The 3rd release of Whisky from Swedish Distillery Agitator – Argument: Småfat 46% ABV!

Friends! Friday last week I once again received a package from the people at Swedish distillery Agitator. It contained their two upcoming releases, Argument: Småfat (”Small casks”) and Rök (”Smoke”), and today I'm bringing you my review of Argument: Småfat.

The recipe for Småfat goes like this: only peated newmake this time, 70% of the barley used held a peating level of 30ppm, and the remaining 30% was peated to 40ppm. Nine parts of new make were taken from the Low Reflux Stills and one part was taken from the High Reflux Stills. The newmake has been matured in three kinds of Småfat all being 130 litres in size, widely known as quarter casks. 

Oskar Bruno (Distillery Manager) was kind enough to share with me the detail that the new make was divided between the three types of casks in the following way: 50% was filled into bourbon casks that previously matured whisky from Islay, 20% was filled into american oak sherry casks, and 30% into virgin chestnut casks. Oskar also shared with me that the age of the whisky is slightly above 3 years and 2 months. 6000 70cl bottles at an ABV of 46% were produced. Here in Sweden this whisky will be released at the state monopoly this Friday and you can view the product by clicking here. Ok, time to analyze!

Nose:
My nose is met by a calm and beautifully soft and rounded peatyness. Incredibly soft in fact, and there are elements of both sea/minerals and moist leather. I also detect a tad of smoke (firewood) and very light traces of popcorn butter, but most of all soft tar with light traces of asphalt (think Terva Leijona). While the base consists of the hitherto mentioned the following delicate top notes are also present; warm vanilla with a slight citrus fruit acidity to it (leaning towards orange more than towards lemon), flambéed pineapple, a whiff of raisins, and peated cucumber water.

Taste:
Starts off on saltyness and a peat that bursts into an instantly dry/tanninic feel. My tounge is touched by an archipelago rope and I’m eating a spoon full of peated barley porridge. Some smoke rises to the roof of my mouth. The peatyness calms down and the dram shifts quite fast into the aftertaste; almonds and pistachios lightly touched by flames on a grill (”barbecue”), slightly salty vanilla, a barley-esque vanilla with light traces of lemon peel and sweet liqorice (hints of sackcloth) that lingers on for around twenty seconds or so.

Some reflections to sum up:
The nose is indeed very complex, lots of interesting scents to find and ponder upon. The 46% ABV is perfect for nosing and there is an extraordinary balance between the strength and the scents. The taste is in contrast very straightforward peaty with basic and robust elements and a short to medium long aftertaste. The 46% manages to give the initial flavors something of a cannonball start that is a feast to the sensory buds. To echo my two previous reviews of whisky from Agitator, I must once again say that it is simply remarkable to be able to craft such a mature and tasty whisky with such a young stock that this in fact is. Simply flying colors and in my book their best release so far! Finally, it is my belief that the taste profile of this whisky will appeal to ”the great” whisky drinking ”masses” more than the taste profile of Argument: Chestnut perhaps did. Those of you out there who like an explosion of flavors will probably like Argument: Chestnut more, but those who prefer balance, but with an oumph, will like Argument: Småfat more. From this perspective then it’s truly the perfect allrounder.

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Agitator for the great opportunity to review this whisky before it's release! For further and future updates please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my instagram by clicking here, and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures and videos likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or is associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and when permission is granted by stating the source.