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Spirit of Hven Dubhe

spicy malty
4.2
(1)€112Sweden, Single Malt

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Spicy

Taste mentions

Facts

The island of Hven sits in the Oresund strait, roughly halfway between Sweden and Denmark. A small family distillery there named its whisky series after the seven stars of the Plough. Dubhe came first, taking the name of the second brightest among them. The spirit rests in American, French and Spanish oak, and each wood leaves its mark. You get toffee and vanilla from one, liquorice and pepper from another. Smoke runs underneath all of it, dry and faintly medicinal. The whisky is soft on arrival, then leather and spice move in and stay a while.

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About the distillery

Distillery

Spirit of Hven

On the tiny island of Hven, in the strait between Sweden and Denmark, the astronomer Tycho Brahe once built two observatories to map the stars. Four centuries later, Anja and Henric Molin bought an old resort on the same island and spent eight years planning a distillery around it. Spirit of Hven opened in 2008, only the third pot still distillery ever built in Sweden. Henric runs the stills as both owner and master distiller, alongside a small laboratory that analyses spirit for other producers too. The whisky ferments for up to 120 hours using more than one strain of yeast. Then rests in custom oak casks rather than standard bourbon barrels. Most of the names on the bottles trace back to Brahe himself. Tycho's Star, the distillery's flagship single malt, is named after the supernova he recorded over the island in 1572.

4.2Average rating

12Whiskies on Distilld

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About the Spirit of Hven Dubhe

Spirit of Hven Dubhe is a single malt whisky made on a small island in Sweden. That island is Hven, sitting in the Oresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. The distillery is family run and works on a tiny scale. Bottled at 45% ABV, this release carries no added colouring. It was the first whisky in the producer's Seven Stars series of limited editions. A quiet smokiness runs through the spirit. Whisky here is shaped mostly by wood. Spirit of Hven Dubhe matures in three different oaks. American casks give toffee and a soft vanilla sweetness. French oak pushes liquorice and a peppery edge into the spirit. Spanish oak answers with dried fruit and a herbal lift. No single wood takes over the glass. That three-way pull gives the whisky its shape, and none of it is hidden. Dry, faintly medicinal air comes off the glass first. A salty brine edge follows, then smoke that leans more tar than bonfire. The first taste is sweet and rounded. Spice moves in quickly after it. Black pepper and worn leather build through the middle, over a malty, meaty cereal weight. Vanilla softens things towards the end. A trace of dark chocolate lingers once the smoke fades. Seven Stars is the distillery's numbered series, and Dubhe opened it. The name comes from the second brightest star in the Plough. Later releases follow the other six. This first bottling set the template: island malt, mixed oak, smoke kept on a leash. It came out in a limited run of 50cl bottles and is now sold out. Anyone tracking Swedish island whisky starts here.