Under 3 years – drikkelig.no

Myken Young Malt Hungarian Oak 47 %

This spirit has matured for five months in a 10 litre cask of Hungarian oak.

Nose: A fair amount of congeners, vanilla, a little cinnamon and apricots. It turns more towards the vegetal with water, I still find cinnamon, but also some black pepper.

Palate: Rice pudding with cinnamon and sugar. Congeners as well. Rougher with water, but the cinnamon still dominates.

Comments: Seems very young, but then it is. The cinnamon is from the oak, I suppose. It’s a bit over the top, really. Less congeners on the nose would have been better, as it is, I rather like it, but not so much that I regret it being unavailable to purchase.

Box Cask Sample Peated Bourbon Cask #A5808 54%

Filled 4 July 2012, bottled 6 February 2015, peating level 43 ppm, matured in a 40 litre ex-bourbon cask.

Nose: A bonfire that someone’s thrown some juniper branches on over which spareribs are being grilled. When I add water the sweetness and heat disappears and I am left with cold smoke, flint and juniper berries.

Palate: Cold smoke, in contrast with the heat on the nose, lemons and herbs. No significant development when water is added.

Comments: Wow, that’s a bit of a split personality on the nose. I liked both varieties, but preferred the hot and sweet undiluted character. The palate is perfectly fine and demonstrates how much can be disguised with a bit of peat, this they could easily bottle and sell as far as I’m concerned, something I wouldn’t advice doing with the unpeated variety. Another dram? Well, if you won’t need to twist my arm.

Box Cask Sample Bourbon Cask #A747 54%

Filled 30 June 2012, bottled 8 January 2015, unpeated spirit matured in a 40 litre ex-bourbon cask.

Nose: Cumin and pine needles, vanilla and some congeners. A little lemon with water, more congeners and black pepper.

Palate: Black pepper, vanilla and spice, but also a little sulfur and congeners. The young age is emphasised with water, but the pepper stays, also on the finish, and I get some candied lemon.

Comments: Young, but promising. Definitely appears unfinished, not really ready for drinking, but then the point of these cask samples is not to sell drinking whisky (yet).

Myken 12 days 50%

Newmake from Myken, matured for 12 days in a heavily toasted virgin American oak cask of 5 liters capacity.

Nose: Butterscotch, yellow apples. A lot of butter. Underlying oak. Mango. Malt makes its appearance with water, so does a faint citrussy note.

Palate: Oak, butterscotch, vegetation. Slightly more bitter with water, and some sweet mango appears, otherwise much the same.

Comments: A very active cask. Not bad at all, the butterscotch is pretty dominating, but also rather nice.

Kilchoman New Spirit 5 months 63.5%

Distilled 27 Juli 2007, 50 ppm in the malt, matured in an ex-bourbon cask, bottled 26 February 2008.

Nose: Railway sleepers and rusty iron. Apple sauce, apricots and cucumber. With water jasmine and cardamom.

Palate: Soot-covered iron construction. More ashy with water, with an underlying fruitiness.

Comments: Where can I get a proper bottle rather than this puny 5 cl? Makes me wonder what the point is to years of maturation, when this is perfectly delightful as is.

Spirit from Gammelstilla

We had time for a couple of quick samples of the various spirits Gammelstilla are producing, here are my hasty notes:

Gammelstilla newmake

Nose: Malt! Citrus, melon and generally a lot of fruit.

Palter: Congeners, citrus and lemon.

Comments: A very clean nose.

Gammelstilla “Nysprit” 15 months 57 %

Matured in five litre casks made from new and first fill American oak.

Nose: Vanilla, bourbon, citrus, malt, wood and sauna.

Palate: A little too heavy on the cask side, at the same time a little too young.

Comments: The nose is still impressive, promising stuff.

Gammelstilla “Nysprit” 11 months 63,1 %

Matured in 15 litre casks made from new Hungarian oak for 5.5 months and then in 15 litre ex-bourbon casks for 5.5 months.

Nose: Different. Sweeter vanilla, wood (sauna), tropical fruits; pineapple, possibly grilled.

Palate: Vanilla, wood. Bitter on the finish.

Gammelstilla Aquavit 46 %

Cask matured for up to a year. Available at Systembolaget.

Nose: Liquorice and fennel.

Palate: A lot of dill on the palate, also fennel and… rosemary?

Comments: I’m imagining it would go well with fish because of the dill.

Box Försmak bourbon cask smoky newmake 20 months 57%

Nose: Strong similarities to the Kilkerran WIP batch 1; more like aquae vitae than whisky, but very, very nice.

Palate: Malt with an aquae vitae and spruce profile.

Comments: Very promising, but also quite drinkable as is.

(Tasted at Trondheim Whiskyfestival 2014.)