Five spectacular drams!
Well, here it is at last – my review of The SMWS September Virtual Tasting – (I know you’ve been wondering where it was!)
Due to circumstances beyond my control (dreaded I.T. issues!) I was unable to tune in to the event, held on 30 September via Facebook.
However, I did manage to view the event later on ‘catch up’ and watch Madeleine Schmoll and Society favourite Mads Schmoll guide us through five more spectacular drams!
The drams tasted on the night were:-
■ Cask No: 35.293, “Late night pantry raid”
■ Cask No: 41.140, “Raindrops on pine cones”
■ Cask No: 82.35, “Jammin with apfel strudel on a beach”
■ Cask No: 68.60, “Sunshine on cream cakes”
■ Cask No: 53.376, “Rekindled Romance”
So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …
■ Cask No: 35.293, “Late night pantry raid”
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-Sauternes barrique
14 years old
58.1% ABV
Distillery: Speyside, Glen Moray
 Nose: Sweet and syrupy with plump fruits and buttery sweetcorn. Liquorice adds an attractive addition to the nose. Palate: Sweet, luscious mouthfeel with stewed fruits, caramel, liquorice and all on a sherried palate! Finish: Basically, a continuation of the palate with the addition of some very nice mild spice. Overall: A lovely finish, topping off an equally lovely start. Interestingly, the high ABV is not over powering at all which just goes to show that a high alcohol strength won’t always blow your head off! |
| £70.00 |
■ Cask No: 41.140, “Raindrops on pine cones”
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
12 years old
56.5% ABV
Distillery: Speyside, Dailuaine
 Nose: Woody, sweet fruits and some pleasant, slightly porty notes with chocolate. Palate: Sherbet sweetness rich with toffee and plenty of fruity alcohol Oomph! There’s also some new make spirit popcorn taste lurking in the background. Finish: Again, as before, the flavours established in the palate forge along nicely but with the addition of a bit more chilli than the previous dram. Overall: Plenty going on with this dram and all of it is good! |
| Not available to buy – But – See All That The SMWS Has To Offer! |
■ Cask No: 82.35, “Jammin with apfel strudel on a beach”
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead
8 years old
64.4% ABV
Distillery: Highland, Glencadam
 Nose: Lemon sherbet sweets with digestive biscuits, coupled with caramel and light toffee. Palate: Cane sweetness with heavy plump stewed fruits, citrus and toffee. Finish: Super spicy finish with a lemoney tanin finish. Overall: Loved the citrus with this dram and together with the sugar and spice it made this whisky very nice! |
| £49.00 |
■ Cask No: 68.60, “Sunshine on cream cakes”
Cask Type: Recharred hogshead
9 years old
59.8% ABV
Distillery: Highland, Blair Athol
 Nose: A slow burner this one but after a while there’s butterscotch, sherry, creamy cherry coconut. Add together furniture polish and dusky rooms and you have a cracking nose! Palate: Thick, creamy mouthfeel with sherried fruits and chocolate cherries with coconut – Yum! Finish: Some poppy chilli joins in the fun for the dryer finish – which is short but does invite another sip! Overall: Hiding it’s light under a bushel this one was initially but it eventually revealed it’s secrets. I can see why this has sold out – a top notch dram! |
| Not available to buy – But – See All That The SMWS Has To Offer! |
■ Cask No: 53.376, “Rekindled Romance”
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
11 years old
57.1% ABV
Distillery: Islay, Caol Ila
 Nose: Oh! One of my favourite aroma profiles! Smokehouse savouriness, sweet peat, charred wood and salty sea air – glorious! Palate: Sweet, burnt wood with a tasty charred aftertaste joined with creamy caramel. The palate is also accompanied by some interesting antiseptic and herbal flavours. Finish: The palate continus with growing spiciness, antiseptic and herbal flavours and a dry tanin and tobacco finish. Overall: A great balance of a sweet dram and peaty smokiness which really satisfies the palate. With quality drams from the SMWS you don’t have to settle for an either / or flavour profile. You can have the best of ALL worlds! |
| £69.00 |
I most enjoyed 53.376, “Rekindled Romance” which is still available to buy, followed by 68.60, “Sunshine on cream cakes” which, sadly, isn’t (though I can see why!)
Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) for such an enjoyable set of 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.
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