Nordic Whisky #27 - Box Whisky The Archipelago Baltic Sea 2015

Box Whisky The Archipelago Baltic Sea 2015, 3 YO, 54,8 %

This is the second special release from Box Whisky. Last summer they released the Box Whisky The Festival 2014, which was a peated whisky. The Box Whisky The Archipelago Baltic Sea 2015 (wow, that's a mouth-full!) was bottled exclusively for Viking Line and was sold at the Cinderella Whisky Fair 2015,  January 15-17.

This is a young whisky, at 3 years and 33 days. It was distilled between 2011-11-25 and 2011-12-05, and was bottled on 2015-01-07. The whisky was matured in four 96 liter heavily charred new American oak casks. The total outturn was 700 bottles, and they were sold at SEK 899 on the ship. More details can be found here.

All bottles of the Box Whisky The Archipelago Baltic Sea 2015 were sold out immediately; see my article from the Whisky Fair for further details - it was absolutely crazy!

Nose (22/25): Malty and spicy upfront. Soft caramel, almonds, camphor, vanilla and marshmallows. As usual from Box Whisky, a pleasant nose.

Taste (21/25): Full-on sweetness and fizzy spiciness. Lots of oranges and pepper. A bit nutty. Ginger, and something that reminds me of 'Champagne Soda' that we had as kids.

Finish (19/25): Relatively short. Caramel, sugar, and a dry oakiness.

Balance (20/25): This is the first of the Box Whisky releases that have really come across as too young for me. Maybe we have been spoiled so far? Maybe it is the fact that this is a naked, and honest, release with young, unpeated whisky matured in new oak? It is still a whisky of great quality, but previous releases have been better.

Score (82/100)

Sláinte! - Thomas