skål! From the land of Ikea, meatballs and of course Roxette, we are super proud to continue our new world whiskies with the Australian launch of our first ever single malt whisky from Sweden! From Swedish distillery Mackmyra we have nothing short of their flagship product –The Mackmyra Svensk Ek!
This is not a flat pack! It comes fully assembled from 100% Swedish ingredients and its even aged in Swedish oak (well – some of it is, read on!).
Svensk Ek is the flagship of the Mackmyra core range. Originally called ‘The First Edition’, the new name translates as ‘Swedish Oak’. The whisky is aged partially in casks made from oak from the island of Visingsö, originally intended for use as ship building timber for the Swedish Royal Navy.
We’ve spoken about ‘terroir’ in the past – the ‘taste’ of a region. Well, this whisky is all about Swedish terroir. It uses Swedish barley (malted onsite) from the nearby farms in the mash and ferments it with Swedish yeast. It is then aged in 200L ex-bourbon casks. The age of the casks used in the Svensk Ek range between 4 and 9 years old. Now, 10% of the whisky is then finished for 18 months in 30L Swedish Oak casks. You may wonder why only 10% of the whisky is finished this way – well, in the words of the distillers – “To use more Swedish oak the whisky would be too much of all and not a good balance. 10% sound little but it’s gives very much to the mix”.
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: green apple crispness and under-ripe bananas, flaky pastry vanilla slice with floral notes and a touch of marzipan sweetness.
Palate: Lovely viscous mouthfeel, a light pepper burst precedes a sweet fruitiness, candied peel, honey, and vanilla with a real ginger-nut biscuit spiciness in the tail.
Finish: The finish has a delightful, almost dairy feel to it. Like a citrus spiked crème brulee with extra caramelised sugar on top.
Beautiful mouthfeel with a lovely creaminess just makes this such a pleasant whisky to sip on. The spiciness presents as a ‘hot ginger’ type rather than white pepper. Beautiful balance of spice and fruit as well. The Swedish oak doesn’t really present as anything ‘foreign’ or ‘out of place’ or ‘unusual’ – but I assume (from communicating with the distillery) that the ‘ginger nut spiciness’ is at least partly it’s signature. I really like this – not as a ‘novelty’ – but as a whisky, it really stands up!
