ABV: 44,9 %
Origin: Sweden
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is spicy oak and dark fruits. The oak is very pronounced from the get-go. There are notes of pine and ethanol connected to it which seems to come from the vodka casks. The combination creates a prickly sensation which is rather unpleasant. Underneath lies a layer of undefinable dark ripe fruits and berries. The fruitiness is wrapped in a vanilla coating which becomes sweeter over time. There’s also a hint of green apples coming through from the back. After a while a hint of sulfur and peat starts to emerge which gives it a nice depth. This is a very busy nose which seems rather unbalanced and a bit over-oaked. It’s an interesting exploration nevertheless.

Mouth: It starts out with a fruity sweetness together with the same piney oakiness as on the nose but it’s now a bit less prominent. It’s still not a great addition to the whole though. It takes a few seconds before the sweetness and fruitiness starts to give out vanilla and ripe red grapes with a hint of lemon in the back. The peat and the sulfur are still creating a nice gritty background but it’s overrun by the top notes. It’s still very busy and sort of unbalansed, but a lot better than on the nose.

Finish: When the initial impact subsides the first thing to push through is a mix of the peat, vanilla and the oakiness which now has shifted and started producing a nice hazelnut nuttiness. It finally seems to have found its balance between the flavours and the late finish is actually pretty good. The gritty background seem to follow along in the late finish which gives a pleasant experience in the end. This is a good whisky which seems a bit over-engineered and all over the place. It’s a nice exploration but not the best tasting whisky out there. And ironically, the nose is the worst part of the journey.

Additional information
This single malt is aged for at least 8 years in a mix of 21 casks. 14 Querqus Petraea french ex-wine casks and 7 american Querqus Muehlenbergii casks, some virgin oak, some ex-vodka. It’s then been married in spanish Querqus Robur ex-Oloroso casks.