Sampling this years SMWS Christmas Advent Calendar was a truly great opportunity for me to discover new flavour profiles and taste and explore bottlings that I hadn’t tried before.

Too see what I thought of each dram my first 12 days of Tasting Notes are on this page.

And below you’ll find a round-up of Days 13 to 25 ….

If you need more info. on each whisky you can see the Society Notes for each days dram by visiting the 25casks webpage.

Many thanks to The SMWS (@SMWSUK) who kindly sent me an Advent Calendar to sample and made the run up to Christmas very special indeed!

Now called the ‘MIGHTY MINI SELECTION BOX’, the drams sampled are still available here!

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DAY 25 Tasting Notes
– “Enter The Fruit Lair” Cask No: 38.33 (53.6%)

26 Years old

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile

Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Caperdonich
ABV: 53.6%

On this day the Society brings you a 26-year-old whisky from a closed, never to be reopened distillery (it was demolished in 2010).

There is a great story behind it too. When they found the casks in a warehouse a few years ago, they almost had to walk away. The story goes that in 2018 maturing whisky from a larger number of casks had been married together and ‘re-racked’ into a smaller parcel of newer casks.

Consequently, this didn’t meet the definition of single cask. So they had to ask themselves – “Is this what we do?”

Fortunately, they have never been afraid to break their own rules!
So, they bought them and have been bottling them.
What you are drinking now is whisky from one of a very small handful of casks, containing a distillery spirit that will never be made again.

This is as rare as it gets!

Merry Christmas!

Nose: Rich tropical fruits that explode from the glass! Vanilla toffee and custard together with tart, boiled sweets and crisp green apples. Palate: Oaky and savoury with additional orchard fruits and creamy vanilla. Finish: Pleasant spiciness with salty, oaky aftertastes and a punchy dry finish. Overall: It was a real pleasure to get to sample this rare dram – it disappeared far too quickly though – admittedly, that occurance is NOT a rare thing with an SMWS whisky!

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DAY 24 Tasting Notes
– “Fruit Utopia” Small Batch 17 (50.0%)

25 Years old

SMALL BATCH SINGLE MALT

Cask Type: Bourbon barrels, hogsheads, and French oak barriques
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
ABV: 50.0%

At 20 years of age, selected bourbon hogsheads of Speyside single malt were combined and used to fill custom toasted French oak barriques from the Seguin Moreau cooperage.

Following three months of intense maturation in these highly active casks, the spirit was again combined and filled into second fill bourbon barrels, just freshly emptied of Speyside malts.

The whisky was closely monitored every six months for a further five years to develop a silk-like texture and wonderful layers of fruity complexity.

Nose: Green bananas, toffee, rich tangerine liqueur with apricots. Hints of new white oak and hazelnuts. Palate: Oranges, apricots with tempting creamy caramel topped biscuit. Finish: Deep pepper and light salt joins the Christmas party which then jollies along nicely with the fruit! Overall: A whisky to savour and linger over when “Not a creature was stirring”. Don’t leave this dram out for Santa on his big night though as you run the risk of a lengthy interruption in present delivering!

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DAY 23 Tasting Notes
– “Thumbs-Up” Cask No: 113.43 (55.6%)

23 Years old

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile

Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Braes of Glenlivet (Braeval Distillery)
ABV: 55.6%

Rarely seen as a single malt until recently, this is perhaps one of the most elegant and delicate spirits in Speyside. At a mere 23 years old, this particular bottling is interesting, as it would have been distilled not long before a lengthy closure of the distillery.

Fortunately the spirit is in demand again by the blenders at parent company Chivas Brothers.

Nose: Wood shavings coupled with vanilla biscuit, pineapple and orange. Palate: Oily mouthfeel with cane sugar, pineapple, orange, syrupy cherries and lemon. Finish: Heavily peppered with some wood charring and a pretty dry, fizzy finish. Overall: A warming finish to a fruity dram and one that fits the SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile rather well. Except, that is, for the addition of a peppery finish that’ll blow your socks off!

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DAY 22 Tasting Notes
– “Maritime Crisp Enthusiast” Cask No: 42.57 (57.2%)

14 Years old

PEATED flavour profile

Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Highland
Distillery: Tobermory / Ledaig
ABV: 57.2%

Nose: Burning wood embers with sweet, smokey peat, shades of antiseptic, liquoric and citrus. Palate: Salty n’ sweet peat with charcoal, smoking embers and smoked margarine. Finish: A dry, briny finish with smokehouse flavours, hot chilli and punchy medicinal menthol. Overall: I LOVE a good peated dram and this is no exception. It has a lot more than just raw phenol PPM levels. This one also has character, depth and quite simply – a rockin’ good rounded taste!

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DAY 21 Tasting Notes
– “1970’s Movie Dram” Cask No: 93.179 (60.4%)

8 Years old

OILY & COASTAL flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Campbeltown
Distillery: Glen Scotia
ABV: 60.4%

Nose: A peaty, briny noseful! Lots of sea-salt, coastal air and sweet wood with a little antiseptic wafting in and out as well. Palate: A sweet, antiseptic peat with wisps of smoke and burnt embers. Finish: Smoked chilli and pepper, syrupy prunes, liquorice. Overall: To me, a lightly peated dram hiding behind an “OILY & COASTAL” flavour profile. This style of dram is not for everyone, of course, but I think it’s smokin’ – literally!

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DAY 20 Tasting Notes
– “Brimming With Fruity Booty” Cask No: 63.95 (50.5%)

19 Years old

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Glentauchers
ABV: 50.5%

This classic Speyside distillery is used as a training location for new generations of distillers to study the hands-on processes of whisky making.

It’s another place where much of its whisky goes into blends, most notably Ballantine’s.

Nose: Crisp, green apples and also toffee apples – YaY! You can also add in some lemon as well for good measure. Palate: Pineapple, lemon, apple peel and sugary vanilla. Finish: Caramel liqueur with a strong, peppery and dry grapefruit finish. Overall: A quieter nose for me with this dram but the very flavoursome palate more than made up for it!

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DAY 19 Tasting Notes
– “Secret Snacks In The Wardrobe” Cask No: 48.134 (61.1%)

17 Years old

SPICY & SWEET flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Balmenach
ABV: 61.1%

A single cask offering from a distillery that is rarely seen, even as a single malt, given that the bulk of its production goes to the Hankey Bannister blended malt.

The distillery is prized for its contribution to the blend, with a characteristically meaty and heavy newmake that comes as the result of the distillation set up – a long fermentation, followed by rapid distillation in smalls stills without much reflux, and then a wide spirit cut and traditional worm tub condensers.

Nose: A quiet nose initially leading to apple, custard creams, toffee, melon and polished wood. Palate: Sweet apple sauce with vanilla, blackcurrent and hazelnuts. Finish: Oaky wood with a savoury, hot chilli hit accompanied by salt and leather. Overall: With this dram you get two things – friendly sweetness and kick-in-the-pants spiciness – a partnership that performs a fine, but successful, balancing act!

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DAY 18 Tasting Notes
– “Hits The Sweet Spot” Cask No: 9.229 (55.0%)

17 Years old

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Glen Grant
ABV: 55.0%

The stills at this Speyside distillery are perfectly designed to give big fruity ‘estery’ character.

At the neck of the still, before the spirit vapour passes into the condenser it enters a large copper chamber, known as a purifier. Here the spirit cools, and some of the heavier compounds condense and run back as liquid via a pipe to the pot of the still. So only the lighter, fruiter/floral reach the spirit safe.

One other interesting but irreverent fact – the mash tun is so big that Dr. Andy and five of his colleagues from the Scotch Whisky Research Institute once had a meeting with the distillery manager inside it!

Nose: Apple with tropical fruitiness – and all enveloped in baked pastry! Palate: Creamy, liquid caramel with vanilla apple pie – again, in a thick pastry crust. Finish: This dram has a lovely smooth finish with only a moderate spice – all nestled within a creamy blanket of sweet fruits! Overall: A light, fresh dram with fruity sweetness through and through. A tasty insight is that this shows that all whiskies don’t always have a darker, spicy side!

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DAY 17 Tasting Notes
– “Pipe Dreams” Cask No: 36.182 (57.3%)

11 Years old

DEEP, RICH & DRIED FRUITS flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-PX hogshead
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Benrinnes
ABV: 57.3%

After nine years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, this whisky was transferred into a 1st fill American oak PX Sherry hogshead.

Nose: Green apples, pears and golden syrup with added fruit cake and damp oak. Rich, porty, red wine develops very strongly in the glass with time. Palate: Tart fruits with sherried, vanilla toffee and creamy chocolate – heavenly! Finish: Sweet earthiness mixed in with punchy pepper and tobacco dryness. Overall: Once again, an SMWS dram that produces a cavalcade of flavours – you think it’s sweet, then it goes spicy – you think it’s settled in as a spicy finish – then it goes sweet again! Definitely a dram to keep you on your taste bud toes!

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DAY 16 Tasting Notes
– “A Romp In A Flower Meadow” Cask No: 73.133 (62.0%)

10 Years old

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Aultmore
ABV: 62.0%

Much of this distillery’s product goes into two of the world’s biggest blended whiskies in the world – William Lawson’s Finest and Dewar’s. As a single cask, however, this whisky really shines through, with a robust and weighty spirit that is full of character!

Nose: Light and fruity wine, waxy apple, orange and creamy toffee. A sense of woodiness lingers in the background. Palate: Intensely sweet with fresh fruit cocktail, caramel and golden syrup. Finish: Powerful peppery spice with a sweet and dry finish. Overall: It’s great to get a chance to sample a dram that is usually part of a blended profile – this one is full of character and flavour and well able to shine all by itself!

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DAY 15 Tasting Notes
– “Adventurously Awesome” Cask No: 71.79 (58.7%)

14 Years old

SPICY & SWEET flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Glenburgie
ABV: 58.7%

Spirit from this distillery is usually destined to be matured off-site and then blended into the world’s second largest blended Scotch whisky – Ballantine’s.

It is rarely seen as a single malt and there are only two official bottlings. This dram is a great example of what the Society have maturing in their warehouse – destined only to be bottled as a cask strength, single cask, single malt whisky.

Nose: Vanilla fudge with chocolate, red wine, cherries, strawberries and tangerines – a fruit fest! Palate: Tangerines, cherries, sweet toffee, syrupy vanilla fruits and coffee. Finish: Deep chilli spice with awesome pepper. Overall: Great nose, palate and finish but all are quite individual, different and special in their own tasty way!

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DAY 14 Tasting Notes
– “Sweeties In The Forest” Cask No: 46.126 (55.4%)

12 Years old

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA flavour profile

Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Glenlossie
ABV: 55.4%

Ingvar Ronde’s Malt Whisky Yearbook states that, apart from the official bottling, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is the only independent bottler to produce an example of this whisky!

Nose: Strawberry mousse, rose water with vanilla, sugary mint and earthy duskiness. Palate: Gentle mint ‘After Eights’ combined with floral sweetness – majestic! Finish: A growing, glowing spiciness mixed with chocolate mint and sweet biscuit. Overall: What a dram! A differing mix of flavours than your usual whisky has and all presented with great aplomb!

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DAY 13 Tasting Notes
– “Polished And Refined” Cask No: 26.186 (59.2%)

10 Years old

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Highland
Distillery: Clynelish
ABV: 59.2%

This whisky is revered by blenders for its rare ‘waxy’ character and is an important component of arguably the world’s most famous blended whisky.
As a single malt it is also revered by enthusiasts the world over!

Nose: Cane sweetness with fudge, crisp apples, melon, floral notes and tropical, creamy cereal. Palate: As above, cane sweetness but with some astringency, coupled with creamy, cooked apple. Finish: Chilli spice with nutmeg and coffee to take off the edges but the sweet fudge holds its own as well! Overall: A burst of sweet and spicy joy – two very different halves of a rather perfect dram!

The SMWS Christmas Advent Calendar Countdown Is Now Half-Way Through!

The selection is still available but is now called the
‘MIGHTY MINI SELECTION BOX’
and
is now reduced to £139!

Buy your SMWS ‘MIGHTY MINI SELECTION BOX’ here and have fun catching up!

Enjoy the run up to Christmas with 25 (not just your usual 24!) different spirited casks!

You can also see the Society Notes for each days dram by visiting the 25casks webpage.

Catch-up on what fellow Society Members thoughts are on each whisky by visiting the hashtag #25casks on Twitter.

Priced at £139 this Limited edition Advent Calendar contains whisky miniatures for every day in the run up to Christmas and contains some very special drams indeed!

Housed in a beautiful box to increase the magic, you’ll find a Society whisky surprise behind each calendar door! Designed to thrill the senses these 25ml bottles are packed full of taste and flavour. In addition these mini-gems are also a great opportunity to discover a new favourite flavour profile as well as taste and explore bottlings that you might not have tried before.

The set also makes a great choice if you’re hosting this holiday season – perfect as a festive table favour at Christmas or New Year!

Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) who have kindly sent me an Advent Calendar to sample over the run up to Christmas!

You Can Also Explore Christmas at the SMWS with these Useful links:-

• Membership and Gift Membership options (including Mystery Malt bundle offers)
• Advent Calendar
• Christmas collections and gift ideas (which change regularly!)
• Christmas page
• SMWS Gift Guide
• Dram-Cierge service information
• December Events: Edinburgh Vaults & Queen Street Venues
• December Events: Glasgow Bath Street Venue
• December Events: London Greville Street Venue

Below is a round-up of the first twelve days of posting my tasting thoughts from each dramming window of the Calendar (‘MIGHTY MINI SELECTION BOX’)!

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DAY 12 Tasting Notes
– “By This Great Clatter” Cask No: 6.50 (57.9%)

12 Years old

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA flavour profile

Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Glen Deveron (Macduff Distillery)
ABV: 57.9%

A whisky from the first distillery to use internal steam coils for heating the stills and modern shell & tube condensers. It is also one which signalled a big change for the industry.
This was also the first distillery to be built with no on-site maltings. By the 1970’s almost every distillery in Scotland had closed their maltings, and now only a handful remain.
Nowadays, much of this distillery’s output goes into the Lawsons blended Scotch, popular around the world.

Nose: Muted caramel, grain starch, light vanilla and chocolate. Palate: A bright, light, vanilla infused palate with cane sweetness which is also floral and fruity. Finish: Intensely peppery and fruity sugars with a dry undercurrent but the finish is long and sweet. Overall: A rare chance to sample a dram that’s usually destined for blending and, as usual, it has some amazing flavour characteristics that are too good to just ‘blend’ away!

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DAY 11 Tasting Notes
– “April In Seville” Cask No: 39.230 (62.8%)

10 Years old

SPICY & SWEET flavour profile

Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Linkwood
ABV: 62.8%

Another whisky that mostly ends up adding character to blended malts, but when from a single cask can be an absolute gem – a true ‘unsung hero’ of a distillery!

Nose: Forest fruits, honey and syrup with scents of meadow grass. Palate: Syrupy fruits with cherries, a little orange and creamy biscuit. Finish: A sweet chilli hit with dry wood. Overall: Quite a big spice hitter this one but the fruity sweetness is a balancing tasty joy!

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DAY 10 Tasting Notes
– “C’Est Chic” Cask No: 112.36 (59.3%)

10 Years old

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA flavour profile

Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogshead
Origin: Scotland
Region: Highland
Distillery: Inchmurrin (Loch Lomond Distillery)
ABV: 59.3%

Distilled on a straight neck pot still with rectifying plates which results in a lighter, fruitier spirit. There is also a ‘cooling ring’ at the top of the neck of the still. This trickles water down the outside of the still, cooling the copper and further increasing reflux, so only the lightest vapours reach the condenser.

Furthermore, the stillman makes a much higher ‘spirit cut’, between 80 and 90% ABV. This further selects the fruity-floral flavour compounds (mostly esters). Only these reach the spirit safe, while the heavier, malty, cereal, meaty flavours are left behind.

Nose: Light, refreshing floral nose with additional crisp apple and fudge. Sweet chocolate comes along after a while fresh roses appear at the very end. Palate: Fresh and fruity with sherbet sweet vanilla. Finish: Forest fruits abound with a moderate spice though it does have some woody dryness at the end. Overall: A great balance of fruity floral and spicy flavours for this dram – enjoy this gem while it lasts!

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DAY 9 Tasting Notes
– “Viking Moderate Gale Force 8” Cask No: 4.320 (66.6%)

9 Years old

PEATED flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Highland
Distillery: Highland Park
ABV: 66.6%

Another Society favourite, all the way from Orkney this dram is one of the few produced by a distillery which still hosts its own floor maltings and make up around 9-10 per cent of each mash, while the distinctive peat comes from Orkney’s Hobbister Moor.

Nose: Creamy barley with peat and dying smoke embers. Notes of heathery spice and the peat gets richer as time goes on with added treacle, chocolate, fresh citrus and old leather. Palate: Rich peat, treacle, chocolate and burnt smokey wood. Finish: Spice, spice and more spice! Together with antiseptic, salt and that chocolate starts to make itself noticed! Overall: This dram is a rich brew indeed and I’m NOT talking about tea!

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DAY 8 Tasting Notes
– “A Complex Character” Cask No: 41.139 (60.9%)

12 Years old

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Dailuaine
ABV: 60.9%

This dram captures a style of spirit that will never be seen again at this Speyside distillery.

It was distilled prior to significant changes to the process that in theory have profound impacts on flavour.

Nose: Juicy fruitiness with apple, melon, vanilla and caramel. After a time sitting I got red wine and fruity port. Palate: Oaky and sweet with fruity melon and vanilla. Finish: Burnt spice. Hints of charcoal and heavy pepper make a showing with a little of the fruity sweetness ending with grapefruit and a dry, salty finish. Overall: Some lovely creamy, sweetness to this dram but boy, that spice n’ pepper has some kick to it – you have been warned!

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DAY 7 Tasting Notes
– “The Magic Faraday Tree” Cask No: 128.16 (61.4%)

8 Years old

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill STR barrique
Origin: Wales
Distillery: Penderyn
ABV: 61.4%

The STR (shave, toast, rechar) process is designed to regenerate flavour compounds and ‘extractive’ activity in a previously used cask.
Shaving the inside of the shell of the cask first exposes fresh untreated wood.
Toasting (gentle, prolonged heating) then generates new flavour desirable compounds (spicy, smoky, sweet) in the wood and the subsequent charring (intense heating until the wood catches fire) creates a ‘char’ or carbonised layer on the inside surface of the cask which is very effective at removing immature character from the spirit, particularly sulphury aromas.

Nose: Tropical fruits abound! Lots of mango and passion fruit to the fore accompanied with rich blackcurrant and cola cubes. An amazing nose! Palate: Rich, creamy mouthfeel with bags of blackcurrant, tropical fruits and a little woodiness. Finish: A sweet, syrupy fruit concentrate which is edged off slightly with some pepper. Overall: A different dram for sure with amazing blackcurrant flavours – I’ve never tasted anything like this – it’s a sensation!

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DAY 6 Tasting Notes
– “A Wee Scamp” Cask No: 35.299 (58.2%)

7 Years old

YOUNG & SPRITELY flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Glen Moray
ABV: 58.2%

A ‘Society staff favourite’ as it’s a whisky members ask for again and again. Perhaps that’s something to do with the variety of spirit produced there – it has been the site of experimentation and maturation in a variety of unusual casks, while its unusually low stills and lyne arms help to create a light, fruity spirit which retains an oily character.

Nose: Apple, citrus and floral notes with vanilla biscuit and there’s also mintiness and menthol in there as well to add to the mix. Palate: Creamy, sweet biscuit, fruity with apple and some attractive tropical flavours. Finish: A deep spiciness mellowed out with fruit and chocolate which produces a fine finish! Overall: A classy, sweet dram which deserves not to be rushed!

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DAY 5 Tasting Notes
– “A Particular Kind Of Beauty” Cask No: 108.49 (65.3%)

10 Years old

PEATED flavour profile

Cask Type: Refill ex-red wine barrique
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Allt-a-Bhainne
ABV: 65.3%

An unusual peated Speyside malt. Until recently this was unheard of as a single malt, and any spirit (they produce peated and unpeated), was matured exclusively for blending.

Nose: Smokehouse! Salty fish curing, aromas of briny shores and sweet peat with some antiseptic to set the taste buds anticipating! Palate: Very hot pepper with syrup sweet, smokey peat and BBQ sauce. Finish: The peat and smokiness goes on and on accompanied by antiseptic and that punchy spice which doesn’t let up. Overall: A smokey beach bomb leaving a warm, coastal glow in the back of the throat!

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DAY 4 Tasting Notes
– “The Sweet Kiss Of Leather Splinters” Cask No: 105.40 (66.2%)

8 Years old

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA flavour profile

Cask Type: 2nd. fill HTMC (Heavy Toast, Medium Char) Hogshead
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Tormore
ABV: 66.2%

The Society Spirits Team used a bespoke, designer HTMC hogsheads for the final three years maturation of this whisky. HTMC is shorthand for ‘Heavy Toast, Medium Char’.

During maturation, casks both add and remove flavour and this relies on how the cask is heat treated in the cooperage.

An HTMC cask has been manufactured specifically to maximise both these processes.

Nose: Unusual name for this dram! On the nose there’s port and hints of tropical fruits. Apple with sugary caramel and shades of mint – unexpected! Palate: Fruity in a mainly apple kind of way. Woody sweetness and creamy chocolate. Finish: A heady spiciness that is pretty powerful but the rich sweetness is so prevelant that it keeps all things in good check! Overall: I love an SMWS dram and this is no exception – a tasty combination of sweet n’ spiciness!

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DAY 3 Tasting Notes
– “Lip-Smacking Summery and Citric” Cask No: 1.257 (63.1%)

8 Years old

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW flavour profile

Cask Type: 2nd. fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Distillery: Glenfarclas
ABV: 63.1%

The first distillery the SMWS ever bottled from, way back in 1983 when Society founder Pip Hills drove up to Speyside in his Lagonda to collect the very first Society cask, Cask No. 1.1!

Nose: Rich apple with toffee sweetness. There’s wood, then sherry and port notes to add to the profile and later on vanilla ice cream – quite a sensory treat! Palate: Creamy sherry, cherries, blackcurrant with some sweet chocolate. Finish: Heart warming (and any other bits!) spice, black coffee and some of that woodiness comes through. Overall: An ABV that takes your breath away – but in a good way – and it does return some great flavours in return!

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DAY 2 Tasting Notes
– “Gold Rush” Cask No: 122.42 (58.4%)

9 Years old

SPICY & SWEET flavour profile

Cask Type: 1st. fill ex-bourbon barrel
Origin: Scotland
Region: Highland
Distillery: Croftengea (Loch Lomond Distillery)
ABV: 58.4%

A dram from arguably the most interesting distillery in Scotland. Multiple still setups produce a multitude of different spirit styles.

Nose: Subtle nose at first – a little woody and then there is a flurry of creamy vanilla, victoria sponge cake, peppery spice, prunes, red wine and chocolate. Quite a feast! Palate: Tropical fruits in sweet syrup with vanilla chocolate and light coffee, Finish: Feisty spice which combines with the earlier palate to produce a finely balanced finish. Overall: A smooth, fruity whisky, sweet with just enough of a spicy kick to keep you on your toes!

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DAY 1 Tasting Notes
– “Butchershop Quartet” Cask No: 68.38 (57.9%)

9 Years old

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA flavour profile

Cask Type: Re-Charred Hogshead
Origin: Scotland
Region: Highland
Distillery: Blair Athol
ABV: 57.9%

Rarely seen as a single malt, almost all spirit from Distillery 63.38 is destined for blending (it is a major contributor to Bells Blended Scotch Whisky).

Nose: Crisp, green apples. Attractive sweet cake spice with white oak vanilla. Later on there’s creamy peach and cashew nuts. Palate: Nice mouthfeel with cane sweetness, creamy apple pie and chocolate. Finish: A warming peppery glow which quickly builds in strength ending in a dry finish. Overall: A winter warmer for sure but also with shades of Summer just gone.

The SMWS Christmas Advent Calendar Countdown Has Begun!

Have You Got Yours?
They are still available (currently 79) but will go fast as they are now reduced to £159!

Buy your SMWS Advent Calendar here and have fun catching up!

The Countdown has started! Enjoy the run up to Christmas with 25 (not just your usual 24!) different spirited casks!

The SMWS Advent Calendar Countdown!
DAY 1 Tasting Notes
– “Butchershop Quartet” Cask No: 68.38 (57.9%)

9 Years old

Juicy Oak & Vanilla flavour profile

Cask Type: Re-Charred Hogshead
Origin: Scotland
Region: Highland
Distillery: Blair Athol
ABV: 57.9%

Rarely seen as a single malt, almost all spirit from Distillery 63.38 is destined for blending (it is a major contributor to Bells Blended Scotch Whisky).

Nose: Crisp, green apples. Attractive sweet cake spice with white oak vanilla. Later on there’s creamy peach and cashew nuts. Palate: Nice mouthfeel with cane sweetness, creamy apple pie and chocolate. Finish: A warming peppery glow which quickly builds in strength ending in a dry finish. Overall: A winter warmer for sure but also with shades of Summer just gone.

Priced at £159 this Limited edition Advent Calendar contains whisky miniatures for every day in the run up to Christmas and contains some very special drams indeed!

Housed in a beautiful box to increase the magic, you’ll find a Society whisky surprise behind each calendar door! Designed to thrill the senses these 25ml bottles are packed full of taste and flavour. In addition these mini-gems are also a great opportunity to discover a new favourite flavour profile as well as taste and explore bottlings that you might not have tried before.

The set also makes a great choice if you’re hosting this holiday season – perfect as a festive table favour at Christmas or New Year!

As each day dawns you can also see Society Notes on that days dram by visiting the 25casks webpage.

You can also catch-up on what fellow Society Members thoughts are on each whisky by visiting the hashtag #25casks on Twitter.

Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) who have kindly sent me an Advent Calendar to sample over the run up to Christmas!

I shall be posting my tasting thoughts each day starting from December 1st. (obviously!) when I open each dramming window to savour the delights of the Calendar!

You will find my thoughts on each days whisky on this special page!

Explore Christmas at the SMWS with these Useful links:-

• Membership and Gift Membership options (including Mystery Malt bundle offers)
• Advent Calendar
• Christmas collections and gift ideas (which change regularly!)
• Christmas page
• SMWS Gift Guide
• Dram-Cierge service information
• December Events: Edinburgh Vaults & Queen Street Venues
• December Events: Glasgow Bath Street Venue
• December Events: London Greville Street Venue

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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.