Shinty & Books Help Celebrate The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s 40th anniversary!

To launch its 1.9.8.3 Collection, a special set of whiskies marking the year it was formed, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has joined forces with players from Tayforth Shinty Club!

Players from Tayforth Shinty Club help launch The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s 40th anniversary 1.9.8.3 Collection!

There are a ‘number’ of reasons why The Scotch Malt Whisky Society teamed up with players from Tayforth Shinty Club in Edinburgh – the most important one being to launch its 1.9.8.3 Collection, a very special set of whiskies celebrating the Society’s 40th anniversary.

In addition, the numbers on the shinty players’ strips also help to capture the whisky club’s unique coding system, which sees bottles given numbers rather than the name of the distillery the whisky is from. This distinctive coding system is designed to help drinkers focus on the flavour of the whisky.

The final reason the two organisations got together was that they both have reasons to celebrate – in addition to the Society marking its 40th anniversary, Tayforth is marking its own special milestone, its 50th anniversary.

The Society was founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by a maverick whisky fan called Pip Hills. Four decades on, Pip’s passion for single cask whisky in its purest form is now shared with almost 40,000 members across the world.

The 1.9.8.3 Collection spells out the year that the Society was founded and features bottles of whisky from the first, ninth, eight and third distilleries that is has bottled from. The collection harks back to the Society’s first bottling, with Cask No. 1.282: Magic Shadow Show from the Speyside distillery where it all began in 1983.

Cask No. 9.274: Toffee Apple Orchard is a 19-year-old classic Sweet, Fruity & Mellow flavour profile bottling. Cask No. 8.43: Shaded By Flowers is from one of the Society’s less commonly seen distilleries, renowned for its use of sherry cask maturation, and Cask No. 3.348: Mellifluous Quince is a Society favourite from an Islay distillery treasured for its perfumed smoke.

We’re so proud of this collection. It represents four decades of outstanding single cask whisky and celebrates our curious coding system.

Paying tribute to the founding year of the Society in 1983, the four bottlings have some quirky and interesting liquid inside too. One that really jumps out for me is Cask No. 8.43: Shaded By Flowers. This is seven years old and it’s the first bottling we’ve seen from this distillery since 2006, a welcome return for distillery number 8.
– Euan Campbell: Head of Whisky Creation at the Society

With 50 years of Tayforth and 40 years of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, what a great time to get together and celebrate shinty and whisky, two of Scotland’s finest traditions, both of which are united by passion and heritage. We hope to see a few Society members attending our games very soon!
– Duncan Martin: Tayforth Shinty Club

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Val McDermid during recording of the SMWS’s Whisky Talk podcast

As both organisations turn 40, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has partnered with the Book Festival featuring whisky fan and bestselling crime writer Val McDermid!

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) is to be the headline sponsor for international crime writing sensation Val McDermid’s appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2023.

Globally bestselling Scottish author Val McDermid’s event at the Book Festival on 21 August, in conversation with Peggy Hughes, is set to prove a major draw for festivalgoers, with audiences also able to tune in online from all over the world.

The event partnership is one of a year-long series of special events and collaborations to mark the 40th anniversary of the world’s leading whisky club’s foundation in Edinburgh in 1983, since when it has grown to encompass nearly 40,000 members across the globe. The activities will all be inspired by the Society’s founder Pip Hills’ maverick outlook.

As well as sponsoring McDermid’s event and providing whisky for the Authors’ Yurt on site at the Book Festival, the SMWS will be launching a new monthly book club at its venues offering the opportunity to explore different books, authors and drams together; members have long enjoyed relaxing with a good book and a dram in the Society’s congenial Members’ Rooms.

One of the first book club events will spotlight the re-launch of The Founder’s Tale – a book capturing the story of how Hills created the Society 40 years ago.

Like the SMWS, the Book Festival’s fascinating story also began in 1983, with whisky fan and long-time SMWS member McDermid having appeared every year at the festival since her debut in 1983. McDermid is a long-term member of the SMWS and appeared in its Whisky Talk podcast in 2022.

Since its inception, the Book Festival has become the largest celebration of the written word on Earth, with around 250,000 visits and over 500 events each year.

As we raise a glass to 40 years of our whisky, along with the Book Festival we mark a special birthday in 2023, and books and drams are the perfect pairing. We’re thrilled to partner the festival to showcase one of Scotland’s best-known and admired authors.

We know Val’s a devoted whisky fan too, as well as a seasoned member of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. We often see our members in our Members’ Rooms in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London savouring our limited-edition, seriously delicious drams over a good book. It’s a glorious way to while away an hour. Which is why – as part of our celebration of all things books – we will be launching our own Book Club in our Members’ Rooms – as well as meeting people at the Book Festival.

This will be a terrific event on 21 August – we can’t wait to introduce more people at Edinburgh International Book Festival to our whisky and explain why it’s great to be part of this community – the world’s leading whisky club.
– Rebecca Hamilton: ASC Chief Marketing and Experience Officer for The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Robert Burns famously said ‘Freedom and whisky gang thegither’. I’d say books and whisky gang thegither, and that’s what we’ll be demonstrating at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August, when I’ll be talking to Peggy Hughes about my life in writing.
– Val McDermid

For four decades, Edinburgh International Book Festival has ignited imaginations, sparking literary passions and connecting readers with exceptional stories. As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, we are thrilled to raise a glass to this milestone by partnering with The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

Val McDermid is one of Scotland’s great masters of the crime genre, and a firm festival favourite. Together, with The Scotch Malt Whisky Society in this milestone year, we invite audiences to a celebration of storytelling, blending the power of words to kindle imaginations.
– Nick Barley: Director of Edinburgh International Book Festival

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