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Solera
It is not that common for Solera bottles to be presented in the whisky world. Not genuine ones anyway, although there are some Solera offerings that provide a partial experience. But now it’s time for us Northerners to put our unique twist on this classic Spanish system to salt away and develop high-quality spirits. This is our first bottling of the Solera-range.
A Solera system is based on continuously mixing younger spirits with older ones, thus developing complexity. This means that in each bottling there will be a small amount of whisky from the very first batch. In our case, we have built a six-story system in one of our warehouses. At the bottom are the Solera barrels, which in our case are 225 liter barrels of Swedish oak. It’s from these that the whisky is to be bottled. Above these are five floors of so-called ‘criaderas’ with bourbon barrels that hold 200 liters of whisky descending in age. The top criadera is the youngest and here we top up with new distillates every time we bottle from the bottom solera barrel. Barrels from each floor are topped up from the barrels above after bottling (illustration in “More info”).
In a way, it’s not only different ages of whisky and different batches of distillates that are being mixed. At High Coast Whisky, it’s also different seasons and climates that commingle over a long period of time and this creates a unique impression – a tasteful, nuanced shadow image of our place here on the riverbank.
Nose
- Oak
- Nutmeg
- Vanilla
- Coconut
- Ripe pear
Taste
- Honey
- Clove
- Anise
- Fudge
- Green apples
Finish
- Vanilla
- Black pepper