I’ve reviewed a few Box whiskies now, and have been impressed with their offerings (to the point of picking up my own bottles, where possible). The latest one up for review is their PX expression, which has been finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.

Box is a small “craft” producer in northern Sweden, operating one of the most northerly distilleries in the world. They 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).

Box PX was launched in December 2016, exclusively for the international market. As usual, Box provides an incredible amount of detail on the whisky that went into the bottle. Here is the short version: unpeated whisky aged in first-fill bourbon casks followed by finishing in first-fill PX for for a total 5.34 years. 1507 bottles of 500 mL were produced, bottled at 56.7% ABV. It retails for ~85€ (I’ve seen it for ~$145 CAD in Canada). Box PX is neither chill-filtered, nor containing colouring.

Here’s a slightly longer version – for more details, see the PX product page on their website.

100% unpeated whisky. Yeast was the Fermentis Safwhisky M-1 strain, malt was Pilsner malt from Vikingmalt in Halmstad, Sweden. Ingoing barley was Tipple, Quench and Henley, with a batch size of 1.2 tons malt. Distilled between 22nd June 2011 and 5th July 2011.

First matured in 200-litre bourbon casks from Jack Daniels and Heaven Hill for 4.13 years. Finished for an addition 12 months in 55-litre casks of American oak that contained PX sherry, supplied by Miguel Martin, Spain.

Until October 2014, the casks were stored in a damp warehouse, losing some alcohol strength. From October 2014 until August 2016, the cask was stored in a drier environment in Box warehouse number 3. On the 9th of November 2016, the casks were emptied into a blending vat and the alcohol content adjusted to the pre-selected 56.7% ABV for bottling. PX was bottled on the 10th of November 2016 in a series of 1507 bottles.

Here is how it compares to other Swedish whiskies in my Meta-Critic Database:

Box Dalvve: 8.49 ± 0.27 on 6 reviews ($$$$)
Box PX: 8.92 ± 0.16 on 5 reviews ($$$$$)
Box The 2nd Step Collection 02: 8.90 ± 0.03 on 5 reviews ($$$$$)
Box The Festival 2014: 8.93 ± 0.13 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Mackmyra Blomstertid: 8.19 ± 0.26 on 3 reviews ($$$$)
Mackmyra Iskristall: 8.87 ± 0.21 on 3 reviews ($$$$$)
Mackmyra Svensk Ek: 8.33 ± 0.24 on 3 reviews ($$$$)
Mackmyra Svensk Rök: 8.71 ± 0.14 on 4 reviews ($$$$)
Mackmyra The First Edition (Den Första Utgåvan): 8.65 ± 0.36 on 17 reviews ($$$)
Mackmyra The Swedish Whisky (Brukswhisky): 8.45 ± 0.56 on 10 reviews ($$$)
Smögen Sherry Project 1:1: 8.71 ± 0.11 on 3 reviews ($$$$)
Smögen Sherry Project 1:2: 8.85 ± 0.19 on 3 reviews ($$$$)
Smögen Sherry Project 1:3: 8.77 ± 0.25 on 3 reviews ($$$$)
Smögen Sherry Project 1:4: 8.84 ± 0.28 on 5 reviews ($$$$)
Smögen Single Cask 4yo 7/2011: 8.94 ± 0.23 on 4 reviews ($$$$$)

This is a top score for a Swedish whisky in my database.

Here’s what I find in the glass:

Nose: Apple juice, red berries, figs, sour cherry, and assorted dried fruits. A bit of orange peel. Vanilla. Touch of chocolate. Ginger. Faint hint of old sweatsock funk – which is something I usually associated with lightly peated whisky.

Palate: Creamy caramel, maple syrup and brown sugar – very sweet, but complex. Green banana adds to the fruit notes (mainly apple and raisin/figs – not getting the red berries any more). Definitely more chocolate now. A bit nutty. Fair amount of cinnamon and nutmeg, plus pepper. Has a buttery texture, which is nice – but is a bit hot for the ABV (something I haven’t found on other Box expressions).

Finish: Medium long. Lingering sweetness, balanced with the more oaky elements (i.e., seems a bit woody now). A touch of that sourness I found on the nose returns at the end.

Water dulls the nose, and increases the sweetness in the mouth. It does help a bit with the burn though, and doesn’t affect that buttery texture. So you might want to try a few drops, but go easy.

A very decent expression, it is a nice addition of PX sherry to the base Box character. I personally prefer the 2nd Step Collection 02, but this is very nice as well. There is some similarity to the Smögen Sherry Project 1:4 that I recently reviewed (although without the peat here). Both are very sweet, with some interesting underlying “funky” notes. Another recommended Box offering!

Among reviewers, the most positive I’ve seen are from TOModera and xile_ of Reddit, followed by Devoz. My own assessment is probably closest to Thomas of Whisky Saga, who gives it a slightly above average score. I’m definitely looking forward to more offerings from this producer.