Dálvve is a significant release for Box distillery. Typically characterized as a “craft distiller,” this is the first whisky to form part of their core range. Released on November 7th, 2016, this whisky is slowly starting to appear in markets around the world. It is also the first whisky they have released in standard 700 mL bottles (up to now, everything has been 500 mL, I believe).

The name dálvve comes from the ancient language of the Sami people of northern Sweden and Norway, and means “winter.”  Very appropriate, given that Box is one of the most northerly distilleries in the world, located at 63° N. They also experience extreme fluctuations in temperature, which helps to accelerate the aging of their whisky (along with their use of rebuilt quarter casks and smaller custom casks – see my inaugural review from this distillery for more info).

As always, the Box website gives tons of info on this release.  As a whisky geek, I really appreciate the incredible level of detail they provide. But to summarize, for batch 1, the composition is:

• 63.48% is 5.24 year old unpeated whisky from 200-litre 1st fill bourbon casks
• 24.13% is 5.23 year old peated whisky from 200-litre 1st fill bourbon casks
• 12.39% is 5.07 year old unpeated whisky from 135-litre 1st fill bourbon casks

Yeast was the Fermentis Safwhisky M-1. Ingoing barley was Tipple, Quench, Publican, Henley and Sebastian. Unpeated malt was Pilsner malt from Vikingmalt in Halmstad, Sweden. Peated malt was Pilsner malt from Castle Maltings in Belgium. Peated to 39ppm phenol content using Scottish peat (making the final blended mix lightly peated overall).

Batch size was 1.2 tonnes of malt, with an average fermenting time of 80 hours in stainless steel vats. Distilled between 2nd May 2011 and 27th September 2011. Website has tons of additional features on the distillation, including cuts from the still if you are curious (i.e. times for the foreshots, etc).

For aging, 200-litre bourbon barrels were obtained almost exclusively from Heaven Hill and Jack Daniels distilleries. The 135-litre quarter casks were re-built from bourbon barrels by Speyside Cooperage.  Up until October 2014, the casks were stored in a damp warehouse (and thus lost some of their relative alcoholic strength). From October 2014 to August 2016 they were stored in a drier environment in Box warehouse number 3.

On the 24th of October 2016, 6986kg of whisky with an average alcohol content of 59.54% were emptied into a blending vat. Alcohol content was adjusted to 46% at the time of bottling. Bottled between the 28th of October and 3rd of November 2016 in a series of 14,015 bottles. Dálvve is neither cold-filtered nor has colouring been added.

Currently, batch 2 is now available – but I managed to snag a bottle of the original batch 1 in my travels. Note that batch 2 uses slightly less peated malt than the original batch 1 presented here (again, full details on all batches are available on the website link above).

There aren’t many reviews of Box whiskies so far, but here is how it compares to some of the other major Swedish whiskies in the same price range:

Box Dálvve: 8.63 ± 0.28 on 3 reviews ($$$$)
Box PX – Pedro Ximénez Finish: 8.90 ± 0.09 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Box The 2nd Step Collection 02: 8.91 ± 0.05 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Box The Festival 2014: 8.94 ± 0.13 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Mackmyra Brukswhisky: 8.45 ± 0.60 on 9 reviews ($$$)
Mackmyra Moment Glöd: 8.84 ± 0.41 on 4 reviews ($$$$$)
Mackmyra Special 03: 8.69 ± 0.28 on 7 reviews ($$$$$)
Mackmyra Special 04: 8.76 ± 0.35 on 8 reviews ($$$$)
Mackmyra Special 05: 8.50 ± 0.38 on 7 reviews ($$$$)
Mackmyra Special 07: 8.51 ± 0.51 on 7 reviews ($$$$)
Mackmyra Svensk Ek: 8.34 ± 0.23 on 3 reviews ($$$$)
Mackmyra Svensk Rök: 8.71 ± 0.14 on 4 reviews ($$$$)
Mackmyra The First Edition (Den Första Utgåvan): 8.65 ± 0.36 on 17 reviews ($$$)
Smogen Primor: 8.50 ± 0.24 on 4 reviews ($$$$$)
Smogen Sherry Project 1:4: 8.68 ± 0.13 on 3 reviews ($$$$)
Spirit of Hven Sankt Claus: 8.60 ± 0.58 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Spirit of Hven Seven Stars No. 1 Dubhe: 8.29 ± 0.42 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Spirit of Hven Seven Stars No. 2 Merak: 8.40 ± 0.25 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Spirit of Hven Seven Stars No. 3 Phecda: 8.53 ± 0.34 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Spirit of Hven Tycho’s Star: 8.58 ± 0.07 on 3 reviews ($$$$)

Again, you should treat all entries as provisional until at least 7-8 reviews are in. But these early reviews seem to slightly favour Box over their main Swedish competitors.

Let’s see what I find in the glass:

Colour: One of the lightest malt whiskies I’ve seen. White gold in appearance.

Nose:  Lightly peated – there’s a hint of something vegetal and medicinal, but not a lot smoke.  Apple juice (Granny Smith) and lemon juice originally, followed by pears and green grapes. Something tropical, but I can’t place it. Vanilla and caramel. Just a bit grassy, with some oak influence (plus a bit of conifer). Hints of turpentine (but not bad). Well constructed, it reminds me a bit of some the decent lightly peated blends from Compass Box (i.e., Great King Street style blends). With water, I get a touch of old sweatsocks – kinda nice, actually.

Palate: Sweeter in the mouth, with barley sugar followed by caramel and vanilla. Also those oak spices – cinnamon in particular, plus some pepper. Sea salt. Little fruit, just a bit of apple and lemon juice again. The peat has a maritime characteristic, but is fairly subdued. Mouthfeel is a little watery for 46% ABV, but not bad. A bit of tongue tingle and ethanol heat, consistent with its young age. Slightly tannic tea, with a little bitterness on the way out. Water lightens the mouthfeel, but doesn’t really affect the heat or tingle. But water does bring in a white chocolate note – plus light honey, which is nice.

Finish: Medium-short. Its youth shows itself here – there is not really much complexity in the finish. Mainly salted caramel, oak spices and a light fruitiness (with that lemony citrus in particular). Just hint of wood smoke persists, but it otherwise doesn’t seem very peated. But no off notes, which is impressive for the age.

An easier sipper, nothing really to criticize here (except its relative youth). It is a bit light, compared to the higher-end offerings from Box. But certainly a lot better than Scapa Skiren or Bowmore Small Batch, if you have tried those entry-level peated malts. Something like the Hakushu 12 year old might be a good comparable for the style.

I’m glad they bottled Dalvve at 46% ABV. It does seem to benefit from just a few drops of water, though. For when you are in the mood for a gentle, lightly peated malt – clean and cleansing.

Jonny of Whisky Advocate is a huge fan of this whisky, giving it a top score. Thomas of Whisky Saga gives it a just below average score – which is where I would score it as well, given its youth and limited complexity. But great to see Box finally launching a core range – looking forward to more releases!