Category Archives: SMWS

Ben Nevis 8, 2012 (SMWS 78.53)

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Ben Nevis week started on Monday with a 9 yo from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society; it continues today with a 8 yo from the same bottler. Monday’s 9 yo was from a first-fill hogshead. Today’s 8 yo, dubbed “Death in the Afternoon” by the society’s tasting panel, also started out in a bourbon cask but after five years was transferred to a 2nd-fill oloroso hogshead. So probably more of a double maturation than a finish. I do enjoy bourbon cask Ben Nevis a lot—as the less assertive wood lets the distillate’s idiosyncratic character take centerstage. But I’m not opposed to a good sherry cask either. Let’s see if this is one of those.

Ben Nevis 8, 2012 (60%; SMWS 78.53; 2nd-fill oloroso hogshead finish; from a bottle split)

Nose: Rubber gaskets, roasted malt, orange peel and that nutty-beany thing. On the second sniff the citrus begins to brighten and come through to the top. Gets more mineral as it goes. As it sits the citrus and the mineral notes blend into something like orange soda with a Dispirin tablet dissolved in it. Not much change with water. Continue reading →

Ben Nevis 9, 2012 (SMWS 78.59)

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Okay, Ben Nevis to start the month. First up is a young one from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, bottled after 9 years in a first-fill hogshead. They gave it the name “Burning berries”, which is both downright prosaic by their usual whimsical standards and also, I must say, promising. Let’s see if that promise is kept.

Ben Nevis 9, 2012 (57.8%; SMWS 78.59; first-fill hogshead; from a bottle split)

Nose: Quite closed at first, with none of that Ben Nevis funk in evidence. After a bit of airing some fruit begins to emerge: lime, tart-sweet apple; some wet concrete as well. Opens up further as it sits: the lime expands and here finally is some of that Ben Nevis powdered ginger and yeasty dough; a bit of roasted malt in there too. With a few drops of water there’s a fair bit of vanilla and cream but the lime is still quite strong (and mixed in with some floral sweetness). Continue reading →

Highland Park 12, 2008 (SMWS 4.263)

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Despite my misgivings about prices and marketing at Highland Park in the last decade or so, I quite enjoyed the two Highland Parks I reviewed this week: Monday’s 12 yo sherry cask for the Little Lebowski Urban Achievers, and Wednesday’s 15 yo bourbon cask for Binny’s. Here now to close out the week is another bourbon cask release, put together from spirits from hogsheads that received a bourbon barrel finish. It was bottled, at an eye-watering strength, by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Let’s hope it’s up to the standard of the other two this week.

Highland Park 12, 2008 (61.2%; SMWS 4.263; bourbon hogsheads+bourbon barrel finish; from a bottle split)

Nose: Mineral peat and soot and cereals off the top and then on the second sniff there’s lemon and some sweeter fruit (apple?). As it sits there’s more tart fruit (gooseberry) and some peppery olive oil. With more time still the peat and soot recede; now there’s some vanilla and a bit of peach. With a few drops of water the citrus expands (bitter-sweet lime zest) as does the peach and the vanilla becomes a little more custardy. Continue reading →

Ardmore 23, 1997 (SMWS 66.191)

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2024 got off to a smoky and tasty start with Wednesday’s Croftengea. Here now is another peated malt from a distillery elsewhere in the highlands: Ardmore.

I’ve previously reviewed a number of these Ardmore 23, 1997s bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and liked them all. This despite the fact that none of the previous have been from straightforward ex-bourbon casks, my preferred incarnation of Ardmore’s spirit. All spent the first 21 years in ex-bourbon and then the final two in another type of cask. 66.199 came closest to being ex-bourbon, having been matured for 21 years in ex-bourbon before receiving a finish in an engineered HTMC cask (high-toast, medium-char, I think). 66.198 spent its last two years in a French oak barrique. 66.195 and 66.197 were both finished in sherry casks, the former in a first-fill oloroso barrique and the latter in a refill Spanish oak hogshead.  This is another of those oloroso barrique finishes, a first-fill STR oloroso barrique to be exact (STR= shaved, toasted, re-charred, I think). The SMWS gave it the name “Smoky Cajun Roux”. As good as the others? Let’s see. Continue reading →

Inchmurrin 13, 2007 (SMWS 112.82)

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Last week was a week of reviews of whiskies from distilleries in the highlands (Ben Nevis, Edradour and Clynelish). We’ll stay in the highlands to start this week, but only for a day. This week’s theme is whiskies matured or finished in madeira casks. First up is a 13 yo Inchmurrin (i.e fruity, unpeated Loch Lomond) that was bottled by the SMWS in a second-fill madeira hogshead. As far as I can make out, this was a full-term maturation. In the UK etc. this was given the name “I’ll beetroot to you”; in the US it was dubbed “Beat it”. Why not “Beet it”? Okay, let’s get to it.

Inchmurrin 13, 2007 (57.6%; SMWS 112.82; 2nd-fill madeira hogshead; from a bottle split)

Nose: Citrus (mix of lemon and orange peel) and oak off the top. After a minute the citrus expands and picks up some pineapple; the oak picks up some polish and there’s a slight metallic note and a leafy quality as well. As it sits there’s some pastry crust. With a bit of water it’s all about the orange peel and the polished oak. Continue reading →

Ardmore 23, 1997 (SMWS 66.195)

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Let’s close out SMWS Ardmore 23, 1997 week by going back a bit in their sequence. I began on Monday with cask 66.198, and continued on Tuesday with cask 66.199. Here now is cask 66.195. It too received a long finish/double maturation. But unlike 66.198 (French oak) and 66.199 (HTMC bourbon cask), this one went into a first-fill ex-oloroso cask (another barrique) for the last two years of maturation. Well, I really liked 66.197, which also spent its last two years in oloroso wood (though refill in that case). Will this one—which the SMWS named “If These Walls Could Talk”—be as good? Let’s see.

Ardmore 23, 1997 (48.7%; SMWS 66.195; 1st-fill ex-oloroso barrique; from a bottle split)

Nose: A little flat—there’s some leafy sherry and some damp oak; some sweeter fruit and some dried orange peel peep in from behind but don’t make much of an impression. Not much smoke to be found either. As it sits there’s a fair bit of citronella and the sweeter fruit does emerge (over-ripe plum, apricot jam). A few drops of water and…it sort of goes back to how it started. Continue reading →

Ardmore 23, 1997 (SMWS 66.199)

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My “Ardmore 23, 1997s bottled by the SMWS” week got off to a good start yesterday with cask 66.198. That one was matured for 21 years in a bourbon  cask and then for two years in a French oak barrique. Today I have a review of cask 66.199. This one was also matured for 21 years in a bourbon cask and then spent two years in a heavy-toast, medium-char hogshead. Were they just running out of ideas at that point? Or was there a bigwig at the SMWS screaming, “Not enough vanilla!!!” after tasting the 21 yo spirit? I guess we’ll never know. Oh yes, they named this one “Cricket in the Caribbean”.

Ardmore 23, 1997 (50.6%; SMWS 66.199; 2nd-fill HTMC hogshead finish; from a bottle split)

Nose: A mix of lemon, vanilla and mineral peat. Sweeter on the second sniff (more vanilla, plus some cream) and the lemon edges towards citronella; some white pepper and other more indistinct oak spice emerges.  With time the citrus trumps the vanilla. A drop or two of water and there’s first a floral burst and then the citrus gets a bit musky with hints of makrut lime. Continue reading →

Ardmore 23, 1997 (SMWS 66.198)

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I’d thought to do another week of Irish whiskey reviews but after the way last week’s Teeling series worked out (here, here and here), I’m a little bit wary. Let’s wait another week. In the meantime, this week I have for you reviews of three Ardmores bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society a few years ago. They’re all 23 years old, all distilled on the same day in 1997 and bottled in 2021. They are also therefore adjacent casks in SMWS’ esoteric cask numbering system. Ardmore is distillery 66 in their system and these are casks 195, 198 and 199. I’ve previously reviewed 66.197, which was also distilled on the same day as these three; indeed, as per Whiskybase, they’ve released nine such casks. I really liked 66.197, which had been finished in a refill Spanish oak sherry hogshead. I’ll begin this week’s series with 66.198 which spent 21 years in a bourbon hogshead and then also received a finish or second maturation (at 2 years it doesn’t really seem like a “finish”) but this time in a refill French oak barrique. Would that have made the previous contents of that cask wine of some kind or cognac? I don’t know. I do know that the SMWS gave this the name “Serene sunset satisfaction”. Let’s see what it’s like. Continue reading →

Bowmore 17, 2004 (SMWS 3.339)

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Let’s bring this series of reviews of Bowmore 17, 2004s bottled by the SMWS to a close. The three whiskies reviewed this week were from consecutively numbered casks, all filled on the same day in 2004 and matured in second-fill hogsheads. On Monday, I reviewed cask 3.337; on Wednesday, I reviewed cask 3.338. I liked both very much indeed; and liked 3.338 a bit more than 3.337. If you’re good at math like me, you’ll eventually figure out that today’s review is of cask 3.339. And you might also expect that I will like it a bit more than 3.338. But that’s now how whisky reviewing math works, fool! The SMWS’ tasting panel named this one “So wonderfully close, yet so wonderfully far”. This is, as far as I can make out, a reference to the whisky having conjured up visions of the Caribbean for them. I’ll be happy enough if it’s close enough to cask 3.331—which I reviewed last month, and which I liked the most so far of all these SMWS Bowmore 17, 2004s. Okay, let’s get to it. Continue reading →

Bowmore 17, 2004 (SMWS 3.338)

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Here is the second of three reviews this week os Bowmore 17, 2004s distilled on the same day, matured in second-fill hogsheads and bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. On Monday I reviewed cask 3.337; here now is cask 3.338. The Society’s panel dubbed it “Smoky ‘spice of the angels'”; spice of the angels is a fancy name for fennel pollen. I would have preferred “Smoky fruit of the tropics” but maybe I’ll get it anyway. Let’s see.

Bowmore 17, 2004 (57.6%; SMWS 3.338; second-fill hogshead; from a bottle split)

Nose: The smoke in this one is more ashy than mineral. There’s also more fruity and custardy notes here from the get-go: peach, a bit of passionfruit, blueberry. More fruit than smoke with time. Three drops of water bring out more of the custardy/creamy sweetness. Continue reading →

Bowmore 17, 2004 (SMWS 3.337)

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Back in the end of March I reviewed a Bowmore 17, 2004 bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. It was full of everything that is typical of the best of modern-era bourbon cask Bowmore: coastal notes, mineral peat, lots of fruit (acidic, sweet, tropical). Not surprisingly, I really liked it. I noted at the time that the SMWS had released a fair number of casks of Bowmore 17, 2004, all of which were distilled on the same day and, like the one I reviewed in March, matured in second-fill bourbon hogsheads. I also noted at the end of that review that I had samples from three more casks in that sequence. This week I’ll be posting reviews of that trio.

First up is cask 3.337 (my previous review was of cask 3.331). With unusual restraint, the Society’s tasting panel gave it the relatively sober name of “Pure Timelessness”. Let’s see if it lives up to the expectations set by 3.331. Continue reading →

Bowmore 17, 2004 (SMWS 3.331)

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The first whisky I ever reviewed on the blog was a Bowmore (the lowly Legend of yesteryear), and since then I’ve marked every anniversary of the blog with a Bowmore review. All except for the 10th anniversary this past Friday when I instead posted a look back at the decade on the blog. And so, a few days late, here is the requisite anniversary Bowmore review. This is a Bowmore 17, 2004, bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and is one of several they’ve released that were distilled on the same day in 2004 and matured in second-fill hogsheads. Indeed, the whole sequence of releases from 3.330 to 3.341 (where 3 refers to the SMWS’ distillery code for Bowmore and the other digits to the release number) are casks that were filled with spirit distilled on February 16, 2004; and almost all of those casks were second-fill hogsheads. Confusingly, this release, 3.331 was put out under two different silly names by the SMWS. Whiskybase shows one with the name “Taken out to sea” and one with the name “Ice cream dusted with chimney soot”. The former was the allocation for the US market and I guess they may have given that a different name—everything else is the same, down to the tasting notes on the label. Fascinating, no? Continue reading →

Bunnahabhain 6, 2013 (SMWS 10.202)

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After a week of Caol Ila, let’s keep the peat fires burning a little while longer. We’ll stay on Islay for the first review of the week, at a distillery not primarily known for its peated malt: Bunnahabhain. Well, they weren’t traditionally known for their peated malt; these days they make a fair bit of it—you’re not going to lose money in Scotland selling smoky whisky. This one, very young at six years of age, is not an official release. It was bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. It began its life in a bourbon hogshead before being finished in a recharred cask (HTMC=heavily toasted, medium char?) and bottled at an eye-watering strength. Youth? Heavily peated? Big oak contact? Stupid strength? It checks almost all the boxes for whisky I am normally wary of. Hopefully, it will all work somehow. Let’s see. Continue reading →

Dailuaine 10, 2008 (SMWS 41.116)

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Last week I reviewed three 12 yo bourbon cask whiskies from three different highlands distilleries: a Teaninich 12, 2009 bottled by the Thompson Bros. for K&L; a Glen Garicoh 12, 2008 bottled by Old Particular, also for K&L: and an Ardmore 12, 2006, bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. We’ll stick with bourbon cask whisky for this week as well, but we’ll ditch the 12 yp and highlands-only themes. The first one takes us to the Speyside. It’s. a 10 yo Dailuaine, also bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Let’s jump right in.

Dailuaine 10, 2008 (61.3%; SMWS 41.116; refill barrel; from a bottle split)

Nose: Toasted oak, damp leaves, lemon, malt. The lemon moves in the direction of Makrut lime as it sits. A little bit of cream, maybe, with time and the toasted oak moves to the front, but not much development here. With a splash of water there’s more cream, a bit of pastry crust and it all melds very nicely with the lemon. As it sits more fruit emerges: berries, pineapple; all of it encased in pastry crust. Continue reading →

Ardmore 12, 2006 (SMWS 66.139)

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This has been a week of reviews of malts from highlands distilleries. It’s also been a week of reviews of ex-bourbon cask malts and, as it turns out, a week of reviews of 12 yo malts. On Monday I had a review of a 12 yo Teaninich bottled by the Thompson Bros.; on Wednesday I had a review of a 12 yo Glen Garioch bottled by Old Particular; today I have for you a review of a 12 yo Ardmore bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Long-time readers of this blog know that I have a soft spot for bourbon cask Ardmore. Indeed, I’ve had a fair number of bourbon cask Ardmores in recent years that I’ve enjoyed a lot, many of those bottled by the SMWS with numbers adjacent to this one. Among those have been 66.133, 66.137 and 66.138. Granted 137 and 138 were quite a bit older but it still bodes well for this one, which is 66.139 (and 133 was also a 12 yo). I’m sorry if you’re not familiar with the SMWS’ funky bottle codes. The numbers before the period identify the distillery (Ardmore is 66) and those after the period identify the number of the release—which means this was the 139th Ardmore bottled by the SMWS (they’re well past that number now). In addition, they like to give each release a silly name. This one was dubbed “Deerstalkers and hillwalkers”. Okay, let’s see what it is like. Continue reading →

Glentauchers 8, 2010 (SMWS 63.58)

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Let’s keep the “Glen” distilleries thing going a bit longer. That won’t be the theme of this week though. The theme for this week is Speyside distilleries. And there won’t be a through line of labels either—each will be from a different bottler.

If I’d thought to do this Glentauchers last week instead of the Glengoyne it would have been three 8 yo whiskies from distilleries whose names start with “Glen” bottled by the SMWS. Unlike last week’s 8 year olds, however, (from Glencadam and Glenturret), this one was not bottled at a ludicrous strength. Compared to those >62% strength monsters, 56.1% seems downright restrained. What it does have in common with them—in addition to the bottler and age—is that I have very little experience of Glentauchers’ malt as well. It’s part of Pernod Ricard’s portfolio and apparently contributes heavily to the popular Ballantine’s blend—which is doubtless why so little of it emerges as single malt: a reminder as always that, for the most part, the single malt category is a by-product of the world’s thirst for blended Scotch whisky. Well, this review takes my Glentauchers score to five. The ones I’ve reviewed before have all been a fair bit older—the youngest twice the age of this one (this G&M 16 yo)—and I quite liked most of them (this 21 yo from Archives most of all). Let’s see where this one falls. Continue reading →

Glencadam 8, 2011 (SMWS 82.23)

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SMWS Highland Glens Week continues. On Monday I had a review of an 8 yo Glenturret bottled at a foolish strength. Today I have a review for you of an 8 yo Glencadam bottled at an even more foolish strength. I don’t have very much more experience of Glencadam, by the way, than I have of Glenturret—this will be my fifth review of a whisky distilled there. And so I will spare you further introductory prattle and get right to it.

Glencadam 8, 2011 (63.5%; SMWS 82.23; second-fill bourbon barrel; from a bottle split)

Nose: Though it is predictably tight, floral sweetness does emerge from under the alcohol. Gets quite sweet as it gets some air with simple syrup and some red fruit in there as well (cherries in syrup). Some cereals and a bit of crystallized lemon in there too. A bit of vanilla emerges with time and the lemon moves in the direction of citronella. With a few drops of water the the cereal note expands and so does the fruit (peach, berries)—there are some rose petals in there too. A few more drops and now it’s really quite lovely with the fruit turning muskier and malt and a bit of buttery pastry crust emerging to join it. Continue reading →

Glenturret 8, 2013 (SMWS 16.62)

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Last week was island distillery week. We began with a Bunnahabhain and ended with a malt from an undisclosed island distillery and in between there was a Highland Park. This week I have for you a triple-themed week: all Scotch Malt Whisky Society releases; all distilleries located in the Highlands; and all distilleries whose names begin with “Glen”. First up, a young Glenturret. As I always say when reviewing a Glenturret, I have sampled very few Glenturrets: this review takes the count up to four. I expect to hit double digits before the polar icecaps melt. This was matured in a re-charred hogshead and bottled at a ludicrous strength. It’s also apparently peated. Crazy high abv? Check. Peat? Check. Which means all it’s missing from the trifecta that seemingly appeals the most to a large fraction of the malt whisky drinking populace is a mega dose of sherry. The SMWS’ tasting panel named this one “No two sips are the same”, presumably because you have fewer tastebuds left after each sip. Well, I’m ready for anything. Continue reading →