Whiskey Tasting in the Swedish Woods

Last Sunday I unexpectedly ventured into a fine whiskey tasting in the middle of a Swedish forest. This is how it happened.

I was coming home from a run, when I noticed a new sign by my house. It was advertising a guided tour in a whiskey distillery in a nearby village, along with whiskey tasting and learning about the history of the place. The sign said the event would go “until late”. It was about 6 pm, I had no other plans for the evening, so after a quick shower and a change of clothes I set towards the mysterious Mackmyra Whiskyby on foot.

Welcome to Mackmyra Whiskyby!

Okay, maybe not so mysterious. The place is kind of famous in our region. I heard of it – and of its fine whiskey before. And I happen to live close by. Despite all this, in the two and a half years since I moved to Gävle from Tokyo, I’ve never visited the place. Now I was finally heading there, driven by curiosity and the spirit of exploration.

I almost missed it, though. By the time I had entered the pub, guided by signs along the way, they were wrapping up for the day. The ‘open until late’ promise turned out to be a lie. But I was determined to get the experience and to share it on Steemit with you (thank you for reading thus far, by the way. The story will get better soon!). So I flashed my newly printed Steemit card. At the mention of my recent reviews of Swedish cafés, beers, and foods featured on my blog, the ice had melt and I was offered a private tasting of Mackmyra’s exclusive whiskeys with a lovely whiskey expert Mia, who hosted the experience.

Mia enthusiastically presenting each sort of whiskey I’m about to sample

I’m not a whiskey drinker, to be honest. I usually prefer to relax with a glass of red whine in a good company. However, it was hard not to get infected by Mia’s passion for whiskey and her knowledge of Mackmyra’s history. It turned out that the distillery was founded back in 1999, when there were virtually no producers of whiskey in Sweden. The distillery is situated in a very picturesque place, literally in the middle of the forest:

Quite a sight, isn’t it?

I was offered to sample three of more exclusive sorts of Mackmyra’s creation. Two of them were only available in casks and never bottled – and thus are quite pricey. I tried ‘Swedish Oak’, ‘Ten Years Single Malt’, and ‘Single Cask Olorosso 48.9% alc. reserve whiskey’ (from left to right on the photo below):

Like I mentioned, I don’t know much about whiskey and I don’t usually drink strong spirits. But the ‘Ten Years’, kept for that length of time in casks of white oak and cherry tree, with sweet and fruity aroma, and undertones of vanilla and raisins, was hands down my favourite. I barely took a sip from the other two glasses, but that one I had to finish! See my favourable notes on the whiskey tasting card below:

As much as I was enjoying the drinks, I was also having a good time chatting with my host. Mia turned out to be a really cool person, passionate about chemistry, biology and science in general. This coming fall she will heading to Uppsala University for her final year of a Bachelor program in Chemistry. We talked about science, medicine and nanotechnology. When I realised how much of her enthusiasm for science Mia could share in plain layman’s terms, I felt compelled to tell her about Steem and encourage her to give it a try. Another one of my Steemit card was handed out.

Then it really was time to wrap up the tasting. My return walk home was slightly less steady and brisk, but my spirits were high (pardon the pun!). Although I am usually shy and reserved, being an ambassador for Steemit and a self-proclaimed lifestyle blogger encouraged me to seek new experiences, explore things that I thought I wouldn’t have enjoyed, and connect with cool people like Mia. Isn’t it a miracle? As much a wonder as a Swedish whiskey distillery in the middle of a pine trees forest.

(as usual, all photos used to illustrate this post are my own; they were shot on my Nexus 5 camera on July 16^th, 2017)

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