What is Swedish whisky?

Swedish whisky is grain spirit distilled in Sweden and matured there on wood for at least three years.

Sweden has no whisky law of its own. There is no Swedish regulation that sets extra requirements on origin, grain type or cask choice, as Scotland does. Anyone who makes whisky in Sweden therefore falls under the basic European rules for spirits.

The rules are in category 2 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/787. The drink must be made from a mash of malted grains, optionally with whole unmalted grains added. Malt enzymes convert the starch, yeast ferments it, and every distillation takes place below 94.8 percent by volume.

The distillate then matures for at least three years in wooden casks of at most 700 liters. Bottling takes place at at least 40 percent by volume. Almost nothing may be added: only water and ordinary caramel E 150a. Sweetening and flavoring are not permitted, and no extra alcohol may go in.

The Scottish rules are stricter and far more precise than the basic European requirements that Swedish whisky must meet.

In the United Kingdom, the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 stipulate that Scotch whisky must be distilled in Scotland from water and malted barley, with fermentation and enzyme action taking place at the same distillery. Distillation may go up to less than 94.8 percent by volume.

Maturation may only take place in Scotland, only in oak casks of at most 700 litres and for at least three years, in an excise warehouse or a permitted place. The lower limit is 40 percent by volume. The same regulation divides Scotch into five categories: single malt, single grain, blended malt, blended grain and blended Scotch.

None of this is laid down for Sweden. A Swedish distiller may use other grain, choose other wood and let his casks rest elsewhere, as long as he stays within European category 2. The country name on the label therefore says something about the place of origin, not about a national legal standard of its own.

Swedish distillers choose their own wood and their own storage location, because the European rules only prescribe wooden casks of at most 700 litres.

That leaves room to do things differently. Besides ordinary casks, Mackmyra also uses casks of Swedish oak. That wood first appeared in the Preludium bottlings, which were bottled in 2006 and 2007.

Storage is arranged differently there too. Mackmyra matures whisky in the old mine at Bodås, fifty metres underground. That mine has been the distillery's main cask warehouse since 2004.

Mackmyra also works with small thirty-litre casks. According to the distillery, whisky matures more intensively in such a small format than in a large cask. What these choices mean for each bottle differs per bottling. In the shop we explain which casks were used, as far as the distiller states it.

In the shop at Brink 2 in Bathmen there are 11 bottles of whisky from Sweden. That is out of a range of 4,017 different whiskies.

Those eleven bottles come under two names. Eight are from Mackmyra, the distillery founded in 1999. The other three are from Adelphi, an independent bottler and therefore not a Swedish distillery. Such a bottler buys casks and brings them to market under its own name.

The alcohol percentage of the eleven ranges from 46.1 to 58.1 percent by volume. All eleven are therefore well above the legal minimum of 40 percent by volume.

Zweden blijft in het schap een klein hoekje. Ter vergelijking: 2.861 flessen komen uit Schotland, 334 uit Ierland en 127 uit Japan. Wilt u weten welke Zweedse flessen er nu staan, bel ons dan of kom langs. Wij verkopen geen alcohol aan personen onder de 18 jaar. NIX18.

Drinks above 3.5 percent by volume are sold in Sweden only through Systembolaget, the state-owned company with the retail monopoly.

Systembolaget has existed since 1955 and is entirely state-owned. The company has 452 stores and an online store, and operates without profit or sales targets. That last point is deliberate: the monopoly is part of Swedish alcohol policy.

For a Swedish distillery that means a narrow path to its own market. Anyone who wants to sell to private individuals in Sweden ends up at Systembolaget.

There is movement, though. The Swedish government is working on a bill that would allow small-scale producers to sell their own drinks directly to visitors, known as gårdsförsäljning. Until that law exists, Systembolaget remains the only point of sale above 3.5 percent by volume for Swedish consumers.