Single Malt Report: Mackmyra First Edition, Swedish Single Malt

Our Whisky World Tour now takes us to Gävleborg County, Sweden, to the home of the first Swedish Whisky:  Mackmyra.

Distillery: Mackmyra Svensk Whisky
Region: Sweden (Valbo)
Type: Single Malt
Maturation: 95% Bourbon casks, 5% Swedish Oak! (45% stored in small 100-liter casks)
Age: Young! not much older than 3 years (2008 bottling)
Alcohol by Volume: 46.1%

The distillery is in the town of Mackmyra, so they weren't just trying to make their product sound Scottish
with a "Mac" thrown in. (Source)

Scotch whisky is well loved in Sweden, but until 1999 there was no Swedish whisky.  That year eight whisky-loving Swedes went into business to fill that gap.  They tinkered around with many recipes until establishing a fruity malt and a peat-ish (courtesy of juniper-and-moss drying) malt.  In 2006 they started some limited local releases, the Preludium series, which were an instant success.  In June 2008 they launched First Edition in the UK market to considerable acclaim, and have since released additional series named "Special" and "Moment".

In 2009, their production reached 200,000 liters (about 450,000 bottles), which sounds considerable but is tiny compared to the Scottish distilleries.  In 2010 they began construction on a new distillery that they hope will expand their annual production to 2 million bottles.

HERE COMES THE BIG SELLING POINT.  For me at least.

All of the casks for this First Edition were matured in 50 meters underground in an abandoned mine.  Top that one, Scots.  Add to that the fact that they mature some of their spirit in actual Swedish Oak (which, I read somewhere, came from a Swedish Navy shipyard; I wish I knew the source because that's weird enough to be true), and I was quite excited to try this whisky.  Plus my wife is a fan of all things Swedish.  So I bought a dram of this from Master of Malt, several months ago, and queued it up for this whisky tour.

NEAT

Definitely not artificially colored: Light amber meets Pinot Grigio.  The nose starts out with a hint of yeast followed by porridge (hot cereal) and a little butter.  It's very fresh and light.  No oak, no bourbon.  The palate is lightly smoky, and toasty.  As in toast and toasted wood; followed by an herbal (juniper-like) note.  Very clean.  Very pleasant.  It finishes nice and warm, holding that herbal note.

WITH WATER (about 37%)

Ah, water brings out the sweets.  The nose becomes more candied.  Some sweet oak effects.  Honey and granulated sugar peek out of the palate, along with some more smoke.  The finish becomes brief.

It's incredibly minimalist, like modern Swedish design.  No trumpets, no curlicues.  Maybe it's the underground climate, maybe it's the Swedish Oak, maybe it's the Swedish.  This is a very subtle whisky.  It whispers.

As Serge Valentin said, it's "far from Scotch."  And that's a good thing.  It's exciting to be present for the creation of new whisky.  It'll be great to see what happens when the Mackmyra spirit gets 8 years on it.  In the meantime, Mackmyra's success has led to fourteen new malt whisky distillery projects in Sweden.

And the world whisky market grows...

Availability - Sparsely in the US, requires some online searching; more widely available in the UK

Pricing - Good at $55-$60 (US)

Rating - 83

On Wednesday, the Whisky Tour will take us to Southern Netherlands.

Happy Birthday to my Kristen!

Birthday Girl, Sweden, sun shower

Trailer: Seth MacFarlane's Ted

????????

Apparently Peter Griffin voices Ted, with a little Boston chowdah around the edges.

The main charms of Family Guy surround its constant non-sequiturial (made-up term) tangents.  So this will be a good test to see how Seth MacFarlane handles feature screenplay structure.

At least it's not PG-13!

Happy Friday: An important cat(?) video

Pausing amidst the Whisky World Tour (which will resume on Monday), I thought it was necessary to share this (old) lovely 23 second video that challenges the order of things.

Alternate title:  "Oh...um...meow?"

Single Malt Report: Amrut Cask Strength 2010, Batch 2

This whisky may sound familiar.  A similar version was amongst my epic Whisky Attic tastings, reported on five weeks ago.  This time, I'm reviewing an earlier batch of the Amrut Cask Strength single malt, and doing so via a controlled setting with home field advantage (a.k.a. my kitchen).

I purchased this 50mL mini from Mission Wine & Spirits in Pasadena (who have four different Amrut minis!)  The bottle had the import sticker -- as Scotch whisky used to have many years ago -- which works to its benefit, psychologically, because it makes the product feel more exotic.  But really, it's just whisky.

When India won their independence from the British in 1947, the westerners may have left, but a taste for whisky must have remained.  Amrut Distilleries opened in 1948.  The business was started by Shri J.N. Radhakrishna, and management has been kept within the Jagdale family ever since.  They produced India's first official single malt, The MaQintosh, and have kept their production based on the Scotch Whisky Association's (SWA) regulations.

That last bit is important to keep in mind because though the India whisky industry produces many millions of liters of what's referred to as "whisky", the vast majority of it is distilled from molasses.  Amrut produces actual malt whisky.

But to produce a whisky following SWA guidelines, Amrut has to take a number of variables into consideration.  Specifically those relating to climate.  This may shock you, but the weather in Glasgow differs from the weather in Bangalore.

Cooler temperatures in Scotland allow for slower maturation and less alcohol evaporation.  So while casked Scotch malt whisky may lose a percent or two of alcohol per year, the Karnataka heat can cause Indian malt whisky to lose up to twelve percent of its alcohol share to the angels each year [Update: actual loss ranges from 10-16%!].  So Amrut needs to bottle its product while it's still very young.  They never print the age statement, but it can't be much older than three years (minimum age per SWA standards).  The climate may also effect the way the spirit reacts with the oak, creating flavors and textures unique to Indian whisky.

The results have been very successful, as many of Amrut's releases are met with critical raves.  I enjoyed my tasting of their big bruiser of a Cask Strength in February.  Let's see how this batch takes.

Distillery: Amrut

Age: unknown (possibly around 3 years)

Batch: #02, January 2010

Maturation: bourbon casks
Region: India (Bangalore)
Alcohol by Volume: 61.8%

NEAT:

A big difference between this whisky and the Connemara Cask Strength from yesterday's post is the alcohol content's effect on the senses.  At 58% ABV, the Connemara was sharp and hot, even after water was added.  As a result, it took more time and patience to try to find the other characteristics beneath the heat.  Yet while this Amrut's ABV sits at almost 62%, it's well incorporated and not overwhelming in the least.

The color is light gold; if there's any added caramel coloring, it's been done lightly.  [Update: they don't add coloring!]  The nose is malty, cereal-y, nestled in a little bourbon, with a hint of chlorine.  And there's a lovely sweet note much like rose water syrup.  The palate is full of honey, warm bread, and raisin bran muffins.  The finish is hot, maintaining the malt note and Crème brûlée for a good while.

WITH WATER:

I attempted to get the alcohol down close to a normal official bottling level, resulting in something close to 44% ABV.

The nose softens.  It's still malty, but the sweetness is more like a fruity Belgian ale.  Overall, a little saltier and still has the chlorine note.  The palate sweetens, but not too much.  Citrus juices and booze-dipped ladyfingers.  Desserty.  The finish is still lengthy, the boozy cookies remain as well as a nice nutty note.

Overall, it was more enjoyable with the water.  Mellower and very pleasant.  As I'd said in the previous Amrut report, had I been blindfolded when tasting this, I wouldn't have known that it wasn't from Scotland.  Which means either I'm an ignoramus or Amrut has their specific whisky production down pat.  Or both.

Availability - (This Batch) 700mL bottles in the UK, while in the US only 50mL minis are available at a few liquor specialists.  (Other Batches) Available at many liquor specialists.

Pricing - (This Batch) for UK residents around 45GBP, in the US the mini bottles are a steal at $7!  (Other Batches) Reasonably around $75.

Rating - 82 (with water)

Amrut has a number of other releases, one of which I will explore further at the conclusion of our World Whisk(e)y Tour, at the end of the month.

Next week, we'll go to the European mainland for a pair of drams.

Single Malt Report: Connemara Cask Strength Irish Single Malt

Distillery: Cooley
Brand: Connemara
Type: Single Malt
Region: Ireland (Louth)

Age: unknown, likely younger than 12 years

Maturation: American oak, ex-bourbon

Alcohol by Volume: 57.9%

Our first stop on this Whisk(e)y World Tour is in County Louth, Ireland, at the Cooley Distillery.  Cooley Distillery PLC (a relatively young company at 25 years) was the last of the major independent Irish whiskey producers before their sale to Beam Inc last year.  They have a number of great brands:

Kilbeggan - blended whiskies as well as one limited release single malt; now beginning distillation at its own old distillery that had been closed for 50 years.
Tyrconnell - non-peated single malts; In February I reviewed a delicious Madeira-finished juicy malt of theirs.  The Tyrconnell had been one of Ireland's best selling whiskey brands in The States before Prohibition crushed it.  Cooley bought the brand and resurrected it back in the late '90s.
Greenore - single grain whiskey; actually made entirely from corn and aged in ex-bourbon barrels.
Connemara - peated single malts.  As is done in many Scottish distilleries, they dry the malted barley via peat fires, give it a double distillation, then mature the spirit in ex-bourbon American oak barrels.  They don't chillfilter, nor do they colour their product artificially.

Within the world whiskey community, the purchase of the company by big Beam Inc. was met with mixed emotions.  All of Ireland's major whisky producers are now owned by corporations.  Pernod owns Midleton which makes Jamesons, Powers, Redbreast, Paddy, and Green Spot.  Diageo owns Bushmills.  William Grant & Sons owns Tullamore Dew.  Cooley was the last of the independents to sell to a major, which led to many heavy hearts.  But the good news is, with Beam's marketing and distribution power, Cooley will be able to get more whiskey to more people at (hopefully) a lower price to all.

But how about the whiskey?  I'm a big Tyrconnell fan.  I hope to try some Kilbeggan before 2012 is out.  Greenore is a mostly a curio for me since my palate hasn't found a corn whiskey it approves of, yet.  And (via a Master of Malt 30mL dram) this Cask Strength is the first Connemara I've tried.

NEAT:

The lack of added caramel colouring is immediately apparent, as the malt takes on a Pinot Grigio hue.  All similarities to white wine end right there.  This is an insanely hot whisky, flexing its almost 58% ABV braun in all categories.  The nose reflects a different type of peat than the Islays -- sort of cleaner and woodier.  But the band-aids are there, as well as an Atlantic Ocean note.  Underneath that is a little brown sugar, bourbon, white peppercorns, and something a little meaty.  It has a thick texture, which I quickly lost track of once the heat set in.  As I mentioned before, this palate brings intense heat.  It's a white sugar dish full of cinders and burnt paper.  The malty cinnamon finish remains for ages.

I hadn't had a face-numbing experience like this in some time, despite sampling quite a few cask powered whiskies.  I gave the whisky (and my face) time to rest, added enough water to bring the ABV down to about 35%...

W/ WATER:

The nose became a big bushel of hay.  Wood smoke, sweet cream, and bourbon settled underneath.  The texture became creamier.  The peat was most prevalent here on the palate, which held a nice light sweetness, but still had an aggressive cindery kick.  The mouth-drying finish mellowed and held much of the peat and hay.

I recommend this to single malt lovers with a strong palate constitution and a love of cinders, hay, and peat in the glass.

Though I've become a major peat-head who's averse to fancy finishes, I actually prefer the Madeira Cask Tyrconnell to this one.  But something good awaits within this malt.  I'd like to try the regular 12yr 40% ABV Connemara to see if it reveals its flavors more readily.

Availability - Most Liquor Specialists

Pricing - Decent at $55-$60

Rating - 76

Wife returns from Cannes and Husband makes a whisky schedule

The conquering hero hath returned.  And by hero, I mean my wife.  She sailed for France two weeks ago, and the Gauls surrendered upon her arrival.  She did a proper pillage then returned home.

Two weeks.  In Cannes.  For work.

Source

She enters the condo and says, "You didn't do any cleaning, did you?"

She has no idea that I transform into a 12-year-old when she's gone.  There's candy and movies and llamas and marching bands and upside-down trash cans.  Then on the day of her return, there's a mad 3-hour scramble to turn a Dadaist masterpiece back into our condo.  I don't know how socks get into the spice cabinet, but they do.  Anyway, she has no idea what goes down.

Well, she does now.  Thank you, blog.

She opens the bedroom window and says, "It smells like boys in here."  I say, "Would you prefer if it smelled like girls?  And what do you mean boyS?  What do you think goes on around here?"

Let us not dwell on that.

Dwell on this, the Flying Llama.  (Source)

I'll tell you what section of our home remained perfectly organized for two weeks:  The Whisky Cabinet.

This going to be a great month for whisky reportin'.  Tomorrow begins a series on World Whiskies!  I've got yer Irish, Swedish, Dutch, Indian (two actually!), American, and maybe something from the land of the Scots.

If there's any time left over in April, I'll be exploring cheap Scotch blends.  My bottle of Black & White is nearing its retirement (not a moment too soon) and I'm determined to find a quality Scotch blend in the $15-$20 range.

But first, tomorrow, the viski voyage begins on the island to the west of the Irish Sea.

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Ireland.  I'm talking about Ireland.