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

Swedish whisky from High Coast Whisky – Quercus 4: Mongolica 50,8% ABV!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike, to my own joy (and hopefully yours) I'm finally back after a long and great summer break! Today I bring you my tasting notes and thought on an upcoming release from swedish distillery High Coast (formerly known as Box Distillery). 

This time around they are releasing the fourth and concluding chapter in the series titled Quercus (maturation in oak of different origins). For this chapter Mongolica oak sets the character (more specifically oak grown in the northeast of China, near the border to Russia). 

The whisky has been made from 100% unpeated barley. The new make was matured in 200 litre 1st-fill bourbon barrels for 3,53 years, it was then "finished" for 39 months in 225 litre casks made from mongolica oak. Before bottling, 99 litres of 7,27 years old whisky from a 1st-fill (bourbon) quarter cask was added. Before bottling the whisky was diluted to 50,8% ABV.

Here in Sweden this whisky will be available at the state monopoly tomorrow (190920). 2802 bottles are available (out of 6228). Please view the product by clicking here. 

Ok folks, let's see how they've managed this time!

Nose:

On the first nosing, the most apparent thing is a soft vanilla that holds a combination of something kind of wood-y and something kind of spicy/herby (almost drawing on a soft swedish oak-y-ness). Going deeper in the layers I find medium ripe to over ripe banana (the fruit, not the peel), medium dark honey, soft leather, and finally almond paste. In the deepest layer there is something slightly earthy and funky going on; a tad of ”cough medicine”, and fudge ”from the woods” intermingling with a reminiscence of light peatyness. 

Taste:

Starts off on sugar-y sweetness but is immideately interrupted by woody spicyness, tannins, dryness, and just a slight bite from the ABV/alcohol. When keeping the whisky in my mouth for a while, swirling it around for a couple of seconds or so, I percieve this whisky as elegant and well rounded, with a beautiful body filled with vanilla woody-ness and old coffee beans. When swallowing, the woody spicyness evolves more and more and a slightly fire-y side with a lot of energy comes forth, and this phase actually goes on for quite a while. When the aftertaste kicks in, it all ends with dry coffee and leather, being conquered only by the earthy funkyness from the nose.

Some relflections to sum up:

I’ve never really been a huge fan of whisky matured in new oak, especially not swedish oak. With that said, I was a bit worried about this new mongolica oak thing. However, I definitely prefer mongolica oak to swedish oak, and the mongolica seems to have given this whisky the perfect amount of woody and spicy/herby-ness! The question of ”perfect amount” is of course also a question of not letting the whisky mature for too long, so my compliments to the master blender for making the right call! I especially enjoyed the vanilla woody-ness on the taste, and the earthy funky stuff going on in the nose was really interesting and bit different for being High Coast. 

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

Pic borrowed from High Coast Whisky

Swedish whisky from Box Distillery: Quercus 1 – Robur 50,8% ABV!

Beautiful red-brown color!

Dear friends and followers alike! Last week I was very lucky to receive a package that contained a sample from from Swedish distillery Box – The high coast distillery! Yay! The sample contained the first release in their new series called "Quercus". This is what the write about the new series and about this Robur-edition:

"Quercus is a range from Box Distillery wherein we try to explore the tastes that different species of oak gives to the whisky. The first edition is named Robur after the European Oak (pedunculate oak), Quercus robur in Latin. Quercus robur is common in Europe, especially in Burgundy and Limousine where it’s widely used in the wine- and cognac industry. It’s also that species of oak you’ll find in Scandinavia up to the north of Stockholm"

The whisky was first matured in first-fill 200 litre bourbon casks, and then finished for seven months in new/virgin swedish oak. To read absolutely everything about the process, the age, the maturation etcetera please feel free to click here 

Here in Sweden, Quercus 1 – Robur will be released on the state monopoly this friday (17th of november) and you can view the product by clicking here. Ok, let's see what we have here!

Nose:

Starts off somewhat herb-y but most of all spicy. Behind the spicyness there is sawmill and planks, as well as ”dark” newly cut logs of spruce/fir. Beyond all this forest-yness hides a soft vanilla intermingling with something salt, I think the salt shows just a tad of peat. In the very depth of it all is something reminding me of cinnamon, maybe even nutmeg (?). Interestingly enough there is also cucumber-water and finally a lime cut in half left to dry for a couple of days on the kitchen bench…

Taste:

Starts of on medium salt and then BAM! A big, fat, instantly dry spicyness hits you! Two seconds later new wood comes bursting in, making quite an entrance indeed. The new wood dies quite quickly and makes way for even more dry spicyness. After that a beautiful medium (dry) vanilla taskes over and slowly evolves into something partly reminding me of brandy (and/or apple jucie), partly reminding me of cognac. The heat of the whisky (the ABV) evolves in my chest, at the same time as the taste moves on into dried figs, overripe red grapes and finally fades away into a general sugar-y sweetness

To sum up:

I have a very ambivalent relationship to whisky matured in new swedish oak. In general, from the ones I’ve tasted so far, I find it to be, for my taste, ”too much” of the ”new” and of the ”wood” on the nose, as well as this kind of ”spicyness” on the taste. For me, this whisky is by far the most sucessfull one matured in new swedish oak, this is because there is a great complexity in this one, both on the nose and on the taste. For me, it was still a tad ”too much” and a tad ”too spicy” (but I did not water the whisky and maybe this would bring it down a notch…). Finally, big thanks to the people at Box Distillery for sharing sending a sample and for the opportunity to taste it before the 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

Picture belongs to Box Distillery