20th March, 2019 by Nicola Carruthers

Sweden’s Mackmyra distillery has teamed up with Calvados producer Christian Drouin to launch a limited edition single malt whisky finished in ex-Calvados casks.

The seasonal whisky, called Mackmyra Äppelblom, is “reminiscent of spring and fresh green apples” and was finished in saturated oak casks that previously held Calvados.

Mackmyra’s master blender Angela D’Orazio partnered with Christian Drouin and his son Guillaume to create the single malt whisky, which is bottled at 46.1% abv.

Äppelblom – meaning ‘apple blossom’ in Swedish – is described as a “fruity and lightly spiced whisky filled with hints of apple, pear, citrus, almond toffee and cedar”.

The expression is recommended served neat, with a hot apple-based desert or with an apple sorbet.

“The choice of Calvados producer was easy. Christian Drouin creates absolutely fantastic Calvados in all respects, with genuine craftsmanship in every product since 1965, he has challenged French traditions in this area, and is therefore the perfect match for Mackmyra’s approach and our enjoyment of experimenting,” said D’Orazio.

“The light apple tones from our whisky, in combination with the more mature apple flavours from the Calvados, give Äppelblom a generous cask character with a fine spicy balance.”

Guillaume Drouin, managing director at Calvados Christian Drouin, said: “Calvados is a delicate and fruity spirit. When discovering Äppelblom, I was very impressed by the delicate marriage between the pear and citrus notes of the whisky with the apple and oxidative flavours given by our casks.

“The result is a very expressive and elegant whisky which will be just perfect at spring time. Since we have a very long ageing for our Calvados we hardly get the opportunity to use them for a second fill, therefore I was happy to see the result of this innovative ageing using one of the very few casks we ship from our cellar.”

Mackmyra Äppelblom is priced at £60 (US$79.40) for a 700ml bottle.