Nordic Whisky #45 - Flóki - Icelandic Young Malt 1st Edition

23 Jun

Flóki - Icelandic Young Malt 1st Edition, NAS, 47 %

This is the very first 'almost whisky' from Iceland. Eimverk Distillery was established back in 2009, and here is their first product. The Flóki - Icelandic Young Malt 1st Edition consist of eight single barrels released late 2014 and early 2015, all released as single casks.

The age of these barrels are 1-2 years, and they are all fresh 200 l American Oak barrels, medium+ toast and char level.

We bought a bottle from barrel 3, which is 12 months old.

We sent off a couple of questions to Halli Thorkelsson at Eimverk Distillery to learn more:

Our Young malt helps break in our new American oak barrels for the single malt. We found it hard to get a stable supply of quality used oak so the Young malt is on one hand a fresh and very young Icelandic Malt but also a part of our barrel cycle, breaking in controlled supplies of barrels for our single malt.

And here is a little hint at what we can expect from the distillery in the time to come:

We will also be bottling Flóki Sheep Dung smoked young malt this year. Our first single malt bottling will be next summer.

Nose (21/25): Fresh cut grass, citrus, barley juice and malt. A very fresh and young nose - but this is young in an upbeat and positive way. It feels very clean and vibrant on the nose. Given some time in the glass there is a distinct oakiness here - fresh sawdust with lemon juice sprinkled on. Fresh herbs and roots; tarragon, thyme and licorice.

Taste (20/25): Full-bodied and dry mouthfeel. Pepper, oak, malt and slightly bitter caramel.

Finish (21/25): Pepper and honey. Dry, dark chocolate, then coffee and dark caramel with a slight burnt edge. Oaky spiciness and hints of ginger. Warm and of medium length.

Balance (20/25): A positive first effort, I would say. I am very much looking forward to trying their first proper single malt to be released in 2016, under the name Flóki - First Impression. Check back here for more on whisky from Eimverk Distillery, good folks!

Score (82/100)