The 2nd release of Whisky from Swedish Distillery Agitator – Argument: Chestnut 46% ABV!

Friends! As you probably remember I reviewed the first release from Swedish Distillery Agitator two weeks ago (if you haven't read it please do so by clicking here), and today I bring you my review of... you guessed it, their 2nd release! 

This release has been named "Argument: Chestnut". This should of course not be interpreted as arguing or fighting about chestnut wood. It should be interpreted and understood as stating ones case for the use of casks crafted from chestnut wood in whisky making. The general info in the press release states that the whisky in question had its initial maturation on regular bourbon casks and was then finished for a little more than a year on chestnut casks. As usual, when able to, I love sharing some more specific info with you my dear readers and so, just a few hours ago, I once again had a wee chat with Oskar Bruno (Distillery Manager) and our conversation resulted in the following info regarding recipe etcetera:

This whisky has been crafted from a mix of unpeated and peated new make. The peated component holds 30ppm and consists of three styles equally large in parts; one part distilled in the Low Reflux Stills, one part distilled in the High Reflux Stills, and one part that is a mix of the two. The liquid first spent more than two years in 200 litre 1st-fill bourbon casks, and was then transferred to 150 litre virgin chestnut casks for a finish. All in all we are talking about 28 chestnut casks. While 22 of them contained the peated component and enjoyed a finish of more than one year, 6 of them contained the unpeated component and enjoyed a finish of four months. The oldest component was filled into (bourbon) casks in the end of March 2018, and the youngest component into (bourbon) casks in the beginning of October. The casks were emptied at several different points in time; around the end of September and the beginning of October this year. The 28 casks gave 6000 70cl bottles at an ABV of 46%. Here in Sweden this whisky will be released at the state monopoly this Friday and you can view the product by clicking here.

Now, this is a release that I've really been longing to taste and review ever since I heard about it. Why? Well firstly because I find chestnut to be a really exciting kind of wood for maturing whisky, and secondly for this reason: as you know by now I am involved in a cask collaboration project together with the folks at Agitator and two of the casks in our collab is made from Chestnut, and so I find it very interesting to find out what style and profile this official distillery bottling of chestnut matured whisky from Agitator will have. Ok folks, it's time to analyze!

Nose:

A wonderful and enticing nose that’s full of both light and heavy scents. On the light side we have blossoming flowers, mainly white roses but also something that makes me think of pink flowers… to specify flowers is not my strong side so maybe it’s best to describe it as scents in a flower shop. On the light side we also have sweet lemon and squeezed/smashed redcurrants. There is a roughness in the berries that makes me think of red currant leaves but it doesn’t really come through quite that heavy. Speaking of heavy, on the heavy side of things we have dark raisins (as in a medium heavy sherried whisky) and a light hint of fragrant milk chocolate. There is actually also something reminding me of ”soft gingerbread”-cookie bordering on a truly mouthwatering vanilla! Digging deeper there is some kind of leather in the distant. In the base of the heavy side is a very light peatyness that interestingly has a clear element of firewood/fireplace/embers to it. A whiff of salt soft liquorice flies by. 

Taste:

A lot more peat than I had expected there to be judging from the nose, very, very nice! The peatyness is broad and at the same time light in style. Immediately after the peat leather-y almond paste makes its entrance and along comes medium heavy and rich tannins. The tannins never quite fade out but quickly morphs into fried/caramelized slices of lemon, orange flavoured milk chocolate, and slightly burnt vanilla. In the aftertaste something red from the nose appears very briefly (redcurrants or flowers?), and the light firewood peat echoes back and forth in a wonderful way.

Some reflections to sum up:

Once again, it is simply remarkable that a whisky this young can taste so old and mature! Nothing youngish to be found whatsoever, not on the nose, not on the taste. The nose is soft and has a medium complexity, and even though it’s not super complex I still find myself nosing, nosing, and nosing it over and over for a long time... I really like the taste and I’ve said before that chestnut maturation, to me, comes through as a kind of mix of bourbon maturation and european oak sherry maturation, the best from two worlds! The chestnut finish has made the perfect amount of imprint on the whisky. If included in a blind tasting for semi-whiskynerds I am convinced that a majority would categorize this whisky as sherry matured. On the taste I especially enjoy the fruity elements and the evident but light firewood peatyness that in no way is in the background. Both for the nose and the taste the chosen ABV is perfect and provides great balance. I believe that while this whisky is probably targeted more to the whiskynerds than to ”the great” whisky drinking ”masses” the taste profile will definitely appeal to both groups. The latter group may, in the beginning, be a tad scared off when reading chestnut on the label, but in time, with information and explanation, they will also build up the guts to buy and try a bottle. And, the cost of 599 swedish crowns for a 70 cl bottle of top notch swedish whisky definitely makes the decision a whole lot easier! Finally, thinking about the fact that this is just the 2nd release of whisky from Agitator, and that it tastes so good, makes me both smile in my heart and long for the future releases to come. 

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Agitator for the great opportunity to review this whisky before it's release! For further and future 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 borrowed from systembolaget.se

The 1st release of Whisky from Swedish Distillery Agitator – Single Malt Whisky 43% ABV!

Dear friends! Earlier today I received a package from the people at Swedish distillery Agitator. Yes, the package contained their two upcoming releases (!) and this evening I'm bringing you my review of the first release. To freshen up your knowledge on Agitator, their production method, and what sets them apart from basically any single malt distillery around, please read the first part of this article and regarding their philosophy (if you will) please have a look at their website here. 

The first release from Agitator has simply been namned "Single Malt Whisky". The general info that has been spread through press releases etcetera lets us know that the whisky in question has been matured in four different kinds of casks; bourbon, sherry casks, new american oak, and chestnut. In search of more specific info for you my dear readers I had a wee chat with Oskar Bruno (Distillery Manager) just a few hours ago. Our conversation resulted in the following info regarding recipe etcetera:

The whisky has been crafted from a mix of unpeated and peated new make (30ppm barley). The casks predominantly used for maturation are 200 litre 1st-fill bourbon, full time maturation. A portion of the whisky has been matured in new (virgin) american oak 200 litre, and this is where it gets interesting: 50% of the new american oak casks were of the wave stave kind, and the liquid in them enjoyed a full time maturation. The liquid in the rest of the new american oak casks started out in 1st-fill bourbon casks and then enjoyed a finish of more than one year in the new american oak casks of regular kind (non wave stave). The sherry casks used were 130 litre american oak, and the liquid in them enjoyed a full time maturation. The chestnut casks used were 150 litre, and also here we are talking about a finish; the majority of the liquid filled into these casks enjoyed a one year finish in them and/but in some cases the finish time was four months. The age of the whisky in this first batch is 3-3,5 years old and the number of bottles is 14000. Here in Sweden this whisky will be released at the swedish state monopoly this wednesday and you can view the product by clicking here.

Ok folks, time to review! 

Nose:

Very fresh and quite vivid scents! In the center layer is a malt-y/barley scent that is medium heavy and teams up with a rather robust vanilla. These two scents are intertwined in a really nice way. The layer above opens up slowly, more and more, with some time in the glass. Here we have very light citrus (or maybe even rhubarb acidity), a whiff of overripe pear, but most of all winter apples in apple pie (apples below a crust of sugar and butter baked oatmeal). Wow, as I nose the apple pie, oatmeal, and vanilla evolves more and more and there is lots of luscious vanilla and butter emerging, mmm! The bottom layer is actually the layer I first identified. Here we have the peat and there is a lot more peat than I had expected there to be from a standard-/core range-/house style-product point of view. I can’t really decide if I nose ”peat” or ”smoke”, so I simply have to conclude that’s it’s somewhere in between. On the other hand, the peat has a whiff of earthyness to it, so probably more on the peat side of things after all.

Taste:

Wow, judging from the style of the nose I did not see this coming; the taste actually starts off on a lot of sherry sweetness (dates and raisins), and it’s quite peaty indeed! It then moves on into oaky vanilla (american oak style) with a hint of light liquid honey. Then comes the malt/barley with a lovely oaky/woody spicyness to it. A dryness comes through and at the same time the peat shows itself for real and it does so in an elegant way. In the aftertaste the peat slowly fades away and the vanilla and dryness has a final bump.

The beautiful package that the samples arrived in!

Some reflections to sum up:

A very complex nose for being this young! In terms of scent-evolvement and maturity on the nose I definitely think of an age around 10 years old. As you can see my notes on the nose is a bit longer than my notes on the taste. From this you understand that the taste is not as complex and diverse as the nose is. I do however think that the taste is very, very mature and I definitely think of an age of say 7-8 years old. Adding to my reflections on the taste it’s absolutely worth to mention that there is great balance in this whisky, both between the main flavours and in relation to the choosen ABV. 43% ABV works really good. There is also great balance in terms of peatyness; it is there, it is obvious, but it doesn’t take over. All in all this is a really good whisky on its own. Furthermore, this is a very, very good first release, and definitely the best first whisky from a swedish distillery that I’ve tasted so far. It is remarkeable that a whisky this young can taste so old and mature. There are no typical signs of young (swedish) whisky; no yeast, no sulfur. Taking the general style of this whisky into account I believe that it will appeal both to the nerds and to ”the great” whisky drinking ”masses”. The latter especially so because of its perfect balance between ABV and peatyness.  Both these tow groups of people will of course be thrilled to hear that the whisky has been bottled in 70 cl bottles and that a bottle only costs 479 swedish crowns. A job well done to the team at Agitator. Skål!  

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Agitator 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 borrowed from systembolaget.se

Cask Collaboration with Agitator – first tasting notes of 3yo Whisky!!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! I'm writing this blogpost to you during vacation at my wifes familys summer cottage situated in the beautiful archipelago of Roslagen, truly the perfect place to deliver an update on the cask collaboration project between Agitator and myself. On may 4th the spirit in the casks included in the project actually turned 3 years old, hence we are now dealing with... Whisky! 😛

And so today it is my great pleasure to share my first tasting notes of samples of whisky from some of the casks in the project! For this blogpost I asked the Distillery Technician at Agitator, my dear friend Christian, to draw samples from two of the casks. The samples arrived at my place in the end of june and I spent roughly two hours last Thursday reviewing them. 

In order to read up on what makes Agitator such an interesting and groundbreaking whisky distillery, as well as exactly what our collaboration entails, please click here and take part of this previous article of mine and you will get a good introduction to it all. The general details are as follows:

The new make recipe used for our collaboration was made from peated barley (30ppm), 58% from the High Reflux stills, 42% from the Low Reflux stills. The new make was filled into Bourbon barrels 111-116 at a filling strength of 55,1% ABV on the 4th of May 2018. The details of the samples reviewed in this blogpost are as follows:

Sample no.1: drawn 210609 from 1st-fill Bourbon Barrel no.114. 56,9% ABV.

Cask 114, picture taken by Christian during sampling

Sample no.2: drawn 210609 from Cask no.1531, a 130 litre Virgin Chestnut (“quarter”) cask. 57,99% ABV (spirit transferred 191031 from 1st-fill Bourbon barrel no.111).

Cask 1531, picture taken by Christian during sampling

Ok folks, below you find my notes, thoughts, and impressions! 

Sample no.1, nose:
At first nosing, immediately after pouring, the instant scent was peat with a zing of alcohol to it. After letting the whisky (yay, whisky!) breathe in the glass for a couple of minutes or so, I find that the scents are really deep! In the first layer there is a soft and medium bodied warm vanilla that’s teaming up with the sweetness of vanilla fudge (cube candy). There is also melted butter reminding me of of the cookies drömmar, and also evident vanilla custard. In the second layer I find fruitiness; soft pear lemonade and a mix of full-bodied lemon and orange peel with hints of zest. In the third layer everything is very robust: we have grassy and heavy peat (highland peat), metal (industrial peat), old leather intermingling with fat almond paste, sweet and soft liquorice candy, alcohol fumes that are smooth but present, and finally a light touch of gunpowder and/or post fire cracker/fireworks. 

Sample no.2, nose:
Ooh, nosing this one really makes me want to taste it immediately! (have, to, recist… trying, really, hard…). Well, this is the real stuff folks! Medium woodiness, cigar box, cedar wood, a slight whiff of cinnamon stick, old coastal/peated whisky matured in european oak sherry cask, dark red cherries, lemonade (mixed strong) made from cherries and blackcurrants, an acidity from dark fruits, a wonderful presence of medium heavy silky subdued peat, old earth floor cellar with traces of light mould. Wow, just wow. Appears as to be whisky matured for a long time (15yo?), and that my friends is just absolutely bonkers.

Sample no.1, taste:
Starts off on a really wonderful, and quite powerful, peatyness. The peat is both sea-salty, grassy (very much so), and has citric/acidulous elements. Furthermore the peat is dry, quite a heavy dryness actually. The alcohol is strong. Before the dryness of the peat hits my mouth with all its intensity there are whiffs of an elegant and enticing vanilla creaminess playing alongside just a whiff of honeydew melon. Very interesting indeed, judging from the nose of the whisky I did actually not at all think that it would be this peaty. I’d definitely say that the peatyness plays the first violin here, and I am surprised that the fruitiness that I found on the nose was not given more “room” here in the taste. 

Sample no.2, taste:
Completely bonkers for sure and absolutely the real stuff, I simply cannot believe that this whisky is just three years old! There is a punch from the alcohol, but it is not an alcohol taste that at all signals that this whisky is young or “un-mature” (as is often my experience with the alcohol in other young Swedish whiskies that I’ve tried). Almost everything present on the nose is present in the taste (the exceptions are cinnamon stick and mould in cellar). In addition there is also milk chocolate, a seducing honey-esque vanilla that is very dark indeed, and traces of violet candy and cold rosehip soup in the distant. Also, the peat is stronger in the taste than it is on the nose, and all in all this whisky really does taste very much like an old coastal/peated whisky matured in european oak sherry cask, but with the addition of a nice bite of woody tannins wrapping it all up.

 

Some reflections to sum up:
As I’ve said a couple of times in this post, and many a times in my different previous posts on Agitator, I simply can’t believe that the low age of this stuff noses and tastes so much older than it actually is (very mature). My favorite out of these two so far is absolutely the chestnut which could be bottled very soon but at the same time it is by no means "over-matured". The bourbon one could also be bottled soon but I think I will give it a little bit more time in the cask in order for it to become more elegant and "simmer down" just a tad on the peatyness. In conclusion, wow! As soon as I have had my 2nd shot of c19-vaccine I'll visit the distillery straight away to check up on the progress/further maturation and discuss with Oskar and Christian the different possibilities for doing some bottling.  

For further 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.

Picture taken by Christian during sampling