Myken newmake 63.4%

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:

myken_nysprit

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.

3 thoughts on “Myken newmake 63.4%”

  1. “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.

    1. 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.

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