Fary Lochan Danish Single Malt Whisky

Score: 94/100

ABV: 43%

Origin: Denmark

Price: €200

Fary Lochan is a distillery located in Denmark, a beautiful country that first caught my attention many years ago when Peter Schmeichel guarded the goals of Manchester United and the Danish national team. Then came the fairy-tale wedding that captured the hearts and minds of all Australians - the marriage of a Prince of Denmark to an Australian we now affectionately call Princess Mary. Denmark is therefore known for producing magic, so let's see whether Fary Lochan can live up to (my) expectations. 

Fary Lochan is delightfully a small batch operation. The expression tasted by Malt Mileage is from batch #1, bottle number 361/555 and cask 2010-02 which was filled on 16 April 2010 and bottled on 14 September 2013. This tells me a few things about the whisky. Firstly, it is a single cask and therefore its character is quite unique, because no cask is exactly the same as the oak in each cask is different and imparts different flavours into the whisky. Second, it is a whisky that has matured for just over 3 years. This seems to follow a trend in European whisky to release whisky after it has been in oak for three years, because only after three years maturation can a whisky legally be called "whisky". There are some obvious problems with this strategy. While whisky in warmer climates (Australia, Taiwan etc) may mature more quickly because oak pores expand when warm and thereby allow more interaction with whisky within oak barrels, countries such as Denmark (or Sweden, Norway, Germany etc) have quite cool climates.  This means that whisky from European countries with cooler climates cannot be expected to mature as quickly as whisky from warmer climates. There is a risk, therefore, that such whisky can taste raw and underdone and I have tasted numerous European whiskies that simply taste immature. Fary Lochan appears to represent the evolution of European whisky into something that tastes "ready", young, bright and yet very different to Scotch, Irish, Australian or even Taiwanese whisky. It tastes like European whisky. 

Fary Lochan smells and tastes distinctly Danish, and it projects a flavour profile that can only be described as lollyshop with red and black jelly beans, resinous honeyed wood, lemon peel sponge, oily barley and hints of maple with floral hues of rose, lavender and a slightly peppery, zesty, finish with anise seed, walnut loaf, raisin, mocha and intensifying wood notes that morph into lingering bittersweet mandarin peel. It is perhaps one of the best European single malts we have tasted on Malt Mileage, keeping company with Spirit of Hven No 2 (a Swedish whisky).  It is youthful, but the distiller appears to have carefully selected the cuts to make sure the whisky is clean, sweet, pure and light enough to mature the way it has in three years.

Fary Lochan Danish Single Malt Whisky

Spirit Name: Rating:	Fary Lochan Danish Single Malt Whisky (Cask Sample, No 2010-03) ★★★★★
Score:	86/100
ABV:	51.3%
Region:	Denmark
Body:	Medium
Intensity:	High (dry and piercing)
Texture:	Medium
Balance:	Superb
Best served:	Neat
Theme(s):	This is a young whisky bottled at 51.3% ABV, and yet it offers a friendly Danish demeanor that shines with some impressive complexity and very pleasant sweet notes that intermingle with some oak influence and the beautifully crafted distillate. This is a very dry whisky, reminiscent in some ways of a cask strength English style cask strength rum but with a wet dough theme.
Tasting notes:	All the way from Denmark comes a sample of Fary Lochan straight from the cask! Nose: Young and yet, pleasant. This whisky does not have the unpleasant notes that accompany new spirit, though it could use with some more time in the barrel to develop some more complexity and mellow the piercing hit of alcohol. This is fine distilling! There is a very mild wet dough made from white flour as the sweetness of ripe mixed berries develop with anise seed and the crunch of fennel with gentle earthy bay-leaf. The sweet berries develop into red and black jelly beans, as the piercing dryness offers notes of vanilla and sweet dates. The sugars are beautiful, bursting on the nose like a freshly opened bag of lollies/soft candy. Taste: Gloriously powerful and beautifully balanced, the sweetness does not dominate as cardboard intermingles with the dough; very similar to when some cardboard sticks to the bottom of a soggy pizza. There is a dense piercing sweetness that with a splash of water releases an earthy grain rich, almost “organic”, foray of multi grain bread layered with orange peel and grape seed marmalade. There is a very pleasant note that is difficult to identify, but it shines with a fruit confectionary sweetness that is encased in rich grain and creamy alcohol. The character explodes on the tongue, and bursts into a dry cloud of steamy alcohol. Finish: How beautiful it is to taste this distillate, with its energy swirling on the palate as it spits out its complex raw materials; beautiful work from Fary Lochan. This is what European whisky should be, young and energetic with beautiful sweet notes and complexity but without the unsavoury “stench” that I have found in some other European whiskies.
Likes:	Despite its obvious youth there is pleasantness about this whisky that makes it very drinkable.
Dislikes:	This whisky could be a little more complex, but it is young and this seems to follow a trend in European whisky. Fary Lochan is one of the best European whiskies I have tasted so far, because while it is young it still has some complexity but without the unsavoury new spirit notes. Taste this with an open mind.
Price:	N/A