Frysk Hynder

I’ve been doing a little travel lately, and have found myself in some interesting places. And while the travel itself wasn’t whisky-related specifically, I did take it upon myself to at least inject a bit of a whisky theme into the proceedings.

I was in the North of Holland doing some (un)consultancy and was taken out to dinner in Leeuwarden by my hosts. I thought I’d check the wine list to see if there were any interesting drams to be found – and sure enough, Frysk Hynder was on the list.

It’s the only Frisian single malt there is, and production numbers are small – as low as 77 bottles a day. The lid has a distinctive horse statuette sticking out of it, so it’s hard to miss if you do ever encounter it – and there is glassware specifically made for it.

Frysk Hynder is young – so young, in fact, that it can only just legally be called whisky. It’s 3 years and one month old, judging by the hand-written information on the label.

And yet it was really smooth. Heathery, a little honey – and a very light body. Sounds like I was lucky. The general consensus seems to be that it’s usually pretty awful – but the variation on that is enormous.

Personally, I liked it – and next time I’m in Groningen I’ll pick up a bottle. I was pleasantly surprised, and more or less delighted that (at that age) it wasn’t downright paint-strippery.