Swedish Whisky from High Coast Whisky – Cinco 50,5% ABV!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! Today I bring you my review of a swedish whisky from High Coast Whisky (formerly known as Box Distillery). This whisky should have been released on the 2nd of april, but the release was postponed probably due to stuff relating to the pandemic. Anyways, this monday, the 1st of june, it is finally being released! Please click here to view the product.

The name of the whisky is Cinco, meaning five; the whisky is a mix of whisky that has been matured in five kinds of sherry casks, namely Oloroso, Fino, Pedro Ximenez, Amontillado, and Palo Cortado.   Ten of the sherry casks were of Spanish origin, and one sherry cask was of American origin. The whisky, made from unpeated barley, has however first spent time in bourbon casks (between 2,66 to 5,64 years), and has then been "finished" in either of the types of sherry casks until reaching the youngest age of 6,72 years and the oldest age of 8,68 years. Exciting!

Ok, let's review!  

Nose:

The nose is really soft, velvet-y and silk-y soft actually (so maybe extremely soft is a more appropriate description). This whisky is absolutely drizzling with scents like toffee, melted butter, sugar syrup made from brown sugar, and a deep, deep dark and creamy vanilla. Being a sherried whisky I find it very interesting that these scents actually stand before the ”classic” notes of sherry maturation (dark raisins, dried figs, dreid dates, etcetera). The sherry-style leans more towards rich and juicy dark red grapes than raisins, and more towards dried apricots and melted butter than dried figs. Very interesting and an intriguing nose that I could nose forever. Mmm…

Niiiice!

Taste:

Cool! Actually quite dry in style! I thought it would be more creamy than dry but this is quite dry and medium heavy in terms of the tanninic-ness. We do have melted butter and toffee from the nose, and the vanilla is also here but influenced with coffe and… amaretto with a dash of pistachio! Alongside these flavours there is also something over-ripe-pear-ish intermingling with evident menthol/mint that actually reminds me of a light peatyness. A very more-ish and chewy taste!

Some reflections to sum up:

This is a really good tasting and interesting style of whisky. The interesting thing for me is that it’s not at all over-sherried; it’s not your ”regular” oloroso sherry matured whisky. When nosing and tasting I found myself thinking several times that I’ve never had a sherried whisky that has the style of this one, and I’ve definitely never had a swedish whisky that has the style of this one. In short, it’s a genius move to mix sherry styles like this and it has truly resulted in something new in its category. I highly recommend it!

A big thanks to the nice people at High Coast Whisky for the opportunity to review and taste 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 associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and when permission is granted by stating the source.

Pic borrowed from highcoastwhisky.se

Selected Malts – Benriach 8yo 52,2% ABV!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! A few days ago, I received a package from my good friends Patrik and Mikael of "Selected Malts". The package turned out to contain their upcoming release, and although Selected Malts is a relatively new independent bottler (they released there first bottling roughly a year ago) this is actually their 10:th release so far! So congrats on a first year well done guys!

This time around they are releasing an 8 year old whisky from Benriach distillery. The distillation date was 20100530 and date of bottling was 20181219. The whisky was first matured in a single bourbon hogshead (2nd-fill bourbon) and was then transferred into two 128 litre 2nd-fill oloroso quarter casks for a finishing period of 7 months. The whisky was bottled at cask strength of 52,2% ABV, no filtration and likewise no coloring has been done! The two casks gave 500 bottles in total and out of these 464 bottles will be released at the swedish state monopoly this monday (15:th of April) through the "order-assortment". You can view the whisky by clicking here. Ok folks, it's time to analyze!

Pic belongs to Selected Malts

Nose:

Although the sherry finish has not really made a mark on the color of this whisky, it has done so on the top layer of the nose; light/yellow raisins, the peel and dryness of red/purple grapes, and finally the inside of dried (but moist) figs. Below this layer I do however mostly find scents that I associate with bourbon cask; (the famous) ”excotic fruits” such as yellow kiwi, overripe banana and lemon peel. But, far more evident is loads and loads of creamy vanilla, melted butter, cookies, and pastry. In the very bottom layer we have more robust notes such as marzipan, mint, a hint of peaty-ness and in the distant butter drizzled ginger. Complex stuff folks!

Taste: 

Well that was an interesting turn/surprise! It begins on light peat, saltiness, vanilla fugde and sweet liquorice! Slightly burnt custard sauce takes over which moves on into lightly roasted and sugared almonds. After that we have a beautiful wave of melted butter coming in, only to be interrupted by a dryness somehow reminding me of the leaves on a black currant bush. I can’t really seem to put my finger on the sherry influence, but something makes me think of perfume-y-ness, red and orange wine-gum sweets, and milk chocolate pralines filled with cherry-liquer. In the aftertaste, the vanilla, butter, and the light peat moves off and on into one another, and the whisky fades away on a slight dryness and a sugar-y sweetness. 

Some reflections to sum up:

This was a very, very interesting dram to taste! The taste really differs from the nose and I did not at all expect the peat and saltiness to be in focus in the early phase of the taste. Also, I thought that the taste would have more of the ”excotic fruits” from the nose coming through. The strength is perfect just the way it is. Being a (kind of) single cask (before the finish) of this quality, the price level is amazing. And hey, the complex nose is alone worth the price of a bottle, so sláinte!

Big thanks to Patrik and Mikael 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 Selected Malts

Selected Malts – Royal Brackla sherry finish 55,5% ABV!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! A couple of days I received a package from my two good friends Patrik and Mikael, the founders of the all new swedish independent bottler named Selected Malts! To my great joy the package contained their second bottling, wiihooo! 

This time around we are talking about a Royal Brackla that has first been matured in a single bourbon hogshead and then transferred for a final maturation/finish in two 128 litre european oak 1st-fill oloroso sherry quarter casks. The whisky was bottled at cask strength, no filtration and likewise no coloring was done! The casks gave 397 bottles. This whisky will be released at the swedish state monopoly this monday (23:rd of April) through the "order-assortment". You can view the whisky by clicking here. Ok folks, let's see what we have here!

Nose:

The first thing that strikes me is that this whisky is very vinous (red wine), actually almost drawing towards a slight touch of (red) glühwein spices. Above that layer I find very delicate notes of peach candy together with a very mellow, but quite thin, vanilla. Shaking the whisky vividly to stir up some more notes/scents I actually get something reminding me of port wine. The whisky calms down after the stir and now I discover ripe fresh rhubarb that intermingles perfectly with the peach and the vanilla. All in all the notes on the nose is like a fight between the bourbon hogshead and the oloroso quarter casks, between vanilla and the vinous stuff. Very interesting! Ok, what about the taste?!

Borrowed from Selected Malts

Taste:

Fascinating! It actually starts of quite salt-y, I did not expect that at all! Before the salt, for a split second, there is however some very mellow and rich vanilla, but then comes the salt and after just two seconds or so I realise that the salt is clearly infused with ”sour” raisins (perhaps better described as red grapes on their way of becoming raisins). Intermingling with the strange grapes are definitely freshly squeezed rhubarb juice (if there ever was such a thing…). However, all of these rapid tastes mellows down rather quickly and gives way to an absolutely beautiful mix of almond paste and/or marzipan coupled with a big vanilla. In the aftertaste there are still traces of the salt-y beginning, but most of all the aftertaste is dry, dry, and dry, with traces of fresh ginger. The aftertaste ends with ”vapours” of almond paste rising to the roof of my mouth together with leather-y vanilla. 

To sum up:

On the nose this whisky does not at all behave like a standard/classic sherry finish would (with raisins and figs etcetera), rather the sherry behaves like red wine and the nose is therefore quite confusing with it’s fight between the two types of casks involved. The great thing about the taste is that it opens up on salt and then moves into the mellow and rich vanilla. Also, the taste really evolves in my mouth, a true journey of flavours! A job well done selecting this whisky (with it’s unusual elements on both nose and taste), so that the whisky nerds in Sweden can taste something truly different. Sláinte!

Big thanks to the guys at Selected Malt for the opportunity to try their second release and for the opportunity to be able to review it before its 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 Selected Malts

Amrut Raw Cask 61,3% ABV – Dennis Steckel Selection!!!

Dear friends and followers alike! When working the Örebro Beer and Whiskyfestival about a month ago I passed by Clydesdales stand to have a chat with Dennis Steckel, the superfan of Amrut and founder of Amrutfever, to see what he had up his sleeve. 

Enthusiastically he pulled out an Amrut bottled in his honor!!! I asked him how this bottling and great news came about and he told me that one day he had mysteriously received a bunch of samples with the only instruction to choose his favorite. Having done so he did not think more about it, but, when arriving at the festival to work in the Clydesdale-stand he was presented with this bottling in his honor! Wow! Look how very happy Dennis looks about it all :)

Dennis clearly showing signs of The Amrut-Fever ;)

All I know about this whisky is that it has been finished in a sherry cask and that it has had almost no filtration at all, Raw Cask in it's essence. There are only 163 bottles available worldwide, and out of these around 50 are reserved for Sweden where it will be released at the state monopoly tomorrow (the 18th of December 2017). You can view the product here and order it here. 

Since I was allowed to draw a sample I now have the great joy and pleasure of presenting my review and notes below

Nose:

Very sweet and absolutely boasting of dark raisins, vanilla sweetness, vanilla creamyness and big/fat honey (light non-liquid honey). Also, there is a quite evident wood-yness but it sits very close to all the vanilla stuff so it does not really come across as being youngish. There is however a slight touch of yeast and/or new make in the distant, but, with thanks to the greedy angels this is all in the background. Above the woodyness, and encapsulating it, is a beautiful scent of very creamy orange peel that has a perfect sting of nutty and/or almondy alcohol to it, absolutely beautiful!

Taste: Wow! Starts of with great power and sting from the alcohol, and then things go very fast: salty and very intense, moving rapidly into a citrusfruity vanilla and from there fast into chunky marzipan and almonds, than moving swiftly into a spicy and very dry woodyness intermingling with dried figs. Then things start to slow down, my mouth is getting more dry and most of all there is a very interesting mix of somthing "sour" and sweet at the roof of my mouth. This finally fades away into more almonds, more dryness (this time a very soft dryness), and finally closing off with orange syrup and liquid light honey...

To sum up: This sure was a great pick by Dennis and a great tribute to him and his great and enthusiastic work with Amrutfever! Big thanks to the people at Clydesdale for the opportunity to try it and to review it before its 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 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

Single Cask Bowmore & Laphroaig bottled by Cooper’s Choice!

Dear friends and followers, big thanks for stopping by! A couple of weeks ago I received a package from the nice people at Symposion, from this package I have chosen to review a Bowmore and a Laphroaig, which is a perfect fit taking in consideration that I very recently visited these to distilleries as a part of my honeymoon (a blogpost on that topic will follow in a couple of days). Anyways, both are single casks bottled by Cooper's Choice. Here in Sweden they are released tomorrow

The 16 year old Bowmore is from bourbon cask no.223 which gave 320 bottles. Out of these 132 bottles are available for Sweden. It has been bottled at 46% ABV and you can view the product here.    

The 10 year old Laphroaig has been finished in sherry cask no.9530 (Sadly i have no info on what kind of oak, what kind of sherry, or info on for how long the whisky has been finished in the cask). This Laphroaig is bottled exclusively for the swedish market. The cask gave 420 bottles, it has been bottled at 46% ABV and you can view the product here. Ok, let's start with the Bowmore!

Bowmore nose:

Salty seawater with vanilla, definitely more focus on salt than on vanilla, soft fudge-yness in the background and hiding behind that is sweet liquorice. There seems to be two opposing but well intertwined scents; salt and liquorice versus vanilla and soft fudge. Not so much more than that. Oh wait, there is also grapepeel/-skin (more peel/skin than juice anyways…). Interestingly enough, I would not at all describe this one as peaty, rather as salty. In conclusion on the nose, Either this dram can be described as a ”clean”/”pure” bourbonmaturation that is not very complex, or it can be described as ”simple”, it might just be a choice of words.   

Bowmore taste:

Starts off medium salt and then moves very quickly (around two seconds) into a kind of ”flat” or one-dimensional smoke with quite evident traces of elderflower. After that it tastes kind of like licking a wet smoked stone (whatever that is…). After that, not much at all happens. The taste can rightly be described as ”simple” rather than ”clean”/”pure”. In fact, quite boring. It is not often that it happens, but this dram was as the nose suggested very ”simple”. Quite frankly, I do not think that a higher ABV would have helped. This dram just shows that the independent bottlers do not always get a hold of as good casks as the distilleries themselves release and/or use for their bottlings. 

Laphroaig nose:

Peaty, almost smoky, with a medium salty-ness. The peat is like smoked or burned grass intermingling with a quite creamy vanilla. The vanilla-ness draws very delicately into dry sherrynotes and interestingly enough something reminding me of cinnamon (for me it is very unusual to find cinnamon in a whisky). The rather smoky peat gets along very well with the sherryness. There is, so to speak, not too much sherry influence, rather it is ”just enough” and is not covering the peat. In fact I would say that it’s a perfect match, maybe even very beautiful. The peat in this one is absolutely delicious, smells exactly like the peated malt of Laphroaig soaked in the perfect amount of sherry sweetness.      

Laphroaig taste:

Oh wow! I did not expect this, definitely more salt than peat. There is however more peaty-ness than there is sherry influence. Sadly the sherry influence is quite short and a bit to ”flat” for my taste. The sherry finish can not have been very long om this one, the salt overthrows the sherry. In the finish/aftertaste everything is quite ambivalent; the sherry component is not very well integratated with the peatyness and the saltyness, it’s hard to explain but it is as if they both stand out and they do not leave room for each other. In the late aftertaste all that remains is salt and flat peat with quite big traces of barley. Understand me the right way peoples, this is a good whisky but I would not say that it was ready to be bottled quite yet. Once againg, also this dram shows that the independent bottlers do not always get a hold of as good casks as the distilleries themselves release and/or use for their bottlings. 

To sum up:

Out of these two I would choose the Laphroaig, it is definitely the best of the two. They are both quite simple but I would go for the Laphroaig. Big thanks to the nice people at Symposion for sharing these samples and for the opportunity to review and try them before they are released! 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 such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com 

Swedish Whisky from Hven – Alioth 45% ABV

Friends and followers alike! Today is World Whisky Day and what better way for me as a swedish blogger to celebrate this than to review a swedish whisky?! This time around it's time for the latest release from swedish Hven Distillery, I received this very nice and good looking sample bottle a couple of weeks ago and now it's finally the right time to try it. In fact, I am very glad to have been invited to the release event on site, but very sad not to be able to go (unfortunately it's hard for me to make it on a week day...). Anyways, the name of this whisky is Alioth, that's right, you guessed it, it is the fifth release (and star) in the series drawing its inspiration from the constellation called "The Big Dipper"!

The press-release that I received contained info on the recipe, please feel free to read it in the photo below:

Alioth is still available at a number of swedish monopoly stores and you can view it by clicking here. Ok, let's see what we have here!

Nose:

Peat is definitely in the foreground here! The level of peating seems to me to be slightly above medium. Connected to the peat is also black pepper, slightly burnt wood/burnt log of wood, and also some green and damp moss. That is, very forest-y in style. Above the peat and forest layer is a very evident freshly squeezed lemon juice mixed with a sligth touch of pinneaple juice, brown/dark sugar and grain. Surrounding all of this, in the distance, is on the one hand cold coffee with lots of milk in it and on the othe hand we have a very soft vanilla (the kind of vanilla that is in the swedish candy ”sugar cubes”). Ok, let’s move on to the taste!

Taste:

Oh, so incredibly soft and smooth! Also quite sweet actually. I did not expect that at all (given the evident peat I thought this was gonna be quite peat-y and quite salty…). Lots of vanilla, lots of fudge, a hand or to of the cold coffee with lots of milk. And as noted, quite sweet and sugar-y indeed, but this time a mix of white and dark sugar. Interestingly enough, the burnt wood stuff from the nose is also on the taste but it moves quickly (1-2 seconds) into medium salt liquorice. The peat does not show itself until after all of this, that is, in the very end of the aftertaste. After the peat has settled down some oatmeal porridge developes together with evolvment of more fudge and vanilla

To sum up: 

This is a very interesting dram, and when I say ”interesting” I don’t mean odd or ordinary; what makes it interesting is rather that what I expect from the nose does not really show itself as I had thought it would on the taste, to me that is interesting and quite rare. Besides this fact it is also very smooth, soft and sweet and alos very well balanced. The taste comes thorugh perfect on this strength and I would not want a higher ABV. A great everyday dram but with an extra little oumph when the peat kicks in at the end. Thumbs up!

Big thanks and Sláinte to the people at Hven Distilley for the opportunity to taste this whisky before being released! Sláinte! Please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my twitter-page by clicking here, and my instagram by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com

Swedish whisky from Hven – Megrez 45% ABV

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

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

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

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

Nose:

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

Palate:

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

To sum up:

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

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

Please make sure also to follow my FB-page by going here, and my twitter-page by going here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro@gmail.com

anCnoc 18yo 46% ABV!

When working with/taking care of Laphroaig at this years Beer and Whiskyfestival in Gothenburg I also had the great oppurtunity to visit some friends of mine in the buisness and talk about my favourite distillers/brands. I stopped by at Berntson Brands to see what’s going on and asked if there was anything in particular they wanted me to review. My friend Tommy was very keen on having me do a review of their next release, namely the new 18yo from anCnoc (Knockdhu Distillery). The 18yo will soon replace the 16yo so...

Now, according to the website the 18yo has been matured in a combination of Spanish ex-sherry casks as well as in American bourbon barrels. However, from the inside-material I have been provided with (big thanks Tommy) we get some more precise info stating the following: "Matured initially in first and second fill American oak, ex-bourbon casks, with a period of further maturation in first fill Spanish oak, ex sherry butts".

That's more like it! In other words, this is a sherry finished anCnoc! Also, bottled at 46% ABV and non chill-filtered. In Sweden, this bottling was released on the 5th of June but in very limited numbers, only 132 bottles. That said, only a few bottles are still available but Tommy tells me that they will try and source some more bottles ASAP. For international buyers it's available here  

So, is it yummy? Well let's find out… 

Nose: Mmm, really nice! So soft but still fat… Compared to the other anCnoc standard editions (the 12yo and  the 16yo which I would think of as primarily bourbon-ish) this one has a lot of sherry influence on the nose! The sherry-style is in fact the first thing I pick up so that’s nice! Quite powerful sherry influence that is, and also being quite thick and bold for being an anCnoc. This particular part of the nose also has a quite rich "citric" charachter to it. Besides this I also pick up a mix of dried peaches, dried figs and something like canned pears, maybe even the juice itself… maybe even a bit of pinneaple? Cool! below this layer of stuff we also have a quite fat vanilla vibe going on and on and on that’s sort of carrying all of the other stuff in it’s hand. I really could nose this forever… BUT! At the same time I really want to have a taste!

Tommy to the left, me on the right. As you can see I have a tasting note of Old Pulteney 35yo coming up! :)

Palate: Oh yes! This 18 year old really has an emphasis on sherry! Absolutetly beautiful palate! Together with this very ”warm” and confident mouthfeel of bold sherry-influence I pick up what I would refer to as slowly running quite dark honey… mmm… we also have a big hand of vanilla but not the fudge-ey kind, rather high-class vanilla powder in style (not dry of course)… also, we have smooooth almond paste, and dried sticky/chewy dates, but I can’t really pick up any of the fruits from the nose. All this is warming my chest in a wonderful way. Folks, together with the 35yo this is definitely the best (unpeated) anCnoc I’ve tasted so far, and I’m really not used to an anCnoc being this sherry-influenced, great stuff let me tell you, if I had a bottle of this one at home, I would definitely enjoy a wee dram of it every day!

A big thanks to the nice people at Berntson, especially to Tommy for providing me with the opportunity to try this beauty! Please follow SamuelWhisky on my Zuckerberg-page by going here, and on my bird-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 Sláinte!

pic belongs to/copyright of anCnoc

p.s I've heard there is a 24yo anCnoc coming soon and I think it is supposed to be exclusive for Sweden! it will be released at systembolaget as soon as the stock of the 22yo is out!

Swedish Whisky from Smögen – Sherry Project 1:2 55,7% ABV

Yesterday I was very happy to find a sample of Smögen Distillerys coming (fourth) release, the Sherry Project 1:2. As you can all understand from its name, this is the second release in a series that involves sherry finishing.

1:2 will be available at the swedish state-monopoly on the 26th of march but for international buyers many of Smögens products are available here

1:1 has first spent almost three years in four new heavily-charred european quarter casks (no. 32-35), and was then given a finish consisting of four months in a sherry butt. If you have not, please check out my tasting note of 1:1 here.

Now, the difference between 1:1 and 1:2 is that the latter was given a finish in a sherry butt for twice that time; namely 8 months. The cask no. were 28, 30, 31 and 39.







For me, this is really exciting stuff, even a bit of a highlight as a blogger, and I'm grateful that Pär Caldenby of Smögen Distillery sent me a sample of the 1:2 for tasting, so thank you! Now let's see what's on the nose!

Nose:
When opening the sample-bottle and nosing from it, out comes a very very slight and quick touch of alcohol/spirit, but also a big dark-sugary note. Pouring a wee dram into my glass, I get light touch of lemon-peel, then that slight touch of alcohol/spirit again but when leaving it to rest for half a minute or so it's gone in a whiff! Picking up the glass again I get that BIG note of dark-sugar and almost golden dark syrup. Quite high in the layers I also pick up… now what is it? hmm… sweet licorice! Dark moist raisins, juicy dried figs, even dates…almost earthy tones. There is even some dark but very sweet chocolate in there… dear friends and followers, this is some deep, sherry-influenced heavy stuff! "But is there any peat in there?"you might wonder, well, there is but it definitely lurks in the very bottom layers, and for some reason makes me think of candy with violet flavor, interesting! Well, I'm starting to get really thirsty so let's have a taste!

Palate:
Wow, this is truly intense stuff! Very intense at the very start, dark citric flavors (if there is such a thing), a touch of spirit-y-ness but disappearing in a whiff also on the palate, quickly moving on into the first sherry-hit, yes, it really is a hit! It's big and full of the dark raisins and dried figs from the nose. After about a second and a half or so the peat kicks in! Definitely more peat on the palate then what was there on the nose! Sort of a dark earthy peat, mingling with all the vibes from the sherry. Doing a great job at drying my mouth, mostly the front or very tip of my tounge. The aftertaste, or even the taste in total, is very long. Probably goes on for three minutes or so, leaving a touch of candied sugar… Nice!

Now you might wonder, how is 1:2 in relation to 1:1?! Well, let's find out and do a quick comparison, since I luckily enough have a wee dram left of the 1:1 :)

As you can see from the picture they're similar in color. On the nose, not surprisingly, the 1:2 is bigger, and more fat and mature, not only when it comes to the sherry-influence but also in general. The 1:1 actually has more of a creamy and softer touch to it, while the 1:2 is bigger on the sherry-side of things. The 1:2 is definitely more mature and has more confidence so to speak.

On the palate, tasting the 1:2 before the 1:1, the 1:2 really has lot's more when it comes to a citric/lemony touch, but also more of the dark-sugary elements. It is also a bit more spirit-y (bear in mind the higher ABV and the fact that I did not water the 1:2 to the same ABV as the 1:1). The 1:1 has a much more "calm" sherry-style and is a bit more "flat", but it has on the other hand been in a half full sample-bottle since november so… I'd say that the 1:1 has more peat in it which is really interesting!

To sum-up, this is a really tough match friends, they are both very good expressions, but if I would have to choose a winner from todays tasting I'd go for the 1:1 and so it still counts as the best swedish single malt I've tasted so far. Anyhow, Pär really knows what he is doing! So a big thanks to Pär for the opportunity and I can't deny that I really look forward to tasting the 1:3…

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Swedish Whisky from Smögen – Sherry Project 1:1 51,8% ABV

Yesterday I was very lucky to find a small package of samples in my mailbox! The package turned out to have two samples of Smögen single malt whisky in it, yay! Smögen is releasing two spankingly new bottlings tomorrow which swedes can buy at the state monopoly. One is single bourbon cask 20/2011 (which I will taste sometime soon), and the other is called ’Sherry Project 1:1’ being the first of four releases involving sherry finishing. The fourth bottling in the series will be fully matured in sherry casks. Smögen distillery is a swedish west-coast distillery that only produces peated whisky. And so I guess that you would like to know the ppm? Well people, it’s peated to 45 ppm (just as Laphroaig). Now, the Sherry Project 1:1 has first been matured for nearly three years in powerfully charred 110 litre casks made of european oak. The whisky has then been transferred for a final maturation in a fresh sherry butt. Sounds tasty right?! Well let’s try it then shall we?

Nose:

Incredibly rich and creamy! Very fat and certainly gives a mature impression. I remember thinking that the first release ’Primör’ seemed very mature for it’s age, but this one really is many many steps ahead in maturity! A BIG and fat nose that really drizzles with sherry influence, if I had not known that it has only spent a few months in sherry casks I would never have guessed it was not fully sherry matured, I kid you not people, really! The nose boasts of dried figs and dark raisins, there’s even some milk chocolate in there… nice… Above all the layers of creamyness and sherryness is a very elegant acidulous touch that really screams: ”Try me! Try me!” So I guess I just have to try now J

Palate:

Mmm…! Absolutely beatiful. As I said, veeery mature! I absolutely can not believe that this is a young whisky… Great mouthfeel, perfect combination of peat and big-fat-creamy-sherryness… Lots of dark fruits on the first sip, sugary-honey sweetness that takes perfect care of my mouth. Slowly developes into a quite spicy and dry feeling that clings on to my mouth and makes everything become so ”present” if you know what I mean, I really feel that I’m alive when I taste this whisky! After one minute or so everything gets quite dry and warm… the peat is beautiful… I really don’t think that water is needed here people, it’s not too strong at all, so think carefully before adding water.

Well folks, this is definitely the best Swedish whisky I’ve tasted so far, so I guess I simply have to reserve a cask at Smögen as soon as possible J Please stay tuned for my other tasting note of the Smögen single cask 20/2011 that I’ll look into very soon.

A BIG thanks to Pär for the oppurtunity to taste this, thank you! Friends, please follow SamuelWhisky on Facebook here, and on twitter here. P.S If you come to the Örebro Beer and Whiskyfestival this friday, please do come to the Edrington booth to say hi, I will be there and take care of Connemara and Laphroaig!

See you soon and Sláinte!