Pick a card – everyone’s a winner!
The Vaults was the place to be – even if only ‘virtually’ – last Sunday as a week-long celebration of all things SMWS came to a head at their spiritual home in Leith, Scotland. We were treated to a live dramming of five special whiskies from their special Discovery Pack.
The event was streamed live on their Facebook page, hosted by Ambassador Dean Marinello and Global SMWS Ambassador John McCheyne. But don’t worry if you missed the stream as all the content is now available on both Facebook and YouTube!.
The dramming featured five exclusive Gathering bottlings with a range of flavour profiles so it was a great chance to sample some cracking drams – all in one go – from the comfort of your sofa!
They whiskies sampled were:
26.145 Mood-lifting sanctuary
35.259 Rumtopf, birnenbrot and stollen
7.243 Twinning
10.195 Shiver me timbers
53.332 Storm-tossed kelp on an Islay beach
There are still some Packs left! Especially as four of the five drams are now, sadly, Out of Stock. Such is the way with tasty SMWS whiskies!
Price £32.00 or £35.00 for non-members
A great chance to sample some cracking drams – all in one go!
I was lucky enough to be sent a Discovery Pack – Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) for the samples!
So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …
1) Tasting Notes – 26.145 Mood-lifting sanctuary (58%)
Region: Highland
Distillery: Clynelish
Cask: 2nd. fill ex-bourbon barrel
Age: 8 years
Date: 19th. September 2011
ABV: 58%
Available in The Gathering Discovery Pack: £32.00 or £35.00 for non-members
 Nose: Sweet orange and vanilla, there’s also servings of syrupy tinned pears and aromas of candied fruits. Quite woody as well. Palate: Sweet candied fruits with heavy flavours of blackcurrent thrown in. Finish: Peppery spice and white wood with a long smooth finish of sweet pepperiness. There is some dryness at the very end. Overall: A punchy dram, initially you get some fruity sweetness and then peppery spice hits you right between the taste buds! |
2) Tasting Notes – 35.259 Rumtopf, birnenbrot and stollen (53.5%)
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Glen Moray
Cask: 1st. fill ex-bourbon barrel
Age: 24 years
Date: 27th. October 1995
ABV: 53.5%
£138 (membership required)
 Nose: Attractive aromas of furniture polish, moist parkin, plasticine and creamy vanilla. What a combination! Palate: Syrupy mouthfeel. Pleasant light fruits with a leaning towards tropical fruits. Finish: Smooth fruity finish with a little spice to add some balance. Overall: A very enjoyable dram with a little something to please everyone. Quite pricey though. |
3) Tasting Notes – 7.243 Twinning (59.8%)
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Longmorn
Cask: 1st. fill ex-PX butt
Age: 16 years
Date: 26th. May 2003
ABV: 59.8%
Available in The Gathering Discovery Pack: £32.00 or £35.00 for non-members
 Nose: The stromg alcohol vapours makes it hard to get near initially! But then I get sweet fudge with thick, stewed fruits. There’s also aromas of dusty, old rooms with lots of furniture polish! Palate: Very syrupy with reduced liquid fruits coupled with a warming mellowness and vanilla fudge. Finish: A warming power punch that is kinder to the palate than nearly 60% really should be – lovely! Overall: Ooh! This gets nicer and nicer with the tasting! A superb, rich, glorious, nostalgia inducing dram that’s perfect for firesides and leaving the telly off! |
4) Tasting Notes – 10.195 Shiver me timbers (59.8%)
Region: Islay
Distillery: Bunnahabhain
Cask: Refill hogshead / HTMC (high toast, medium char)
Age: 6 years
Date: 17th. October 2013
ABV: 59.8%
Available in The Gathering Discovery Pack: £32.00 or £35.00 for non-members
|
Nose: WoW! Super smokey and salty with added peat and seaside-iness all thrown in. Fires burning on a beach and all that! Plus smoked, barbecued foods that make me want to raid the larder! Palate: Much of the same as the nose with a thinner feel than the other drams. Very smokey with less peat and more barbecue – a pleasant sweetness adds to the yuminess – quite a stunner! Finish: Punchy again but it holds back a little, there’s dryness at the end but there’s lots of salt and smokiness and that feeling that you’ve just been locked in a smokehouse! Love it! Overall: If you have an inner salty-sea-dog in you then this is for you! |
5) Tasting Notes – 53.332 Storm-tossed kelp on an Islay beach (58.8%)
Region: Islay
Distillery: Caol Ila
Cask: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
Age: 11 years
Date: 20th. February 2009
ABV: 58.8%
Available in The Gathering Discovery Pack: £32.00 or £35.00 for non-members
 Nose: Resinous wood, popcorn, new-make spirit with added salty spikiness. Palate: Very coastal and salt laden with fire burnt wood and shades of smokey clothes. The new make taste fades – this is a classy dram after all! Finish: The rich coastal flavours persist with some light spice and creamy sweetness. Overall: Totally in love with the sea? And smoke? And fires burning? Then this is for you – mouth drying, smoke filled and glorious! |
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 over 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.
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