and nine months. And, the triple distillation style works and fits perfectly with the ”house style” of Smögen, so smooth and so soft yet so full and fat… Nice!

Big thanks to Pär for sharing a sample of "Triple" 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

picture/copyright belongs to Smögen Distillery