Whisky-honeymoon PART 1 – visiting Laphroaig Distillery!

Dear friends and followers alike! I’m back from my summer vacation and a little time off from blogging. As some of you might remember me and my wife got married last fall. But why am I telling you this? Because we started our summer vacation with a little honeymoon, a ten days trip to UK and Scotland that of course entailed some really nice whisky-related adventures which I’ll share with you in a three part picture-driven blog-post! Today I bring you PART 1 in which I’ll tell you about our visit to Laphroaig Distillery. In PART 2 I’ll tell you about our visit to Bowmore Distillery and PART 3 will be about my attendance at a Highland Park tasting during Rebusfest.  

As you all know by now, on the side of my regular job, I work the Swedish whisky festivals for Edrington, taking care of whiskies such as Laphroaig, Bowmore and Highland Park. (As you might remember I was very fortunate to visit Highland Park last summer, please read all about it here). So for our honeymoon I really wanted to get more in-depth knowledge and learn more about some of the distilleries that are in the Edrington portfolio and at the same time make a dream come true: to first and foremost visit Laphroaig and secondly to visit Bowmore. 

Laphroaig Cask Strength “Green Stripe” was the whisky that around 15 years ago opened my eyes (and nose, and taste buds) to the wonderful world of whisky and ever since then Laphroaig has been on my dream-distillery-to-visit-bucketlist for a looong time. And hey, while on Islay, why not visit Bowmore as well?!. So, since I for a number of times during the festivals here in Sweden have been very fortunate to work alongside my good friends and colleagues Vicky Stevens (the Visitor Centre Manager at Laphroaig) and Joakim Liljeqvist (the Swedish brand ambassador for Beam Suntory Single Malts) I contacted the both of them to hear if they could set up visits to Laphroaig and Bowmore. And they were both very, very helpful indeed.

My first visit to TWE

But before reaching the island of Islay we started our honeymoon in London. There I got the chance to visit The Whisky Exchange. The selection in the shop was great, and they had a number of core range Laphroaigs available 

Yummie!

After a couple of days of touristing, among many other things including a visit to the amazing Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour, we went from London to Glasgow by train, a four and a half hour trip which definitely was a great way to experience the scenery

The great scenery starts to appear when entering Scotland

After having a nice evening dinner in Glasgow I did some emailing with Vicky to settle some of the final details of the visit to Islay. Later that evening, out of the blue, I suddenly got a message from Martin Markvardsen (Senior Brand Ambassador at Highland Park)!

It turned out that Martin accidentally was in Glasgow due to some travel-trouble. A couple of minutes later I noticed that I also had received an email from Vicky saying: “I’m in the Pot Still Bar with Martin Markvardsen if you want to join“. So, it turned out she was incidentally also in Glasgow, what an unexpected but extremely pleasant coincidence! Of course me and my wife headed to the bar to meet them, it was also very nice to introduce my wife to my colleagues and vice versa, and we were happy to join them for a couple of beers and some whisky. 

From the left: SamuelWhisky, Martin, Vicky, my wife Sophie :)

The next day we rented a car and drove the two and a half hour drive from Glasgow to Kennacraig. From there we took the ferry to Port Askaig 

and from there we had a ten minute drive to Kilmeny and the BnB. The BnB was absolutely beautiful 

The view from the window in our room! So beautiful

There was even a small dram of Laphroaig waiting for us

A great welcoming gesture

In the early evening we drove in to Bowmore to have dinner. We stopped by at Bowmore Distillery just to have a quick look at the surroundings

Then we had dinner at Bowmore Hotel, the food was simply great and the bar was amazing

The dram I choose to accompany the dessert was a hand-filled Single PX Cask Bowmore 

OMG!

Visiting Laphroaig Distillery

The next day was set for a visit to Laphroaig! Before leaving we enjoyed a great breakfast 

We arrived at the distillery around 9.30 and met up with Vicky. After a quick chat it turned out that she had arranged for us to take the very thorough “Distillers Wares Tour” together with a small group of other visitors. We were guided by Craig, a great and knowledgeable guide who answered all of my questions and was very generous with time for photos. The tour started in one of the two malting floors

Floor no.1

Floor no.2

Craig told us that, on site, they malt and peat/smoke 20% of the barley used (the rest comes from Port Ellen Maltings/PEM). Their own barley used on site comes from the eastern parts of Scotland and is of the type Concerto 

Craig explained to us that the barley is first soaked with water, on three separate occasions (together lasting for 51 hours). After soaking it is spread out on the malting floors where it, depending on time of year and temperature, germinates for around six days. The malted barley is turned every fourth hour 24/7. 

Before moving on to the Peat kilns, Craig opened the door to the floor (or maybe “roof”) above the kilns, what a beautiful sight!

Now that is some serious peat smoke!

We then moved on to one of the two Peat kilns. According to Craig the peat they use is handcut. He also mentions that Laphroaig is the only distillery on Islay to handcut their peat. Between April and September they cut around 200-250 tons of peat. 

#opinionswelcome

Peat waiting to be used in Kiln no.1

The peat is then left to air-dry for three months before being used in the kilns. The two kilns are not used simultaneously but rather one kiln at the time (every other day).  

Kiln no.2 resting before going in to use the next day

According to Craig the barley is peated/smoked for 15 hours. (In the book 200 years of Laphroaig by van Gils & Offringa it is however stated on one occasion that the peating goes on for 17 hours and on another occasion that it goes on for 14-16 hours, so lets stay safe and say that it goes on for between 14-17 hours). 

A very easy speaking fire where the ideal is to develop smoke rather than heat  

While visiting the Kiln I was very lucky to be allowed to throw some peat in the Kiln, yay!

Craig tells us that when the peating/smoking is done the peated barley is air-dried for 10 hours. (17-20 hours according to van Gils & Offringa). 

Craig also tells us that the ppm they aim for in the part that they peat/smoke on site at the distillery is minimum 50ppm. (In this interview, Laphroaigs master distiller/distillery manager John Campbell, says that the part they peat/smoke at the distillery ends up at around 60ppm. In the book by van Gils & Offringa, Laphroaigs Maltman Arthur Holyoake states that the barely they peat/smoke at the distillery holds 35-65ppm). 

Craig also tells us that when their own part is mixed/put together with the part that comes from PEM (35-45ppm) it ends up at 50ppm. This seems reasonable considering that their own part occasionally is/can be as low as 35ppm but (let us assume) most of the time is at a minimum of 50ppm and at a maximum of 65ppm.

Anyways, we then moved on to the room with the Lauter/Mash tun and the six stainless steel wahsbacks/”fermenting vessels”. 

SamuelWhisky at the Lauter/Mash tun

SamuelWhisky at Washback no.6

Each washback contains 52800 litres. The yeast (Mauri) that is being used at Laphroaig is of a liquid kind. They end up with a wash-beer holding 8-8,5% ABV. 

We then moved on to the Stillhouse

The seven stills at Laphroaig

OMG what wonderful scents we smelled in there. The Stillhouse holds seven stills; four spirit-stills and three wash-stills. 

The big spirit-still/no.1 (behind me) holds 9400 litres, and the smaller spirit-stills (no.2-4) holds 4700 litres each

The wash-stills (no.5-7) holds 10400 litres each.

The Low-wine/wash comes out of the stills holding 22-25% ABV. We were very lucky to stick a finger into the flowing wash to taste it and it was sooo mellow but at the same time so incredibly peaty! The "foreshot" is 72% ABV. The "heart" comes out of the spirit-stills ranging from 60-70% ABV (although 70-60% ABV should be a more accurate way to put it).  The new make ends up at  68% ABV. 

We then moved on to the absolutely best part of the “Distillers Wares Tour”, the tasting in Warehouse no.1. Can you imagine that it's been standing there since 1937?! First we got to taste three different casks 

"Heaven, I'm in heaven..."

Then we were allowed to draw a sample straight from our very favourite bourbon cask and bottle it in a 25cl bottle. My wife chose to sample and bottle from cask no.3797 (14yo), and I chose to sample cask no.1626 (13yo) 

take...

it...

slow...

so...

that...

you...

do...

not...

spill...

Bottling my "sample"

Absolutely...

every...

drop...

counts! No filtration at all :)

We then entered our details in the big book and the tour came to an end 

But of course we were not done yet. We took some more pictures

Overlooking the distillery

SamuelWhisky at the great wall!

After that we popped into the Visitor Centre to put on... 

a pair of Wellingtons!

printed the map/certificate to find my plot and…

YAY, put my flag on my plot!

Just a little photo-shoot at the entrance

And then I finally got my certificate stamped and collected my rent

After that I bought one bottle of this years Cairdeas, a Laphroaig-jacket, the FOL-tartanscarf, the book by van Gils & Offringa (signed by John Campbell), some nice jacket-pins and finally had a sit down in the friends lounge

Finally, on the way out of the distillery grounds we did a quick stop at the filling store

This is where the new make, after being diluted with water, is filled into cask at a strength of 63,5% ABV.

As you all understand it was simply amazing to pay Laphroaig Distillery a visit, both since it’s one of my absolute favourite whiskies and since I know am “a bit” more knowledgeable about the production process. Something that will definitely come in handy when working the upcoming festivals for Edrington ☺ So, the biggest thanks of all to both Vicky and Joakim who made it all possible, Sláinte! 

Please do pay my blog a visit in a couple of days to read PART 2 in which I’ll tell you about our visit to Bowmore Distillery!

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

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

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

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

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

Bowmore nose:

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

Bowmore taste:

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

Laphroaig nose:

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

Laphroaig taste:

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

To sum up:

Out of these two I would choose the Laphroaig, it is definitely the best of the two. They are both quite simple but I would go for the Laphroaig. Big thanks to the nice people at Symposion for sharing these samples and for the opportunity to review and try them before they are released! Sláinte!

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

Highland Queen x4 – two blended and two single malts

Dear friends and followers, big thanks for stopping by and staying tuned! A couple of weeks ago I received some samples from the importer and distributor Clydesdale. Four of the samples are whisky from the quite newly revived brand "Highland Queen"! Please do feel free to read all about its history and their huge portfolio here. 

A whole bunch of these Highland Queens are available at the Swedish state monopoly, and you can view them here.

The first two are blended scotch and the last two are single malts. Ok, here we go!

copyright clydesdale.se

HQ Nose:

Quite spirit-y (not at all new make, just very young-ish), a mix of new american oak and somehow uncharred wood, burnt vanilla and a slight touch of salt liquorice.

copyright clydesdale.se

HQ 1561 Nose:

Definitely older whisky in here. For me the grain components are in front of the malt components. Still, in comparison to the previous everything is more integrated in this on. Medium big on vanilla, something fruit-y is popping out, probably pear (ripe but not over-ripe), the liquorice is here too but the fruit and the vanilla are in the front. 

copyright clydesdale.se

HQ Majesty Nose:

In general, very restrained. Citrus fruits are in the front (sort of lemon curd). We also have elder flower soft drink. There are slight touches of vanilla hiding behind the citrus-y stuff. Reminds me of Bushmills 10yo, but with less vanilla. Actually, I prefer the nose of 1561 before the nose on this one.  

copyright clydesdale.se

HQ Majesty 16yo Nose: 

Kind of like the nose on the previous but even more restrained 

(!) In the center of attention is malt, in fact very malty. In this one there is also elder flower but very far back. The spectrum of the nose is of course wider (more stuff to nose) but somehow it feels more restrained. When I go back to nose the previous it does have a lot more vanilla than this on. In perspective to that, this one kind of ”lacks” vanilla. Actually, I prefer the nose of Majesty before the nose on this one

HQ Taste:

Starts of on lots of bitter sweet liquorice. Moves very quickly into slightly burnt vanilla and malt, stays there for 1,5 seconds and then moves on into the grain component. Before I swallow it does have a quite solid foundation but as soon as I swallow it moves on into the flavours of the grain components and then it totally ”dissapears”. A slight, sligth vanilla remains for a few seconds. Also a slight bitterness of burnt sugar syrup and bitter almond

HQ 1561 Taste:

That’s better! Definitely more body and a more fat foundation. Compared to the nose on this one, the flavours of the malt components are actually in front of the flavours of the grain components (meaning the tables have turned). However, in the center of attention is a bitterness (burnt sugar syrup and bitter almon also here) that hides other stuff beneath. Even so, I do prefer the taste of this one compared to the previous. 

HQ Majesty Taste:

Very soft. Going from the 1561 to this one is a dream. Not a big body/foundation though, it’s kind of thin. Also here we have burnt vanilla. However the quality in this one is that it does have some slight touches of milk and honey. It tastes kind of like a 5-6 year old malt. The nose is better than the taste.  

HQ Majesty 16yo Taste:

Mmm, that’s better! Focus is on vanilla, milk and full-fat whipped cream. We do have bitter almond. Also, there is a tad of salt-y-ness. There is also a slight touch of elder flower. However it is a bit thin (there is not much deapth). This one actually does taste like Bushmills 10yo, but with less deapth. A very easy going, ”simple” 16yo; it does not at all taste of 16 years. Of course I do prefer this one in front of the regular Majesty, however being a 16yo single malt it does not really have a lot of personality/character. 

To sum up: Out of the first two I would definitely buy the 1561. Out of the last two I would definitely buy Majesty 16yo. Choosing by nose I would go for 1561 before the regular Majesty, and choosing by taste I would go for Majesty 16yo before the regular Majesty. Big thanks to the nice people at Clydesdale for sharing these samples of Highland Queen and for the opportunity to review and try them! Sláinte!

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

Swedish Whisky from Smögen – Sherry Project 2:1 Sherry Octaves 4yo 53,6% ABV

Dear friends and followers alike! When working the Beer & Whisky-festival in Gothenburg in late March I ran into Pär Caldenby, the distillery manager/master distiller of swedish west coast distillery Smögen. To my great joy he was very keen on sharing a sample of the first release in his second series on the influence of sherry cask maturation, rightfully named Sherry Project 2:1.

This first release in this new series consists of a vatting of 18 so called Octaves (50 litre casks) that previously were used to mature (oloroso) sherry. The Octaves are made from american white oak and are fresh/first fill. The casks were filled with heavily peated new make (in Smögens case meaning just above 50 ppm) in april 2013 and drawn from cask/bottled on the 6th of May 2017 at 4yo and held 53,6% ABV. The casks used are number 18-35/2013 and they gave 1382 bottles. Please feel free to read Pärs own words on Sherry Project 2:1 in the picture below (click the pic to enlarge):

Since Sherry Project 1 dealt with the particular impact and style of sherry quarter casks it could be that this new series Sherry Project 2 might deal only with sherry Octaves of different ages, but, that is just speculation from my part.

Here in Sweden Sherry Project 2:1 will be released tomorrow (1st of June) and you can view the product by clicking here. 1056 bottles will be available. 

Also tomorrow, Smögen Single Bourbon Cask 18/2012 5yo (the sister cask of Smögen Wee Swede 17/2012) will be released, only 276 bottles available and you can view that product by clicking here. 

Ok, let's see what we have!

Nose:

Very intriguing! There are mainly two layers. The first layer is sort of a mix of fruit and ”perfume”; we have slices/pieces of orange, lemon peel, peach candy and interestingly enough apple cidre and wine vinegar (first time for me to find vinegar). The second layer consists of some really earth-y stuff; we have green peppercorn (perhaps even green peppercorn-gravy?), cookie dough, rich/full-bodied vanilla almost moving on into newly ground vanilla-flavoured coffee. There is also definitely a smell of pine-needles. In fact, the smell of pine-needles is almost moving on into cinnamon in some hard-fetched way… What about the peat? The peaty-ness is definitely to be found in the earthy layer, and for being Smögen the peat is very, very soft and almost impossible to be separated from all the vanilla and vanilla coffee going on here. Very interesting mix of fragrances!

Taste:

Wow, wow indeed… actually starts off on the fruity/perfum-y side of things, quite citric with the apple cidre and wine vinegar dominating but we also have dark raisins making an entrance. But all of this is very, very briefly (1-2 seconds or so) because after that some really beautiful and fat vanilla takes over (vanilla pod and heated full-fat cream) moving quickly into all the earthy stuff; here we definitely also have some earth (soil) and moss, but most of all the peat is in the center of attention. Actually it’s vanilla-peat and pine needle-peat! Lots and lots of vanilla intermingling with very soft peat. I would describe the peaty-ness sort of as a mix between Laphroaig and Bowmore. Thinking of the aftertaste, it takes this whisky a short amount of time to arrive at the aftertaste, however, what does linger in the aftertaste is all the vanilla and all the soft peat. 

To sum up:

For me, this is not a typical or ordinary sherry matured peated whisky (if there is such a thing, but you know); I did expect some of those classic sherry-fragrances and sherry-taste, such as lots and lots of raisins and dried figs. However, I did not find anything resembling a typical sherry matured peated whisky, the raisins did not make an entrance until the taste and it was not at all what i thought of first. One can tell that this definitely is american oak, and that is because of all the vanilla. Concluding with just one more thing, the mix of vanilla and peat in this one is absolutely wonderful! Big thanks to Pär for sharing a sample of Sherry Project 2:1 and for the opportunity to review and try 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 such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com

Swedish Whisky from Hven – Alioth 45% ABV

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

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

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

Nose:

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

Taste:

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

To sum up: 

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

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

Swedish Whisky bottled by Bergslagens Distillery – Sherry Darling Lightly Peated 5yo 58% ABV

Dear friends and followers alike! Once again I was fortunate enough to receive a package from the people at Bergslagens Distillery. This time the label states: "Sherry Darling Aged 5 years sherry casks lightly peated". This is the second release in a series of three (please feel free to read my thoughts on the first release in the series here). 

Just as I wrote in the post of the first release in this series, and 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. 

The pressrelease states: "The Whisky has been matured in a number of 50 litre [sherry]casks for five years". Well people, that was kind of secretive wasn't it?! Once again, sadly, there is no mention either of type of sherry (but I'm guessing Oloroso) or of what kind of oak (european or american). Also no mention of exact number of casks. The pressrelease does state that the 58% ABV is cask strength (but I wonder, is it rather not vatting strength we are dealing with here, and watered to that exakt ABV?). Maybe, sometime in the near future, Bergslagens Distillery can share some more precise info on these details as Smögen Distillery and Box Distillery usually do. 

However, to my immense joy, and to your satisfaction, I happen to know that "lightly peated" in the context of whisky produced at Grythyttan Distillery in fact means 15 ppm. With that said, this release will be available tomorrow (tuesday the 2nd of May) in three of the state monopoly stores located in the swedish town of Örebro. It will also be available to order via the order-assortment. In total, 840 bottles will be available. Ok, let's see what we have this time around! 

Nose:

Not at all an extreme sherrybomb this time (compared to the unpeated sherry darling that I have as a reference, as you can see from the pic below). Although there is a lot of sherry influence going on here it is somehow subdued. Instead of the extreme raisins that we had in the unpeated sherry darling, we have in this lightly peated version something mould-y going on, the mould on brie cheese. We also have medium ashy-y vanilla, the peel of sunwarm red gooseberries and a slight touch, just a tad, of very earthy peat. Yes, earth (soil), and sugar coated dried figs. Also, this ligtly peated version is calmer on the alcohol; I can without any problem at all take a deep, deep breath with my nose without feeling any alcohol at all! Now that’s just wonderful! There is also a sweetness in this one that is very, very mouthwatering, maybe something like freshly squeezed orange juice with lots and lots of white sugar in it (the emphasis is definitely on sugar), well, that’s it, now I just have to have a taste!

Taste:

At first everything is so sweet (syrup) and i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-y smooth, so smooth! When swallowing, everything gets medium dry very fast. Than an explosion of flavours occurs; it literally screams of vanilla leather, medium dry milkchocolate, cold-brewed coffee, sugardrenched dried figs springled with freshly squeezed sugared lime juice and finally some wonderful peat! Very big on the flavours, meaning that a lot is going on, but not at all overwhelming. Rather more-ish (”I want more!”), and the best thing is the peat, it is in perfect balance with all the sherry-stuff going on here, wow! 

pic borrowed from systembolaget

To sum up:

For me, this is a lot better than the unpeated version. This one is a sherry bomb but not an extreme one. The peating-level sure is perfect for this amount of sherry influence. Ok people, hold on, because taste-wise this is by far the best sherry matured swedish whisky I have tasted so far! And, I realised it the second at which I swallowed and felt the explosion of flavours, mmm… Big congrats to the people at Bergslagens Distillery for closing this deal and big thanks for the opportunity to taste it before being released! Sláinte! 

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