Mackmyra 12 Year (SMWS 151.3 "Skinny Dipping in the Baltic Sea")

 

Here is an interesting whisky - a single cask Swedish single malt from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS")! Hailing from Mackmyra distillery, this is one I've been curious about for some time. This Mackmyra, aged 12 years in first fill ex-bourbon, is peated (with Swedish peat!) and matured not in a warehouse but underground in an old mine (!). They also use an innovative gravity distillery these days, although I don't know if it was used to make this spirit or not. 

Here are the official notes from SMWS: 

A big and expressive nose that brimmed with grubby coal smoke, herbal bitters and savoury smoked fish. Also herby pork sausages, charred bacon and burnt heather with hints of antiseptic cream and carbolic soap. The waft of a freshly creosoted fence. With water we noted gooseberries, elderflower, burning gorse and various varieties of smoked fish and rollmop herring. The neat palate showed a big initial slick of extra virgin olive oil, smoked almonds, campfire on a beach and seawater. Reduction brought out savoury hickory smoke, charcuterie, a waxy mouthfeel and punchy medicinal tones. 

This is the kind of offbeat and unusual thing I love. The tasting notes read like an Islay, and I'm super curious how all the local Swedish terroir will make itself known. Bottled at 48.5% ABV (curiously low), let's investigate: 

Nose: The nose on the neck pour is pretty wild: coal, clay, peanut brittle, bacon, and salt. It's a weird mixture, with peanut brittle (cooked peanut butter?) being by far the dominant note at first. 

Over time, and adding a touch of water, remixes the nose a little - peanut butter is still present, but farther back, and sea salt, sea water, clay, and maybe a little malt emerge... it also brings out candle wax. 

But over time, and farther into the bottle, it becomes different altogether: sea salt, flowers galore (!), a refined sugary quality almost like tutti frutti (!!), wood smoke, a very thick waxiness, and clay.

Mouthfeel: Oily and medium-bodied. 

Palate: Doesn't skimp on the flavor: olive oil is pretty spot on, sea water, almonds for sure, TONS of flowers (!), cigar smoke, salt, and hints of smoked fish. A truly eccentric series of flavors that is nonetheless immensely satisfying for (1) not having hardly any alcohol burn, (2) the immense floral note, which runs through everything, and (3) the lovely salt water note. Stays mostly the same with water, although the floral note becomes a tad muted. 

Finish: Surprisingly short! A burst of campfire and antiseptic mixed with flowers soaked in sea water, and then gone. The peat/smoke linger in a very reduced way. One of the shortest finishes I've ever had with a peated whisky. Oddly, the result isn't disappointment but an odd sense of refreshment - it pops on your tongue and vanishes almost mischievously, like soda sometimes does.

Verdict: This is definitely slightly askew if you're coming from the world of peated Scotch, but is still a high quality whisky worth your time and attention. What's curious is the almost total lack of fruit - normally most peated whiskies have some citrus (lemon or lime) or some orchard fruit or stone fruit or ... something. The slight sweetness here is also a big offbeat: no honey, not quite vanilla either, not chocolate... but a sort of salty, nutty, floral sweetness. Hard to describe. Worth seeking out.