Nordic Whisky #185 - Smögen "6/6"

Smögen "6/6", 6 YO, 59.2 %

Nordic Whisky #185 - Smögen "6/6"

This recent release by Swedish distillery Smögen was distilled on 2011-06-06, and matured in two 1st fill barriques (225 litre casks) - cask #18/2011 and #19/2011. The casks were made from fresh Swedish oak (Quercus Robur). Then on 2017-10-06 the whisky was bottled, with a total outturn of 840 bottles.

The Smögen "6/6" is so named because the casks were filled on the Swedish national day, June 6. This is, as usual with Smögen, a heavily peated (50+ ppm) whisky. The peated malt is from Bairds Malt in Scotland, a company that uses peat from Caithness and Aberdeenshire.

On November 23, 2017, 660 bottles of Smögen "6/6" were made available to buy at SEK 1223 and they flew off the shelves.

Before I give you my verdict I want to point out that most of the time fresh Swedish oak and I are not quite on speaking terms. I find a strange note of heavy, oaky sweetness in such casks that is overwhelming and not wholly to my liking. Anyways, here it is..

Nose: Smoke n' oak! Rich and malty character. The peatiness is rather massive, but I happily "suffer" through it. Behind the thick veil of smoke I find orchard fruits and soft spices. Hints of pine wood in the back. Chewing gum on fire! With time a sweeter and heavier oakiness comes through. It is the Swedish oak rearing its head. Oooh, I was dreading this. Well, let's see how this works on the palate..

Taste: Rich and full-bodied. Mint chocolate. Pine wood smoke. Oak for sure, and it is sweet and a touch heavy. Peppers and chilies. Very green on subsequent sips - mint, grass, pine wood, tomato plant.

Finish: Medium long finish. Ginger and camphor. A touch of grapefruit. Mainly I still find wood smoke, mint and the heavy, sweet oakiness.

Comments: A fun experiment, but I do not think 1st fill Swedish Oak is the way to go, Pär. That's my two cents anyway.

Score (81/100)

Image from Master of Malt.

Sláinte! - Thomas