More Nordic whiskies


September 16, 2022

More Nordic whiskies

A few days ago someone well-placed told me I should watch BB&R's new 'Thy'. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't even in the know of the existence of 'Thy', and that consequently, I felt shame. You learn every day…

Thy 2019/2022 (57.6%, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Denmark, Nordic Casks #2, quarter cask, cask #258, 235 bottles)

The young Thy Distillery is located in the north of Denmark, not far from the sea. Let's see if Thy is shy (remember we've won the Lousiest Joker Award at the World Whisky Awards). Colour: white wine. Nose: rather starts with some metal polish and notes of artisanal cachaça, and would go on with some pastis and aquavit (not saying aquavit because we're in Demark here, I promise). Whiffs of wild carrots and genepy too, perhaps even crushed sugar beets… I find this rather unusual, but really lovely. With water: perhaps parsnips too, celeriac, and certainly some kind of pinewood smoke. Mouth (neat): very potent, really smoky this time, but also with even more aniseed, caraway, fennel, liquorice… Did anyone ever try to make some smoked pastis? (yeah I know pastis may smoke YOU, but that's another story). With water: ah lovely indeed, very fresh and even more on smoked herbs and root vegetables of all kinds. Finish: rather long, smoky (not peaty), with some eggplants and some rye in the aftertaste. Comments: awesome young drop, very different and yet not exactly deviant. Love it to find the differences in the distillate itself, and not in the casks that have been in use.
SGP:474 - 86 points.

Speaking of finish…

Stauning 2017/2022 (58.9%, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Denmark, Nordic Casks #2, barrel + moscatel hogshead, cask #6493, 254 bottles)

Moscatel! Will this be stuffy and cloying? Or not? On the other hand, this is Stauning. Colour: deep gold. Nose: yeah, our beloved panettones and kougelhopfs, plus acacia honey, Sauternes and Canadian ice-wine. With water: same, with emphasis on the panettone and kougelhopf. Touch of fresh ginger, rye bread. Mouth: boy! Juniper and pineau des Charentes, plus clove liqueur. Very strong, may tear you apart if you're not careful (given that the nose was charmingly sweet). With water: some wood spices coming through, cinnamon, nutmeg, rye… Finish: rather long. The Moscatel really feels, while the aftertaste is very spicy. Comments: heavy, not my favourite style, as a few friends very well know, but within this style, it's rather a top gun. More AC/DC than Brahms if you ask me.
SGP:662 - 84 points.

Teerenpeli 2013/2022 (59.9%, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Finland, Nordic Casks #2, oloroso hogshead, cask #13B, 217 bottles)

I know the whiskies are pretty young, but did you notice the strengths? I had thought ethanol would evaporate faster than water in northern climates… Or did they mature these in Kentucky? Or is this one of the effects of climate change? Colour: deep gold. Nose: and voilà, cakes and butterscotch plus touches of varnish, you cannot be against this. Simple, straightforward, extremely pleasant. With water: warms your nose, sends raisins and young rancio to your brain. Extremely comforting. Mouth (neat): butterscotch and millionaire shortbread, dipped into kirschwasser and coffee liqueur. Sounds horrible (my fault) but it is actually brilliant. With water: lovely sherry cask. Walnut cake, peanut nougat, halva, satay sauce… Well this is almost pornographic. Finish: long, chocolaty. Reminds me of a bar that we used to have when I was a kid, in the 1980s (yeah right), which consisted in some kind of peanut brittle covered with caramel and chocolate. Forgot the name, better like this. Comments: textbook sherry maturing, and calls for more Teerenpeli…
SGP:551 - 88 points.

… and some heavier Teerenpeli yet…

Teerenpeli 3 yo 2014/2017 'Tervaisen Savuinen Grillikastike' (61.7%, OB, Finland, peated oloroso, 84 bottles)

Whatever it says on the bottle, I agree with (too easy, S.) Colour: amber. Nose: some similarities and some differences. What's similar is all this shortbready and butterscotchy arrival (they'll catch you one day, S.) while what's different is this massive amount of herbal and resinous smoke, as if someone had burnt a bag of pine needles plus a pair of old wellies, and then tossed a bottle of Maggi onto the fire. With water: awesome chocolatery development, plus indeed a good glass of good oloroso. Mouth (neat): extremely rich and piney and totally huge. Another Tyson of a malt, let's not insist… With water: some sweetness coming out, like raisins macerated in fir bud liqueur and then smoked with pinewood and salted with, well, salt. Finish: extremely long, saltier yet, with the rubbery side up and the sweetness down. More Maggi. Comments: awesome fighter, but fighter. Something psychedelic too, perhaps… Wait, let's find an appropriate record to listen to while sipping this… Perhaps Gong's 'Camembert Electrique'? Or, hey, Aphrodite's Child's '666'? Love, love love love…
SGP:576 - 86 points.

Good, before this session gets too apocalyptic, let's have a last Nordic…

Mackmyra 2013/2022 (53.5%, Swell de Spirits, Sweden, Wonders #9, American/Virgin oak, cask #17280, 390 bottles)

Colour: deep gold. Nose: back to civilisation, back to Chopin, Ravel and The Rolling Stones. Banana bread, fresh praline, dried figs and pears, maple syrup, a bit of white chocolate, vanilla pods, rum baba, nougat… It really is a gentle Mackmyra, matured in no silly wood (seemingly, this far). With water: roots and green bananas. That's the oak. Manioc. Mouth (neat): a tad harsher, more on ginger and cinnamon (which I always found pretty 'Mackmyra'), with some rather green tannins, white pepper, oak spices… Was is virgin US oak or virgin European oak? With water: a wee feeling of rye, ginger cookies, candied ginger… Finish: drier and rather drying. Comments: pretty good, but in my book, the oak really feels here. A bottling that may be a little 'un-Swell', if I may. The nose was lovely though, and that's why we won't go below…
SGP:461 - 80 points.

All right, let's travel back to Finland and then call this a tasting session…

Teerenpeli 8 yo (61.7%, OB for Kirsch Import, Finland, PX, cask #25112013B, 342 bottles, 2022)

May we have the name of the gentleman or the lady who's responsible with numbering-up the casks? Colour: gold. Nose: butterscotch and just a little Williams pear. Rather in the style of BB&R's Teerenpeli, so no complains here. With water: cake and a little wet earth. The garden after a shower. Also some good cigarette tobacco, let's say Senior Service. Mouth (neat): classic nutty, coffeeish and raisiny sherry, not too cloying this time, as if this PX was actually good oloroso. With water: a little rubber popping out, otherwise leaves, leather, and lees. I like it better without water, but then again, sixty one and seven tenths, mind you. Finish: rather long, this time with some coffee. Comments: perfectly all right, possibly the best you could do with PX.
SGP:461 - 85 points.

Näkemiin.