June 2020 – thewhiskyof.today

CAP Gin

Cap gin started as a conversation between three friend living in the south of France.
The vision is to create a gin that tells a story about the extraordinary area, Côte d’Azur also known as the French Riviera.
CAP Gin is the result of more than a year in research, planning, tasting and collaboration. It was important for them to create a product that truly reflects the history, heritage and architecture of this Mediterranean corner.

Now the the spirit it self! CAP gin contains a blend of nine carfully selected herbs, fruits and spices. Among the botanicals there is the traditional juiniper and coriander but also rose, mimosa, orange blossom, angelica root, lemon peel and pink peppercorns. This should result in a balanced and smooth taste.

Bottled at 43% abv on bottle cost about 49 USD.
Photo: Linus Wärn, Instagram

 

 

Small-brook Lucilinburhuc whisky from Luxembourg

Small-brook Lucilinburhuc by @smallbrook
It’s the first single malt whisky in Luxembourg. Matured in 32 liter bourbon cask, 32 liter oloroso cask and 64 liter Fino cask.
Love to try out world whisky and this one is quite unique because it’s the first single malt!
Bottled at 50% abv. Aged for 3 years. Barley is harvested from Germany. Checkout his account to get see the distillery and current releases.
This first batch sold out in only 8 hours.
〰️
Nose ?
At first strong woody and spicy notes. Some alcohol burn. After letting the whisky sit for a while Other notes become more clear.
There is also rassins, walnuts. Also throughout the whole nosing you get the wine and sherry notes too. Very balanced. To get the edge of the alcohol burn some water should be added.
〰️
Palate ?
Very nice on the palate, I got chocolate, red currants, herbal. Creamy at the end which extends the notes on the palate in a good way. The wine & sherry influence is strong and I like it a lot.
〰️
Finish ?
Very Long finish, the wine/sherry maturation shines here with some tannic and red dark fruits.
〰️
Conclusion ?
I’m stunned with this whisky, first before trying I didn’t know what to expect but I like that it is bottled at high abv because that means it’s up
the individual to water it down if it’s too strong. All those small casks makes the whisky get so flavor and character.
Despite only matured in 3 years there is so much going on with this whisky.
〰️
Score: 93/100

Samuel Gulliver’s 47 10yo quarter cask

Good news! A new expression has been released from Samuel Gulliver & CO this time it has an age statement of 10 years.
The previous dram of Gulliver’s 47 was a NAS but this one is 10yo and matured in quarter cask.
It’s darker in color because of the smaller cask that have been used and it’s peated as the predecessor.

The bottles are currently limited edition as a first release but I’m certain their will be more batches in the future.
Only 130 at this stage, one bottle is yours for 89 pounds. As a English whisky there is not too many with age statement so it will be interesting to see
what other brands will release with an age statement.
The standard Gulliver 47 is a favourite of mine when it comes to lighly peated whisky and this one will be interesting to taste and review
To see how the cask size changing the notes to maybe a more intense flavour profile.

Stay tuned for a review soon.
Photo by: Linus Wärn

Norbotnia Black River

Norbotnia Black River is blended and finally matured in bourbon casks in the county of Norrbotten, Sweden.
The source of the malt is not disclosed more than it’s distilleries in Scotland.

Text from the bottle:
What you hold in your hand is an exclusive whisky produced by Norbotnia Whisky Company.
Consisting of whiskies distilled and matured in Scotland, before blending and maturation in bourbon casks, in the county of Norrbotten, Sweden.
We’re sure that the Artic air across the bay and the northern lights puts a unique experience in your hand.
Please Enjoy with respect and responsibility.

The founders of Norbotnia Whisky Company is Anders Ringbjer and Mikael Sundelin, for contact you can reach them on their instagram.
The bourbon casks is from the American heaven hill and is from the beginning a 200 liter cask. It was then rebuilt by Thorslund kagge to smaller 30 and 40 liter casks to be aged in them instead.
Its bottled at 44.8% abv and has a volume of 50cl, my particular bottle is back 11 bottle 37/60 and the malt is peated.

Here is a review of this beautiful whisky:
Nose ?
Reminds me of a Ardbeg, a good peat also some citrus coming through. Some grassy and salty notes, and in the background some tar.
〰️
Palate ?
Tar, pepper, camp fire smoke, rubber, wood, good combination of flavors and a bit creamy at the end.
〰️
Finish ?
Finish is medium, would have hoped for a longer finish but the camp fire smoke is the most present.
〰️
Conclusion ?
Good nose quite complex Palate, not to overpowering on the smoke and also hints of other flavors. A good dram I would say ?
〰️
Score: 86/100
A good score and I like peated whisky so it goes hand in hand with my preferred taste!

Mosgaard Organic peated whisky – bourbon cask

A favourite distillery returns on the blog! The last time i wrote about them it was for a review and the px cask finish scored very high 96/100.
So this time it is their Peated organic single malt whisky that is aging for 2 years in “first fill” French oak, giving it a beautiful dark color and exciting spicy notes.
For the past year, it has been on Ex. Bourbon casks that add to the classic vanilla flavor.

I’m really excited about this one because I liked their other whisky so much! The whisky is distilled in copper pot stills designed by Mosgaard.
The peated whisky is based on 100% organic peated barley malt.
The bourbon maturation is in small 50 liter ex. bourbon casks and its bottled at 7/34% ABV.
Not too many distilleries disclose their ppm but Mosgaard do, the peat level of this whisky is 25PPM.

A review of this one is coming up soon!

Kalevala distilled Gin

Established in 2012, the Kalevala distillery produces premium organic Gin, Vodka & Rum in Easternmost Finland.
Some history about Kalevala:

The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and
Finnish oral folklore and mythology.
It is regarded as the national epic of Karelia and Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity and the intensification of Finland’s language strife that ultimately led to Finland’s independence from Russia in 1917.
The first version of the Kalevala, called the Old Kalevala, was published in 1835. The version most commonly known today was first published in 1849 and consists of 22,795 verses, divided into fifty folk stories (Finnish: runot).

The Kalevala gin focus on the juniper taste but they also include mint, rosebud, raspberry leaf and rosemary. The gin has a abv of 46,3% and comes in 50cl bottles.
In my optinion this is one of the favourite gin bottles that I’ve tried especially with finnish lingon berries.

Stauning Rye whisky

Stauning Rye is a true classic in their product range. The spirit is distilled in traditional direct-fire pot stills which results in a complex whisky with lots of nuances to explore.
It is a straight rye whisky since it contains no artificial flavour or colouring and it has been matured between 3 to 4 years.
Its distilled in Denmark, West Jutland, Stauning. Around 300-4000 bottles were made from the particular batch that I got and it’s bottled att 50% abv.

Stauning Rye contains only floor malted rye and floor-malted barley. This makes it something very special in the world of whisky.
At Stauning Whisky we do all processes on-site, and it means that we can handle the malting of the rye.

Notes from the producer:
It’s warm, friendly and fresh at the same time spicy, bold, full-bodied and seems considerably older than the age suggests.
One clearly tastes the Rye and recognize the scent of freshly baked rye bread.

Some key features that makes this whisky stand out from other rye whiskies is:
– Floor malted local barley
– Floor malted local rye
– Double pot still distilled
– Direct-fired stills

– Local water of superior quality
– Non-chill filtered
– Matured and bottled on site
– Terroir product of Denmark

Looking forward trying this one and a review will come up shortly, stay tuned!

G-Gin Skånska Spritfabriken

A while back i talked about Skånska Spritfabrikens g-Gin kaffe that was a special gin distilled with coffee beans.
It’s nice that distilleries nowdays are brave enough to try new things and widen their range besides the standard spirits.

Therefore I want to mention their other gin that they have.
– First of they have the standard g-gin London dry  gin that is bottled at 46.2% abv. It has a distinct nose of juniper but also green apples and cardamom.

– Besides the standard one they also has some oak finished gin, this one in particular is Österlen finish because its aged on  a barrel used for their Österlen VSOP First Batch.
This one has also a distinct nose of juniper but a mix of both green and red apples. Its has the same abv as the London dry gin because its that spirit that is aged in the barrel.

– At last we have g-Gin Rosé, aged in red wine bordeaux casks which gives it a rosé color on the spirit. The nose on this one is juniper, red pepper and grape.

Recently they hosted a crowdfunding to keep their imagination going on new types of spirits and twists. So from now on we will see more variations and new spirit types in the near future, that I’m sure of!