Swedish Whisky from Norrtelje Distillery – RoslagsWhisky 4x30 at 46,7% ABV!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! In late december last year the Sales Manager of Norrtelje Distillery kindly revealed to me that they were going to release yet another whisky here in Sweden, come the month of march. And about two weeks ago I found a package in my mail box that contained a sample of said new release, yay! This is the distillerys third release of whisky so far at the Swedish state monopoly. The label on the sample bottle gives us the following info about this bottling: Swedish organic unpeated malt was distilled in may of 2013 and on the 7th of april in 2014 was filled into four 30 litre oloroso sherry casks. The whisky was bottled on the 17th of november in 2020 at a cask strength of 46,7% ABV. No filtration or coloring was done. 

Having reviewed the whisky I contacted the folks at the distillery for some details and this is a summary of what they shared with me: The organic barley was grown in the landscape of Östergötland and malted by Viking Malt in the city of Halmstad. The sherry casks used are made from european oak. The casks numbers are 29, 30, 31, and 32. While the filling strength of their new make is normally set to 60% ABV, these specific casks were actually filled at 50%, as an experiment. The four casks gave 165 (50cl) bottles in total out of which 140 bottles have been sent to systembolaget (the swedish state monopoly). 

The whisky will be released through a so called web launch this Thursday (the 4th of march) and can be viewed by clicking here. Ok friends, below you will find my review!

Nose:

Starts off on deep (medium heavy) notes of sherry. In the background we have apparent but by no means overpowering yeast with a slight touch of wood (more towards dark oak than new wood). Moving deeper into the nose I find elegant notes of moist dark raisins, a beautiful vibe of raspberry infused almond paste, orange chocolate pralines and/or orange zest with a slight touch of sweet (soft) liquorice candy. At the very bottom I find a malty honey-like vanilla sweetness with a touch of wet forrest leaves. The cask strength of this whisky is the perfect strength to nose and provides a great overall balance.

Taste:

First impression: nice, second impression: mmm! Starts off on a medium heavy sherry style with a tanninic spicyness and a whiff of new wood that is quickly interrupted by a dry acidity best described as dark sugary lemon juice intermingling with red cocktail berries (Maraschino cherry). Beyond that we have honeydew melon moving into a soft malty sugary sweetness, a touch of slightly salty liquorice and finally a strong note of almond paste. In the aftertaste there is a reminiscence of peat and a slight touch of soft/velvety tar. The cask strength gives perfect balance also to the taste and for me this is a great strength for sipping. 

Some reflections to sum up:

This is definitely the best whisky produced by Norrtelje Distillery so far! But it’s not only good from an evolution/progress perspective (meaning: in relation to their previous releases), it is also a good and tasty whisky in and of itself. What we have here is a straightforward unpeated sherry matured whisky with depth, elegance, and lots of interesting stuff to find and enjoy in the layers of both the nose and the taste. And even though the casks have not completely overcome the yeast on the nose I wouldn’t say that it is a disturbing part of the nose. I could find no yeast on the taste and I would definitely say the the casks/maturation do overcome the whiff of new wood in the beginning of the taste. And so, just as I did the last time I reviewed a whisky from Norrtelje Distillery I once again have the pleasure to conclude that they have taken a clear step forward, and this time it’s a big one. And hey, filling the casks with a 50% ABV new make might just be the right path forward!

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Norrtelje Distillery for the great opportunity to review also this whisky before it's release! For kind of weekly updates please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my instagram by clicking here, and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures and videos likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or is associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and when permission is granted by stating the source.

Pic belongs to systembolaget.se

Swedish Whisky from Norrtelje Distillery – Single Sherry Cask no.43-250!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! A couple of weeks ago the Sales Manager at Norrtelje Distillery contacted me and wondered if I was interested in tasting a soon to be released whisky produced by them. "Of course" said I, and a couple of days later a sample showed up in my mail box. Now, this is the second release (at the swedish state monopoly) of whisky from this distillery, and this is the info I have about it:

The barley was organically grown in the landscape of Östergötland, and malted by Viking Malt in the city of Halmstad. The malt is unpeated. In the production process water from the well of the farm that the distillery is located at was used. Distillation took place in april 2016. The new make was filled into cask 43-250, a 250 litre oloroso sherry hogshead, on the 24th of September that same year. It was bottled straight from the cask without filtration on the 13th of January 2020 at 48,7% ABV (which I assume to be cask strength). The cask gave 193 70cl bottles out of which 185 will be available at the swedish state monopoly this Tuesday. The product can be viewed by clicking here. Ok friends, let analyse!

Nose:

At a distance from the glass (30cm) there are whiffs of sweet malt, sugar sweetness (syrup), and sultana raisins. Nosing closer to the glass (10cm) I find obvious notes of a nice sherry maturation (dried dark raisins, dried figs), light honey, and a slight touch of juice from canned pinneaple. When nosing straight into the glass there is apparent yeast, a yeast that has some peat and also some wood in it. The sherry maturation/style has unfortunately not fully overcome the yeast. In the deep bottom layers I find a beautiful liquorice and/or mint (the flavour, not the plant).

Taste:

Starts off on dark raisin sweetnes and some saltyness which fastly morphs into a mixture of yeast and new wood that thankfully quite quickly (2-3 seconds) moves on into a kick from the ABV and then we have medium peatyness, almond paste with whiffs of bitter almond, grassyness, and dryness. After these stark/strong flavours we have pear (not quite ripe), something red (apple?), dry vanilla, vanilla custard, and the almond paste comes back. In the aftertaste there is a mellow sherry sweetness, and the taste actually ends kind of in the same way as the nose did, with a pleasent mixture of peat and mint.

Some reflections to sum up:

If one has the ability to look past the yeast on the nose, nosing this whisky is a pleasure; it is complex and it contains some goodies, especially the sultana raisins, the pinneaple juice, the hint of peat, and the liquorice-/mint-vibe going on. On the taste, all in all, the yeast is less of a problem since it fades as fast as it does. Here too there are goodies, especially the medium peatyness, the dry vanilla and the sherry sweetness. Eventhough this edition of whisky from Norrtelje Distillery shows yeast both on the nose and on the taste it is definitely more mature and grown up than their first release (which was 6 years old mind you). Considering that this release is only three years old I think that it is ok that there is a little yeast in there (something I have experienced before in young whiskies/early releases from other swedish whisky distilleries). In my opinion Norrtelje Distillery has clearly moved forward and improved their whisky making skills. Congrats and good for you!

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Norrtelje Distillery for the great opportunity to review this whisky before it's release! For kind of weekly updates please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my instagram by clicking here, and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures and videos likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or is associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and when permission is granted by stating the source.

Pic/copyright belongs to Norrtelje Distillery

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

The Macallan – Limited Edition 2018 – Classic Cut 51,2% ABV!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! When working the Stockholm Beer and Whisky festival last year (for Edrington Sweden) we had the 2018 edition of The Macallan Classic Cut with us, and so I was generously allowed to draw a small sample of it for reviewing! We are just "a little" behind here in Sweden with the release, and I've held on to the sample for five months, but now, finally, this whisky is released at the state monopoly on thursday the 4th of april! Please click here to have a look at the product. 

Now, as you all probably know by now, Classic Cut is an annual limited edition since 2017, with each years version showcasing a new "flavor profile". While the 2017 flavor profile was Creamy vanilla, sweet ginger, warming oak, the 2018 profile is Citrus, sweet vanilla, spice as can be seen from this picture:

The (vatting) strength this time around is 51,2% and the casks used are "sherry seasoned oak casks from Jerez, Spain" as the label below says.

Well ok folks, let's do some analyzing!

Nose:

Nosing gently a couple of centimetres from the glass the first thing that whiffs by is warm apple jucie (must; or rather warm apple cider), this is however not predominant. Nosing closer and properly I find that the centre of the nose holds vanilla fudge, classic oloroso sherry (dried figs), honey sweetness (yes, very much of sluggish/viscid light honey), and at the same time something a tad salty. Surrounding this layer is a touch of something citric together with the strength/ABV that comes through in a bit of a rough way… If I remeber the 2017 CC correctly, this version is not as ”deep” and ”heavy” on the (european oak) oloroso as the previous, so probably predominantly american oak oloroso in the recipe of this version. 

Taste:

Oh yes, definitely predominatly american oak sherry in this version; burnt citrus, heavy on the vanilla, lightly roasted almonds, a tad salty. Then comes the actual sherry flavours with dried figs and light and dark raisins. This is taken over rather quickly by an ”oaky-ness”, and most of all a medium to heavy dryness. In the early aftertaste the vanilla comes back once more with just a tad of leather and a whiff of melted butter. At the end of the aftertaste, the strength/ABV shows itself and the flavour ends with dryness. 

Some reflections to sum up:

The nose actually kind of reminds me of something like an unpeated Highland Park in style, very interesting to think about! The taste is a little ”flat” and even though I’ve written down quite a lot of phases in the taste, I sadly do feel that this dram is a bit boring (”simple”). It also seems to me, but this is just a guess, that there is more young whisky in this version; the previous version nosed and tasted older. If it was up to me to design the recipe of CC 2019 I would up the age, up the use of european oak sherry, and, up the strength! That said, this is not a bad whisky (it tastes good for sure); rather I’d say that the minimum quality at The Macallan is high, if you know what I mean 

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Edrington Sweden for allowing me to draw a sample of this one and for the great opportunity to review the whisky before its swedish release! For kind of weekly updates please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my instagram by clicking here, and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures and videos likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and by stating the source.

 

Swedish whisky from Smögen Distillery – Single Cask 51/2011 6yo 64% ABV

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! About two months ago, when working this years Beer and Whiskyfestival in Gothenburg (for Edrington), I passed by the stand of Smögen Distillery to have a chat with Pär Caldenby, the Master Distiller and Distillery Manager. I wanted to see if he had anything that he wanted me to review, and indeed he had! 

Pär gladly shared a sample of his coming release: this time around it's a single (oloroso) sherry hogshead (250 litre) made from american oak. The new-make was filled on the 23rd of October in 2011 and the whisky was bottled on the 18th of March 2018, hence making it 6 years old. The cask number is 51/2011 and the cask gave 422 bottles at cask strength 64% ABV. Now, what is very special indeed about this whisky is the fact that it has been crafted using local barley! On the FB-page of Smögen Distillery Pär writes that the malt used is made up of "barley grown on the farm, literally speaking beside the threshold/door to the distillery". This will be very interesting folks!

Here in Sweden 276 bottles will be released as a so called web launch this thursday (the 31st of May) and you can view it by clicking here. Ok, let's see what we have here!

Nose: 

When nosing close but carefully, the whisky appears very creamy in a calm sort of way. The peat is soft with a mellow briny-ness to it in turn mixed with fudge-y and rasin-y notes. The rasins somehow also makes me think of orange peel, very soft vanilla infused orange peel. When nosing harder I actually detect cinnamon (finely ground) together with something exotic best described as a combination of dried clementine peel and dried lime peel respectively. The core stuff on the nose is composed of creamyness, soft peat, cinnamon, and citrusfruits. All in all this is indeed a ”soft” dram on the nose, and it is not until I nose harder that I really think about the fact that the strenght actually is 64% ABV. 

Taste:

Ooh! Very unexpected style in this one for being Smögen! It starts off with a lot of salty-ness (this is of course, as I see it, expected from Smögen) but then, instead of turning into raw sugar syrup-sweetness as sherry matured Smögen usually does, it very swiftly changes into… (wait for it…) sun warm and ”sour” slightly underripe redcurrants plucked straight from the bush. Then a tad of yeast shows up for about half a second but after that quickly turns into a lot of barley (in fact almost oatmeal porridge without milk), very dry barley together with chopped up almonds with traces of fudge. Well that was definitely a journey of flavours! In the early aftertaste I find that the redcurrants rise in my mouth together with the ”alcohol vapours” and turns into some kind of ”red” fruit, not really red wine, I think it is rather something like rose hip. The aftertaste ends in almondpaste, salty-ness and soft peat. Such a cool taste!

To sum up:

For me, this whisky is not really what I expected from a single sherry cask Smögen; as mentioned the core stuff on the nose is creamyness, soft peat, cinnamon, and citrusfruits, which for me are more usual stuff from bourbon casks (especially the creamyness and the citrusfruits), maybe it’s the american oak that plays a trick on me (?!). For me, the taste does not really contain ”classic sherry stuff”, but I suspect that the fresh redcurrants, and the ”red” elements in terms of the rose hip are actually in this case the main flavours that originate from the sherry that was in the cask before the whisky. All in all I think that the local barley that was used for this one really has put its very unique signature on this one, and for those Smögen fans out there that want to taste a new element to the Smögen distillery character should definitely try this one! 

Big thanks to Pär 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.com and by stating the source.

Swedish Whisky bottled by Bergslagens Distillery – Sherry Darling Ferie 6yo 46% ABV!

Dear friends, supporters and followers alike! A couple of days ago I was very fortunate to once again receive a sample from the people at Bergslagens Distillery! This time around the label states "Sherry Darling Ferie aged 6 years". This means that this is the fourth release in the "Sherry Darling"-series. As you all know by now this whisky has not been produced or distilled by Bergslagen Distillery but it was distilled at the (now closed) Grythyttan Distillery. This is in other words an independent bottling by Bergslagens Distillery. 

As you might remember from my previous reviews of whisky sold by Bergslagens Distillery, I have been complaining about lack of information in the press releases. 

But now my dear friends it seems that my complaining has finally payed off! ☺This time we actually do have info on origin of the casks used and origin of the sherry used, yay! The whisky has been matured for 6 years in 50 litre sherry casks made from american (white) oak. The Oloroso sherry is from the Cádiz province of Andalusia in southern Spain. Unfortunately the pressrelease does not state if it is 1st-fill, 2nd-fill etcetera. Nor does it state number of casks used and number of bottles released and/or produced. The whisky has been bottled at 46% ABV and will be released at the swedish state monopoly tomorrow (the 2nd of May) and you can view it by clicking here. Ok, let's see what we have here!

Nose:

A very creamy, broad, and dry style of sherrynotes in this one. There is a medium big vanilla, traces of salt liquorice, and interestingly enough for being a sherrymatured whisky there are evident traces of spruce/fir (usually I only find this in whisky matured in new swedish oak). Actually, there are very, very slight traces of peat lurking around somewhere in here. Also very, very slight traces of gun powder (some of you may refer to this as sulphur). Last but not least definitely something reminding me of very lightly hopped lager beer. The strength is perfectly balanced against the nose! 

Taste:

Starts of rather sweet on raw-sugar syrup infused with dried figs and sugar coated medium dark raisins. After that comes a distinct touch of dry oloroso but most of all caramelized almond paste. This then moves on into a semi-explosion of more dryness that actually evolves into a very, very light touch of peat (!), slowly evolving into gun powder and ending with marzipan and sweet liquorice. 

To sum up:

So, was 46% ABV a sucessful move? Well, as mentioned above the strength is definitely perfectly balanced against the nose. I do however find the taste just a bit ”light”; slightly lacking a bit of body and/or depth, but all in all this is in no way and issue. What we have here folks is all in all a very drinkable and well composed sherry matured whisky and I do believe that it will be a perfect everyday dram for the mellow swedish summer! Sláinte!

Big thanks to the guys at Bergslagen Distillery for the opportunity to try this 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 an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail dot com and by stating the source. 

Picture borrowed from systembolaget.se

The Macallan – Limited Edition 2017 – Classic Cut 58,4% ABV!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! When working the beer and whiskyfestival in Gothenburg (for Edrington) about two weeks ago, I gladly noticed that we had a new expression of The Macallan with us in the stand! The name of this new Macallan is ”Classic Cut”. Being very lucky indeed I was allowed to draw a small sample for reviewing, so today I share with you my thoughts and impressions of it!

So, what do we know about this new expression of Macallan? First of all we know that it has been bottled at 58,4% ABV. This fact, taken together with the design and colour of the label and the box suggests that the distillery and branding department wants us to associate this release to their previsous cask strength bottlings (which have both been bottled as 10 years old and more recently as NAS). Also, taking a look at the distillery website it is clear that the whisky has been bottled at natural colour and that it has been matured in a combination of American and European ”oak casks seasoned with Oloroso sherry from Jerez, Spain”. 

What is however not known to the consumers is if the casks used are 1st-fill, 2nd-fill etcetera, nor what the size(es) of the casks used are. In addition it is not known to consumers if the strength is in fact proper cask strength, or vatting strength, or if the strength has been reached by dillution (by watering it to this specific strength). 

From the distillery website we also know that this edition of Classic Cut is a Limited Edition for 2017. So what does ”limited” mean in this case? First of all, from surfing the web I have found sources who state that the number of bottles are limited to 90000 world wide. I have also found sources who state that Classic Cut is a one-off, never to be repeated again. 

In order to try and find out in what way this truly is a limited edition, I contacted my good friend Mattias Skoog, the Nordic Brand Ambassador for The Macallan (and for Highland Park). He told me that there in fact will be a Classic Cut 2018, another Classic Cut in 2019, and (probably) so on! So what does all this talk of one-off, never to be repeated again really mean? Well, Mattias was also kind enough to send me a document (a so called Sell Sheet) which holds info that shines a light on this question. The document states: ”This special and memorable flavour profile will never be repeated” and ”…this particular whisky profile will never be repeated”. Aha, it is the profile that will never be repeated again! And what is the flavour profile in question? Well, the box clearly states ”Creamy vanilla, sweet ginger, warming oak”, which I interpret to be the flavor profile for this version of CC.

In conclusion, this most likely means that the next CC (2018) will have another flavour profile, so will also the next CC have☺This probably means that the composition of casks used will vary from edition to edition. All of this makes it clear what, on the distillery website, is meant by the statement that this edition of Classic Cut is the first release in ”a [new] series of annual expressions”.

Borrowed from robbreport.com

Here in Sweden, the CC 2017 will be available this Friday (20th of April) at the state monopoly and you can view it by clicking here. Ok, now that we have sorted out all of the details, let’s investigate the whisky itself!

Nose:

Holding the glass a couple of centimetres from my nose, I get really mellow medium-dark moist raisins with elements of lightly vanilla-infused honey, definitely coupled with cacao (drawing towards a bar of milk chocolate). There is also very slight traces of cold coffee. At this distance everything is soo soft, and it is not until I put my nose in the glass that I actually feel the high strength. Nosing some more with my nose really in the glass, in the very top layer of the nose I get a prominent mix of sweet and sour drawing very close to mashed red grapes. Below this layer I find sugar zyrup made from raw-sugar, together with quite fat vanilla (medium-dark fudge). Below that, in the bottom layer, I get very slight traces of oven-baked slices of apple, intermingling with medium-dark marzipan.

Taste:

Taking a tiny sip it all starts of soo sweet and smooth (which for me is incredible at this strength), the taste is definitely dominated by ”dark” tastes, in fact much darker profile on the taste than on the nose. In the initial sweetness and smoothness I find all the tastes that I expect from a sherry matured non-peated whisky; especially dark raisins and moist dried figs. Aside from that we have drizzling honey, the sugar zyrup made of raw sugar, and even a touch of leather-y notes. It is not until taking a bigger sip that I find a quite robust strength together with a slight layer of almond paste. Then the taste evolves slowly and gets below medium-dry, than even drier, almost drying my mouth now (from something tannin-esque). In the aftertaste I get slight traces of bitter almond intermingling with slight traces of vanilla. 

To sum up:

This whisky definitely tastes as being well and above 10 years old. In terms of recipe my impression is that european oak sherry casks dominate in the mix. I would describe this dram as a ”light” sherry bomb, not because it in any way is ”watery” or wimpish, but because it never gets out of hand or, so to speak, goes crazy; the recipe has obviously been weighed very carefully, I might even say with a great deal of brilliance. Obviously the whisky maker has aimed for drinkability for the big whisky drinking audience, and has indeed managed to achieve just that! All in all a great dram for a good value/price, well done! I really look forward for to the next releases of CC and to find out what their respective flavour profiles will be!

Big thanks to Edrington for the great opportunity to review this whisky 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 systembolaget.se

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! 

Highland Park Single Cask 1674 Sweden exclusive – Vintersolståndet

Dear friends and followers alike! About two weeks ago I worked the Borlänge Beer and whiskyfestival for Edrington (my second time working this very cosy festival). To my great joy I discovered that we had a coming Highland Park Single Cask with us, yay! Luckily for me, I was given permission to try it right then and there, and below you will find my tasting notes.

But first some info: this is the fourth single cask released for Sweden (since the new single cask series began in the fall of 2016, not counting the one for SMAD). The whisky is 15 years old (2001/2017), the number of the cask is 1674, a refill sherry butt (in the case of HP meaning 2nd-fill), yielding 552 bottles in total. For reasons which you can read about here I do not know, and probably never will know, if the cask is made of european oak or american oak. 59 % is the ABV and 534 bottles will be released in Sweden at the state monopoly the day after tomorrow, in a so called web release. You can view the product by clicking here. 

What about the strange Swedish name of this SC-bottling?! "Vintersolståndet" simply translates into Winter solstice. Ok, let's see what we have here!

Nose:

A medium peatyness meets my nose. The peatyness has elements of a kind of burnt sugar-y touch, there is also a lot of medium dark honey and very sweet vanilla fudge-yness going on around the peatyness, mmm… In the center of the nose (”the very top register of the palate” as I usually put is) there is definitely a touch of peated lemon peal, in fact, smoked lemon peal. Finally, surrounding everything is a sweet, round, and very calm scent of light (liquid) honey, very signature for Highland Park

Taste:

Hoding the whisky in my mouth for just a couple of seconds, the whisky starts off very sugar-y sweet/syrup, but it moves very quickly (one second) into salty-ness, not sea salt, rather like salt liquorice. When swallowing I can really feel the ”alcohol vapours” rising in the roof of my mouth bringing with it a mix of old leather, sackcloth, and slightly burnt grass… it all vapours away quite cuickly to be taken over by light peat, peated coffee, peated lemon peal, some moutdrying vanilla, full-fat unwhipped cream at room temperature, and some more slightly burnt grass… residing in my mouth and on my tongue in the aftertaste there is a heather sweetness slowly being taken over by a very, very faint touch of orange flavoured milk chocolate.

To sum up:

In comparison with the previous HP SC for Sweden that I’ve tasted so far, that is the 6403 and the 2121, from memory, I would definitely rank this one as coming in on a second place after 6403. Considering that 6403 is 1st-fill sherry european oak (a hogshead), this is a very good ranking for being a refill sherry butt! Big thanks to the people at Edrington 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

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