Mackmyra Ten Years Impressions

Original photo provided by Mackmyra and used with permission.

What is it?

Distillery: Mackmyra

Name: Ten Years

Make: Swedish Single Malt Whisky

Extra Info: Mackmyra was founded in 1999 by a group of eight like minded whisky-loving friends studying at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Their first whisky, Preludium 01, was released in 2006. Mackmyra source all of their ingredients from within Sweden. Mackmyra Ten Years is the brand’s first age statement single malt whisky.

Why did I buy it?

I didn't. This is a review of a sample bottle kindly provided by Mackmyra. I usually only review full-size bottles since I can take my time and drink as much as I need to finalise my impressions; that is more difficult to do with a sample bottle, but I have done my best.

What did I think of it?

Presentation: If Mackmyra Ten Years was IKEA, it would be called 'Giant catalogue maze that you can't escape without buying a side table with a silly name, when all you want is a hotdog.' It pretty much says it all on the label. Bottled at 46.1% ABV.

Appearance: Um, yellow? It's not pale like straw or darker gold.

Aroma: Smells like a freshly opened box of IKEA flat-pack furniture, with tinned fruit in syrup and some grass. 

Flavour: Fruity with a slight sweet smokiness - not peated, more like a smokey spice, paprika perhaps?

Finish: Quite long with a strong spicy fade.

Would I buy it again?

Yes, I only had a measly 50ml to taste and that was enough to pique my interest. I have tried a number of Mackmyra whiskies in the past and the Ten Years is definitely one of the better ones. An excellent choice for an introduction to Scandinavian whisky. 

Disclaimer: I do not claim to have the nose and palate of a Master Sommelier, however, I am working to train my senses to better identify whisky aromas and flavours. Consider all my whisky 'Impressions' to be a work in progress and I hope to come back to each of them in the future to see if I notice anything different. Most importantly, I'm not just throwing around random aromas, flavours and adjectives for the hell of it; I am trying really hard to critically describe each whisky I taste - WhiskyDad.