Smögen Sherry Project 1:4

Just before Christmas we posted our very first review of a Swedish whisky; Box The Messenger. Now it is time to explore another Swedish distillery. Today it is time for Smögen Whisky located Southwest by the sea.

Todays whisky is the last whisky in the series Sherry Project. The whisky was matured in 120 l sherry quarter casks, distilled July 2011 and bottled 2 August 15, which makes it 4 YO, and it was bottled at 57,2 ABV. The malt holds 50+ ppm. I am sorry, but this whisky is no longer available to buy (except from auctions).

Warm sherry notes on the nose. Oranges, malt and oak. Licorice, white pepper and peat joins after a while. A warm and rich mouth feel. Sherry, butter and rich caramel. The peat is not very obvious. An oily finish with licorice, black pepper and salt. Quite sweet. This was really nice! I think I have to taste the Sherry Project 1:3 again to decide which one is better.

My score: nose 21 / taste 22 / finish 22 / balance 22 = 87

– Tone

6 Comments

  1. Tone I have been wrestling with 1:3 versus 1:4 for a while now. I was super lucky to try both at the Stockholm fair last September. I liked both. In the end I plumped for 1:4 but like you it might be 88 marks versus 87. Par Caldenby and Roger Mellander lead the way in my view for newly minted Svensk whisky. And superb it is…

    • I agree, David! I was lucky to taste all four of them last Autumn. When you compare them there is an obvious difference (and 1:3 was my favourite). But one by one it is more difficult. They are all good in my opinion 😉

      • I agree. I think objectively, most “whisky nerds / experts” would pick 1:3 over 1:4. But, I am someone who prefers Android to Apple, coffee to tea, blueberries to strawberries….. so I have a contrarian view – and that is that 1:4 is more “epic” and operates, perhaps not faultlessly, across a wider and more interesting range, than does the elegant 1:3. So, this is my view. And, I have a bottle, too.

  2. Very interesting to read your two views on the 1:3 vs 1:4 (not to mention 1:1 and 1:2). They are indeed different, though with a very similar pedigree from the quarter casks used. In my own view, I’d say that David’s comment of one being EPIC and the other ELEGANT is very much to the point. But there is about an equal divide between the people over which one is the favourite. (And a number of folks prefer the 1:1 and certainly the 1:2 to either.)

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