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Many of us have not heard of Box Distillery in Singapore. Hailing from Northern Sweden, it is a distillery that showcases the Nordic passion for whisky like no others. The distillery changed its name from Box to High Coast Distillery on 30 June 2018. The decision came about as a practical solution to a complaint filed by Scottish brand Compass Box.

“The name changes links our distillery more closely with the High Coast region and the fabulous place that we live and work in.” Said High Coast distillery CEO Thomas Larsson, in an interview with ScotchWhisky.com. It makes sense for the distillery to create a stronger tie to the land with its name.

Early History of High Coast Distillery

If you wonder why the owners christened the distillery as Box initially, you need to go back to its roots. The site of the High Coast distillery is sitting beside the Ångerman River in Ådalen. It is about 100km north of Sundsvall in Northern Sweden. This area was the heart of the Nordic forestry industry in the past, with sawmills and other timber-related businesses lining the banks of the river. One of these buildings was Box AB, a wooden box production company.

A terrible fire broke out in 1890 and burnt the factory, warehouse and workers’ accommodation to the ground. Unfortunately, the owners could not rebuild Box factory, and by 1912, the building became a wood-fired power station. The power station provided electricity to a nearby timber floating station until 1924. The owners then turned the building into a storage area until timber floating operation ceased in the early 1980s.

The Building of a Dream

The building fell into ruin after the early 1980s. A new lease of life began for the building in 1991, when current distillery owner, Mats de Vahl, took over the old power station. He renovated and transformed the station into an art gallery. The building changes its course again when Mat and his brother Per, visited Scotland. Impressed with the distilleries that they saw, Mat and Per decided to build their passion for whisky into a distillery. After several years of intense planning, the distillery opened in December 2010, and the first barrels were filled before Christmas Eve.

What is Special about High Coast Distillery?

The environment is a unique part about High Coast distillery. Nestled in a remote, rugged landscape with icy-cold water, the dense forest, open areas and clean air contribute to the production of the whisky. The distillery experiments high variation in temperature due to its geographical location and it helps the maturing spirits to attain its flavours through the active interaction with the cask faster. In such an ideal situation, whisky from the High Coast distillery does not need an extended maturation period.

The water that the distillery uses is also a point in contention. High Coast uses water from Bålsjön, a spring-fed lake as it is clean and soft – a perfect combination. Additionally, the distillery filters the water through sand and carbon filters to remove any last bits of impurity.

High Coast’s Production Methods

Mats and Per de Vahl know what they want to achieve right from the start. They want a full-bodied and malty new make, so they make use of pilsner malt. They also take careful consideration to ensure that the wort is clear during the mashing process. A clear wort brings a fruity flavour and hence, they are particular about it. During fermentation, they use only French distillery yeast to bring forth more fruitiness. The fermentation period is also longer to allow production of acids, aldehydes and alcohol sugars for a beautiful, fruity and well-balanced whisky.

Distillation is the most vital part of the production. Careful to take in the fruitiest esters that come off early from distillation, the first cut of their unpeated distillate is around 13 minutes. The second cut of 67% is also earlier than other distilleries to ensure a clean and light whisky. For their peated version, they take the first and second cut 30 minutes longer than the unpeated version.

What is Available at the Distillery?

There are many different activities that you can do at the High Coast Distillery. If you want to know more about the distillery and what they do, take the distillery guided tour for a chance to see it for yourself. The distillery also host a whisky festival on the last Saturday of June every year, where visitors get to sample their products and other liquids from the nearby regions.

There is also the Box Whisky Academy, where visitors stay one week at the distillery and works together with the team. You can learn the craft and knowledge of whisky-making through the different processes and of course, get to taste the whisky from the warehouse!

Finally, you can also become a cask owner by buying a cask from the High Coast Distillery. Known as 39.25 Box Ankare, visitors are welcome to choose a barrel and to buy it as their own. The cask will continue to mature in the warehouse, and you can visit the distillery anytime to try the liquid. To find out more about cask ownership, email the distillery at caskownerservice@boxwhisky.se.

Private Bottling of Box Whisky

To finish up the article, we would like to share that HNWS Taiwan brought a cask of Box Whisky. Bottled at 62% abv, this 5.5 years old whisky is from a 40 litres cask. Fruity and feisty, the liquid is perfect for almost any occasions. 😀

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