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

Longrow Single Chardonnay Cask for Sweden – 16yo 54,6% ABV!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! After a great and long summer break I'm glad to be back and to bring you my thoughts and impressions of a very soon to be released whisky exclusively bottled for Sweden! Last week, I was once again contacted by the people at Symposion who wondered if there was anything from their coming releases that I wanted to review for them, and of course I did! My eyes fell on a single chardonnay cask Longrow (a sort of heavily peated Springbank), and here are the details:

The whisky is 16 years old, and when it comes to the time spent in cask it started out for seven years in a 1st-fill bourbon hogshead and was then "finished" for nine (!) years in a chardonnay cask (type of oak, number of fillings, and cask size unfortunately not stated). It was bottled at 54,6% ABV (which I assume is natural cask strength). The whisky was casked in october 2001 and bottled in march 2018. The chardonnay cask gave 380 bottles out of which 378 will be released as a web-launch at the swedish state monopoly this Thursday (20th of September). You can view the product by clicking here. Ok, I am ready to nose and taste, so let's go!

Nose:

When pouring this dram a really big and fat peat emmidiately fills the room… aah, wonderful! However, when nosing gently into the glass I come to the realisation that the peatyness is very, very soft, definitely boasting with creamyness; some kind of mix of vanilla cream and fat white chocolate at room temperature almost melting away (I’m absolutely drooling just thinking about it…). As is normally the case with Longrow, in my experience, the peatyness draws very much on old leather, old shoes, earthyness/something damp, and old barnhouse. Anyways, both the bourbon cask and the chardonnay have clearly set their resepective marks on this whisky; the creamy, fat, and distinct old vanilla from the bourbon, and something very ”red” (think redcurrant jam) and dry/tannins from the wine. There is no fight between the bourbon and the wine; actually, perfect balance in my opinion. But, hey, folks, the prevailing thing on the nose is definitely the charactheristic peatyness described above. 

Taste:

Starts off incredibly salty, and remains so for 3-4 seconds. Then the ”red” takes over with a bit of a citric note to it and definitely a bit of a tanninic bite to it. This phase is however not so very long. But, do not mourne folks, because when swallowing the leather and barnhouse quickly enters with an element of old shoes to it. It all rises to the top (roof) of my mouth, is being taken over by earth/dirt and wonderful ”burnt out”-fire. And then my dear readers comes layer upon layer upon layer of wonderful creamyness… the peat and the creamyness take turns in being the soft but evident center of attention. Slowly, in the aftertaste, this is all developing into almond paste with a touch of ”red” and the citric notes, slowly everything calms down and the citric remains the longest. Very long aftertaste, medium dry… 

To sum up:

Wow! This is really a really, really great dram, an excellent pick for the swedish market that will definitely satisfy both the peat-nerds and the ”sherry-esque”-nerds. It’s really hard to decide whether the nose or the taste is better than the other, but since I like drinking whisky my verdict shall be the taste ☺ An absolutely wonderful dram that tastes so much more than 16 years old. And hey, great price for a single cask, sláinte! 

Big thanks to the people at Symposion for the opportunity to try this release, and to be able to review it before the web launch. 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.

Springbank 12yo Cask Strength vs. Longrow Red 11yo!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by swedish importer/distributor Symposion asking me if I was interested in receiving samples for reviewing some of their coming whiskies. On offer was lots of whiskies and as I have done before I only signed up for samples for Springbank Distillery.

Last week a package finally arrived and so today I bring you my review and thoughts on the latest version of Springbank 12 yo Cask Strength, and likewise the latest version of Longrow Red 11yo. Here in Sweden both of these will be launched at the swedish state monopoly the day after tomorrow (the 12th of April), in a so called web-release. The products can be viewed by clicking here and here.

So, in terms of contents/recipe for the respective whiskies it goes like this: The Springbank (around 15ppm) has in this particular case been matured to 70% in sherry casks and the rest in bourbon casks (unfortunately I have received no info on kind of oak for the sherry component, nor filling in terms of 1st-fill, 2nd-fill, etc.). The ABV is 56,3%. Sweden receives 575 bottles (number of bottles produced in total is not stated).

The Longrow (around 55ppm) has in this particular case first spent nine years in bourbon casks (filling not stated), and then two years in french (225 litre) barriques that has previously held  South-african redwine from De Toren Private Cellar in Stellenbosch (filling not stated). The ABV is 55,9%. Sweden receives 612 bottles out of 9000 bottles in total.

Ok, let's do a kind of comparison and see what we have here!

Springbank nose:

Mmm, classic Springbank! Lots of ”warm” and intense, very deep, citric sherrynotes. A great portion of raw-sugar that intermingles seamlessly with the earthy but gentle (kind of leather-y) peaty-ness. Above all, interestingly enough the most prominent things on the nose are stawberry jam, apple sauce and peach candy, all three very delicate and gentle indeed.    

Longrow nose:

The nose on this one is something entirely different from the previous! The very center of the nose boasts of Werther’s creme caramel (intense deep vanilla and melted butter), together with ”old” dark honey (”stiff”/non-liquid honey). In the very upper register there is a wee tad of… Cachaça.  Slight (!!!) traces of peat. There is also a slight, slight, slight touch of very over-ripe pear, but nothing, absolutely nothing makes me think of red wine. The bourbon maturation and white oak has definitely had more impact than the red wine finish and the european oak.   

Springbank taste:

Again, warm and very dry intense sherry! Yes, very dry, but sweet sherry that both makes my mouth dry and makes it water-y. The peatyness is big and definitely warms my chest. This whisky really evolves in my mouth and goes from beautiful raw sugar-y fruity sweetness to a great leather-y dry peatyness (with a big portion of almond paste) that really takes a hold of my mouth. Very ”chewy” aftertaste and my mouth keeps altering between dry and watery. It all ends in some kind of peated overripe banana.

Longrow taste:

Actually, it very briefly starts out on matured Cachaça, everything turns very soft and vanilla- and buttery-ish together with soft milk chocolate but then, thank god, the peatyness shows itself! First as kind of salt liquorice but then as very, very dry and ashy peat (no leather). In the immidiate aftertaste we have something reminding me of elderflower soft drink, but as the aftertaste evolves the peat completely takes the overhand and gets really ashy and beautifully dry. It all ends with a sting to the tip of my tounge and big dryness on the inside of my cheeks

To sum up:

And the winner is… Springbank on the nose and Longrow on the taste! 

Big thanks to Symposion for sending me these samples and for the opportunity to review them before 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. 

borrowed from the whisky exchange

borrowed from malt-review.com

Highland Park Full Volume and (vs.) The Dark!

Dear friends and followers alike! Today I bring you my tasting notes and impressions of two fairly new expressions from Highland Park! The first one is called Full Volume and the other one is called The Dark. (I bought a sample of FV from a friend, and the sample of TD was provided to me by Edrington Sweden whilst working for them at last years Örebro Beer and Whisky festival, just days before its release). 

Here in Sweden the FV, which you can delve into here, will be launched the 1st of February (view the product by clicking here). TD, which you can delve into here, was (re)launched yesterday (view it by clicking here). FV will only be available for four days via a web-launch, and TD will be available via the "order assortment" until it is sold out.

Now, what I find very interesting with comparing these two expressions is the fact that they are completely different and sort of opposites from each other in terms of casks used for the maturation; FV has been matured in first-fill bourbon casks only, while TD has been matured in first fill european oak sherry casks only. Further on they are both 17 years old, and the strength differs just slightly with FV coming in at 47,2% and TD coming in at 52,9% 

Full Volume to the left, The Dark to the right

The way I went about doing this "comparison" was that I first nosed FV and then nosed TD, and then tasted FV and of course ended with tasting TD. Ok, here are the results:

Full Volume nose:

Very, very creamy! The creamyness mostly draws on caramel (sweet shop) and fudge, but there is definitely something to do with vanilla cream and oldstyle vanilla ice-cream going on here. The creamyness is absolutely wonderful, mmm… Also, lots and lots of fruits-y stuff going on here; citrus fruits, lemon peel, super overripe pears, overripe banana, red chewing gum, and so on. The peat is sort of there but definitely hiding way behind all the creamyness and the citrus fruits-y-ness. Below the peat, in the distant, there is some almond (and perhaps even hazelnuts?) going on. There is an absolutely perfect balance between the ABV and the entire nose, wow! It does not at all feel like 47,2% 

Full Volume taste:

A tad of peaty salt together with full fat butter shows up for a wee bit, but then moving on into half-sugar-y barley (something very barley-ish going on here indeed), almost instantly it turns medium dry. Wow, a really ”meaty”, chewy and fat dram this one! For sure. Then it turns into something medium bitter/herbal that really reminds me of bitter/acrid citrus peel; but more orange peel than lemon peel, maybe even orange flavoured milk chocolate? So the fruitsy stuff from the nose is in fact in the taste but not at all in that caramel-sweet shop style that was on the nose. The strength really does turn up on the taste in a way it did not do on the nose. The strength makes it become more and more dry and finally gives way to burnt wood and Ouzo (the greek spirit drink), that was unexpected!

The Dark nose:

Lots and lots of brown sugar, over-sugared oatmeal porridge with warm milk, medium dark swedish baking syrup (molasses), dark milk chocolate, raisins completely drenched in sherried HP, a tad of violet, and for being a sherried HP also quite alot of vanilla in fact. There is some salty-ness going on in the very deep layers, and also some salt-roasted almonds. Surrounding everything is the signature heather honey and it is soo soft although its quite high ABV indeed.

The Dark taste:

Mmm! Starts of on sherry sweetness (you know) and sugar syrup, very sweet indeed for being HP. Then the over-sugared oatmeal porridge with warm milk actually does return here on the taste. Also, there is lots of viscous almond paste which really comes through in the strength. Then comes a touch of sweet licorice, but most of all cocoa powder slightly stirred in full fat cream at room temperature. This dram is also quite ”meaty” and chewy indeed but in a much more complex and dark way. The aftertaste holds something mint-flavoured-ish, earthy peat, and finally slips away/clinging off with dark raisins and an above medium dryness. Very well composed indeed, this is definitely to my liking!

So, summing up: if I had to choose between these two it would be… no, seriously, it's really hard to choose; Full Volume is so good beacuse of it’s extremely perfect balance, the fact that the taste is so different from the nose, and of course because of the price level. This quite unusual style of HP really deserves to be compared to the more "usual" and classic style of HP that is in The Dark; a classic sherried HP which boasts a very well composed dram. Also, comparison is particularly interesting given the fact that the age is the same. But, of course, in the end Full Volume does has a wee bit of advantage in price when it comes to choosing between the two. On the other hand, sherry casks are more expensive than bourbon casks, although I of course do realise that a part of the cost is due to the special bottle and the exclusive wooden packaging. Anyhow, a great pair of drams awaits the ones who decides to buy both of them ☺ 

Big thanks to the people at Edrington Sweden for the opportunity to try The Dark! Which I was able to do simply because you provided a sample. Please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my instagram by clicking here and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com and by stating the source

SamuelWhisky is very happy to join The Dark side! 

Springbank 14 yo Bourbon Wood – 55,8% ABV

Dear friends and followers alike! Yesterday I received a package from Symposion, containing a sample of a new limited release from Springbank! A 14 year old that has been matured solely in bourbon casks (size not stated), a combination of first fill and refill. It has been bottled at (vatting strength of) 55,8% ABV. The number of bottles for this release is 9000 and 534 of these will be released at the state monopoly here in Sweden in two days (the 23rd of November). You can view the product by clicking here. 

Ok, let's see what we have here!

Nose:

When opening the bottle and pouring the whisky a huge peatyness spread throughout the room, but when nosing it from the glass I first get a whiff of saltyness but then first and foremost sugar-y and sour freshly squeezed lemon juice. Below this layer consisting of a mix of salt and sugar/sour is a very, very ”broad” peatyness, drawing mostly towards leather and ”shoes” (with some complex element of brie cheese) but also, infact, a medium-fat vanilla intermingling with something reminding me of rhum and/or rhumraisin, or even something tequila-esque… very interesting indeed, especially the brie cheese element of the peatyness. Finally, shaking the glass vividly to stir up the scents, the centre of the nose is very, very citric. Ok, let’s have a taste!

Taste:

Wow! Peat, salt, peat, salt, more peat and more salt is what I get at the first tasting! Taking another sip, this time holding the whisky in my mouth for a couple of seconds before swallowing, I now get (besides all the peat and salt), a very peaty vanilla-ness, there is also some fruit in there, something like vanilla-banana and dried peach (jelly peach candy). When swallowing, the whisky gives lots and lots of warm leather peat (it really, really warms my throat and chest), and a great deal of dryness. There is also something like stable and horses (meaning ”farm”, however that would taste). The aftertaste holds a mixture of peat, smoke, and sweetness from mixed jelly candy (mostly of the color yellow and orange), and ends with, believe it or not, peated lemon curd. 

To sum up:

This is a great dram that I really recommend to anyone who likes a medium-complex peated whisky, with an emphasis on peat, salt, leather and yellow fruits! Yummy, I want more! Big thanks to the people at Symposion for the chance to review this one and to be able to taste it before its release, Sláinte!

Please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my instagram by clicking here and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any 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

borrowed from whiskybase.com

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

Glenfiddich - IPA Experiment 43% ABV

Dear friends and followers! In the beginning of november, Glenfiddich contacted me with info about a coming release, namely their "IPA Experiment". This whisky is the first one in their new "experimental series". The whisky (no age declared) has been finished in american oak barrels that previously held a Speyside IPA created especially for this end, that is, to give flavours to the casks. The IPA has been in the casks for 4 weeks and the whisky has in turn had a 12 week finish in the casks. 

For more info on the process and on this first whisky in the series, please feel free to check out this link. Here in Sweden, Glenfiddich IPA Experiment will be released this friday at the swedish state monopoly, and you can view the product here.

Since the nice people of Glenfiddich offered me a sample of this new whisky, it is time to share some nosing and tasting notes with you all, ok, let's go! 

Nose:

Very fruity, the center of the nose first and foremost shows a focus on citrus fruits (sugar-y lemon juice and orange peel). There is also a tad of yellow kiwi. But above all the nose boasts of vanilla and fudge (completely intermingling in this whisky, that is to say, they are unseparable), light honey and loads of overripe banana. Also, nutt-y-ness is very evident (or is it almond?) 

Taste:

starts off incredibly creamy and rich/"thick" (focus on vanilla cream and honey). interestingly enough, none of the citrus fruits are there, but overripe banana sure is! at the exact moment of swallowing, i get overripe pear and most of all lots of vanillafudge and honey. 10 seconds or so after swallowing everything gets very, very dry, and quite spicy actually, most of all though, very dry. After about 20 seconds or so, a slight, slight touch of cinnamon, coffee and very light milk chocolate comes along, interesting... the aftertaste is very long and above all, very dry, especially so on all of my tongue and the "upper mouth" 

So, to sum up, firstly: Is this a good whisky? Yes, definitely a really good everyday dram! If I remember the 12yo correctly i'd say that IPA Experiment is the best of the two. However it does not win over the 15yo Solera (but it might be unfair to compare two so different whiskies).

Secondly: as far as my nosing and tasting skill goes, I cannot seem to pick up the IPA reference in this whisky (not in terms of hops anyway) but hey, maybe it's the citrus fruits on the nose and the dryness on the taste that reflects the IPA touch? Who knows. Anyways, a nice soft and quite rich nose, the creamy part of the taste was really nice, but for me the dryness was just a tad to much, almost like as if it is another whisky in the aftertaste than in the first part of the taste. All in all a very interesting experiment but to make the IPA reference and the hops come through the whisky should, in my opinion, have spent more time finishing in the casks 

Big thanks and sláinte to Glenfiddich for the opportunity to taste this whisky before it's release! 😃 

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 

all rights reserved/copyright belongs to Glenfiddich

Highland Park Single Cask 6403 and 2121 for Sweden only!!!

Dear friends and followers, today, to my big surprise, I received a mystery package from a mystery sender! I was indescribably happy when I discovered that the package contained the two coming releases of Single Cask Highland Park, for Sweden only! It also contained a nice little info-card. When I recently had the great honor and pleasure to visit Highland Park distillery (read all about it here) I was told about these two single casks and that they would soon be released, so as you all can understand it is a great satisfaction to finally be able to try them, and to try them before they are being released! 

[Edit2: It has now come to my attention that the launch of cask 2121 has been set to the 8th of december. The delay was due to an unfortunate miss-labelling of the ABV; it was marked 60,5% ABV but should in fact have been 59,7%. The bottles have now been sent back for re-labelling and the product can be viewed at the webpage of the state monopoly from the 1st of december]

[Edit1: Dear friends and followers, today, on the 17th of October, an employee at Edrington Sweden contacted me to let me know, and help spread that the launch of cask 2121 sadly has been delayed. The new date for it's release has not yet been set but it will be available sometime later this year, probably in december. Feel free to check in every now and then to stay updated on the new release date as I will edit this post instantly when I know more. Please note that the state monopoly has not yet changed the info on the release date of cask 2121 so it is still possible to view it, but we can expect them to withdraw the product from their webpage and/or change the date within a number of days. However, cask 6403 will be released this Thursday as was originally set from the beginning, and you can view it by clicking here]

The first bottling/cask for Sweden has an ABV of 58,6% and is from cask no. 6403, a first fill sherry European Hogshead that resulted in 300 bottles. The whisky from this cask is 13 years old

The second bottling/cask for Sweden has an ABV of 59,7% and is from cask no. 2121, a first fill sherry American Butt that resulted in 600 bottles. The whisky from this cask is 14 years old

As you all can imagine,  given that they are both first fill sherry (and oloroso I assume), it will be very interesting indeed to be able to compare the differences between european oak and american oak. Anyways, both of them will be released at the state monopoly on the 20th of october and we can expect them to be sold out within seconds!

Ok, let's begin with cask 6403 since that has the lowest ABV of the two!

Cask 6403 front

13yo/cask 6403 Nose:

Very, very, very dark notes going on here… now this is what I would call a heavily sherrymatured whisky! Completely boasting of and/or drowning in dried figs! Oh, also leather! There is also full-fat unwhipped cream, white chocolate (yes white), but there’s also dark raisins that have been dipped in medium dark milk chocolate… very slight or distant touches of something like mint… in the very top register is something very sweet and citric, not really lemonjuice but rather dried slices of lemon and lemon peel that is intermingling perfectly with the sligt touches of alchol. By the way, the strength of this baby is hardly noticeable on the nose. And what about the peat? Well it’s just there somewhere in the background, hardly noticeable, maybe in the form of licorice…

Cask 2121 front (before re-labelling)

14yo/cask 2121 Nose:

Oooh! 2121 is completely different from the previous! It’s also a sherrybomb but not at all in the same way. In this one I’d actually say that we have some very damp notes, something like an underground cellar, reminding me very much of the scents in a warehouse with all the maturing casks… I’m taken straight back to HP-warehouse no.3! Besides those wharehouse-y notes it’s extremely hard to not pick up the huge amounts of vanilla, the honey-infused new make, and most of all, the enormous amounts of heather! Maybe even heather-honey! Yes, heather-honey mixing beautifully with jelly-sweets of peach flavor. The alcohol? Not even noticeable. The peat? Even more distant than in the previous one…

Cask 6403 back

13yo/cask 6403 Taste:

Oh my God (or Thor)! (yelling it straight out sitting here all by myself). Begins quite brown-sugary sweet actually, but then huge wawes of something like ”peated sherry” takes over very quickly! After that everything gets very dry indeed, very quickly. I feel vanilla fudge-cubes, a very interesting mix of mint and evident peat (never felt that mix before…), as well as a mix of leather and cold coffee… Wow, the dryness surely jumps up on you. People, this dram should righteously be described as very, very complex! 

Cask 2121 back (before re-labelling)

14yo/cask 2121 Taste:

Once again, completely different than the previous one! The differences between the european oak in the previous one and the american oak in this one is to say the least, striking! This one also begins sweet but not at all in the sugar-y way, rather in the vanilla way, and that’s vanilla with a big V. Also the vanilla is kind of burnt, and kind of moves towards coffe with very much milk in it, or actually something like coffee liqueur. Other than that we also have so much fruit in this one, such as pear, dried peach and white raisins. This one is also very dry but here the dryness does not hit you that early, it is rather dry predominantly in the aftertaste, moving towards a mix of heather honey, quite bitter liquorice and most of all dry peat mingling with something like earl grey tea. 

To sum up: 

People, these two whiskies both show off the very high quality of whisky being produced at Highland Park distillery, and the high quality you can attain by picking out single casks. For me, I would of course not say no to owning any of these two bottlings, but my favourite is definietely the 13yo/cask 6403! I hope that I don’t have to choose but that I am lucky enough to get a hold of both bottles, then I could sit for hours and ponder over the fascinating differences between european oak and american oak ☺

Big thanks to the mystery sender, and also, big thanks to my great friend and colleague Stefan for sending me the nice pictures of the two bottles! Please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com 

My journey to Highland Park Distillery!

Friends and followers! As some of you might have understood from a post on my FB-page I recently experienced a fantastic journey to the Orkney Islands. More precisely the destination was the little town of Kirkwall (sort of the capitol of the Orkney Islands) and even more precisely: The Highland Park Distillery! But what was the background for this trip? How did it come about? Well, as you all know I’ve been working the whiskyfestivals and fairs for Edrington since 2012, mostly taking care of my favourite brands Connemara and Laphroaig. 

During the last night of this years festival in Gothenburg, Senior Brand Ambassador Martin Markvardsen and Dani, the Fair Coordinator of Edrington, shared the fantastic news to me and my fellow colleague Stefan, that they were both very happy with our contributions during the recent years and that they therefore wanted to show their appreciation. Hence, we were invited to see Orkney and the Highland Park Distillery partly as a ”Thank you!” and partly as a training. Perhaps you could even call it an education trip in order learn more about the distillery and the whisky being produced there. Now if you ask me, that’s simply a great way to say ”Thank you”! So, in this post I will share my journey, experiences, and some nice pictures with you my dear friends and followers. Oh, and further on in this post I also have the great privilege to share some exciting news of what the future holds… 

Sunday 24th of July

We had travelled from Stockholm to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Aberdeen. In Aberdeen we were lucky enough to enjoy some Highland Park 30yo! 

HP 30yo, what an amazing dram!

Then, in the early afternoon we found ourselves boarding the very small propeller airplane (30 seats) that was taking us the 30 minute ride or so to the Kirkwall Airport. The plane indeed turned out to be quite bumpy…  

Stefan to the left, SamuelWhisky to the right. Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

Bumpy ride but Stefan seems fine about it all :)

Looking down on beautiful Orkney

We arrived safe and sound at the Kirkwall Airport!

Finally back on the ground! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

Martin met up with us as the airport. During our stay he was our ”personal guide”, sharing and knowing all that is worth to know about the Viking history of Orkney, as well as all there is to know about the past and present of Highland Park Distillery! Wow, what an honor! 

After checking in at the small and picturesque Orkney Hotel... 

The entrance

The view from my room!

we headed for the bar to have some lunch and a couple of pints. 

Having a peedie pint!

After that Martin took us all to see the great and beautiful St Magnus Cathedral situated in the very center of Kirkwall. 

The grand St Magnus cathedral!

The cathedral was built in honour of Magnus Erlendsson, earl of (half of) the Orkney Islands between 1108-1115. The building of the cathedral started in 1134 or in 1137 depending on which source one turns to. Anyways, why were we taken there to see the cathedral? What relation is there beetween the St Magnus Cathedral and the Highland Park Distillery? Well, as Martin tells us in this picture 

the ”churchman” Magnus Eunson, and more importantly the founder of Highland Park Distillery, hid away some stocks of his maturing whisky from the exciseman. Where he hid it? Below the church floor of course! 

Inside the cathedral, wow! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

During the service in the church (!) Eunson took notes of who of the people in the congregation that wanted to order some of his whisky. What a daredevil! 

Beautiful right?!

We ended the day by having dinner at a really nice restaurant, as a starter I had some local beer and deep fried Haggis, served with what seemed to be a mango chutney, yummie!

The best Haggis I've ever had! 

Monday 25th of July

After a full scottish breakfast at the hotel (yummie again!), Martin took us to see the moor/bog where they cut the peat used in the kiln for drying the malted barley. The name of the moor is Hobbister.

Hobbister peat! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

Martin points out to the boundaries of Hobbister. Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

"Some" drying peat

Seeing the moor and its surroundings was a great experience, I now understand a lot more about peat and its different layers

The peat layers from above is "Fogt", "Yarphie" and finally "Moss"

I’ve also experienced what makes the peat of Highland Park so special. That’s right, Hobbister is litterally covered in heather, and the peat is full of it as well. This is what makes Highland Park whisky smell and taste so beautiful of heather honey!

Lots and lots of heather on Hobbister!

Old Man of Hoy?! Nope, it’s ”The Young Man of Hobbister”

The four Young Men of Hobbister. Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

After seeing Hobbister we went to see ’The round church of Bu’ 

Bu!

and more importantly we visited the great ’Ring of Brodgar’! Wow what a mysterious and beautiful place! 

Some of the mighty stones at the 'Ring of Brodgar'! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

SamuelWhisky next to one of the "small" stones...

Before leaving we where lucky enough to taste Earl Magnus Edition no.1

Earl Magnus Edition no.1. 15yo at 52,6% ABV

After some lunch and a pint we finally headed to the Highland Park Distillery! 

SamuelWhisky at the gates of Highland Park Distillery. Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

While we visited the distillery there was a kind of ”silent season” at the distillery, or rather  ”refurbishment season” lasting for three whole weeks. This means there was no production going on. However, that did in no way stop Martin from showing us just about everything worth seeing at the distillery! 

(Unmalted) barley

SamuelWhisky turning some barley at the malting floor. Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff 

Entrance to the new Kiln, one of two kilns at the distillery

SamuelWhisky standing by the new Kiln. In this kiln the peating goes on for 20-24 hours resulting in a peating level of around 45ppm. This peated malt is then mixed with unpeated malt resulting in a peating level of 12-15ppm. Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

One of the two kiln dryingfloors (just above the kiln). 

We went all the way up the rooftop and stood just beside the two pagoda-chimneys, it was a bit windy... An absolutely amazing view from up there! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

Mashtun

Martin standing beside one of the washbacks. This is where the yeast converts the sugar to alcohol, reaching about 7% ABV. The fermentation goes on for about 55-79 hours. 

SamuelWhisky in the Still House. The two wash stills bring the ABV to 28% and the two spirit stills brings it all the way up to between 69-71% ABV! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff.

The entrance to warehouse no.3

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos in there, but it had the most wonderful scents!

The cask filling room, completely empty for another three weeks...

The cask filling station

At the end of the distillery tour we had the opportunity to smell an empty bourbon cask and then an empty sherry cask. 

Mmm! Wonderful scents! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

Right next to those casks stood this beautiful cask marked ”1968”, which we also had the opportunity to sniff, unfortunately is was empty...

Laid down in 1968, emptied in 2016

I was so sad cause I really wanted to taste something during our visit that was drawn straight from cask. When we had sniffed the 1968 cask, Martin asked with a secretive voice: ”Do you wanna taste it?!”. To our joy and surprise he had actually prepared a peedie dram for each  one of us from this very cask. The ABV was 40,1% so as you can all understand it had been bottled in order to prevent it from going below 40% It was an amazing experience to taste a single cask HP at such a prominent age as 48yo! The whisky was drawn in the month of april 2016 from an american white oak hogshead that had previously contained oloroso sherry! I think you can all imagine the feeling... As with all of Highland Parks sherry casks this one was built and filled in Jerez

Yay! 48yo SC HP!

After the tour we were invited to Martins office for an absolutely amazing tasting.

SamuelWhisky is ready to have a taste! 

As you can see from the pictures below we sure enjoyed some very, very special bottlings!

The line-up! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff.

 And, in order to get some perspective, we started of with some Highland Park New Make. Oh no, not the 50% version available in the shop, instead Martin had managed to source some of their new make at filling strength (69,8%)! Wow! After that we enjoyed and old version of the 12yo, bottled in 1998 (The average age in this version is 18 years old but it goes all the way up to 25 years old). Then we tasted the core range 18yo that is produced today, followed by the core range 21yo, also produced today. Then we were happily surprised to see the Bicentenary 21yo! A great dram indeed

Bicentenary vintage 1977!

After that we moved on to a very special whisky: A distillery exclusive hand filled bottling, just over 600 bottles, a 13yo at vatting strength 53,3% ABV, matured in american oak sherry hogsheads. Let me tell you people, this was a great one and so I am glad that I decided to buy a bottle to bring with me home. 

Nice and wow! 

And finally, the tasting ended to our joy with the Vintage 1970, at 40 years old! 

Tuesday 26th of July

We started off our last day with visiting and having a tour at the Scapa Distillery (but that is another story). After that we drove on to see the very kind Mr. Ian Moir. As some of you know Ian is the Orkney-based ambassador of the fanclub Highland Park Appreciation Society. Ian generously invited us to the bar he built by himself from scratch, and very, very genrously he also let us enjoy a couple of drams of our own choosing. 

Dani, Ian, Martin and Stefan

After that, we visited a place that I had really longed for. Yes, the Cliffs of Yesnaby! I have only experienced something similar once before, namely the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. But the Cliffs of Yesnaby was so much greater and in some ways grander with its rugged, mysterious and boasting surroundings. 

The Cliffs of Yesnaby! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

Simply incredible!

The experience was even more amazing when Martin pulled out a bottle of the very recent bottling ”The Battle of Jutland” 11yo, at 64% ABV! Wow! 

"The Battle of Jutland", sadly sold out by now...

As you can see from this video an absolutely amazing experience and feeling to try this fantastic whisky at such a fantastic place! Then and there I felt so alive!

Sláinte and Skål! Copyright belongs to Dani Skaff

After this great experience and some lunch on the move, we headed for the last stop of our journey, which was the Swannay Brewery!. Truly a microbrewery. Their founder and headbrewer Rob Hill is a fantastically interesting and eccentric man and here his work has rightly been described as "Genuinely at the intersection of art, science and madness". Rob welcomed us with open arms and basically showed us the entire brewery inside out. 

Rob Hill :)

Beautiful brewery!

The best part of our visit to his brewery was when he ran off into one of the rooms in the brewery, asked us to follow him and then let us sniff all kinds of more or less extreme hops of all varieties. The most extreme had a nose reminiscent of curry and cheese! Before leaving we of course visited their shop to pick up some of their fantastic beer. 

The shop at Swannay Brewery

In the bar at the hotel we had already tried some of their beer, and since we already knew they produce some really good stuff we could kind of just buy anything, knowing they would all be great! Oh, by the way, Swannay Brewery and Highland Park Distillery will soon start with beer and whisky paring, so if you are headed to the distillery, don’t miss out on some great beer and some great whisky in combo!

Soooo happy! 

Well friends, that’s about my whole story about this journey to Highland Park Distillery, and if we meet at some of the festivals in Sweden I am very happy to tell you some more about it if you feel like it! Oh yes, I almost forgot! I have som very exclusive news to share exclusively with you my friends and followers: During our visit to Highland Park Distilery it came to my understanding that later this year, there will be two (maybe three) Highland Park single cask bottlings launched in Sweden, that have been chosen exclusively for the Swedish fans of Highland Park! Who more than me longs for that moment?!

Anyways, big, big thanks to Martin and Dani for inviting me and Stefan to visit Orkney and Highland Park Distillery. An absolutely amazing experience… Also a special thanks to Johanna at Edrington! It was amazing and I can’t wait to see you soon and work with you all again! Sláinte! 

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