Kategoriarkiv: High Coast

High Coast, Sweden

High Coast Älv (River)

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Sweden
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is young and sweet. At first there’s a sweet honey and vanilla layer surrounding the edges of the glass while the center core reveals a ”spirity” green apple distillate. There’s an overlay of sweet liquorice and a salty character comes through from the back. It becomes sweeter with time in the glass. This is not a complex nose and it’s young but it has no sharp edges or harshness coming through.

Mouth: There’s a big immidiate impact of sweetness, ABV spicyness and liquorice. When it settles the green apples arrive. It does show a little harshness on the palate. There’s a thin but nice black coffee bitterness showing up in the background but it’s way back and isn’t making any claims to be in focus. It feels a bit uneventful at this point.

Finish: It starts out with the ABV turning into a black pepper spicyness. Otherwise there’s the same sweetness, the same thin coffee note in the back and liquorice is still a main part of the experience. The green apples are pushed to the back when the oakiness arrives. It’s a nice fresh oakiness which makes a subtle entrance and slowly takes over. The liquorice remains and the two stays for the late finish. This is a decent whisky which really shows a good distillery character, but as a standalone whisky it lacks in both age and complexity.

Additional information
This is part of the High Coast Origins series. It’s aged for around 6-7 years in ex-bourbon barrels and quarter casks. 8259 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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High Coast, Sweden

High Coast Berg (Mountain)

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and fresh oak. At first there’s a thick lid of dark fruits covered in a brown sugar syryp. It’s sitting on top of a young, spirity distillate. There’s an immidiate oakiness covering the background. Up front there are cinnamon and mild spearmint notes. There’s a fresher green apple note coming through as well, but the whole thing feels top heavy and one-dimensional. With time a coffee note emerges in the center. This is a nice nose but corners are cut which is very much noticable.

Mouth: It starts out with a very dark fruitiness together with a coffee bitterness. There’s an immidiate oakiness, with is a bit too close for comfort. It still feels like all the flavours sits on top and there’s a lack of complexity underneath. With time it produces a chili spicyness and a hint of walnut. The brown sugar returns but it’s not as pronounced as on the nose. The freshness from the distillate is well hidden behind the oak and sherry.

Finish: The finish starts out with the dark sherry notes and the oak moving forwards in different layers without ever touching each other. It sort of feels like there’s a hole in the middle of it all. After a while that hole gets filled with some walnuts and coffee. In the late finish it’s just the oakiness by itself. It becomes too oaky and sort of off-putting in the end. This is a good whisky, but the corners cut to create this sherry-bomb has made it overoaked and top heavy.

Additional information
This single malt is part of the High Coast Origins series. It’s about 6 YO, first aged in american ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in a mix of first fill american oak PX-casks of various sizes. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Box, High Coast, Sweden

Sweden Rock 21 – Ny Amerikansk Ek (Box)

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Sweden
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and oaky. At first there’s a big hit from the charred oak with vanilla and a dry charcoal smokiness. Underneath lies a thin layer of red berries and a fresh sour lemon as well. It’s got an initial bourbon character which mellows out with time in the glass which gives more room for the distillate to shine through. After a while a thin butterscotch note emerges from the background. This is a decent nose but it feels a bit over-oaked which hides the nice flavours underneath.

Mouth: It starts out with a very prickly spicyness coming from the wood followed by the heavy oakiness. The charcoal is less noticable on the palate. It’s actually quite unpleasant at first. When it settles a bit there’s a lemon note in the back as well as a feint butterscotch note. The red berries do come through for those who wait long enough. The distillate comes through as a bit flat due to the low ABV, but the wood spices are already attacking the palate enough.

Finish: The finish starts out with a mix of ripe red berries and butterscotch coming through from the back as the wood spices take a much needed brake for a second or two. They return once again though and together with the wood obscures most of the flavours all the way through the finish. The charcoal returns in the late finish. This is a so and so whisky which is way too oaky and spicy. It feels unbalanced and leaves a lot of the nice flavours obscured by the heavy oakiness. This should do well as a base for longdrinks and cocktails though.

Additional information
This is a limited edition swedish whisky made by the Box Distillery and blended by Agitator whisky maker for the Sweden Rock festival. It’s aged for at least 5-6 years in a mix of heavily charred new oak casks and ex-Oloroso sherry casks.

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Box, High Coast, Sweden

Box Dálvve

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Sweden
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is young and peaty. At first there’s a menthol layer sitting above a fresh herbaceous peatiness. There’s vanilla and some green fruits starting to come through after a few seconds. There’s also a small hint of play-doh floating around in the middle of everything. The peatiness evolves slowly towards ashes and burning tobacco and the smoke mixes with the menthol. It becomes sweeter with time in the glass. This is a nice and interesting nose.

Mouth: It starts out quite spicy with a fruity bottom layer. The peat arrives right away and it’s creating an outer layer together with honey and vanilla. It’s still herbaceous with a side note of tobacco. In the middle there’s a maltiness and a savory note. There’s also a bitter black coffee note and freshly planed oak. It still feels young and unsettled, but there are a lot of flavours seeking attention.

Finish: The menthol returns for a quick but substancial visit and then just sort of lingers through the entire finish. Next to come through are both the peaty outer layer and the honey sweet and malty core. The fruitiness is still there, but never really breaks through the big flavours up front. Eventually the oak shows up and it’s nice enough, but feels a bit characterless. The bitter coffee note is not as pronounced in the finish as it is in the mouth. This is a great, albeit young whisky with a lot to offer.

Additional information
This whisky is matured for about 5 years in american ex-bourbon barrels. The distillate is made from 24 % peated malt and 76 % unpeated. The peated malt has a ppm level of 39. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. This is batch 003.