Swedish whisky

Here in Ontario, we have limited access to Mackmyra whiskies. The LCBO currently has two expressions in stock - the Special:04 and the First Edition. When the Mackmyra whiskies were first stocked, the Mackmyra Whisky (Brukswhisky) was also available.

I have a bottle of the Brukswhisky and the Special:'04, but I have not yet had occasion to crack them open.

In May 2013, I attended The Spirit of Toronto whisky tasting event. I signed up for two extra masterclasses.

The first masterclass session I attended was hosted by Angela d'Orazio, Mackmyra's master blender. Angela brought five whiskies - Special:04, Special:05, Special:07, Special:10 and one more (that I don't recall and I've lost my notes!).

I very much liked the Special:04 - pear and vanilla! mmm!
The Special:05 had been finished in lingonberry wine casks, which imparted a unique flavour and nose. Very interesting to taste, but different.
The Special:07 again was unique - the malted barley had been dried using both peat and juniper fires. The whisky was finished in cloudberry wine casks. Sweet and smoky, spicy and briny, but unlike the typical Scottish single malt.
The Special:10 was VERY different - Angela had put up a batch of whisky spiced with roasted coffee beans to condition the casks with the coffee before aging this whisky in them. The coffee / chocolate aroma was definitely present. This whisky is not be your everyday dram!

The second masterclass was hosted by Johanna Ngoh, the founder of The Spirit of Toronto - she brought five whiskies from her personal collection to share. One of them was the brand new Box new make whisky, bottled at 63% ABV. I concur with your observation comparing Box with Kilchoman - even though the whisky is very, very young, it is very very smooth and can only get better with age.

So, as noted above, I have two MackMyra expressions. Hope to pick up the First Edition in a month or two and host an evening of Swedish whisky with my siblings and their spouses in the summer.

I visited the Spirit of Hven Distillery on the Swedish island of Ven, last summer, and apart from the idyllic setting, it was a very enjoyable visit with the distillery's manager. Tried the Seven Stars and the Dubhe; nice and mellow, but by no means weak. Very promising.

Smögen has released a bottle called primör. Real nice one So if you have the chance try it. About Mackmyra they have a new one called Svensk rök much Juniper in the smoke.Different so you have to try it with a open mind.

I've heard good things. Never tasted a Swedish whisky, however. It would be nice if the distillers were to age some of their stock beyond 7 or 8 years. That would make me a bit more curious. I'm kind of underwhelmed with new distilleries always selling young whisky from all parts of the world. McCarthy's here in Portland Oregon is only three years old when bottled. Yes, some years back in 2008/9 were quite good. It's not as good any longer, but it would be quite good if aged for at least 10 years. The last glass I ordered in a bar (2013) was so bad that I left half of the glass on the bar and left.

An interesting Swedish micro-distiller is probably Grythyttan, they are about to become a Scottish distillery as they seem to have packed up their distillery equipment and moved it to Orkney, renaming themselves as the Longship distillery. They were supposed to start up their operations there by next month but they've gone very silent on the communication

I own two Macmyra's. One being the first edition and the other Special no. 5. The latter one I haven't tasted yet, but I finished my bottle of the first edition. It had a strong grain profile with lots of banana, marcipan and other overripe fruits to it. But it also tasted very young and that was somewhat off putting for me. and overpowered the fruit notes. But if you like young grain (or light floral) whiskies this certainly does the trick. I also have a Danish rye whisky (Stauning "Young Rye") and I have to say that impressed me more. A european single malt rye whisky! That I find interesting from the get go and it didn't dissappoint. It's also young, but the rye works really well and I felt transported to a rye field on a summer's day when the farmer is out harvesting. It transformed that unique smell into taste. However I'm stille looking forward to the Special 05 (which like already meantioned has been finished in lingonberry wine casks). That, like the Danish rye, is interesting I think, because it's new and it captures something uniquely Swedish.

A bit of a chance. Some friends of me bought shares in the Company, and they gone bankrupt with a bit of bad reputation in sweden, Now they try to get members in SMWCS. And so fare i Think they are dont really has the Money and the planning for make it happen. i@Pandemonium

Have you Heard about Braunstein. Also Danish, they make two different styles, one peat and one with no peat. I like the peaty one and have a barrel at there warehouse. Check there webpage www.braunstein.dk I agree on the fruitnose and they made some bottlig with cloudberry and that was something special.@Maltmaniacmate

Some websites of Swedish destillerys. Released whisky and made whisky Hven whisky www.backafallsbyn.se Mackmyra mackmyra.se Box boxwhisky.se Wannborga www.wannborga.nu/index.php Norrtelje Brenneri www.norrteljebrenneri.se Gotland whisky www.gotlandwhisky.se Smögen www.smogenwhisky.se Grythyttan www.grythyttanwhisky.se

Havent produced anything Bergslagen bergslagensdestilleri.se/produkter/… Lappland www.lapplanddestilleri.se Gammelstilla www.gammelstilla.se

Thats whats on in sweden 2014

I have yet to try a Swedish whisky although I have a bottle of Special 02 waiting to be opened. Just waiting for the right time I guess. International whisky tasting is on the cards I feel..

Mackmyra Special 02, that is.

I'd be interested to know which little twinkle-toed sourpuss skipped through this discussion and sprinkled minus ratings like fairy dust

Due to the fact that all ratings are minuses, I think it's safe to assume that whoever sprinkled that fay fairy dust is an enemy of Swedish whisky.

And to that, I can only say: "Inte ens din mamma gillar dig."

I'm going to buy a couple bottles of Swedish whisky now FO SHO

Hi here is a link to Mackmyra whisky on our State monopol called systembolaget. Only Place that sells alkohol in Sweden. And usually expensive but sometimes you can get special stuff cheaper there. systembolaget.se/Sok-dryck/…

There's a "Super Mackmyra tasting" in the local specialist whisky shop in two weeks, been thinking of going. The tasting line-up seems very extensive :

• MACKMYRA BRUKSWHISKY 41,4% • MACKMYRA LIVING CASK 48,2% • MACKMYRA SPECIAL 10 46,1% • MACKMYRA THE FIRST EDITION 46,1% • MACKMYRA MOMENT MARELD 52,2% • MACKMYRA 54,1% SPECIALLY BOTTLED FOR THE NECTAR • MACKMYRA PEAT SHERRY 45,5° SPECIALLY BOTTLED FOR THE NECTAR • MACKMYRA 54° SPECIALLY BOTTLED FOR TASTTOE

If I manage to go I'll follow up.

I had a very good experience with Mackmyra's Brukswhisky expression, after a visit to their distillery (will post my review this summer). Sadly you are not even allowed to buy from the distillery itself though, nor was I allowed to buy it at dutyfree flying within Europe. I like (as tfahey wrote) their use of Swedish themed processing and maturation, although unfortunately I really did not care for purely Swedish oak influence. It is better blended with other influences. I will definitely like to sample more than the 5 i tried, at some point.

Now i have tried the first release of Grythyttan sherry 56.4 % and only 3 year. I first liked it, but because it was so strong i added some drops of water in it. Sadly it Went more sulphur in the taste tried with more water and i get worser! It was just a sample bottle of 3 cl so havent enough whisky to save it. So at the moment i Think its overpriced. Some caskowners sell ther bottle fo about 1700 skr and thats to much for 50 cl of that stuff!