Sampling The SMWS 6: “The Big Swirl” – Indulge Yourself In A Classic Christmas Whirl!

SMWS 6: “The Big Swirl”

Sampling The SMWS December Outturn
– Fireside Companions For Christmas!

Kept under wraps but released a day early is The Scotch Malt Whisky Societies’ latest offering from their December Outturn. It is 6: “The Big Swirl”.

The Big Swirl is a Blended Malt dram with 1,895 bottles being released – but remember – SMWS bottlings don’t hang around for long and this one has already been popular at members meetings where they got an early chance to make a purchase!

The SMWS (@SMWSUK) has very kindly sent me a sample to try – thanks SMWS!

So, what did I think?

Tasting Notes – SMWS 6: “The Big Swirl” (50.0%)

A Blended Malt Dram, 10 years old.

This latest experimental expression draws from a combination of whiskies matured full term in 1st. fill Spanish oak sherry casks, as well as those matured in bourbon wood before over two years of marrying in 1st. fill American oak sherry casks.

First released: 11th. December 2019.
1,895 bottles.
(160 BOTTLES IN STOCK AT PRESENT!)

Nose: Ooh! Plump, fruity Xmas cake packed with sherry soaked sultanas and plums. Top it off with vanilla fudge chocolate and you’ve got a nose to die for!

Palate: Oily mouthfeel exploding into a fruit frenzy – Xmas cake, sherry, chocolate and creamy strawberries.

Finish: Spicy finish, but it’s festive fun all the way with fruit, buttery chocolate and a little herbal pepper.

Overall: I didn’t add water – I was enjoying it too much and never got round to it!

This is a classic whisky for Christmas – sherry and rich Xmas cake with a warming spice that makes for a cracking, comforting dram.

Buy SMWS 6: “The Big Swirl”
£47.00 to Members

About The SMWS

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.