Sheep dung-smoked lamb is a conventional dish served in Iceland. (Picture by Edwin Remsberg/VWPics/Common Pictures Group by way of Getty Pictures)
Sheep dung is the one factor that most individuals affiliate with Icelandic whisky. “It’s fairly good shit,” jokes Eimverk Distillery founder Halli Thorkelsson with a boyish grin, brandishing a tall glass jar crammed with dry brown bricks of ovine excreta. This isn’t a gimmick: Smoking with sheep dung is conventional. “Each Icelander eats lamb at Christmas that’s been smoked with sheep dung,” explains Thorkelsson. It’s solely pure that it must be a part of making a conventional Icelandic whisky too.
As a result of Iceland’s chilly temperatures, sheep are moved into barns for the winter. Compacted below cloven hooves, the layers of dung incorporate plenty of hay and solidify over time. The dung is shoveled out within the spring and left to harden over the summer season. Dried, it smells a bit of like peat, although not like peat, it solely takes a yr to kind, somewhat than 1000’s of years. “You positively get some … completely different tones,” says Thorkelsson, taking a deep sniff of the jar, “It’s surprisingly earthy and reminds you of the scent of the farm, somewhat than reminding you the place it truly got here from!”
This far north, the lengthy chilly nights drop under the dew level, requiring all barley to be dried straight from the fields when it’s lower in September. Traditionally, a neighborhood low cost gas could be burned to generate warmth to dry it, and consequently all the pieces would style of smoke. After all, in fashionable Icelandic agriculture, the harvest might be dried with out smoke, and Eimverk solely wants ample smoked barley to make Flóki Sheep Dung Smoked Reserve twice a yr.
Because the distillery’s Flóki whiskies are single-barrel bottlings, the delicate bucolic smokiness can differ with every batch, similar to floor-malted Islay single malts from 40 to 50 years in the past. Overlook the peat reek from the pagodas of Bowmore or Laphroaig—Eimverk has perfected pre-malting smoke, the burning dung smoke being drawn by way of a dryer for twenty-four to 48 hours. “The quantity of smoke varies relying on the day the barley was taken from the fields, how dry or moist it was, whether or not it was raining, and the way lengthy it stayed within the dryer,” explains Thorkelsson. In contrast to peat, there’s no elements per million grading for this course of; simply choose a barrel and see what the farm gave up that day.
Flóki Sheep Dung-Smoked Reserve Single Malt
91 factors, 47%, $100
Produced from smoked Icelandic barley, the nostril has earthy mushroom-farm notes, with herbs, damp grass cuttings, tree sap, toasted nuts, and recent barley prime notes. This begs to be poured over ice cream; candy malt and banoffee caramel spill over the style buds with toasted almonds, ripe banana, and an fringe of spice. The thick, heavy mouthfeel negotiates cinnamon, burnt sugar, delicate smoke, and blackened wooden to complete.
