In order to really test the sample of Myken newmake, I lined up two other newmakes to try in parallel. One was not even a sample, Mackmyra Vit Hund is available at Systembolaget in Sweden for 319 SEK for 50 cl bottle. The other spirit I let Myken test its mettle against was a sample of Glenburgie newmake. To my delight (yes, I will happily admit to rooting for the Myken project) the sample from Myken stood its own. The Mackmyra is perhaps more polished, but it’s also a product meant to be sold and drunk as is. The Myken spirit is intended for maturation (so is most of the spirit off the still at Mackmyra, of course, but I suspect they chose the batches for Vit Hund with care). The Glenburgien had a pleasant nose, but was unfortunately undrinkable once water was added, and that’s simply not good enough in this company.
But enough waffle, here are my impressions of the Myken newmake:
Nose: Malt, milk chocolate and wet concrete. With water sulfur emerges, but also green grapes and apples and Wasa Husmann crackerbread.
Palate: Lemon, concrete, malt and a chemical pine needle character. A little sharper with water, but the malt/barley character is also emphasised.
Comments: Pretty good, on the whole. Less fruity than the other two, but it tastes nice enough to leave me wanting more. The impression of concrete interests me (it’s an aroma I rather like), and I’ll be interested to see if it follows through in the maturation.
“Malt, milk chocolate and wet concrete. With water sulfur emerges, but also green grapes and apples and Wasa Husmann crackerbread”. So not being a Nordic type, but knowing something about malt, chocolate, concrete (my kids say my gravy is like concrete but without the taste…), sulphur, grapes and apples I was stumped on the last comparison – the Wasa crackerbread (or knackerbrod as you call it I think). http://www.wasa.com/ helped a bit. I think it is amazing we now have a secondary market for the first fill or new make from destilleris, and yet isn’t that just also so amazing – imagine being at Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Talisker, Highland Park, or Old Pulteney, when they first starting distilling! A little sip of history in the making and drinking. Skol.
Ha, ha. Yes, the Wasa Husmann is a bit of a local thing, isn’t it? You might get Ryvita in shops, though? It’s similar, but there’s a certain something about Wasa Husmann. It’s baked with rye, but does not have the sourdough character that a lot of rye products have. It is, in fact, quite sweet in taste.
But, yes, I agree wholeheartedly in that part of the excitement of the Nordic distilleries is being present, as it were, at the start of something potentially big.