Jul 31, 2014 |
I tried Swedish whisky for the first time last night.
I was in a place called Umedalen, just outside of Umeå, with the intention of visiting the sculpture park there. But rather than stop and admire the art, hunger led me on to find food.
A friend had suggested the nearby Bistro le Garage – a good call. It was on the pricey side, though to be fair, this is Scandinavia, and it was no worse than some of the nicer London gastropubs. Good food – some of it superb – in a relaxing, family-friendly environment with outdoor seating against a backdrop of pine trees. I’d definitely go back.
The place was a little busy – and while waiting for a table, I noticed a selection of whiskies I’d never seen before: Mackmyra.
It’s a young company, as whiskies go. A bunch of friends got together at a winter resort in 1998, and each of them had brought a single malt. The shared interest led to a conversation over drinks, which led to a decision, which ultimately led to the establishment of a Swedish distillery. Their first release in 2006 sold out in 20 minutes.
After nosing all three available expressions straight from the bottle, I selected the Special: 10 – since it seemed to have the most going on. The others seemed a bit light and floral for my tastes. I ordered a 4cl glass and decided to do a tasting between my main course and dessert. It was the right choice, especially since I’d gone for the crème brulée.
The Mackmyra Special 10 is smooth and on the sweet side, matured in casks that have previously stored whisky spiced with coffee beans. It was a good way to finish a meal.
The nose was light and fruity with honeycomb, pear, vanilla and freshly sanded wood. There are fudge notes to the palate with a touch of citrus and apple. A slightly sharp baking soda overtone was less welcome, but that disappears with a drop of water, replaced by more of a vanilla cream. The finish is medium to long – and that’s where those coffee beans really come through, along with a hint of lemon and a little saltiness.
The dessert made sense of it. Or vice versa. It was a great match.
I hadn’t paid proper attention to whisky in a long time. The whisky blog I ran with Clutch came to a natural end a couple of years back. I’ve had the odd glass with friends from time to time, but not made a point of doing a tasting.
Finding something new like the Mackmyra was a good excuse to give the whisky tasting thing another try. And while it didn’t blow my mind, it was lovely – and just right.
The rewarding bit is in paying attention when confronted with new things: new tastes, new smells, new experiences. I need to stop and do that more often. Not just whisky. Life always seems richer, more nuanced and brighter when I make myself slow down and attempt to articulate the experience. It’s why I write.
May 8, 2012 |
For the past few years, I’ve been running a whisky blog with my friend Clutch. We’ve visited some lovely places (mostly in Scotland), tasted some wonderful whisky, met some fascinating people – and even made some music as part of that little venture.
Plus, people sent us whisky to try. Bonus.
This year, we’ve kind of let it slide. Clutch has moved up to Aberdeenshire and no longer lives just around the corner, he’s focusing on his expanding family (child number 2 due any moment now) – and I’ve been concentrating on other stuff. Writing books mostly.
In fact, I think I may have only had whisky about three times so far this year – and then only when we’ve had visitors over. It just hasn’t been something I’ve focused on or paid much attention to in 2012. Maybe we’ll get back into the swing of it next year.
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Jul 9, 2011 |
Earlier this week, I went to visit my friend Clutch at his home in the seaside village of Burntisland in Fife, Scotland.
We have a whisky blog together (called, unsurprisingly, Dubber and Clutch), we’re co-writing a book about whisky (along with a bunch of other authors), and we’d arranged to visit a couple of distilleries and whisky makers.
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Nov 15, 2010 |
I was asked by a friend to recommend a whisky to buy for his father’s birthday. I came up with a few suggestions, and thought that actually, since I get asked this quite frequently, I might as well blog it as well, since we’re now on the lead-up to Christmas…
I thought I’d leave aside the regular favourites (Talisker 10, Laphroaig 10 and quarter cask, Bowmore Legend, Lagavulin 16…) and come up with a few specialties. But of course, it all depends on your budget and the recipient’s tastes. From about £35 up, you can get some really incredible special occasion whisky.
I’ve linked to Royal Mile Whiskies – a good place to buy online, but you can find all of this stuff elsewhere, and it may be cheaper if you hunt around.
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Sep 26, 2010 |
Last week, I was up in Rothes, which is in the Northeast of Scotland. I flew to Aberdeen from Birmingham – with an unscheduled stopover in Edinburgh because Aberdeen airport was temporarily broken – and then took a 90 minute drive into the countryside and out to the river Spey.
I was there in my role as whisky blogger. The Glenrothes distillery is doing a competition starting in October for four people around the world to win a week working at the distillery, doing all of the things that go into making whisky from beginning to end – and soaking up the local culture.
Sometimes, whisky companies try and engage those of us who talk about this stuff on the internet – and so they cautiously give bloggers the kind of special treatment usually reserved for ‘proper journalists’. And in this instance, with Clutch out of the country, I got a taste of all that.
I got to make a barrel, tour the distillery, learn how to roll the barrels (not as easy as it sounds) and also stayed in Rothes house like a VIP and tasted some very good whiskies and ate some amazing food.
Also, I met my nemesis.
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Jul 18, 2010 |
Relaxing is a serious business for Craig & Clutch
Clutch and I decided it would be a good idea to host a whisky tasting in St Andrews during the Golf Open. Turns out it wasn’t, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have a good time. Not quite the generator of extra pocketmoney we were hoping for though…
We also have quite a lot of excess shortbread to contend with.
Our friend Craig came with us as our designated driver and dram pourer, and Jake tagged along, as he’s considering studying in St Andrews when he goes to university. He’s even more convinced that’s where he wants to go now – and after our adventure, is extra motivated to get the two As and a B that he needs in his A-levels in order to get accepted.
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