pkingmartin
Smögen 8 Year Old (2020 batch)
Single Malt — Sweden, Sweden
Reviewed
April 2, 2022 (edited April 3, 2022)
This edition is a vatting of 7 ex-bourbon barrels and 1 ex-sherry that was bottled at 59.8%.
The nose starts with a mix of light sea breeze, barley fields, smoked meats and creamy orchard fruit then light sherry influence of musty grapes, cocoa nibs and roasted hazelnuts followed by tender slow cooked Jackfruit, apricots and candied lemon peel that transitions to ginger, cloves and gauze bandages with high ethanol burn.
The taste is a medium to full mouthfeel starting moderately sour with a mild spice that slowly fades to sea salt seasoned grilled seafood then creamy orchard fruit, chocolate covered raisins and roasted hazelnuts followed by sautéed apples, apricots and sour lemon candy that transitions to ginger, cloves and burning hay bales with high ethanol burn.
The finish is medium length with a moderate pepper spice, lemon meringue, baked clams, dark chocolate, musty grapes and burning hay bales.
This is a hell of a whisky that strikes me as a Swedish version of Octomore. The nose is a wonderful mix of smoke, ocean, light sherry and creamy fruits that carries over to the taste with a slightly higher spice where the youthful age is apparent with some mild sour fruits before the spicy finale with some sour sweets, seafood and peaty barnyard notes.
I really like what Smogen has put together here and would love to try some of their stock at a higher age statement.
At around $125 for a 500ml, it's priced high but it's also a very high quality product by a small craft distillery. If you happen to find a bottle and are interested in trying some Swedish whisky, I'd recommend going for it.
125.0
USD
per
Bottle
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
I just got some generous samples of a couple of other single casks, so will see how they stand up to the one we tried.
@pkingmartin problem is they’re all in about 20 containers. Covered, in a temp controlled storage room. I meant to keep a library like booking system…never got to it. The Sherry Smogen is amazing —that’s the one @Richard-ModernDrinking and I had some years back
@PBMichiganWolverine An all sherry cask Smogen sounds incredible! That sounds like quite the hunt and I can easily see losing patience. Maybe you can make it a game of ring toss by throwing a few rings and whatever bottles they land on get opened.
@pkingmartin i have the all sherry one too, buried in there. Will see if I can dig it up. It’s a matter of patience…
@pkingmartin i actually meant to share this one for our last tasting. But when I when to the storage, I lost patience hunting for it. It’s buried somewhere between close to 800 other bottles.
@Richard-ModernDrinking I had to import it. I found it through TWE.
Did you find that here or import it?
@PBMichiganWolverine Yeah, it’s definitely pricey but then again so is Octomore. I’m glad that you and @Richard-ModernDrinking brought this distillery to my attention as I likely never would have bought a bottle otherwise.
I love Smogen…that comparison to Octomore is spot on. It is pricey though , especially when you extrapolate the 500ml
That does sound dang delicious