Flóki Young Malt 1st Edition

A friend of mine recently gave me this 1st release bottle of Floki which is an Icelandic single malt, produced from 100% Icelandic barley and bottled at 47% from a single barrel. The nose has a youthful astringency that starts with a mixture of wet sheep wool and the rug section in Home Depot followed by a prepper’s stash of bunkered 7-year-old Golden raisins in old musty cardboard boxes and white peaches that transitions to animal soiled barnyard hay with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting very sour with nail polish remover along with a mixture of wet sheep’s wool and new carpet followed by a rotting cardboard box holding fruits of apricots and white peaches that transition to a medium spice before fading to ginger, clay and animal soiled barnyard hay with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with dark chocolate covered espresso beans, white peaches, apricots, hay and lanolin. So, this is a strange one that brings in a nose of farm yard funk with linoleum, stale citrus fruits and musty cardboard that carries onto the palate with a medium spice before the best part of the finish that is like drinking a cup of mocha and eating stone fruit while petting a freshly sheared sheep. I’m usually a fan of some weird funky flavors, but the balance on this is off and goes towards an all-out farm forward funk instead of an interesting background note. All of these flavors might be more balanced out now because this was the 1st release that was very young and they have recently released some 3-year-old to the US, but I think I’ll be waiting for some reviews on those before jumping back into this full-on farmyard funky liquid.

Nose - barnyard funk, hay, sawdust, honey, dry rotted leather, barley sugar, cereal grain, vanilla, nutmeg, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - hay, barnyard funk, sawdust, ginger, barley sugar, honey, pear, apple, nutmeg, lemon zest, cereal grain, caramel, vanilla, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with barnyard funk, lemon, and sour orchard fruit flavors. I physically gagged when I first put my nose to the glass, so I can’t say we’re off to a good start. This smells like a farm, or maybe a guinea pig cage that hasn’t been cleaned for months. If you dare to dig deeper, some honey, barley sugar, and marked graininess appear. The palate isn’t quite as horrific, but that barnyard quality is front and center. More grainy barley notes are complemented by orchard fruit, citrus zest, and a bland, cloying sweetness. Adding insult to injury, the finish is long and unrelenting. Wow. Just wow. While not quite a drain pour, this comes very close. It smells like a farm and tastes how I’d imagine a Crown Royal single malt would if it were filtered through sawdust and cow pies. If nothing else, this is certainly unique. Big thanks to @pkingmartin for providing the sample! Happy New Year, everyone!

Floki is indeed unique. It’s not everyday you get to have a dram from Iceland. Being honest though, it’s not everyday you’d want one. The nose is interesting, offering a very nature driven profile. It’s ripe with sappy and herbal tones immediately present. You’ll find honey and a deep molasses at the center. The bow wrapped around it all is leaves, forest and wet saw dust. Floki carries and extremely light palate with varnished wood and a clean rinse on the tongue. It’s there and it’s gone. That’s probably due to its very young age of 9 months. On the exit, you’ll find some vigor in the form of belly heat returning a few seconds after swallowing. This dram is a one and done. There isn’t any real reason to go back to it. Try it if you have the chance, hang you hat, then move on. (OoTB January)

Eimverk distillery named their young malt after Flóki Vilgerðarson, the first Norseman settler who came to Iceland. Too young to be called 'whisky', this spirit spent about 1-2 years in virgin American oak casks, which are then used to mature their older stock. The aroma is minty-fresh with hints of juniper, vanilla and newly assembled furniture (IKEA). Young, crisp and oily on the palate, there is a delightful herbal freshness that migrates into the mineral and resin-bitter finish. Flóki is definitely an unusual dram that unfortunately comes with a hefty price tag. RATING: 2.9/5.0 stars ≙ 78 pts → AVERAGE [-]

I wanted to like it... To be honest, this is the worst whiskey I've ever had in my life. I can barely bring the glass to my nose before the smell turns my stomach. For anyone who has every worked with horses, the smell is unmistakable: that super grassy horse shit that is more mushed grass than actual shit. Like that damo bottom layer of half-rotten hay in the back of the the barn on the most humid day of the summer. The taste is exactly what you'd expect from the smell. I couldn't drink it, had to pour the glass down the drain.

Arômes de fût de bourbon de seconde utilisation, caramel un peu brûlé, bois humide, alcool un peu piquant et mal intégré, fruits du verger cuits. En bouche, bois humide avec cannelle et pomme en entrée, l'alcool apparaît ensuite, assez fort et piquant et pas trop reposé, caramel cuit, cacao. Finale à saveurs de cèdre et épinette, un peu métallisée, épices séchées, foin, beaucoup de foin. Texture un peu rude. Ok pour une première expérience. En espérant que le jeune savoir faire islandais s'améliore.