The SMWS April Virtual Tasting!
Well last Thursdays SMWS April Virtual Tasting was a real ‘flavour’ blast!
Host Madeleine Schmoll was joined by Society favourites Olaf Meier and Kami Newton to guide us through five spectacular drams in this month’s Discovery Pack, all with the theme of which were the best drams to take if you’re out hiking / fell walking etc.
The drams tasted on the night were:-
· 48.118 Trekking in the jungle
· G8.17 Candles, kumquats and polished oak
· 26.160 Fruit market – candy store
· 82.31 Give free rein to the imagination
· 42.52 Wood smoke through a porthole
So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …
Trekking in the jungle – CASK No. 48.118
Region: Speyside
Cask: 1st. fill ex-bourbon barrel (Balmenach)
Age: 7 years
Date: 12 November 2012
ABV: 60.6%
 Nose: Fresh, crisp apples, flowery and sherbet sweet with some hints of tropical fruits. Palate: Ooh! Fresh, creamy, vanilla, sherbet sweetness with shades of mint. Finish: Peppery and smooth finish. Overall: Well punchy! Adding water: very pleasant with increased herbal tones. |
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Candles, kumquats and polished oak – CASK No. G8.17
Region: Lowland
Cask: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead (Cambus)
Age: 31 years
Date: 12 June 1989
ABV: 59.7%
 Nose: Toffee, sweet biscuit, dusky libraries, age-old furniture polish, liquorice – surprisingly! Palate: Glorious sugar cane sweetness! Vanilla, toffee, strong liquorice and fennel! Finish: Some of the aged notes start to come through in the finish, particularly the liquorice and fennel. Overall: A very dignified grain whisky with some very interesting flavours – a revelation! |
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Fruit market – candy store – CASK No. 26.160
Region: Highland
Cask: 2nd. fill ex-bourbon barrel (Clynelish)
Age: 9 years
Date: 19 September 2011
ABV: 56.7%
 Nose: Parkin cake, black treacle and fresh, green apples. Palate: Very sugary sweet, vanilla, little mint. Finish: Warming spiciness that gets pretty hot as it goes on! Overall: A little something for everyone this – sweet, fruity, spicy – tasty! |
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Give free rein to the imagination – CASK No. 82.31
Region: Highland
Cask: 2nd. fill ex-bourbon barrel (Glencadam)
Age: 9 years
Date: 16 March 2011
ABV: 61.9%
 Nose: Rich, creamy caramel, shortbread, popcorn with some spicy notes! Palate: Rich, creamy caramel, buttery popcorn, sugar cane sweet. Finish: Strongly spicy as per it’s strength! Overall: Forget the popcorn, sit down with this to watch your favourite movie! |
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Wood smoke through a porthole – CASK No. 42.52
Region: Highland
Cask: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead (Tobermory / Ledaig)
Age: 13 years
Date: 29 March 2007
ABV: 58.3%
 Nose: A smokery! Peat, woodsmoke, rich BBQ, sweetly coastal. Palate: Lovely combo. of sweetness and smokiness – loads of peat! Finish: The palate continues apace! This dram makes me SO hungry – I’m dreaming of smoked foods! Overall: For the strength it is surprisngly mild and has bags of flavour. A real joy BUT a word of warning – have plenty of savoury snacks on hand – you will need them! |
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On the night I most enjoyed Wood smoke through a porthole – CASK No. 42.52, though to be honest, they were all good in their usual classy SMWS way!
Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) for such an enjoyable evening and for sending the samples!
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.
