Far North Spirits: RØKNAR Bottled-in-Bond, RØKNAR Finished in PX Sherry Casks, and BØDALEN Bourbon Reviews

 

Just 25 miles from the US-Canadian border, Far North Spirits is the nation’s northernmost distillery in the Lower 48. The distillery was built on a former wheat field on the Swanson farm located in Hallock, Minnesota, in the Red River Valley. The Swansons have farmed the land continuously since 1917.

 

Far North Spirits is owned and operated by Michael Swanson and Cheri Reese. Michael was in B2B marketing and Cheri in public relations. Both gave up their corporate lives and returned to the family farm to grow the ingredients for distilling whiskey and other spirits. Their distillery has been up and running since 2013.

 

Michael had apprenticed for various distilleries in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Chicago to learn the trade and hone his skills. He and Cheri also looked to the late, great Dave Pickerall, who advised them on just about everything concerning setting up a distillery.  

 

"We love to use the word 'provenance.' Basically, it means origin and, for us, it's a very literal thing, the origin of our spirits. The soil quality and the water quality up here is very high. The air quality up here, just how clean it smells — it smells fresh.” – Cheri Reese, co-owner

 

Cheri was absolutely serious. Far North Spirits is one of the nation’s few estate distilleries – where everything happens on-site from start to finish. Far North will even tell you on the neck of the bottle everything you want to know about the grains!

 

Far North utilizes a 500-gallon, hybrid Vendome pot still and open-air fermentation that runs between four and five days. The barrels come from Minnesota cooperages. Their malted barley comes from Vertical Malts in Crookston, about 72 miles south of the farm.

 

Far North has been kind enough to send me samples of three of its whiskeys: RØKNAR Bottled-in-Bond Single Varietal Straight Rye, RØKNAR Minnesota Rye Finished in PX Sherry Casks, and BØDALEN, in exchange for my no-strings-attached, honest review. Let’s #DrinkCurious and discover what these are all about.

 

On a side note, and so I don’t become repetitive, I’ve sipped each neat from a fresh Glencairn.

 

RØKNAR Bottled-in-Bond Single Varietal Straight Rye

 

 

Whiskey Type: American Rye

Mashbill: 80% AC Hazlet Rye, 10% corn, 10% malted barley

Cooperage: new, 53-gallon charred oak barrels from Black Swan

Age: 4+ years

Alcohol Content: 50% ABV (100°), non-chill filtered

Price per 750ml: $64.99

 

Appearance: The brassy, caramel-colored whiskey created a thin, jagged rim with slow, tightly spaced, thick tears.

 

Nose: My olfactory sense plucked rye spice, anise, mild oak, and brown sugar. A vanilla taste was in the air when I pulled it into my mouth.

 

Palate: RØKNAR’s texture was thin and velvety. At the front, I tasted corn, caramel, and rye spice—the middle spotlighted cinnamon and fennel. There was cinnamon Red Hots, oak, and leather on the back.  

 

Finish: Leather, Red Hots, and rye spice competed for attention. The finish lasted 2:42, making it very long.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust: The 100° was a nice place for this whiskey. It wasn’t overly spicy, and it wasn’t excessively subtle. While it didn’t have a lot of depth, it was well-balanced and offered nothing off-putting.

 

It drank a lot like barely legal Rye, which surprised me, considering its 80% content. The spice notes were bold, yet they didn’t dominate until the finish.

 

I’m not sure where I stand with RØKNAR Bottled-in-Bond. I appreciate what Michael and Cheri have done, and the estate distilling business is tough. However, RØKNAR lacked a wow factor. Based on that, I’m conveying my Bar rating – you’ll want to try this before committing to taking one home.

 

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RØKNAR Minnesota Rye Finished in PX Sherry Casks

 

 

Whiskey Type: American Rye

Mashbill: 80% AC Hazlet Rye, 10% corn, 10% malted barley

Cooperage: new, 15-gallon charred oak barrels from Barrel Mill

Age: 16 months plus finishing time in PX Sherry Casks

Alcohol Content: 47% ABV (94°), non-chill filtered

Price per 750ml: $54.99

 

Appearance: The Rye formed a medium rim with a wavy curtain and a few crazed tears. It possessed a caramel color.

 

Nose: As I sniffed this Rye, I encountered oak, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drawing the air through my lips exposed me to vanilla.

 

Palate: The mouthfeel was soft and buttery. At the front, I found cinnamon and oak spices. Flavors of vanilla and brown sugar hit my mid-palate. The back featured muted raisins and fennel.

 

Finish: I timed the finish at only 0:40, making it short. What remained included fennel, raisins, and cinnamon.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust: The spice notes bolted from the gate like a champion racehorse. The sweeter notes from the mid-palate overtook that, then returned to spice. While I don’t usually find fennel (or black licorice or anise) attractive, it seemed complimentary in the case of RØKNAR. I enjoyed this Rye, and if I were to guess, the PX Sherry cask finish was taming. Regardless, I’m happy to offer my Bottle rating.

 

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BØDALEN

 

 

Whiskey Type: Bourbon

Mashbill: 60% corn, 30% AC Hazlet rye, 10% malted barley

Cooperage: new, 15-gallon charred oak barrels from Barrel Mill

Age: 18 months

Alcohol Content: 47% ABV (94°), non-chill filtered

Price per 750ml: $54.99

 

Appearance: The Bourbon had a fragile rim that discharged widely-spaced, very slow tears.

 

Nose: I smelled plenty of butterscotch, along with toffee, roasted almonds, and a hint of coffee. When I drew the air through my mouth, I tasted corn.

 

Palate: The whiskey’s texture was soft and silky, and there was an extreme amount of oak tannin at the start. It took five sips to get my palate adjusted. The front remained oaky; there was something earthy as well. The mid-palate included dark chocolate and cinnamon. The back included clove and black pepper.

 

Finish: Dark chocolate, black pepper, and cinnamon struggled to get past the oak. The duration clocked in at 1:18, making it medium in length.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust: Eighteen months in oak may not seem like a lot, but when the barrel is only 15 gallons, that’s an eternity. The distillate took on a tremendous amount of the wood’s character. It was challenging to discover the other flavors.

 

I like woody whiskeys and enjoy the taste of clove and black pepper. While BØDALEN would probably hold up fine in a cocktail, as a neat drinker, it is not one that I’d reach for again. As much as I hate to do this, the Bourbon earns my Bust rating.

 

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Final Thoughts: I found the differences between the whiskeys aged in 15-gallon barrels most interesting. It was like night and day. Smaller barrels are tough to work with, and I know that BØDALEN, in its previous incarnations, was aged in 53-gallon barrels. Because RØKNAR came in the 53-gallon and 15-gallon versions, it was, at one point, aged in the larger. I’m unsure what drove the decision to move to a smaller cooperage. Usually, it is the other way around – distillers start small to rapidly age the spirit while allowing other stocks to mature in 53-gallon barrels.

 

I’d rate these RØKNAR Finished in PX Sherry Casks, RØKNAR Bottled-in-Bond, and BØDALEN taking up the rear. Cheers!

 

 

My Simple, Easy-to-Understand Rating System

• Bottle = Buy It
• Bar = Try It
• Bust = Leave It

 

Whiskeyfellow encourages you to enjoy your whiskey as you see fit but begs you to do so responsibly.