Finland is not the first country that springs to mind when one thinks of single malt whisky, and that is precisely what makes Teerenpeli Soidin such an interesting proposition. The Nordic whisky movement has been gaining quiet momentum for over a decade now, and Teerenpeli — one of Finland's pioneering distilleries — has been at the centre of it. The Soidin expression, bottled at 40% ABV and carrying no age statement, represents their effort to put a confident, accessible Finnish single malt into a competitive international market. At £49.95, it sits in a bracket where it must justify itself against well-established Scotch and Irish alternatives. I'm pleased to say it makes a credible case.
Style & Character
What strikes me about Soidin is its commitment to the single malt tradition while carrying a distinctly Nordic sensibility. The name itself — Soidin refers to the mating dance of the black grouse, a bird native to Finnish forests — signals a whisky rooted in place. This is not a distillery trying to imitate Speyside or Highland conventions. It is doing something on its own terms, shaped by the Finnish climate and the particular conditions of maturation in a country where temperatures swing dramatically between seasons. Those extremes tend to accelerate the interaction between spirit and wood, which can lend NAS expressions a maturity that belies the absence of an age statement on the label.
At 40% ABV, this is bottled at the legal minimum for Scotch — a choice that prioritises smoothness and approachability over cask-strength intensity. For a distillery still building its audience outside Scandinavia, that is a sensible decision. It positions the Soidin as an entry point, a whisky designed to welcome you rather than challenge you.
The Verdict
I have spent enough years judging whisky to know that provenance alone does not make a dram worthwhile — but genuine ambition paired with solid craft certainly does. Teerenpeli Soidin is a well-made single malt that earns its place on the shelf through honest execution rather than marketing theatre. It does not pretend to be something it is not. At just under fifty pounds, it is priced fairly for what it offers: a clean, confident expression from a part of the world that is still proving itself to the broader whisky community. It loses a mark or two for the conservative bottling strength — I would be curious to see what this spirit could do at 43% or 46% — but as it stands, it is a genuinely enjoyable pour and a fine introduction to Finnish whisky. I give it a 7.7 out of 10. This is a bottle worth owning, particularly if you are the sort of drinker who values breadth of experience and wants to understand where world whisky is heading.
Best Served
Pour it neat at room temperature and give it five minutes in the glass before your first sip — let it open up and settle. If you find the 40% ABV a touch restrained, resist the temptation to add water and instead try it in a Highball with good soda water and a strip of lemon peel. The lighter body carries well with carbonation, and it makes for a remarkably clean, refreshing serve that lets the spirit's character come through without drowning it. A fine aperitif dram, particularly suited to warmer evenings.
