Bought: Online Whisky Auction, 9th December 2015
Ratings:
76/100 – Whiskybase (from 1 member vote)
Icelandic whisky is coming – brace yourself! Two distilleries that I’m aware of were established in 2009, the Eimverk Distillery that produces ‘Flóki’ and Thoran distillery where it’s possible to purchase your own cask. Admittedly I wasn’t aware of either distillery until I spotted this bottle of Flóki in a UK auction. At the moment it’s the only place to find it in the UK and I’d never seen it in any previous online auctions.
This young spirit isn’t officially whisky yet as it’s been bottled up before its 3rd birthday. Young distilleries sometimes do this to whet the appetites of future whisky customers but there’s always a risk that the lack of maturity puts tasters off. 76/100 from one voter on Whiskybase is a reasonable score though and I was fortunate to find a review by Ted of Whisky Waffle. In it he says of the nose “really curious; it’s really, really floral and fruity (pineapple, mandarin, pear) with a slightly salted caramel edge that keeps you sniffing” and describes the taste “the Flóki is sharp, slightly bitter and prickly. It pretty much jumps off its longship and starts jabbing away with its spear, although part of the reason for that is probably the 47% strength. The finish coats the tongue with that raw, grassy, hay-like quality that seems common amongst very young whiskies, followed by a lick of spicy fruitiness.” Ted’s complete thoughts and review can be found here.
Here’s Ben Bowers of ‘A Dram a Day’ with his review on You Tube (June 2016):
Whisky Den 