Spirit of Hven Seven Stars No.4 Megrez Whisky 50cl

This is a special place, where natural organic approaches are predominant. Nothing is rushed, or fudged. It is all genuine, and, natural. And naturally, it is top quality. The whiskies are superbly crafted. I think it is more like the pointilliste approach to art – perhaps Henric Molin is the Georges Seurat ou Paul Signac of whisky? The island is lovely in Summer-Autumn (I went once, on 20th September 2012), and nearly (but not quite) everyone on the island is kind, considerate and welcoming. As nearly (but not quite) all Swedes are. I would heartily recommend their Seven Stars whiskies (now up to No 4, Magrez). The distillery (Swedish destilleri) is part of a fantastic whisky bar, restaurant, and hotel-conference complex on the tiny island, itself a 30 minutes ferry boat ride from the rather shabby town of Landskrona. Much better to go up the coast to the fascinating town of Helsingborg instead.

Henric Molin and team are on the tiny island of Hven/Ven, somewhere fought over between Denmark and Sweden - and not far from the Orosundbron ("The Bridge" - the Crime series). Well it would be a crime to overlook such quality. All of the whiskies (and by the way, there are several pot-still gins, aqvavits, vodkas too) are superbly crafted. If Par Caldenby from Smogen is Van Gogh, then Henric Molin is Georges Seurat, with a pointilliste attention to every detail. Both styles are masterly. I really recommend the Seven Stars series, and this number 4 (there will be 7, as there are 7 stars in the Big Dipper constellation) in particular. The island of Hven is fascinating, as it is the place where Tycho Brahe worked (OK so not everyone knows the story of heliocentricity I know) - without his work, then Johannes Kepler would not have made the laws of planetary motion (see http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/brahe.html). There is a great museum on the island devoted to this. The island itself only has around 350 inhabitants, but 1000s go there in the Summer to visit. Nearly everyone on the island is glad to see strangers, and are kind, thoughtful, welcoming and considerate (much like nearly all Swedes I know). STRONGLY recommended. Get the whisky. Go to Skane (the bread-basket of Sweden - food and drink are excellent there).