2016-02-02 by Thomas Øhrbom (Whisky Saga)
Finally I have gotten my hands on the very first official release from Swedish distillery Mackmyra. The Mackmyra Preludium:01 – De första dropparna (‘The First Drops’) is made up from whisky distilled at their first pilot distillery (1999-2002) and de very first casks of whisky distilled at their first real distillery; Mackmyra Bruk.
The whisky is 3 years old, and bottled 2006-02-07. This was a limited release of 4000 numbered bottles.
This whisky sold out very quickly when it was released. Being the first (modern) Swedish single malt to be released, the interest was huge. Despite this, you can still find a few bottles online. For instance I saw one here at GBP 495!
Nose: (19/25): A bit shy on the nose. Notes of oak and tropical fruit appear first, along with vanilla. It does seem a bit young-ish at first, but there are no off-notes here. I am starting to wonder why the Preludium series from Mackmyra got so much negative reviews. Let’s dive deeper and find out… With time the nose turns a little bit perfumy. Wet sawdust. Pineapple and lemons. Red berries in the next room.
Taste: (17/25): Smooth and spicy. Quite spicy, in fact. Pepper, chili, acetone (yeah, that was not a plus), and perfume.
Finish: (14/25): Relatively short finish. The only lingering taste is that of cheap perfume mixed with harsh, bitter and stale wood notes. It is not just off balance, it has fallen flat and cannot get up. Oops.
Balance: (16/25): OK, the nose was pretty promising, but the finish really killed it. Still very exciting to finally have had a chance to try it properly. I also think it is very commendable of Mackmyra to invite its fans to follow their journey like this. This is naked, raw, and uncompromising. They never tried to sell this as the perfect whisky. They merely wanted to let us all know what was in the works. Kudos!
Score: (66/100)
Link to original review on whiskysaga.com
For collectors of Mackmyra whisky
Preludium:01 De första dropparna
Age | not disclosed |
Series | |
Bottled by | Mackmyra OB |
Bottling date | 2006-02-07 |
Cask type | Bourbon |
Bottle size | 50 cl |
ABV | 55.6 % |
Number of bottles | 9600 |
Released for | Sweden |
First sold | 2006-03-06 |
Article number | MP-001 |
EAN barcode | 735002966017 |
Added to database | 2016-11-21 |
Latest update | 2017-11-23 |
| |
The first release of Mackmyra whisky, almost 7 years after the company was started. The lines outside Systembolaget were long and all bottles were sold out in a couple of hours. Created with a base of twenty 200-litre first-fill bourbon casks (cask number 57 and upwards) with the unpeated "Elegant" recipe. The american oak comes from Jack Daniel distillery in Tennessee. To spice the whisky, some casks of new Swedish oak was used. Also included in the mix are casks 1-5 and 7 all 30-litre casks from the pilot distillery (1999-2002), just to make it a historic release for all collectors. The whisky also gets character from sherrycask number 20 and the juniper-smoked experimental cask number 21. The majority of casks are three years old, with the exception of the few pilot casks, that are close to six years. In total 9000 bottles were drawn, of which Systembolaget bought 4000 that were distributed to 320 different stores. Notes according to Mackmyra: Nose: Apple, coconut, anise och toffee. Taste: Young, fruity and a fresh acidity. | |
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