Nordic Whisky # 248 - High Coast Cinco

High Coast Cinco, 6 YO, 50.5 %

Swedish distillery High Coast recently released a couple of new products. That is always well worth looking into as far as I am concerned. First off we have the High Coast Cinco.

This is the summary from the official product page:

Cinco consists of 100% of unpeated whiskey matured in five different styles of sherry barrels; Palo Cortado, Pedro Ximénez, Amontillado, Oloroso and Fino. All included whisky has been matured in Bourbon barrels for between 2.66 and 5.64 years.

Ten of the 11 barrels are matured in Spanish oak. We added one cask of Pedro Ximénez that was matured in American oak to balance up the spicy flavours of the European oak with some sweeter notes.

A total of 5195 bottles has been released, and they are available to buy in Sweden at SEK 879 (072702).

UPDATE 2021-06-15: The High Coast Cinco is now also available in Norway at NOK 735 (13183302).

Nose: Whoa! This is nice. Must be the best “sherry nose” from High Coast so far - or indeed from any Swedish distillery. Deep and vibrant sherry notes, dried fruits galore. Also coffee and dark chocolate. Warm and comforting nose. A baseline of orchard fruits and mild spices. With time memories of white sugar sprinkled on the deep woods of northern Sweden. Even more time reveals more deep, earthy notes in the form of cinnamon stick, nutmeg and cocoa nibs. Looove the nose!

Taste: This is a whisky that makes itself known from the get go. Rich and bold in style. Spices and sugary notes up front. Then a wave of dried fruits, cinnamon and nuts.

Finish: Medium long finish. Deeper sweetness now. Fizzy ginger and cinnamon notes. A touch green in the end.

Comment: Great malt meets great sherry casks.

Score 90/100

Sláinte!
- Thomas