Distiller magazine

102 distiller maturing in ex-Islay casks. e wood comes from a world celebrity residing on the south coast of Islay. e peated one will eventually stabilize at 5–6 years. American oak is the main wood. Agitator pur- chases the casks directly from the US. Both 200 L first-fill bourbon barrels and virgin oak casks with a ribbed interior. e wave shape increases the surface, which quickens the maturation. Age is everything in the new whiskey world. All young entrepreneurs know they need to start selling soon to get return on their investments. Agitator tries to stay clear of Scottish influence but certainly listens to other experts. A few years ago, Bruno met Jota Tanaka of Gotemba Distillery who poured him a 7-year malt whisky completely without youthful notes. Part of the secret is the low cask filling strength of 55% instead of the Scotch industry standard 63.5%. In the 1970s Americans and Japanese jointly researched how strength affects matu- ration, says Bruno: "ey found that lower fill- ing strength led to nicer aroma extraction from the wood," Bruno says. "Especially wood sugars are absorbed faster by the alcohol, under 50% the effect slows down. e study concludes that higher strength alcohol needs longer time to develop pleasant aromas." Isn't this interesting? I've heard the argument before. With 45% water in the liquid you will access water-soluble aromas, and the chemistry will change. Aiming for short-term maturation, the researchers recommend precisely 55% ABV. A 12-year Scotch single malt has dropped to about 55–58% ABV in the wood so the idea sounds rea- sonable. But too low a filling strength won't work in the long run. Keeping your whisky for plus 20 years will lower the strength under 40%, disqualifying it as whisky by law. Not a problem for Agitator though, they will start harvesting soon. And if Bruno is right in his many assumptions, it will be a clever and commercially viable drink. My bet is he will succeed. You can sense it in the atmosphere inside the heavily guarded stillhouse somewhere in Sweden. Agitator's Four New-make Styles What do we get? Oskar Bruno pours his new make into four glasses, unpeated and peated from separate distilling lines. Eagerly I go to work. e unpeated low-reflux new make has a grassy aroma of boiled vegetables with shrimp shells and some fruit compote. It has an oily, spicy 'n' sweet malt palate, midway jam and fragrance ending with sweet-licorice: a clean new make with character. e same non-smoky beer run through the high-reflux still generates a sweeter, maltier odor of leather armchair and tobacco smoke. Its sweeter, juicier fruit taste is mild, lacking the spiciness occurring in the low-reflux process. at phenolic stream in the nose is a contradiction but it must come from the distilling. When Bruno charges his stills with 40 ppm peated malt, it gets even more mysterious. e low-reflux still should be the viscous one, but the high-reflux still shows this effect well. e low-re- flux new make smells of canned peaches with tobacco and a whiff of smoked-sausage phenols, evolving to aromas of air-dried reindeer meat — a kind of raw sweetness you simply don't get from Scotch-smoked distillates. e peated high-reflux version is obviously cleaner. e smoke appears as seawater with clam shells. With water added, the scent is greener with apple and bacon vibes. e distillate has an aro- matic acidic fruit taste with tobacco smoke fin- ishing in smoked ham and a touch of peat, really yummy since the fruitiness gets more space. END American oak is the main wood. Agitator purchases the casks directly from the US both 200 L first-fill bourbon barrels and virgin oak casks with a ribbed interior.

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