1000 Lakes Distillery, the new kid on the block

1000 Lakes Distillery is one of the newest distilleries in Finland. The company running it is founded 2011 and they have been offering travel and event services. In 2021 they decided to expand the business by building a brewery and a distillery on their premises in Vaajakoski. They currently have gin and vodka already on the markets and whisky is on the way. I noticed from Facebook that they delivered some new make and aged spirits to several bars in Finland. I rarely go out, but when I do it's usually Barley & Bait in Jätkäsaari. The atmosphere there is great and the staff is super nice and few of my whisky friends consider it as their base. There were three different spirits to taste. New make, 6,5 months old that has been matured in cask that was seasoned with Portuguese red wine and 7,5 months old distillate that has been matured in Ukrainian virgin oak Blood Tub. Both barrels were 30 liters and that's probably why they have gotten so nice colouring. I also heard from a good source, that in the future the peated new make will mainly go to American white oak casks.

The point of this tasting wasn't to get super detailed notes. It was more about getting to know a new distillery and see how the new make and the distillates are and just enjoy new products.

Un-aged spirit:

Peated 28PPM, 69,0% alc/vol

The first thing is overwhelming sweetness and there's no smoke. The sweetness is like plum on the nose and there's a really strong barleyness(?) that I usually find with new makes. There's a hint of menthol in the taste that's like Jenkki gum or menthol cigarette and the smoke is present in the taste. Everything still feels like it's coated with plums.

Matured spirit No 1:

Southern Portuquese Red Wine Seasoned Cask, Cask ref 0004, Peated 28PPM Matured 6 ½ months, 65,3% alc/vol

Nose is great. There's vanilla and something tart. It's like vanilla tee with a hint of red wine notes and cotton candy. Taste is much closer to the new make than nose was hinting and then there's also smoke. Musty barleyness, but works at some level. New make taste fades away a bit and sweet smokeness is the core in this one.

Matured spirit No 2:

Quercus Petraea Blood Tub, Cask Ref. 0003, Peated 28PPM, Matured 7½ months, 66,4% alc/vol

Same vanilla tart in this one, but this feels like it's much more closer to a being whisky than the first matured spirit. Cherry vanilla in taste (it's probably the plum from the new make, but feels like cherries in this one). Smoke can be found from the after taste.

Quite nice and promising trio from the 1000 Lakes Distillery and it' interesting to see where do we go from here. Hopefully we get the chance to taste the same casks when they are a bit older.