Another one of those rather strange bottles in Ian Buxton’s ‘101’. This time it is the Swedish Mackmyra whisky. The distillery is one that, since its not in Scotland, has a little bit more leeway in what to use to produce whisky. They have tried different fuels like Juniper and Spruce twigs as well as Alderwood to find a replacement for peat. They also use many different kinds of casks, ranging from 2 liters to some 100 liters, to increase maturation speed.

This whisky is their official real release, after a set of different chapters. They used to produce small batch whiskies named Preludium in which they tried different styles, ranging from maturation in a cave, to peated, to sherry cask matured and so on.

Nose:
Its starts very fresh, like  pine tree needles. Also there is a smell of minerals with vanilla, green apples and grass. A nice mixture of fresh smells with hardly a strange note in there.

Taste:
The mouthfeel is very smooth, like a silk coating. Some sirupy sweetness like sugarwater. The freshness remains.

Finish:
Not unexpected to find a smooth finish here. Again, very crisp and the flavours last for a while, although nothing new happens. Also some vanilla and pear drops.

A nice whisky, very very very smooth, but the crispness is something I quite like. It reminds me of some very nice Chardonnays I tried in California. I hope the maturation brings a bit more depth to it over time for Mackmyra’s new releases, because that is about the only thing that’s missing.

Mackmyra 1st Edition, 46.1%, 2008, about 45 euros, available at Master of Malt

Nose: 7
Taste: 6
Finish: 6
Overal experience: 7
Price/quality: +1

Total: 27 points