1st SMWS Outturn April 2023 goes live on Friday 21st April 2023
Easter Magic – The Scotch Malt Whisky Society release (outturn) several single cask bottlings of Scotch, Whisk(e)y, Rum and Gin, to name a few, usually on the first Friday of every month. Below is a full list of what the 1st SMWS Easter Magic April 2023 outturn has to offer. The 1st SMWS April 2023 outturn is released on Friday 21st April 2023.
See below the full list of bottles being released for the 1st SMWS April 2023 outturn. (Don’t worry you can join the SMWS here) but be quick several of the bottlings sell out as quickly as the day they are released.
(here is a quick link to last month’s SMWS Outturn: SMWS March 2023 outturn).
Easter Magic 1st SMWS Outturn April 2023 bottles below:
4.352 – Kirkwall Ceilidh Cratur
62.4% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 13yo ~ Highland ~ £76.90
Something was aflame – toast, heather moor burn, pipe tobacco and seaweed tossed on a bonfire were all mentioned – along with heather honey, harbours and polishing brogues before a cèilidh. The palate was lively and enveloping, with gentle smoke, black fruits, marzipan, caramelised sugar and flying saucers; the finish found chilli pepper, pine resin, coal tar and ash. Water increased the coastal nature of the nose. The palate seemed sweeter and juicier; a fantastic counterbalance to the brine, smoke, ash and oak. We combined selected 9-year-old casks from this distillery and put the malt into various other casks to develop further. This is one of those casks… read more
5.115 – Cocoa and Kiwi
57.2% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 19yo ~ Lowland ~ £125.00
Croissants coated with raspberry and strawberry jam were served on a driftwood platter with Turkish delight, lime jelly and oak sawdust. Spicy flavours then delivered black peppercorns, nutmeg and cinnamon with hints of liquorice, cocoa nibs and dried apricots. Adding water developed aromas of lemon skin, limes and grapefruit mixed with fermenting pears, kiwi fruit and overripe banana, while elements of toasted nuts merged with a hot saw blade cutting through oak. The palate now embraced pineapples, honeydew melon and banana skin mixed with cold custard and white chocolate, which became dark chocolate framed with balsa wood on the finish… read more
A9.1 – Muscovado Meringue
51.9% ~ Refill Armagnac Black Oak Barrel ~ Armagnac ~ Bas Armagnac – Baco ~ £105.00
We found a bouquet of deep, sweet aromas on the neat nose with prunes, dried apricots, tobacco, golden caster sugar, glacé cherries and chocolate truffles. On the palate, muscovado and cinnamon meringues with a praline cream and a whipped marsala sabayon and fresh strawberries, while in the finish a rose and black pepper dark chocolate bar. Following careful reduction, an earthy, mushroom scent next to sweet cherries and fresh blackberries combined with spiced herbs and smooth tannins reminded one panellist of a dornfelder sweet red wine. To taste, syrupy sweet with a spicy edge to it and a rich texture with flavours of toasty caramel, honey and bramble jam… read more
10.243 – A Smoking Green Fairy
59.8% ~ Refill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead ~ 9yo ~ Islay ~ £72.00
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” or, in our case, the engine room of a ship. Pistons were running hot while the man in the boiler room dreamt of freshly cut grass and stripped green twigs. On the palate raw came big smoke – have those pistons overheated? There was, somewhere in the background, a subtle sweetness, citrus-like, the herbaceous scent of rosemary essential oil. Following reduction we found carbolic soap, traditional creosote next to aniseed liqueur, and gentian schnapps. The taste was like a smoking green fairy, a concoction of absinthe, mezcal and a few dashes of angostura bitters before a burning rosemary sprig is added… read more
10.244 – Olives And Bacon Have A Fight
59.5% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 9yo ~ Islay ~ £72.20
A typically massive nose with colossal notes of tar buckets, pickling vinegars, olive juices, gherkins, seawater and black olive tapenade – all slathered in hot roof pitch. We also found smoky bacon crisps, burnt orange peel and smoky blackcurrant jam. Reduction brought a sharper, more chiselled smokiness, along with black pepper, anthracite embers and smoked kippers. When neat, the palate was chock full of malt vinegar, pickled lemons, iodine, antiseptic and English mustard powder; raw peat smoke with a smooshed strawberry. With water we found smoked marmalade, dried herbs, bacon jam, kelp, treacle and mineral salts. A mighty collision of salty and meaty vibes. After maturing for five years in a bourbon hogshead, this was transferred to a second fill oloroso hogshead… read more
G15.8 – A Campfire Cookout
58.2% ~ Refill Heavy Toast Medium Char Ex-Peaty Hogshead ~ 12yo ~ Highland ~ £56.50
After 10 years in ex-bourbon wood, we filled this into a heavy-toast, medium-char, ex-peaty hogshead. The nose leaves charred impressions of toasted coconut, burnt banana bread, crisped bacon and a bonfire of leaves – also linseed oil and putty, pear and pineapple and campfire hotdogs. The palate picks up immediate but gentle ashy, nutty, heathery smoke; white pepper, roasted peanuts, toasted almonds and ‘Coke-soaked ham with treacle glaze garnished with pineapple slices and cherries’. The reduced nose gets apple, papaya, and mango, pork sausages with white wine sauerkraut. The palate has ginger cake and green curry spice, smoked sea-salt, cherry Coke and ‘chewing kindling’… read more
16.87 – Down With Subtlety!
63.6% ~ 1st Fill #4+ Char Hogshead ~ 9yo ~ Highland ~ £62.00
The neat nose threw us immediate notes of dry-roasted peanuts, seared steak, charred red chillis, burning gorse bush, a mechanic’s overalls from the 1970s, melted waxworks and hot, smoky barbeque grills. Mad and brilliant! With water it was still rather crazy, with red cola, black olives, roof pitch, pine, sage and animal hides. The palate revealed pure, thick peat smoke, then various red meats tartare, habanero hot sauce, root beer, smoked peanuts and raisins doused in creosote. Water brought herbal toothpaste, tarred rope, iodine, burnt yeasty wheat snacks and oily tool box rags. A boisterous and potent dram. After maturing in a bourbon hogshead for six years, this was transferred to a first fill #4+ heavy char hogshead… read more
18.49 – Oiling The Cogs Of The Orange Crusher
60.3% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £85.80
Orange oil, brazil nuts and apricots mixed with light machine oil and old fashioned cocktails while nougat, toasted pine nuts and walnut oil merged with quince jelly. The palate was juicy and sweet, with clementines, marmalade and citrus oils combining with baklava, caramel wafers and red liquorice. Water unveiled cereal notes, roasted chestnuts and marshmallows before deeper flavours of burnt blackberry crumble, star anise and tobacco complemented linseed and menthol. Now, porridge was served with honey and orange liqueur before herbal flavours of tarragon, mint and fennel blended into earl grey tea and orange bitters on the finish. After 12 years in a bourbon hogshead, this was transferred to a Spanish oak oloroso hogshead… read more
35.342 – Sapid Synthesis Of Sweetness And Spice
61.3% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 10yo ~ Speyside ~ £64.20
The immediate nose gave dry grass and hessian – then honey cake, fudge and popping candy sweetness arrived, slowly overtaken by fruity notes (raspberry ripple, blackcurrant, pears). The palate had us arguing about sweet dessert wine, cream soda ice cream floats, raspberry iced lollies, hot cross buns and poached pear with clove – was it sweeter or spicier? But with a dram like this we couldn’t fall out. Adding water allowed our noses to discover lemon, honeysuckle and sugared almonds. It also synthesised the sweet and spicy notes on the palate into liquorice allsorts, balsamic strawberries, wine gums and sultanas in a curry… read more
39.278 – Plums In The Spice Cupboard
61.6% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 11yo ~ Speyside ~ £68.40
We lobbed plums into the spice cupboard before faceplanting into a Victoria sponge. The nose was delightfully poised and well balanced. The palate shared the spice cupboard’s treasures, along with banana, honeydew melon and citrus fruit pastilles. Introducing water served up a slice of key lime pie, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and apple blossom to the nose. The palate was rich in dried apricots, pears poached in sauternes and honeyed cashews, all sat atop ginger biscuits… read more
44.165 – PX, I Love You
61.8% ~ 1st Fill Ex-PX Hogshead ~ 16yo ~ Speyside ~ £98.30
The neat nose suggested emulsion paints, blackcurrant jam, brown bread spread with treacle and curious notes of mint sauce, dark chocolate and walnut wine. Classically sherried but also unctuous, this was earthy and rather savoury. Reduction brought a lovely vibe of warm, damp petrichor, plum wine, balsamic glaze and damson preserve. Overall, it was much more playful and fruity once diluted. The palate opened with peanut brittle, runny honey and a more clearly defined PX sherry sweetness. Beyond that there were creamy wood lactones, graphite oil, cola syrup and pecan pie balanced with a tang of salty liquorice. Water brought further notes of clean wood spices, cinnamon sugar, baked banana, salted toffee sauce and dark, earthy teas, with a sense of herbal bitters in the aftertaste. Matured for 12 years in a bourbon hogshead, this was then transferred to a first fill American oak PX sherry hogshead… read more
53.453 – Rocking The Gravy Boat
57.5% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bodega Oloroso Butt ~ 9yo ~ Islay ~ £79.20
Lashings of leather, tar, camphor, burning pine cones and smoked teas – all sloshed down with pickled seawater, brisket burnt ends and root beer syrup mixed with barbecue sauce. Powerful, concentrated and brilliant! With water we got shoe polish, mineral salts and pungent kipper smoke along with a tang of beef extract and smoky bouillon powder. The neat palate opened with a distinctly gamey and leathery vibe, plus some very salty Dutch liquorice, natural tar extracts, game salami with hot chilli and smoked black teas. Reduction enhanced the leathery aspects and brought aged Belgian lambic ales, pickled tarragon, iodine and a whole box of gravy granules. At the age of seven, we combined two hogsheads from the same distillery into an ex-bodega sherry butt… read more
70.54 – Leather Burger Sauce
58.9% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 14yo ~ Highland ~ £82.80
A new leather jacket was soaking in olive oil. We slipped a piece of burnt brown toast smothered in alpine butter into the pocket, along with some roasted chestnuts. As we bit into this dram, winter-spiced fruit cake, figs and vanilla pods were present, as was the slightest phenolic note. Introducing water opened a new first-aid kit, a bottle of leather conditioner, bell peppers and salad rocket. The reduced palate provided buttered corn on the cob, cracked black pepper on a beef burger and spiced Belgian mayonnaise… read more