A recommendation for whisky (and food) lovers traveling the waters of the Swedish archipelago

Posted on June 23, 2008
Filed Under Personal, Travel, WhiskyBuzz |

Last night was the first evening of my vacation. To celebrate, me and my family boarded our boat and enjoyed a 10 minute ride from Södermöja to a near island called Ingmarsö to grab some food.

To say that the waters outside Stockholm are filled with restaurants would be far from true. Then to say that they all serve a good variety of whisky would be to partner with the devil. Basically, to get a glass of single malt whisky in a restaurant is almost non-existent (except when you order your own as stated before), to be able to choose between more than 20 different ones is not happening. Yet yesterday it turned out Ingmarsö Steak House was well equipped.

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Ingmarsö Steak House sits perfectly by the sea (North 59° 27,900 - East 18° 45, 040) with seating on the bridge. They serve quite a modest yet wonderful menu. Their speciality is not very surprising things served of the charcoal grill that stands almost on the water. The BBQ Ribs with Corn, Coleslaw and French Fries made my day. On the contrary to the food menu the drink menu is more varied. They serve a variety of white and red wines and the bar serves most drinks you can think of. (Not including the strange ones no one ever heard of)

Since this is a whisky blog their stock of whisky is of course the reason for this blog post. The range of whiskies cannot of course not compare to any well sorted retailer in a metropolitan city. But the fact that the place is situated about an hours boat ride outside Stockholm in the middle of nowhere and probably don’t have that many whisky connoisseurs anchoring up I was impressed.

The evening we visited the stock included Bowmore 10, 15 and 17yrs. From Lagavulin both a 12yrs, a 16 yrs and 18 yrs Distillers Edition smiled at me. The Macallan 12 yrs was squeezed in between a Famous Grouse Vintage Malt, another Famous Black and the ordinary Famous Grouse. Laphroaig, Caol Ila, Ardbeg, Glenmorangie, Talisker, Auchentoshan and Oban looked great beside a Black Ribbon 10yrs. The ordinary stuff - J&B, Jameson, Black Bush, Bushmill, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam and Lauders lined up besides a bottle of Buhannabin. The only think I was sad about was the lack of Mackmyra. After all, we’re in Sweden and Mackmyra is almost as exotic as the archipelago.

All in all, I can definitely see myself dropping by to try some whisky while looking at people doing their best not to fall in the water when boarding.

Yesterday? Well, the bottle containing Bowmore 17yrs was opened up for some air. Then I ended the evening with a glass of the Famous Black, an exclusive for the scandinavian market…and not tried by me before. They both were nice, but the Bowmore 17yrs is probably the one pulling me out to high seas again.