Today, the 7th of October, 2021, sees the release of the 2021 edition of Smögen 8 yo, titled “Swedish Puncheons” to reference the (full term) maturation in large 350 L casks made from Swedish oak, toasted to the level Medium. The impact of virgin Swedish oak can be massive on a whisky and has a lot to contribute to an interesting flavour profile and effective maturation rate, but care has to be taken in order for the oak not to take over; this latter consideration means that an oily and very characterful new make spirit such as Smögen can stand up much better to active oak, than a spirit on the lighter end of the scale, meaning that all types of cask are not for everyone (despite what many may think on this subject).
But, the new Smögen 8 yo “Swedish Puncheons”. As with all our bottlings, it is naturally coloured and non-chill filtered, in order to preserve it in as natural a state as possible. The colour is perhaps best described as light amber; a most archetypical “whisky colour”. The cask strength is 56 % abv. And the four casks used are, as already mentioned, virgin Swedish oak 350 L puncheon type casks, medium toasted. Characterwise, as with all Smögens, there is a considerable maltiness as the base note, plentiful oak notes with nutmeg, ginger, autumnal forest and clove, but very much kept in check and balanced by the aforementioned maltiness – and by the rather medicinal (tar, iodine, band aids), very obvious peaty notes. It should be given a small splash of water to open up and develop its full complexity, which is considerable. A very lingering aftertaste, that offers wave upon wave of flavours. One sip goes a long way.
Released as a web release at the Swedish state run retail monopoly Systembolaget on the 7th of October, 2021, a bottle costs SEK 839 kr and it can be found here: https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/sprit/smogen-4103102/
Now, a bit about casks and Swedish oak casks in particular. As with all our casks of different sizes made from Swedish oak, the four puncheon type casks (essentially large and quite fat casks rather than elongated ones) for Smögen 8 yo “Swedish Puncheons” have been coopered by Master Cooper Johan Thorslund of Thorslundkagge, near Örebro in Sweden. The oak staves come from oaks felled in the Swedish county of Småland, an area to the south and southeast of the great lake Vättern towards the southern part of the country (that is the oblong great lake, not the more rounded and even larger lake Vänern).
As with all things that grow, the place, both as a latitude and a locality, will have an influence on the oak trees. Sweden has oak trees growing in the wild only about one third of the country’s length; north thereof, the climate is too harsh, aside from planted and nurtured trees in ideal surroundings. The fact that Sweden has long and usually quite cold winters but also very long and clement to warm summer months has an influence on the oak tree. The growth rate is slow – and even that is a bit of an understatement. Compared to the well known oak forests of Limousin, Allier and Troncais in France, Swedish oak trees grow slower and offer an even more flavour packed experience. This all translates into a necessity to handle casks made from Swedish oak with due care and caution. They can easily overpower a whisky, if too small a cask is used, or (and) if too heavy a charring and/or toasting level is applied when coopering the cask. In essence, the smaller the cask size, the greater the surface to volume ratio of oak/whisky, meaning more and faster extractive maturation resulting, and the heavier the toasting and/or charring of the cask, the more accessible the oak derived congeners (flavour compounds) become to the whisky, also leading to an increase in extractive compounds and initial maturation pace. Thus, by reducing the size of the cask and increasing the toasting/charring level, an expedited maturation – ultimately “on steroids” – can be achieved, however also at the risk of the powerful oak characters overpowering the distillate and hence resulting in an oak extract rather than a good whisky. Use with caution, is good advice.
Conversely, by enlarging the cask size and scaling back on the intensity of the toasting (and not using charring of the cask inside), the oak is kept a bit less open to the whisky and the extraction rate is reduced. The composition of the congeners extracted will also vary with the level of toasting and/or charring. The price that often has to be paid for a successful adaptation of these principle is that the maturation time must be longer. However, as the oak is still virgin, i.e. not previously used as a maturation vessel, the oak still has plentiful givings of congeners to offer, just at a more restrained pace. It must always also be remembered that maturation is decidedly not about just leaching out congeners from the oak, as the distillate has massive flavour and flavour potential, given enough time to interact with the oak and with the oxygen from the surrounding air that over time will permeate the cask and also enter the headspace above the spirit inside the cask, as the cask breathes out vapour to the “Angels’ share”. And to create a really good whisky, both distillate and cask derived congeners are required – presented in harmony and balance with each other, something that really has to be given due time to develop.
We do hope that you will join us in raising a glass of Smögen 8 yo “Swedish Puncheons” to celebrate and investigate the impact that the grand Swedish oak has on our BIG whisky – skål!