Sampling SMWS Cask No.53.242 – A Young Dram That Punches Way Above It’s Weight!

CASK No. 53.242: HONEY AND VANILLA SMOKE

I recently received a couple of whisky samples, courtesy of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society or SMWS (@SMWSUK). So, of course, I was eager to try them!

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is a club unlike any other. As well as being a place to connect with other like-minded whisky lovers, they are also internationally renowned for their mission: “To provide our members with an adventurous and fun journey of discovery of the world’s widest collection of single cask whiskies.”

Conceptualised in the late 70’s and established in 1983, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, now 35 years old, has branches and partners bars in 19 countries globally.

The Society has a selection of over 500 casks every year, each cask yielding a few hundred or less whisky bottles which are unique to that cask. Rather than name their Whiskies after the distillery, the Society has a coding system.

The Society also creates fantastic tasting notes summaries for their Whiskies and other bottles. The whiskies are straight from the cask single malt, undiluted, without chill-filtration or colouring at cask strength.

More recently the Society has been named Independent Bottler of the Year in Whisky Magazine’s prestigious Independent Bottlers’ Challenge (IBC) competition.

Sample ONE is SMWS “HONEY AND VANILLA SMOKE” CASK No. 53.242

So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes . . .

AGE: 7 Years DATE DISTILLED: 1st June 2010 CASK TYPE: Refill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead REGION: Islay OUTTURN: 1 of 332 bottles ABV: 58.4%

Colour: Pale straw. Nose: Soft, heathery peat with sweet vanilla. I also detected a little bit of mint. Palate: Smoke that’s Oh! so sweet! Vanilla, toffee, mint and a hint of orange. Finish: Smooth, sweet smokey finish with a well balanced pepper. The finish is long with hints of tobacco. Overall: The higher abv gives this dram some kick but don’t worry, it’s well tempered with some lovely smooth flavours. It’s a light, sweet peat so will appeal to many. This 7 year old dram punches way above it’s weight!

Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) for sending the samples!

I shall be posting my notes on tasting sample TWO very soon!