Sövde Musteri

For nearly a century, Sövde Musteri has been transforming Skåne apples into beverages with a focus on quality, craftsmanship, and tradition. When the Håkansson family took over the business in 2009, they envisioned creating a Swedish apple distillate of the same high caliber as French calvados. Since the designation “calvados” is geographically protected, the name “Apple Distillate” is used instead, even though the production process largely follows the same principles.

The raw material consists of must from a wide variety of apple varieties harvested from orchards throughout Skåne. The must ferments slowly into a dry cider inspired by French and English traditions. The cider is then distilled and allowed to mature for a long time in carefully selected oak barrels, including former sherry, port, and muscat barrels. Instead of striving for an identical flavor profile year after year, Sövde allows each barrel to develop its own character, resulting in unique “single cask” releases.

The apple distillates are characterized by a distinct apple fruitiness complemented by notes of vanilla, toffee, dried fruit, and spicy tones. Single Cask No. 1, aged for twelve years in White Oak and Sherry Oak barrels, offers nuances of dried fruit, figs, and tobacco. Single Cask No. 3, on the other hand, has developed a fuller character with notes of brioche, red apples, and gooseberries after eight years of aging in Moscato Oak casks.

Since 2013, the entire production process has taken place at the distillery’s own facility. Using a copper still from the German manufacturer Arnold Holstein, the Swedish apple distillate is created from scratch—from Skåne apples to the finished bottle—under one roof and with full control over every step of production.