Is Scotch still king – episode 4: Myken - 2 Norwegian Single malt whiskies from way up north

(If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere!)

This series started off with ‘Berg’, a whisky from the High Coast distillery in Sweden. Already quite northern, although you can still take it further up north, as it turns out. Myken Distillery, located on a tiny island off the Norwegian coast in the Atlantic, is, if I’m not mistaken, the second most northerly distillery in the world, second only to the Aurora distillery which is also in Norway and pretty much bang in the middle of the frigging North Pole.

Myken, some 32 km off Mainland Norway, is not an island as such, but rather consists of a group of some 40 very small isles – the main one being some 2 km wide and 400 m across, inhabited and visited mainly by a community of fishermen (total year round population: 15. Yes, you read that right: fifteen people) and tourists. Although located well north of the Arctic Circle, due to the Gulf Stream there the sea never freezes, making it a historic haven for fishermen attracted by the rich fishing waters of the archipelago. There is no car traffic on the isles and the only way to reach them, is by taking a two hour boat trip from the town of Tonnes on the mainland, which in itself is already pretty remote. So, having established that Myken is a pretty isolated, remote, desolated pin on the map, one can’t but wonder: why would anyone with even an inch of common sense think about starting a distillery here? Roughly a decade ago, Roar Larsen, a former research scientist and chemistry professor fell in love with the place, decided to give his life a new direction and moved to Myken. The main reason for him and his wife moving to a place as remote as Myken, was slowing down and living life at the pace of nature rather than ‘on the clock’, stuck in the rat race. And as there are few things where ‘unhurried’ fits the bill better than producing whisky, Myken distillery soon after came into being. Don’t you just love it when a degree in chemistry comes in handy?

Not only that, but they can claim the title of being the world’s first Arctic distillery and Norway’s biggest whisky producer. The latter may sound impressive as such, but take into account that their annual production tends to be somewhere between 15,000 and 20’000 litres, so it’s not exactly the Norwegian equivalent of Glenfiddich in terms of operation scale. But also remember we’re talking about an archipelago of really tiny islands consisting of rocks, grasslands, cows and sheep here, so anything on even a remotely industrial scale would be a logistical nightmare (not to mention the devastating impact it would have on the isles) – just imagine what you’d require in terms of traffic to get supplies and goods like fuel, casks and grain on and off the island if you’d be planning to grow to even a few hundreds of thousands LPA. So a small, craft-minded distillery, fitting for a small wee place on earth.

All of these seemingly practical and logistical obstructions didn’t stop them from being very productive and very creative, though (they are currently offering 5 different gins and so far have released no less than 13 different whiskies – obviously all with a pretty limited outturn). Making the most of their remote location they’ve been using local herbs, botanicals and berries from the isles for their gin and they produce single malt whisky in the Scottish tradition, meaning all the washing and distilling takes place at the distillery, as does the maturation with a minimum of 3 years. Furthermore, they offer visitors the chance to get some hands-on experience with whisky making in a three day course, where you’ll be milling, mashing, distilling and filling and checking casks during the day, with some tastings and food pairings during the after work hours. Pretty neat! Brilliant in fact. I mean: what else would you be doing with your spare time while you’re miles away from everything? The only thing you can’t buy when visiting Myken, ironically, is their actual product - they can’t’ sell neither whisky or gin as Norway has the Vinmonopolet system (much like Sweden’s Systembolaget), where all alcohol sales above 4.75 % ABV are under government control, so you’d have to pick up a bottle in one of the government stores.

Thanks to the wonderful human being that is Rolf Isaksen, who you may know as Ebbhead from the whisky community, I am able to share with you some thoughts and tasting notes about this really interesting, really small, really remote distillery. I encourage you (after reading this review obviously), to watch the YT videos made by the distillery manager about life on Myken, as it really gives you a proper view about the place and its frankly breath-taking beauty (many thanks to Rolf again for pointing this out to me). Also a visit to their website is quite insightful as the transparency about their production process is second to none. I mean: whisky made with desalinized sea water – that’s a first to me!

Myken United Americans (American ex bourbon casks and American Oak casks), 3.5 yo Norwegian single malt, 47% ABV, NC, UCF, 2021 release - 1000 bottles

Nose

Very fruity and spirity with a sweet farmyard, almost paper- and cardboard like funk to it. Orchard fruit which transitions into an almost overripe citrus/orange peel note. Over time it becomes increasingly fruity and fresh with lemon and lemon sherbet with a minty undertone.

Palate

Peppery and prickly- not surprising as this is very young whisky so therefore still very spirit driven. Effervescence, with a dry mouthfeel. That funky touch, this time with a leafy-vegetal note accompanied by a minty freshness and a bit of an undefined sweetness. It also has a bit of a herbaceous, juniper like note to it.

Finish

A bit ‘hot’ a first, but increasingly drying with a leafy herbaceous note

Myken sweet peat 4yo (a mixture of unpeated and peated ex-sauternes, bourbon and Hungarian casks with a phenol level of around 23 ppm), NC, UCF, 1850 bottles, 2021 release

Nose

Soft, gentle and quite sweet peat (indeed, what’s in a name?), not smoky as such, although there is a subtle ashy note here. A whiff (very, very subtle) of tropical fruits with kiwi and unripe banana. Give it some time and again that lemony-apple freshness appears. Delicate and almost understated.

Palate

Sweet peat on the arrival, and no alcohol sting this time. Grainy, with an earthy – leafy – fungi like funk, going into a sweet vegetal note with a subtle woody dryness and that ashy touch again.

Finish

A nice length, peaty and lingering.

Final thoughts

I wasn’t expecting miracles from whiskies this young, but having said that, they were quite tasty and interesting. The two Americans in particular is still very spirit driven, which shouldn’t be a surprise given the age, and furthermore we’d need to take the warehousing conditions into consideration here too, but there‘s no denying the quality of their product. The peated expression has a bit more depth and complexity and is overall more rounded and matured. These two whiskies are testimony of a craft approach done right. They got the intrinsic quality covered and I’m looking forward to revisiting Myken in a few years’ time, as I’m quite hopeful (and confident) that their more matured product will be nothing short of wonderful.

I’m glad to have taken a step back from my beloved Scotch for a while to explore (or rather: wet my whistle and dip my toe) in a few of these European whiskies. Not even a decade ago you might well have struggled to find continental whiskies that were genuinely decent. A lot of them managed (and some still are on that level) flavours the likes of some weird gin at best, and paint thinner-disgusting at worst. But things are changing, and rapidly at that. The quality increase is there, and it’s getting noticed too. Scotch, most scotch anyway, will still have the lead when it comes to availability and competitive pricing compared to these more regional focussed, smaller operations, but please, do seek out what’s lying right in front of you, as a lot of these new players are growing from strength to strength and are worthy of at least your attention.

Looking back on this series, I think it’s particularly interesting to experience how each of the whiskies I’ve tried over the last few weeks tend to lean on the traditions of whisky making, and are looking towards the established frames of reference like Scotch or Irish whisk(e)y in doing so, but combine it with their own specific history, background and surroundings – their own typicality and, by lack of better words, provenance and terroir. Scotch may well still be king, but there are plenty of heirs apparent to be found out there, so the king should do well to keep on his toes. If they’re capable of producing good quality stuff using a wandering Armagnac still in France, or going from grain to glass in Germany, or can produce interesting young whisky on a place so tiny and remote as Myken, I feel there’s only one possible conclusion to be drawn here: things are looking good and the future of whisky is bright!

And on that bombshell, I’m taking a wee Summer break from reviewing whisky. See you back somewhere in July. Slainte Mhath!