The “Flavour Hunter Festival Discovery Pack”
It was grand to be part of the recent SMWS virtual tasting event, sampling five festival whiskies from this year’s Rare Releases – truly the grand finale of an outstanding month of whisky discovery!
In addition to being ably hosted by Madeleine Schmoll, Olaf Meier and Bob Wenting, we were also treated to music from Skye Musician Donnie Livingstone followed by a society Quiz!
What a night!
The five 25ml drams sampled were:-
- Distillery G16 Dark ‘N’ Stormy Crème Brûlée
- Distillery 24 Massive oak extraction
- Distillery 93 Lock, stock and two smoking funnels
- Distillery 3 The finesse of a fragrant furnace
- Distillery 53 Blowtorched Mexican mousse
The SMWS very kindly sent me the above collection to try on the night. Thanks SMWS!
So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …
Dark ’n’ stormy crème brûlée
CASK NO. G16 Lowland
1st fill #4 char 24 month air seasoned Oak with toasted head barrels
6 years old
29th April 2016
1 of 1300 bottles
50.00%
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Nose: Fruity sweetness with lots of apple, tropical fruits and sweet spice and peach. Palate: Quite oily with cane sweetness that goes dry quickly. There’s tropical fruits and orange as well. Finish: Savoury and peppery with chilli thrown in for good measure! |
Massive oak extraction
SMB . 24
Speyside
1st fill & refill Spanish oak and American Oak PX barrels and hogsheads
14 years old
13th October 2008
1 of 2554 bottles
63.00%
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Nose: A brilliant colour on this one! The nose is creamy with stewed fruits, sherry hints and some wood with leathery aromas. Palate: Creamy sherry with a heavy sweetness and even heavier spicy hit that is gorgeous! Finish: The finish ends with coffee and caramel with dark chocolate – very nice! |
Lock, stock and two smoking funnels
SMB. 93
Campbeltown
1st fill barrel ex bourbon
8 years old
16th September 2014
1 of 1276 bottles
60.2%
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Nose: Lovely sweet, smokey wisps that tantalises the taste buds! This is joined by sweet nuts creamy biscuit. Palate: Light but oily mouthfeel with medicinal, peaty aromas coming through followed by sweet chocolate. Finish: A smooth dram with antispetic flavours taking hold now, adding to the sweet peated finish which also has some added pepper. |
The finesse of a fragrant furnace
SMB. 3
Islay
2nd fill bourbon & Spanish Oloroso Hogsheads
18 years old
16th February 2004
1 of 1173 bottles
56.9%
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Nose: Fruity peatiness with added furniture polish and old wood – bit of a dusky, old library vibe to this one! Palate: Liquid sweet smoke with tropical fruits, pineapple chunks and then it gets really peachy! Finish: More antiseptic flavours with some peppery spiciness to finish. Not as massively smokey as some drams can be. |
Blowtorched Mexican mousse
CASK NO. 53.446
Islay
1st fill American oak PX Hogshead
14 years old
27th May 2008
1 of 234 bottles
57.7%
Buy now: £95.00
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Nose: Subtle smoke with a sherried side note to it, some cherry and it’s also more antiseptic than the other drams. Palate: Sweet and the smoke is there in peaty spades – very smokehouse! Some fruit cherry sweetness makes a nice balance! Finish: Very smooth with appetite sharpening smokiness and the antiseptic is pleasing the senses! |
My favourite on the night:
I love peated drams but I’ve fallen for Distillery 24 – Massive oak extraction. A Very smooth dram, “Dangerously so”, as Bob Wenting said and he is spot on!
You could spend a few hours getting to know this whisky and you would probably still be only part way there!
Many thanks to the SMWS (@SMWSUK) for sending me such a fine collection of drams and for hosting a fantastic sensory evening.
The SMWS does it again!
About The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS)
• The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was established in Edinburgh in 1983 and has 37,000 members around the world.
• It is owned by The Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC) plc
• The SMWS bottles rare single cask and single malt whisky, exclusive blends and a range of other Single Cask Spirits.
• The Society has bottled whisky from 180 distilleries from Scotland and beyond
• The Society offers a new batch of around 20 different single malt whiskies every month
• Members have access to four exclusive SMWS Members’ Rooms in Leith, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London along with a global network of 100 partner bars.
• The Society offers a variety of membership options that can be tailored.
• For more information about the Society, visit: https://smws.com/, Twitter: @SMWSUK Facebook: @thesmwsuk Instagram: @smws_uk
About The Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC)
• The Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC) plc is based in Edinburgh
• The Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC) plc is building a portfolio of premium brands that bring together some of the world’s best spirits producers with a growing movement of discerning consumers by curating unrivalled collections of craft spirits.
• ASC owns The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) and in 2021 it launched J.G. Thomson & Co. Inspired by its namesake, which was originally a wine and spirits merchant in Leith, Scotland, in the 1700s, J.G. Thomson is a new, adventurous blender, creating small batch blended malt whiskies, blended grain whiskies, rum and gin.
