Review // Norbotnia Whisky - Blending in northernmost Sweden
There is a man on Instagram that I’ve been following for a while. He is called Jim Torarp (@jimtorarp), and he’s - in my mind at least - the guy I go to if I want to keep up with anything happening in the Scandinavian spirits industry. At one point, he posted about Norbotnia Whisky. I was interested, and sent them a message through Instagram. This is the result of simply asking if it would be possible to taste their products.
Text is © Mickaël Van Nieuwenhove
Photography is © Norbotnia Whisky
And it was. A couple of weeks after my initial messages, a package arrived for me. It was crammed in my mailbox. The result? 2 samples, one of them absolutely smashed to bits. One week later, a second package arrived, with 2 more samples in it! Yes, I am a fortunate man.
The packages contained two samples of Norbotnia’s blended whiskies: “White River” and “Black River”. If you know something about the region the Swedes call Norrbotten (North Botnia), or you have access to Wikipedia, you might wonder if the names of the blends are named after two of the four rivers that run through the province: the Torne, Kalix, Lule, and Pite river. These are also symbolized on the coat of arms of the province, of which the Norbotnia logo is a stylized version.
If there are four rivers in Norrbotten, and Norbotnia has already released two blends with “river” in the name, does that mean that two more are planned? The ‘Campfire Sherlock’ is on the case!
As mentioned above, I consider myself a fortunate man. Not only did I receive samples from Sweden, the samples themselves rarely travel out of the country. It turns out “Black River” and “White River” are only available in the province of North Bothia, and only in a select couple of stores. Talk about a ‘best kept secret’!
Tasting Notes of “White River” and “Black River”
“White River” is blended single malt made from Irish and Scottish whiskies, which were married in an ex-Bourbon cask and then bottled at 41% ABV. “Black River” is a peated blend of Scottish single malt whiskies, and bottled at 44,8% ABV. I did not find any information about where exactly these were blended, but that does not really matter. I secretly hope they transported the casks to Sweden and blended them in North Bothnia, though. It would support my thesis that the makers are pushing boundaries, some of them quite literally.
According to Anders Ringbjer, who is one of the owners of Norbotnia, blended malts have a rather bad reputation in Sweden. Their decision to release two blends, albeit on a very small case, might be the little spark that.. well.. sparks interest?
With “White River”, I got sweet notes on the nose, very delicate in nature. On the palate, a honey water-like liquid, a bit thicker than water. Then, a malty mouthfeel, a bit like porridge(?), almost like a malt wine. As a finish, slightly bitter notes right at the end.
I wouldn’t classify this as a ‘typical’ (blended) whisky, and it fits right in at the edge of what people consider whisky to be like. In that way, it’s pushing a boundary. I wonder which whiskies were used. It is a very though-provoking blend.
Next, I tasted “Black River”. This leans more towards the classic peated (blended) whiskies. On the nose, a mixture of peat, bog-in-the-wind, notes of rubber, wet wood, and forest greens after a downpour.
I tasted a light influence of ash, in tandem with some sweeter notes not unlike vanilla, and puffs of smoke, providing me with an excellent classic mouthfeel, reminding me of a distant Ardbeg. That slow, feint burn in the back of the throat just brings it all together, and provides you with a lovely finish that lingers until that next sip.
Conclusion
I like these two samples. One of them is rather classic, the other one is so peculiar, it immediately caught my interest. Both deserve to be explored further.
I wouldn’t mind owning a bottle of both. Sadly, that means travelling. Once in Stockholm, it takes you another 855 kilometres to reach the place of Norbotnia’s origin. Let’s re-evaluate that 2021 road trip!