Swedish Malts (+ a Bavarian): Mackmyra Identitet, Smögen "Dante" 10yo, St. Kilian SE Eight

Back in the September Q&A (   • "What are all those books?" (DS Q&A, ...   ) an eternity and a half ago, one of my patrons asked if I'd tried any Swedish single malts. Indeed I had - a very Speysidey early Mackmyra - but I've never reviewed any on this channel, and "world whiskies" in general have received pretty short shrift. Today we can change that a little, however, as we head out to taste out offerings from our friends in central Scandinavia. (It's also a little bit of a sendoff for Mackmyra, which closed shop in August.) And as a little bit of an interlude - and because I don't know where else I'd find a lineup where I could fit it - we're also heading across the Baltic to review a malt from the Germans.

So it's a Mackmyra from Gävle, a Smögen from Hunnebostrand, and a St. Kilian from Rüdenau in the middle. And rather accidentally this turned out to be an entirely peated lineup, plus a little juniper smoke on the Mackmyra. Stats:

Mackmyra Identitet Swedish Single Malt Whisky (Gävle; NAS, juniper-seasoned peated malt, aged in 30% Swedish oak; bottled circa 2023; 48.7% ABV), 85-/100
St. Kilian Signature Edition Eight Single Malt Whisky (Rüdenau; malt peated to 54ppm, aged 2017/2018 to 2021 in 43% ex-rye, 27% ex-bourbon, 19% ex-red Rioja, 9% Pfalz oak, 2% acacia; 53.8% ABV), 86+/100
Smögen "Dante" 10 Year Old Swedish Single Malt Whisky (Hunnebostrand; lightly peated malt aged Spring '11 to Spring '21 in four ex-Sauternes casks; 57.8% ABV), 87/100

I've been trying to source a Smögen for years and to my surprise and delight this peated, worm-tubbed, wine-cask matured Dante (named after the distillery bloodhound) is a big old softy. And delicious to boot: think savory limoncello. The casks are in charge here, with a lovely floral peat profile backing it up, and I'm here for it. Unusual, a good one to share with friends. The Mackmyra is also its own thing, completely different from the one I tried years ago. Don't see the juniper and think gin, this is much more of an evergreen bonfire in the Alberta Rockies. It dumbs down a bit with water, but if you're in the market for a malt that can do digestif duty this is a great choice. And the Bavarian? Don't be scared off by the St. Kilian's cask list as this is very distillate-driven - but you might be scared off by the distillate. This is grungy, farmy, viscous stuff, it's like drinking mulch (in the best possible way). All three are very good, and very un-Scottish.

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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