Eimverk Floki 1st Impression

Iceland, like Scotland a place of uncanny natural beauty, but with far less liquid sunshine to accompany you on the long hiking trails or cold nights in the tent. The reason why is obvious: no familiar pagodas on the Icelandic horizon. But fear not the country is home to two young distilleries: Eimverk and Þoran. The former was founded in 2009 near the capital Reykjavik and after a couple of test runs with their ‘young malt’ they released a few bottles of single malt in 2016, under the name “Floki”

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Description: a NAS, bottled in 2016 as the inaugural release of Eimverk, named ‘Floki 1st Impression’.

Nose: almost unnoticeable at first, later develops into a faint floral bouquet with notes of mandarin peel and traces of wet clay.

Mouth: as expected the body is on the lighter side. The palate is comprised of bitter salted caramel with a touch of alcohol, young wood and roasted macadamia nuts.

Finish: short, bitter and slightly mouth drying. Like slobbering on a wool sweater.

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Verdict: noticeably young, but promising. They are clearly going for a delicate and light style of single malt, which came as a bit of a surprise. The Icelander’s I know are usually sweet tooths, fond of liquorice and chocolate, therefore would a heavier highland style not have been more suitable? Or maybe a more fruity style? I found the whisky a bit too timid and still lacking much needed depth, but hey it’s only their “1st Impression”. Will follow the Eimverk distillery’s progress with great interest.