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The Greatest Advent Calendar Ever?!
SMWS have released quite possibly one of the greatest advent calendars ever!
For 25 days as a countdown to Christmas you can try a different dram each day. The advent calendar has an excellent selection from whiskies to spirits and even a couple of extra surprises thrown in along the way!
Price: £150
A 35th Anniversary bash with an online Virtual Tasting!
I always love an anniversary so I was greatly looking forward to Celebrating The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s 35th Anniversary bash with an online Virtual Tasting!
The evening was hosted by master brand ambassador John McCheyne at The Vaults. He introduced five hand-selected Society drams, each with a different flavour profile.
This was their first ever golbal Virtual Tasting. John moved the tasting order around a bit but we got there in the end!
The malts sampled were:-
If you want to catch up on what all the tasters had to say you can view the whole event here: #SMWSat35.
So, what did I think?
Here are my tasting notes … and the one which was my favourite on the night!
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Nose: Green apples, citrus, vanilla and fudge with a little wood. There’s also some lovely tropical fruits! The nose is intensely sweet with rich fruit and chocolate. Palate: Vanilla, blackcurrant, apple and chocolate. Finish: Powerful spicy chilli with a menthol finish coupled with smooth caramel! Overall: A solid dram with plenty of fruity sweetness. |
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Nose: Rich, sweet sherry – almost porty. There’s also treacle, fudge, stewed fruits and a little sulphur. After a while the nose exhibits a really powerful, creamy vanilla fudge! Palate: Luscious mouthfeel with rich stewed fruits, orange and dark chocolate. Finish: Smooth finish with mild spice – very tasty! Overall: If you can wait awhile with this dram in the glass it turns into something glorious! |
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Nose: Very powerful rich caramel toffee! Chocolate biscuit, butterscotch and popcorn. Palate: Tropical sweetness and golden syrup popcorn. Finish: Hot, peppery spice with a little salt. Overall: Quite a strong taste of new-make spirit in there which makes this dram my least favourite. Maybe it’s the young age? |
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Nose: Great, rich, peaty aromas – lovely smoke and burnt wood! Seaside air and smoked fish, oily and coastal which mellows into a smooth caramel seaseme halva! Palate: Zingy citrus with a lovely woody, smokey peat! Sweet and fruity. Finish: Tobacco finish with peppery spice. Overall: A joy to sample this one – so rich in flavours and aromas! |
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Nose: Sweet, antiseptic, smokey with a little peat. Palate: Sweet, smokey and fulfilling! Finish: Chilli spice with a smooth finish. Overall: Strong hints that this dram is from Laphroaig. The taste certainly seems to confirm this! |
Out of the 5, I think it’s got to be the SMWS 93.94 – The final trawl. A powerful dram with lots of flavours!.
Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) for sending the samples and for a great dram evening!
The 5 dram discovery pack!
On Monday, 24 September, master brand ambassador John McCheyne will host a very special virtual tasting at The Vaults. He will introduce five hand-selected Society drams, each with a different flavour profile. This will be the first ever golbal Virtual Tasting. In the lead up to this, SMWS have a great membership offer running so that you can join SMWS and take part in the tasting themselves.
No code is required.
Pack includes:-
29.249 Sweet black tea in the surgery • Heavily Peated • 2nd fill ex-PX hogshead • 21 years
35.214 Without pretence • Sweet, Fruity & Mellow • 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel • 22 years
63.49 In the dark of the abyss • Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits • Refill ex-oloroso butt • 11 years
93.94 The final trawl • Oily & Coastal • Refill ex-bourbon barrel • 15 years
135.6 Cones vs crones • Spicy & Dry • 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogshead • 10 years
93.94 The final trawl • Oily & Coastal • Refill ex-bourbon barrel • 15 years
Then & Now Whisky tasting at Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Queen Street venue, Edinburgh. Charlie MacLean
Whisky legend Charlie MacLean has personally selected a batch of 21 new single cask bottlings for The Scotch Malt Whisky Society as part of its 35th anniversary celebrations.
The whiskies, which range in age from 8 to 29 years old and feature tasting notes written by MacLean, will go on sale exclusively to the Society’s members around the world from July. As with all Society bottlings, each one is a limited edition having been bottled from single casks of whisky.
Eight of the bottles will be available to members in the UK, including a 16-year-old from the Old & Dignified flavour category called ‘Red carpet welcome’, which is described as “full-bodied and oily; sweeter and more complex than expected, with dark toffee, pecan nuts and a trace of sea salt in the long, spicy finish”.
While the whiskies are only available to SMWS members, the Society is launching two special membership offers for whisky fans keen to buy any of MacLean’s handpicked selections.
The Edinburgh event on Tuesday 3 July features a tasting, food and screening of ‘The Angels’ Share’, the Ken Loach whisky film in which MacLean made a cameo appearance, at the Dominion Cinema.
The London event on Wednesday 4 July includes a tasting in the atmospheric crypt of St Etheldreda’s Church in Ely Place in London.
From Thursday 21 July non-members will also be able to buy a bottle of ‘All sweetness and light wood’, an 11-year-old from the Juicy, Oak & Vanilla profile, plus membership, for £99.
Charles MacLean at the Kaleidoscope Bar
MacLean has been a longtime supporter of the Society; he joined the whisky club at its outset in the early 1980s, and became a chair of its renowned Tasting Panel in 1992. In 2016, he curated a selection of 30 rare discontinued whiskies from auction and his own collection for the Society’s Kaleidoscope bar in Edinburgh.
The process of nosing, sampling and selecting his favourite whiskies with The Tasting Panel took place over the course of a day at The Vaults, the Society’s private members’ rooms in Leith.
It was a most enjoyable day and a fitting way to help the Society celebrate its remarkable 35th anniversary.
In keeping with the way the Society has always sought to unearth whisky casks that are hidden gems, I was looking for samples of distinction. We came across many samples that were okay, but not yet ready for bottling. We were hunting for whiskies that were unusually good examples of the distillery character.
– Charlie MacLean
It was a pleasure and honour to work with Charlie on his cask selections and to assess the whiskies alongside someone with his depth of knowledge.
Ever since the Society was set up in 1983, we’ve always looked to do things differently and seek out the most amazing whiskies for our members. Having a whisky legend like Charlie choose these whiskies is a perfect example of what makes being a member of the Society such a special experience.
– Euan Campbell: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Spirits Manager
Now that’s a proper way to celebrate Father’s Day!
36.142: The Father’s Day Outturn!
Age: 20 years old
Distilled: 16th August 1997
Cask Type: First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel
ABV: 57%
Whisky festivals can be fun but daunting!
May is ‘Whisky Month’ in Scotland, with a host of events up and down the country including World Whisky Day on the 19th, Edinburgh Whisky Stramash (19-20th) and The Islay Festival of Music & Malt (Feis Isle) (25 May to 1st June).
Whisky festivals, especially for first-timers, can be daunting – so how can you make the most of your whisky event or festival experience?
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s ambassador John McCheyne travels the world attending and hosting whisky events – below he shares his top tips on how to get the best out of them.
Book in advance for the tasting events you really don’t want to miss!
1. Prepare!
Whether it’s a one-day event or a week-long festival, there are so many whiskies that you may get lost in the possibilities. Book in advance for the tasting events you really don’t want to miss, and take the time to fully enjoy a particular event, instead of rushing from one to another.
Islay Whisky Festival 2015
2. Start light, end heavy.
Don’t rush to the peated whiskies straight off the bat. You wouldn’t start a wine tasting with a bombastic Barolo, you’d start with a pinot gris.
Sample your drams properly and appreciate them!
3. Whisky festivals can get busy.
So taste your drams away from the madding crowd, sample them properly and appreciate them. Take some notes, then you’ll have a good appreciation of the whiskies you targeted.
4. Remember your ‘festival etiquette’.
Don’t be the person who stands at the front of the table for an extended period monopolising the ambassador and blocking the people behind from getting a dram. Be mindful of how busy the table may be and choose the right moment to have a word or two.
Don’t be the person who ‘hogs’ the ambassador!
Ambassadors will do their best to engage an enthusiast, but it’s important to be courteous to all the other people there trying to have the same experience.
5. Lastly, talk to the hosts.
They’ll have some fascinating insights into the drams on offer, the stories behind the distilleries, and the whole experience. Take your time, plot your course, don’t make a fool of yourself, and have fun!
Talk to the hosts!
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is the world’s leading whisky club and bottler of single cask single malt whisky.
Busy! Islay Whisky Festival 2015.
Whisky fans at Bruichladdich distilleryís open day at Feis Ile, the Islay Whisky Festival.
In the spirit of Speyside and Islay, for Feis Ile festival SMWS have a special Region Rumble 20% off code for all memberships and gift memberships!
Code: RUMBLE20
Offer starts: NOW
Offer ends: 31st May at 23:59
Terms and conditions apply: Only available with code for all memberships and all gift memberships.
Please see our Diary page for details of the Events mentioned!
VOTE NOW and show your superfan region allegiance!
It’s a bumper weekend ahead for Lovers of fine drams and special offers!
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is celebrating the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival which is in full swing as I write / blog.
You can get into the festival spirit by attending one of their Speyside or Islay themed tastings or events at their UK Members’ Rooms and partners bars. But, they also have some great online offers to take advantage of as well!
This year SMWS have three promotional memberships on offer:-
Islay – Membership + Islay bottle – £110 (save £20)
Speyside – Membership + Speyside bottle – £110 (save £10)
Split Decision’ – Membership + Mixed Festival Discovery Pack – £95 (save £10)
Offer starts: NOW
Offer ends: 31st May at 12am
Terms and conditions apply: No code is required.
Plus, you can get involved in the friendly debate of which is best? Speyside Vs. Islay – VOTE NOW and show your superfan region allegiance.
In addition, the SMWS May Outturn marks the Feis Ile Festival with a flurry of new releases. All in all there are 21 casks to explore – including six drams to celebrate the festival and all with celebratory labels. Two of the drams are from Speyside and four from Islay.
I have been lucky enough to receive four samples of the six released. So what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …
An Islay dram – refill butt, ex-oloroso.
 Colour: Deep sherry colour and a liquid that really ‘wets’ the glass. Nose: Fruits, apples, caramel, a breath of wood and nutty aromas. Palate: Syrupy, stewed fruits, orange and vanilla. Finish: Smooth, long, spicy finish with apple, tofee and peat n’ smoke which becomes more intense as you dram. Overall: A punchy dram with a beginning and middle that is all sorts of fruit and sweetness with a finale that introduces some peat and smoke. Divine! Price: £125.00 |
A Speyside dram – refill hogshead, ex-bourbon.
 Colour: Pale sherry. Nose: Sweet, luscious tropical fruits, sultanas, chocolate , mint and a hint of orange. Palate: Tropical fruits, sultanas, chocolate, mint and a herbal cocktail lurking in the back! Finish: Toffee and spicy comes through with a lovely, caramel chocolate finish. Hints of tobacco. Overall: Even though this is a 60.6% dram it is is very smooth and hides it’s strenghth well. Tropical fruitiness is lovely and the substantial chocolate hit made me want to go and ransack the pantry! Price: £95.00 |
A Speyside dram – refill butt, ex-oloroso.
 Colour: Rich sherried colour. Nose: White oak, luscious stewed fruits, prunes and vanilla fudge. Palate: Gorgeous Christmas cake mixture with all the spices and fruits. “Jingle Bells!” Finish: Dry finish with pronounced oak but lovingly accompanied by rich, fruity sweetness and peppery spice. Overall: A cut above the norm. this dram, sweet spices and Christmas cake fruitiness combine to create a morish dram that demands to be to savoured! Price: £55.00 |
An Islay dram – refill barrel, ex-bourbon.
 Colour: Pale straw colour. Nose: Oak, red apple, shades of salt and a little caramel. Palate: Slightly oily on the palate. Mightily sweet with even a little sherbet. Sweet spiciness follows close behind. Finish: A fiesty, peppery finish (almost savoury!) coupled with a satisfying sweetness. There’s also a little dry tanin. Overall: A fruity, salty, seaside extravaganza beckons … and why not? A full-bodied dram to have before, during and after your fish n’ chips! Price: £66.00 |
 Description: “Scotch pancake with smoked bacon and maple syrup, followed by slow roasted BBQ pork belly with crispy crackling over hickory-smoked wood chips.” |
 Description: “A harmonious fusion of king prawns, lobster, smoked duck with walnut bread, parsnips roasted in honey and herbs. Previously in an ex-bourbon cask.” |
Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) for sending the samples!
SPRING CASK SALE – UP TO 20% OFF!
 Description: A light, sweet and floral aroma greeted the Panel. Sugar dusted fruit flavoured bonbons and candy corn were mentioned before a picture full of promise emerged; sitting in the garden sipping on a Lemon Drop Martini and listening to the bees buzzing in the laurel hedge. The taste had honey-roasted peaches with lavender ice cream whilst the overall impression was one of an almost perfect balance between delicate, perfumed sweetness and dry wood spice. |
 Description: Heady, rich and deep – we sniffed out caramelised mango slices, salted pineapple, subtle citrus, barley sugars, and coconut panna cotta, plus flowers and tobacco on polished wood. The palate was zingy and relaxing at the same time – kumquat, orange marmalade, puff candy, Moffat toffees and pears in chocolate, with chewy oak and leather – like an exclusive library – old but exciting. The reduced nose suggested raspberry ripple, orange blossom, glace cherries and an elegant woman in leather trousers. The palate now had Black Forest gateau, moist ginger cake and Cadbury’s Flake in an ice-cream, with very subtle hints of aniseed and Euthymol |
 Description: A lively and self-assured chatterbox of a dram, it enthusiastically spread the gossip about the stewed apples and the pears and the minor occurrence with the fine ladies perfume. Not to mention all the news about sandalwood and cedar wood and how they should spice up their life with a bit of cinnamon stick and ginger. Tingly pineapple, camphor and a hint of eucalyptus playfully rolled off the tongue and introduced a musky perfume mixed with crunchy leaves and sweet wine gums and vanilla. |
 Description: This provided us with a delectable nose of butterscotch, candied oranges, mango soaked in bourbon and jam on scones, with pipe tobacco depth and Kendal Mint Cake freshness. The palate had silky, creamy textures and flavours of toasted coconut and chestnuts; lychee, banana and cooked fruits, with Rooibos tea and tingling woody spice. With water, the nose awakened orange blossoms, Cape gooseberries, lemon pancakes and apricot jam, becoming quite vibrant and full of promise. The palate, on the other hand, conveyed a relaxing, comforting, postprandial Sunday afternoon feeling, with strawberry and cream candies, vanilla bonbons, honey nut cereal and whisky-soaked raisins. |
Exotic Cargo Batch 2 – Limited Release
 Description: In order to share this bottling with as many members as possible, purchases are limited to 2 bottles per member. Any additional or duplicate orders which exceed this limit will be cancelled and refunded. A sumptuous nose! Alive with brandy butter, botrytis and sultana compote. A banana sprinkled with brown sugar and gleefully blowtorched followed by suggestions of trail mix, malt loaf and touches of mint tea. Some lozenges and eucalyptus oil in the background as well. Water brings earth after rainfall, bracken and still-warm coal hearths. The arrival on the palate is dense and chocolatey with notes of various cured meats, wet earth, sorrel, dried herbs, turmeric and pears baked in cognac. There is a beautiful and curiously old-school aspect to the sherry. Price: £47.00 |
SMWS Latest Outturn – International Women’s Day!
With International Women’s Day being celebrated this month, the SMWS March Outturn provides a great opportunity to raise a dram to the inspirational women in your life, and those who’ve shaped the whisky industry!
Offer: £5 OFF Code!
Code: BRINGMESUNSHINE
Offer starts: NOW
Offer ends: Wednesday 14 March
Terms and conditions apply: Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers or promotions, exchanged for cash or added retrospectively. £5 discount applied online using the promo code, selected bottlings only.
 Description: The panel found this to be an unusually potent example of this distillery. With a nose that suggested heather burning in hospital corridors, marmite, hessian, ointment, pineapples and bracken in the rain. Water seemed to evoke farmyards, frying pancetta and mineral qualities with an undercurrent of chocolate gateaux and lemon thyme. To taste this was a big dram! Richly coastal and oily – like the texture of sheep wool – with notes of citrus, wet earth, smouldering bonfires and tar liqueur. Reduced it revealed aspects of gentian root, smoked grains, edible flowers, herbaceous qualities and the lick of a perfumed neck. Price: £56.00 |
 Description: Aromas of autumn filled the air as soft berry fruits mingled with damp leaves on a forest floor. The alluring whiff of baked apples and pears moved towards a boozy trifle laden with thick cream before toffee apples dipped in dark chocolate. A hint of oloroso sherry introduced the complex character of oxidised fruit with strong nutty notes as walnuts and hazelnuts combined with truffles and wild mushrooms. The palate was chewy and dense with a spicy kick when neat. Price: £50.00 |
 Description: A dram that both intrigued and delighted the panel. We found the unreduced nose fresh and floral with cake mix, cookie dough and subtle wood smoke. Time revealed muscular notes of lamp oil, minerals, oats and furniture wax. A curious ‘pop’ of bubble gum also sprung us by surprise. Water brought gooseberry, elderflower and muddled mint along with gorse, wet leaves and gentle waxiness. The palate was oily with more bubblegum, a firm spiciness, cinnamon swirls and Tunnock’s tea cakes. There were suggestions of pear flesh, river reeds and tea tree oil. Reduction revealed waxed lemons, iced gems, herbs, lanolin and camphor-soaked vanilla pods. Price: £47.00 |
 Description: We imagined sitting in a Chesterfield chair in the morning room overlooking a manicured garden with the warm glow from the rising sun pouring in through the large bay windows. On the side table lay the freshly ironed newspaper and we enjoyed a slice of lime and blackcurrant cheesecake, toast with strawberry rhubarb ginger jam as well as a cup of apple and elderflower green tea. Price: £105.00 |
