Single Malt Swedes

I have a friend who collects single malt whiskies the way I used to collect record albums. Ralph revels in exposing his friends to brands of single malt whiskies with names you have probably never heard of. Unless, of course, you are as avid a connoisseur as he is. Now I know how I must have belabored my friends in dissecting the liner notes on obscure bands’ albums that would never be heard on an underground radio station much less Top 40.

As this was the last weekend for the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival at the Factory in Nacka Strand, your correspondent decided to try to discover what the attraction to whisky is. One must understand that yours truly likes a good drink as much as the next guy. However, I always had judged my alcohol on two main criteria. The first was if the beverage was palatable. The second was never mix what you imbibe. The first rule was for pleasure. The second was for self-preservation.

The Festival was held at the rather cozy environment of the Factory on Nackastrand. I knew immediately that I was in for more than your usual kegger, as upon entering, you were given a glass made from real glass. No disposable plastic cups at this soiree. The souvenir could be used for the tasting and testing available inside. The showroom floor was divided into three sections, not for any other reason than that was the building’s floor plan. Beside the booths and displays of booze there were also purveyors of food, mostly of the kind that would go well with the smoky tastes of the single malts and dark beers. Elk, crocodile, fish, and chips were available, as well as high-end chocolates, desserts and, of course, cigars for good conversation after dinner, if people still allow that in their homes.

The festival divides itself by the time of the day. Early in the session, the real students –and those who think they are- move from booth to booth sampling, questioning what wood the peat was smoked with, and debate the fine points of the different distilleries. The latter part of the day, the Festival turns into one gigantic pub, with all the raucousness one associates with one.

I always thought that the wine cognoscenti were rather pompous with all the swirling and smelling and sipping that went into making a wine decision, especially when based on my limited alcohol acceptance level. So you can imagine my wonder at seeing people holding scotch up to the light and performing much the same rituals as those wine snobs.

Determined to find out the attraction, my first stop was to the “The Friends of Classic Malts” (www.malts.com). This is an organization, upon deeper study, started by Diageo, who are the makers of the world famous Guinness beer, Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky, Baileys liqueur, Tanqueray and Gordon's gins, and many more prestigious alcohol brands. They also own twenty-seven working single malt distilleries in all the regions of Scotland. That being said, I found out that Sweden, for some reason is one of the world’s largest markets (by capita) of single malt whiskey.
In a land that seems to imbibe clear alcohol (with sill and a song) at every social function what made Sweden love whisky? My question at various booths was met with vague answers about the fact that Swedes already enjoy the taste of smoked fish and meats-ergo the smoky taste of malt whiskey falls right into place. There wasn’t much enthusiasm for your correspondence’s suggestion that the Viking raiders of the English Isles back in the day were bringing back casks of 10th century scotch as part of their plunder.

Later, I met with a Swedish chap by the name of Anders Gjörling, who titles himself a whisky ambassador. Mr. Gjörling has been a student of whisky since 1971, when a fondness for Scottish music led him, inevitably, to the customs of the country, notably whisky.

According to Anders, the Swedish fondness for whisky began during the periods between the World Wars. For time immemorial Swedes of all social structures sucked down clear alcohol, like brännvin (schnapps) and vodka. During the period between the wars, sophisticated Swedes began to drink cognac, to distinguish them from the common folk.

However, the outbreak of the Second World War made getting cognac impossible. So the sophisticates had to go back to drinking the clear stuff with the common folk. When the war came to an end, cognac was still scarce. But the British Isles, in an effort to jump start the war-ruined economy, began to export the one thing that had not been stopped by war production-whisky. And export it they did. Sweden, because of their neutrality, had a population with disposable income, so the sophisticates went from cognac to the whisky of the British Isles.

The UK produced so much whisky to a thirsty post war world, that by 1955 production levels had reached to pre WW I levels and by 1968 they doubled that again. In Sweden, there was a movement to upgrade the quality of all types of food, so, an interest in single malts began to catch hold, as whisky lovers looked to the smaller outputs of the single malt producers as a source of a better product.

Interest in single malts has continued to expand, much to the surprise of Anders Görling. “I thought back in the 70’s this would be like any vogue, people would be enthused, be part of the “in thing” and then look for the next hip thing.” However, Görling says, Sweden is now about to enter the fourth wave of single malt enthusiasm. “Like the waves on a shore, whisky lovers seem to ebb and then another batch of single malt fans appears.”

In fact, about 10 years ago, eight Swedish friends were sitting around, sipping their whiskies. Remarking how it seemed that on every occasion they enjoyed their scotch, they wondered why Sweden didn’t produce its own whisky? As engineers, they knew that whisky distillation was really a combination of water, peat dried barley and yeast aged in casks. Upon investigation and experimentation those eight friends now produce the first Swedish whisky in Gävle. Whiskey Magazine said of Mackmyra Svensk Whiskey, "Sweden has always been serious about its whisky but now it has a distillery of its own that it can be truly proud of.”

Starting your own distillery might be a little adventurous for most of us. However, if you’re interested in learning a bit more about these magical spirits of the Gaels, there are whisky clubs to join. You can find one near you by looking at the Association of Swedish Whisky Clubs site (www.svenskawhisky.se). Bars and pubs like the Bishops Arms (www.bishopsarms.com) have whisky tastes and seminars all around Sweden, as well.

I guess the answer to my question as to why Swedes like whisky may never be definitively answered. The best answer may come from the English golf writer, Horace Hutchinson. Paraphrasing, he said, “We borrowed whiskey from Scotland… Not because it is Scottish, but because it is good”.