The Swedish archipelago and the lack of Whisky

Posted on July 11, 2007
Filed Under Personal, WhiskyBuzz |

The summer has finally arrived to Sweden and news from the world of whisky is not that easy to find. So, I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell you a short story about myself and the Swedish Systembolaget.

Me, my girlfriend Nina and our daughter Ebba spends most of the summers in the Swedish archipelago. About an hours boat-ride from the capital of Sweden - Stockholm, Ninas parents has a fantastic summerhouse on a remote island. Here we can enjoy the sea and especially the quietness. This summer is special though since Nina is pregnant and we’re eagerly awaiting the birth of Ebbas sister in the end of July.

Since the summerhouse is situated in the middle of nowhere I’ve made sure to keep a couple of bottles whisky in the cellar to match the sunsets. When I arrived this time though to my surprise the cellar was empty. Rumors says that I should blame the relatives as there was a party a couple of weekends ago. It must have been then that the last drops of my Lagavulin 1987 Distillers Edition disappeared, my Macallan Fine Oak 18yrs was opened and emtied and my Aberlour A’bunadh vanished into the infinity. I hope they understood what they were drinking.

This is were the Swedish monopoly comes in. In Sweden not anyone can sell whisky, not wine, beer or spirits either. In Sweden we have Systembolaget. There are of course both negative and positive sides to this. Right now I cannot open WhiskyGrotto in the real world, that’s a negative. On the positive side though are among the worlds best range of whisky, wines, beer and spirits. The prices are lower than in most places of the world, sometimes it’s even cheaper to buy a bottle of fine wine in Sweden than in the country were it was produced.

Part of Systembolagets assignment is also to make sure all Swedes have access to all their products - no matter where you live in Sweden. So as a result of this, even though I’m in the middle of nowhere Whisky is always available.

Using my brand new mobile broadband (3.6mbps) I’m sat down on our front porch in the sunset and browsed systembolaget.se until i laid my eyes on a bottle of Dalwhinnie Centenary 15yrs at 39€. I haven’t tried a Dalwhinnie in a couple of years and my father in Law is more of a Highlander than an Islay fan. So I called a local petrol station that also acts as a agent of Systembolaget on a nearby island.

Two days later after a short boat-ride, I picked up my bottle and now I’m sitting here enjoying my Whisky again, in the middle of nowhere, and blogging about it here.

Thank god for Whisky, Systembolaget and Mobile broadband.

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One Response to “The Swedish archipelago and the lack of Whisky”

Ingmarsö Steak House - A recommendation for whisky (and food) lovers traveling the waters of the Swedish archipelago | WhiskyGrotto.com on June 23rd, 2008 6:26 pm

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