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

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

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

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

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

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

Nose:

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

Taste: 

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

To sum up:

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

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

Pic/copyright belongs to Svenska Eldvatten

The Creative Whisky Co. – Highland Park Single Cask 52,9% ABV!

Dear friends, followers and supporters alike! When working at this years Whiskyexpo in Linköping a while ago, Tommy and Peter of Svenska Eldvatten (Swedish Firewater) grabbed a hold of me to ask if I would be interested in reviewing one of their future releases, a single cask Highland Park from The Creative Whisky Company in their series The Exclusive Malts. Well, of course I was, and so I was given a sample. 

The cask number is 751, it's a refill (bourbon) hogshead that gave 235 bottles. It was distilled in October 2003 and bottled in 2017, and so the age of the whisky is 14 years old. Svenska Elvatten has managed to bring 55 bottles to the swedish market and you can view and order the product here, starting tomorrow. 

Ok, let's see what we have here!

Nose:

In the very top layer the focus is on mint-something-something (sort of green-ish), not to mention banana-jellycandy. Below that I find some very delicate oranges in combination with milk chocolate, in fact, there is very much going on in the orange-peel-department here people! Even some overripe pears are intruding, trying to get my attention. And of course, below that layer we have some kind of a ”creamy peat” going on, actually very interesting that it’s more cream than peat though. The peat appears to be sort of dry, in fact, almost all elements of the stuff and different scents happening on the nose is dry. Nosing again, the peat has become more evident; but it’s not quite the usual heather honey, rather we are talking an excotic peat, drawing towards summer-y flowers and, yes, cream. Ok, let’s have a taste

Taste:

Wow, that was definitely unexpected! So much peat, very tightly connected with sea-salt (kind of, not coastal, but still). Very quickly the peat evolves and gets bigger and bigger. At this point the peat kind of resembles an ashy peat, in a style reminding me of Connemara/peated Cooley, which has never happened to me before with HP. The peat starts to evolve towards bicycle tube (rubber) but then quickly makes a turn and becomes, what can best be described as, very dry almond paste. Everything gets more and more earthy now, and here we actually have the heather honey! In fact, burnt heather honey, fascinating… When the dryness goes to sleep, slowly the milk chocolate says hi and everything clings off with a soft vanilla fudge that waters my mouth. Wow, that was some journey indeed!

To sum up:

If you like very peaty and very salty HP, you should really try this one folks!

Big thanks to Peter and Tommy for the opportunity to review this release and for the opportunity to be able to review it before the 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 

Copyright belongs to whizita.de

Svenska Eldvatten – Sherry Cask Collection Single Cask 01

Dear friends and followers! When working at the Borlänge Beer and Whiskyfestival in November last year, I passed by the stand of swedish indendent bottlers Svenska Eldvatten (Swedish Firewater) to have a chat with Peter and Tommy. Of course I was very keen on finding out if there was any new release coming up shortly that they wanted me to review. And indeed they did have something for me, something very special; the first release in their new series called Sherry Cask Collection. All bottlings in the series will be from different single sherry casks, and of course, always bottled at cask strength, yummie!

So, what is special about this first release? Well, actually it’s a blended malt from a single cask. The new make from each of these distilleries was distilled in October 1993. Whether or not the new make was "blended at birth" is not known. However the whisky was bottled in November 2016, so that means 23yo! The whisky has been bottled at cask strength 53,5% ABV.


The cask gave 355 bottles. This first release will be available at the swedish state monopoly starting this Wednesday, please feel free to check it out by clicking here. Unfortunately I do not know from which three distilleries the whisky comes from, whether it’s american oak or european oak, whether it’s firstfill or refill, what kind of cask, or what kind of sherry, but I’m guessing Oloroso. 

Ok, this is very exciting, let’s see what we have here!

Nose:

Oooh, very, very soft and sort of ”calm”. The sherry influence should probably not be described as a sherry monster, rather as a ”whispering sherry”, however it is indeed quite ”fat”, but not boasting. The layers are two in number, the first and foremost layer consists of very mellow liquid/fluid brown sugar that is seamlessly intertwined with medium dark vanilla fudge (whatever that is), and mmm some Crème Brûlée (not the burnt surface, only the pudding itself). In the first layer there is also, of course, dark raisins and figs but they are definitely in the background hiding behind something like a mix of dark vanilla and just a tad of coconut. The second layer is very intricate, representing itself as something citric, not lemon juice, something else, maybe it is better explained as soft cucumber water mixed with just a tad of sugared lime juice… hmm, very hard to describe. Anyways, what is clearly dominating here is the first layer, and it’s absolutely beautiful… 

Copyright/picture belongs to Svenska Eldvatten

Taste:

Starts of medium salt-y, and just a peedie bit of peat actually! It swooshes by, so the peat is very fast. There is also definitely a whole lot of sherry sweetness in there (mostly reminding me of dried sugar-y dates but also some dried figs). In fact, the sherry influence is not at all as soft and calm on the taste and palate as it on the nose, that feels comforting. So that means it’s more of a bomb on the taste than on the nose! The interesting thing with the taste is that there is a constanst battle going on between sugar sweetness (brown sugar and dried raisins) and peaty salt-y-ness. Likewise, a battle between a medium dark vanilla and some kind of liquorice… very interesting. When taking another sip and swallowing and then smacking my mouth, in the distant, I really get a feeling of a very, very soft and sherried Highland Park, interesting… 

To sum up: 

1). This is a perfectly balanced and very soft and well-matured ”sherry whisperer”. The vanilla stuff and the Crème Brûlée is absolutely beautiful 

2). The peat found on the taste is not at all there on the nose! So when you taste it you will find it to be a welcome surprise indeed. 

3). Given the soft and medium dark vanilla this is probably matured in american oak rather than european oak, and probably refill rather than first fill. 

4). Whoever blended these three single malts together did a very good job, and the desicion to pour the liquid into a single cask was great, and the decision by the chaps at Svenska Eldvatten to bottle it, even better 

5. Can I have some more please?! ☺ 

Big thanks to Peter and Tommy for sharing a sample of this whisky, and to be nice enough to let me review it before 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 

copyright/pic belongs to Svenska Eldvatten

Svenska Eldvatten – Bruichladdich 2006 9yo single fresh ex-oloroso sherry hogshead no. 1339!

now isn't that an incredible color?! 

Friends and followers! Once again I am very happy to be able to bring you my impressions of a coming release from swedish independent bottler "Svenska Eldvatten" (Swedish Firewater). This time it's the third release in their anniversary-series with which they are celebrating their first five years! As I've shared with you before my dear friends and followers, every release in the series has a very special and exclusive label showing a motif painted by the well-known artist/painter and whisky-aficionado alike, Petri Jäsperi. 

This third release was distilled at Bruichladdich Distillery in july 2006 and bottled in january 2016 at 59,9% ABV. The whisky has been matured in fresh ex-oloroso sherry hogshead number 1339, and the cask gave 282 bottles out of which 250 will be released tomorrow at 10 o'clock. People in Sweden can order this bottling by following the instructions given here. Ok, let's see what we they've chosen this time! 

  

Nose:

Absolutely enormous and gigantic whiffs of dried figs is the first thing that springs to mind! Or rather, it really is there, there’s simply no way to not notice it or pick it up! I’ve never felt this much dried fig before! There’s also GREAT amounts of vanilla and dark raisins. Dark milk chocolate, coconut, rhum-raisin filled pralines, overripe banana, dark dark dark rhum (almost Diplomatico-style), there’s even something cognac-esque going on here, the list goes on and on… To imagine what this whisky is like, take everything you think of when you think of a heavily sherrymatured whisky, now multiply that at least four times! I’m not kidding! It’s so big. The intereseting thing with this incredibly big sherrynose is that it’s not too much, and it’s not in any way nasty, soo incredibly soft and well-balance. It’s soft on everything, especially the figs, the vanilla and the raisins. In the very top layer is something like lime and brown dark raw-sugar… that’s been covered in sugar ☺ So far, I have’nt fealt any peat at all, let’s se if there's any on the palate!

Palate:

I did not at all expect this! Wow! Bold and very intense, in fact not at all as soft as the nose, this truly is a sherry bomb, with an emphasis on bomb! Starts of with a very, very sweet core or center-flavour, raw-sugar-sweet, mixed up with something very citric. Surrounding all of that is something instantly dry and nutty, something like a sugar coated dough of almond paste with cut-up pieces of dried figs in it. Yes, very, very bold and dry, not so much vanilla though, rather dark-brown fudge. There’s actually also coffee in there, and definitely something resembling the rhum-raisin filled pralines that was on the nose… there is also cocoa and even some desiccated coconut… But the main thing here is and explosion of very DARK sherry! And what about the peat?! Well it’s barely there actually. If it is there it’s in the aftertaste, but just traces of peat (not smoke). Anyways, the aftertaste goes on and on and on and… I think you get the picture… 

To sum up:

I’ve never felt this much sherry-influence before in a whisky, at least not this intence, this must’ve really been a really fresh sherry hogshead indeed. The guys at Svenska Eldvatten sure knows how to pick ’em, impressive work! Big thanks for the opportunity fellas! Sláinte! 

Please make sure to follow my FB-page by going here, and my twitter-page by going here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes 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

all rights reserved/copyright belongs to Svenska Eldvatten

Svenska Eldvatten – Wheskykôrka 2016 6yo first fill Single Pedro Ximenez Hogshead 57,3% ABV

Friends and followers! This thursday (the 21st of April), people living in Sweden will be able to order the latest release from independent bottler Svenska Eldvatten ("Swedish Firewater"). The whisky will be available from 10 o'clock following this link.

This time around it's the third release in their series of bottlings called "Wheskykôrka". Now, as you might remember the name Wheskykôrka is a play with words of a famous Gothenburg seafood market called Feskekôrka (Fish-church) thus being modified into slightly west-coast dialect resulting in Wheskykôrka simply meaning Whiskychurch.

And of course I am very happy and thankful that Peter and Tommy has given me the opportunity to try the whisky before its release! On the facebook-page of Svenska Eldvatten they describe this third bottling in the following way (freely translated from swedish):

"Very smoky/peated and matured in a PX-sherry hogshead [250 litre] makes this bottling stand out very much from the previous editions of Wheskykôrka. Also, the two previous bottlings have been produced at Bunnahabhain, but this time around the whisky comes from another big distillery on Islay... Wheskykôrka 2016 was distilled in march 2009 and in november 2015 we bottled 246 bottles at a cask strenght of 57,3% ABV"

That being said, this is to be understood as a secret malt or as we say, a "bastard" malt! Exciting, right?! Ok, let's see what's on the nose!

cask sample of Wheskykôrka 2016

Nose:

Very, very peaty! The first thing that comes to mind besides the peaty-ness is something like band aid or plaster, meaning very medicinal. The peaty-ness also includes things like big whiffs of rubber, or even burnt rubber. Underneath that layer is something like smoked vanilla-chocolate in combination with sweet liquorice and pipe-tobacco. There is black pepper, some different herbs that seems impossible to pin down, and also something reminding me slightly of dark honey… wow, this is complex stuff indeed. But let me tell you people, it’s really hard to go beneath the top layer of peaty-ness, the peat covers almost all the other things on the nose… ok, let’s have a sip shall we?!

Palate:

Ooh! Very peaty indeed! In fact, big fat smoke in combination with a sugar- and citric-sweetness, at least for the first 2-3 seconds but then instantly a quite extreme salty-ness takes over, wow, that was quick! Once I’ve swallowed, back comes that enormous peat, or rather medicinal rubber smoke, and takes over. This is powerful and warming stuff! A huge dryness dominates everything in the aftertaste, giving in to the herbs and the black pepper… it’s almost like my mouth is filled with smoke from a chocolat-y cigarillo, after a few seconds my mouth starts to water immensly… slight, slight touches of honey in the distant… this was a really interesting experience, a real beast!

To sum-up:

The agressive-ness surely is related to the age, the fact that the whisky is not so old, but let me say that I really don not experience the whisky as being ”too young” or immature, rather just BIG. Also I’ve never really felt or experienced PX-maturation expressing itself like this before. In fact, it's very brutal in style!

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

picture/copyright belongs to Svenska Eldvatten

Svenska Eldvatten – Bruichladdich 2004 11yo first fill single bourbon barrel

copyright belongs to Svenska Eldvatten

Friends and followers! As promised in my last post, I now bring you a tasting note of the second bottling in the anniversary-series celebrating the first five years of Svenska Eldvatten (”Swedish Firewater”) as independent bottlers! 

Every release in the series (as you can see from the picture to the left) has a very special and exclusive label showing a motif painted by the well-known artist/painter and whisky-afficionado Petri Jäsperi

This particular whisky was distilled at Bruichladdich Distillery in november 2004. It was put into barrel no.1407, a fresh Ex-Bourbon Barrel (that is to say first-fill) and then bottled in november 2015 (11 years old) resulting in 102 bottles at 59,2 % ABV. 

Peter and Tommy will bring this whisky (and the oloroso matured Laddie) to the Linköping whisky festival this weekend! It will be released at the swedish state monopoly and you will pick it up if you have 1295kr (circa 140 euros) in your wallet, or on your card ;) Ok, let’s have a taste! 

Nose:

At first holding the glass on a distance of say 15 centimetres from my nose, I pick up some very exotic fruits, more precisely slightly immature pineapple, yellow kiwi and pealed non-ripe slices of pear together with some carbonated elderflower soft drink. Also something a tad ”sweet and/or sour” mixed up with something creamy (dairy), together reminding me almost of a brie that’s been out of the fridge for a couple of hours… Moving closer to the glass I pick up loads  and loads of nutty-ness (yes of course I mean marzipan/almond paste). The creamy-/dairy-ness also reflects itself through something like white chocolate mousse. A very distant peaty-ness is also traceable, or maybe more moving on into a faded fire/ashy-ness? Trying to dig into that layer of scents I also pick up a slight touch of ground coffee and, wait for it, mint that strangely enough (given the age) mixed with raw-spirit. Ok fellas, a very complex and special nose on this one indeed, let’s have a taste! 

Palate:  

Oh wow! Lots and lots more peat on the palate than on the nose! Not really the ashy kind of peat that was on the nose but actually classic and very straight forward peat. Quite a medium-sweet centre in this dram, moving very much towards the pear and the brie from the nose. Then quickly moving on into a distinct woody-/cask-y-ness with lots and lots of the almond paste from the nose mixed up with something like herbal vanilla… sounds strange but tastes really good, and exciting if you know what I mean (?) In the aftertaste some lemonzest reveals itself in a very direct way, moving on into some bubbly-ness or a carbonated feeling. All in all a very creamy and nicely peated dram, I’ve never really tasted anything like it! 

Big thanks to Peter and Tommy for the oppurtunity! Please follow SamuelWhisky on my Zuckerberg-page by going here and 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(at)gmail.com Sláinte!

copyright belongs to Svenska Eldvatten

Svenska Eldvatten – Bruichladdich 2006 9yo first fill single oloroso sherry hogshead

copyright belongs to Svenska Eldvatten 

Friends and followers! When working at the Örebro Beer & Whiskyfestival this november, I stopped by Peter and Tommy of the swedish independent bottler Svenska Eldvatten (”Swedish Firewater”) to see if they had any interesting news, and of course they did! Enthusiastically they shared info on their coming anniversary-series for this year, consisting of a number of bottlings celebrating their first five years as independent bottlers! 

Every release in the series (as you can see from the picture to the left) has a very special and exclusive label showing a motif painted by the well-known artist/painter Petri Jäseperi (well-known in the world of whisky that is). Please note that every bottling in this series will have it’s individual motif. 

The whisky that I ended up obtaining a sample from was single sherry hogshead no. 511 (first fill oloroso matured) Bruichladdich, 9yo. It was distilled in june 2006 and bottled in november 2015. Bottled at cask strength 60,2% ABV the hogshead gave 285 bottles. Sounds great right?! This particular whisky will have it’s premiere release at the Viking Line Cruise Whisky Festival starting tomorrow and lasting this weekend. According to the pricelist it will cost 879kr (around 90 euros). On the 1st of february it will be released at the swedish state monopoly. 

To the festival they will also bring an 11yo single bourbon cask Bruichladdich from 2004 (seen at the bottom of this post), that will also be available on the swedish state monopoly on the 1st of february. I am very lucky to be able to review also that release in a week or so, so please stay tuned!

Now, enough talking, let’s have a go at the sherrymatured one!

the label should say 2006/2015 of course :)

Nose:

Very, very dark sherrynotes! On the nose this one reminds me a lot of something like a mix of heavily sherrymatured Macallan and heavily sherrymatured Clynelish. The sherrynotes in this dram are very raisin-y, also very dried dates-y, and something like milchocolate with touches of oranges. In fact the sherry stuff is so heavy that I can barely get through it all! Trying really hard, I find some almond paste thats been absolutely soaked in oloroso, some heavy port wine and some definitely overripe pear, there is even a touch of cucumber water in there! (I’ve never nosed that before in a whisky…). There is also some very dark vanilla notes, not at all like vanilla fudge but rather something like vanilla pods simmering on the stove in whole fat cream, or like old style vanilla ice-cream, mmm… Well what about the peat? Isn’t this an Islay? People, the peat is very hard to pin down in this one! I do however find a slight, slight, slight touch of peat but it’s all mixed up with something quite citric. Well what about the strength? Isn’t it too strong on the nose? People, it doesn’t even strike me as being strong, feels like 50% ABV at the most. Anyways, summing up the nose, if you like sherry monsters, you will absolutely love nosing this whisky! Let’s see what’s on the palate! 

Palate:

Ooh! Starts of very classic sherrymatured with lots of dark raisins, dried dates and maybe even some figs. Touches of violet, there is even some sweetness from dark, dark, honey. Then the strength really hits me! BOOM! After the boom and a big whiff of the cask strenght we have some citric stuff mixed up with dark milk chocolate. There is evident notes of coffee, almost Rhum-esque in fact! Very interesting mixture of flavors! There is loads of vanilla, but still no real sign of pure peat, maybe the peat manifests itself as something like an earthy soft peatyness with elements of sweet licorice? But I wouldn’t really say I miss the peat cause this is a Great Dram with capital G and D. The dryness is over-medium, moving towards very dry in fact. In the aftertaste I actually pick up something like vanilla and cream infused black tea (!) It all ends with a very long aftertaste, fading out into something I can only descibe as raw-sugar or palm-sugar sweetness mixed up with dark raisins…

cask sample! 

In conclusion:

If you like heavily sherrymatured drams with just a touch of peat, you should definitely not miss this one! When it comes to the sherry influence versus the level of peat, I’d say that the sherry definietely dominates the peat. The only thing that comes to mind for a comparison is something like Bowmore Devils Cask but of course with very little peat. If I compare this release to previous heavlily sherrymatured releases from Svenska Eldvatten, say something like the Clynelish 1996 which I find to be way up there, I would rate this release as even better than that! So, big thanks and Sláinte to the guys at Svenska Eldvatten for a truly great dram! 

Please follow SamuelWhisky on my Zuckerberg-page by going here and 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(at)gmail.com Sláinte!

copyright belongs to  Svenska Eldvatten

Svenska Eldvatten – Glendullan 2001

Last weekend I visited the Beer and Whiskyfestival of Gothenburg! This is the 3rd year in a row that it is arranged. It was my second time visiting and working at this particular festival, which was, as always great fun! As all friends and followers might be familiar with at this point, I work at the festivals for Edrington, mostly taking care of Laphroaig, Highland Park (whenever Martin let’s me), as well as Bowmore, since they just joined the Edrington portfolio. 

”What the hell is he blathering about?!”, you might wonder, ”Isn’t this supposed to be a tasting note of something really nice and exciting?!”. Well of course it is, so to the tasting itself!

During the festival I of course had the oppurtunity to visit some friends of mine in the buisness and talk about my favourite distillers/brands, I stopped by at Svenska Eldvatten (”Swedish Firewaters”) to see what’s going on and asked if there was anything in particular they wanted me to review. Peter and Tommy, the owners and likewise founders of Svenska Eldvatten, were both very keen on having me do a review of their next release, namely a Single Cask (SE043) Glendullan 2001 at 54,1% ABV! Now this is not any ordinary release of Glendullan, on the contrary, it has been matured for 13 years in a bourbon cask that previously held… Bowmore! The cask gave 164 bottles. 

Peter, SamuelWhisky and Tommy

This whisky will be released here in Sweden on the 2nd of May, and for international buyers it is available here. 

Nose: 

In the highest register or in the tip of the nose, we have some really exotic stuff, the most evident is a mix of very ”thin” or pointy green and yellow kiwi fruits, almost like kiwi juice in fact. Now I’ve never tasted or nosed kiwi juice but you know how associations work, right? ☺ There is also something in the very highest register of the nose slightly reminding me of oak matured agave. Below the highest register we have red apples, vanilla infused cream, and something green. A herbal touch, not herbs of course but more like the leaves of birch-trees, and other green stuff like slightly burnt grass, or perhaps newly cut lawn… Aahh, this is a perfect nose for springtime! There’s also a wee bit of passionfruit or peach, and just a wee, wee bit of menthol in there… sounds strange but there is! Ok, let’s have a taste!

Palate: 

Oooh, almost the opposite of the nose! Interesting! Really nothing from the highest register of the nose comes back on the palate, at least not the kiwi stuff. The only fruit that is there is apples, and peach. The oak matured agave is there with a kind of peated feeling, mixed with fudge, cream, and something really going towards marzipan. Quite dry and herby, a bit of a fist or punsch in my face from the alcohol, it warms my whole body. In total a very ”green” taste-profile, as I said a bit herby and in some way a bit salty, also almost drawing towards smoked branches of birch-tree, if there ever was such a thing. 

To sum up, for me this is a really exciting and also a bit surprising dram. It’s always fun when a dram is almost nothing on the palate as it is on the nose. Very intriguing, I think I just have to try some more Glendullan in the future, so let’s start with another dram of this one!

Finally, big thanks to the guys at Svenska Eldvatten for letting me taste and review this next release! Sláinte and please follow SamueWhisky on my Zuckerberg-page by going here, and on my birdy-page by going here! 

Copyright © and all rights reserved on all tasting notes by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky. The last picture belongs to Svenska Eldvatten. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro@gmail.com

Svenska Eldvatten – Tomatin 2004

Friends and followers! It's been a while since it happened so you all understand that I was very happy when I once again found a sample from the guys at Svenska Eldvatten ("Swedish Firewaters") in my postal box! This time it was single cask Tomatin from an ex-sherry butt, 10yo at 59,1% ABV! Wow, this will be exciting!

Here in Sweden it will be available on the 2nd of february, but it's already available at Master of Malt for anyone who feels tempted. Ok, let's go!








Nose:
Very smooth and soft, a calming soothing style, dried figs, dark cherries in sugar syrup, something raisin-y, soft but acidulous vanilla, obvious sherry influence but not boasting sherry cask, rather moderate sherry influence. Kind of damp, like walking into a warehouse full of barrels, simply beautiful…

Palate:
OMG! This is powerful stuff, from nosing this I'd never guess that it would be so big and out there! This IS a sherry monster, big and bold! It's actually not the high ABV that makes it powerful, but rather the character or style of this whisky, cool! Kind of hot, very intense sherry-style, very citric at the same time as being very loaded with marzipan, vanilla, dried figs and some other dark notes. Definitely a bit bitter and drying my mouth, but in a good way, very big flavor!

A big thanks to Tommy and Peter at Svenska Eldvatten for once again sharing a sample! Please follow SamuelWhisky on Facebook by clicking here and on twitter by clicking here, thanks!

Copyright © and all rights reserved on all tasting notes by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky. The last picture belongs to Svenska Eldvatten. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro@gmail.com

’Svenska Eldvatten’ – West Islay 2003 Heavily Peated

Okay friends and followers! It’s finally time for me to try the coming release from ’Svenska Eldvatten’ (Swedish Firewaters)! Once again Peter and Tommy were very nice and gave me yet another sample, this time I met them when working for Laphroaig during the Gothenburg Beer and Whiskyfestival.

This whisky, which will be released in Sweden tomorrow at the state monopoly, is very special: It’s a ”West Islay” Heavily Peated Single Malt Single Rhum Cask. Hmm, I wonder… what might ”West Islay” be? And Heavily Peated?, hmm…. ; ) Anyway this is a 10yo and this is fully-matured in a rhum cask. The number of the cask is 882 and it gave 120 bottles and landed at 60,8% ABV! Sounds exciting right?! Let’s try!

Nose:

Very peaty! and smoky actually (which is something I rarely think about peated whiskies)! Vanilla is also very evident, but of the peat and the vanilla the peat is definitely in the foreground. Burnt wood mixed with rhum-raisin-vanilla-ice cream comes just after that when I nose closer to the glass… We also have whiffs of citrus, not really clementine but rather satsumas-peel. It does not seem that strong on the alcohol but 60,8% ABV should be a real punch on the palate, when I get there that is, cause I could nose this one forever J Actually I’d say, when I think about it that there is a real struggle going on here between the peat and the rhum. I haven’t really tried any fully rhum-matured peated whiskies so this will be exciting, ok, let’s go!

Palate:

Serioulsly guys, this is so d*mn good!! A very salty peat actually, but still soft if you know what I mean, soft vanilla almost vanilla and whipped cream… I would say that the rhum-influence in this whisky really takes it’s time to appear (which in my opinion can be a quite good thing). The mouthfeel really makes my mouth water A LOT for the, say, first five to six seconds but then it gets dry quite fast, not overly dry. On the aftertaste, which builds up slowly we have rhum-soaked raisins and a quite burnt peaty-ness. Waiting it out the peat is there the longest. Very special this one!

A big thanks once again to Peter and Tommy for the sample! Their whiskies and rhums are available at Master of Malt.

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