1st SMWS Outturn September 2023

1st SMWS Outturn September 2023 goes live on Friday 1st September 2023

Spirit of the Gathering – The Scotch Malt Whisky Society releases (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 Spirit of the Gathering September 2023 outturn has to offer. The 1st SMWS September 2023 outturn is released on Friday 4th August 2023.

See below the full list of bottles being released for the 1st SMWS September 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 August 2023 outturn).

Spirit of the Gathering 1st SMWS Outturn September 2023 bottles below:

Cask No – Batch 21 – Dunnage Nougat

50.0% ~ Re-Fill Hogsheads & 1st Fill Barriques ~ 9yo ~ Single Malt ~ £60.00

What a tale of oak and fire we have here! We selected a wonderfully fruity Speyside single malt, which was maturing in bourbon hogsheads. We moved the whisky into a variety of custom coopered casks. In American oak we had new oak hogsheads made with a heavy toast and a medium char, and new oak barriques with a heavy toast (no char) and a medium plus toast (a little lighter, again no char). In French oak we opted for barriques in the same toasting specifications as the American barriques.... read more


2.138 – Raisin Toffee Jam

55.0% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Butt ~ 16yo ~ Speyside ~ £102.00

Forget tea and biscuits, we were dunking madeira cake in red wine and tearing open a waxed paper bag full of raisins. To the palate, our wee afternoon repast was ultimately jammy, with black cherries and sticky brown sugar melting together with mulling spices, dark chocolate and spiced orange segments. Adding water, and toffee popcorn burst forward, joining fudge and a volcano of orange fondant and grape must… read more


4.360 – Elasto-Peat

62.8% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 11yo ~ Highland ~ £69.80

The aroma brought to the Panel’s collective mind swimming pools, plasters, celery salt, kimchi and lime juice. A scented, elegant peat smoke with vivid coastal Atlantic freshness. Reduction brought sweeter cask tones such as custard and creme brûlée, along with metal polish, soft waxes, heather honey and sooty notes. The neat palate was soft and smoky, with notes of frying bacon in a cast iron skillet, bouquet garni herbs, salted almonds and gauze. Water brought sharp mineral notes of beach pebbles and bath salts, cured ham, leafy peat smoke… read more


11.44 – Wine and Pine

60.6% ~ 1st Fill Toasted White Wine Barrique ~ 8yo ~ Highland ~ £59.00

The sumptuous aroma suggested tinned peaches in syrup, orchard fruits baked in honey and cupboard spices including nutmeg, clove and allspice. Beneath that we found a robust note of butterbean hummus and a sense of waxiness. Reduction brought out exotic hardwood resins, dried fruits, chai tea and butterscotch with a tang of eucalyptus oil. The palate at first was nicely leathery, with resinous fir-wood vibes, toasted wood spices and sweet treacle tart… read more


12.74 – Creme Brulee, Butterscotch and Blowtorched Bananas

59.2% ~ 1st Fill HTMC Barrel ~ 12yo ~ Speyside ~ £70.40

The nose suggested French toast with cinnamon and maple syrup, “cowboy boots trampling blood oranges”, dried fruits, honey on straw and balsamic glaze – wonderfully complex. The palate was punchy and powerful, evoking charred staves, Turkish coffee, toffee apples and spicy pinchos Morunos, with a drying finish of liquorice and ash. The reduced nose carried crème brûlée, butterscotch and blowtorched bananas, tinned mandarins and damson jam… read more


13.103 – Fruit Wallop

60.4% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 10yo ~ Highland ~ £74.10

Seduced by baked pineapple rings, hazelnut praline and key lime pie, we fell deep into a world of cinnamon sticks, orange oils and nutmeg. With one sip however, we were slapped by spice as ginger, chillies and cloves formed an orderly que at our tongue’s expense. We reached for the water to recalibrate the senses to strawberry sweets, cherry cola and lavender alongside singed orange skin and red liquorice in an old fashioned cocktail… read more


39.282 – Chauffeur-Driven Gateau

57.5% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 16yo ~ Speyside ~ £106.90

Butter melted into toasted malt loaf before marmalade was spread like orange tarmac on a highway to charred mango, mixed spices and forests of resinous exotic woods. Motorways of marzipan meandered through black forest gâteau with chocolate sauce as ground cinnamon and nutmeg blew in the breeze. Adding water plotted a scenic route along streets of strawberry liqueur lined by paths of plums, nectarines and fresh figs. The journey was a smooth ride as lumps of lime were softened by orange chocolate, gooey cakes and fragrant tobacco… read more


41.167 – Oozes Decadence

56.0% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £92.40

The nose was a journey from Dundee (Dundee cake, linoleum) to France (brandy snaps), and from Spain (sherry trifle) to Madeira (sweet wine) and the USA (butter pecan pastries). The lovely, chewy palate gave us honey, dates, raisins and hot cross buns, with a dry finish of membrillo, cranberry sauce and ginger-flavoured halva. The reduced nose oozed decadence – candy floss, stem ginger, cherry clafoutis, black forest gateau and sangria poured over freshly charred staves. Again on the palate, sweetness (cinnamon swirls, jam doughnuts and watermelon) gave way to roasted chestnuts, pink peppercorns, dark chocolate and fragrant oak… read more


44.172 – Skip The Light Fandango

56.7% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 20yo ~ Speyside ~ £150.80

The nose had honey and nut cornflakes, sticky buns, moist gingerbread and peanut brittle, orange boxes and cherry cola in a leather shoe. The intense, deep palate had pastel de nata, syrup of figs, dates and stewed prunes with custard to begin, leaning later into earthier notes of thyme, oregano, tobacco strands and wine-stained flamenco floorboards. The reduced nose went from golden syrup, maple candies and hot fudge sundae to sawn oak and orange groves. The palate now combined demerara sugar on roasted peaches and honey on fresh figs with salted peanuts and cigarette ash… read more


46.144 – Intense Earthy Sweetness

53.4% ~ 1st Fill Ex-PX Hogshead ~ 13yo ~ Speyside ~ £75.90

After nine years in ex-bourbon wood, this spent further time in a first-fill American oak PX hogshead. The nose discovered sweetness (prunes, Eccles cakes, golden syrup on porridge, toffee) and a wonderment of wood and leather – old bookshops and flamenco-battered floorboards came to mind. The palate was sweet but curious – brown sugar on burnt toast, fig jam, birnenbrot and candied orange, with pepper, liquorice and clove to finish. The reduced nose combined plum and apple chutney with treacle, raisins and sherry trifle… read more


48.159 – High Summer High Jinks

53.4% ~ 1st Fill Ex-PX Hogshead ~ 13yo ~ Speyside ~ £75.90

After nine years in ex-bourbon wood, this spent further time in a first-fill American oak PX hogshead. The nose discovered sweetness (prunes, Eccles cakes, golden syrup on porridge, toffee) and a wonderment of wood and leather – old bookshops and flamenco-battered floorboards came to mind. The palate was sweet but curious – brown sugar on burnt toast, fig jam, birnenbrot and candied orange, with pepper, liquorice and clove to finish. The reduced nose combined plum and apple chutney with treacle, raisins and sherry trifle… read more


66.239 – Mouton Bouille

57.9% ~ 2nd Fill Charred Wine Barrique ~ 15yo ~ Highland ~ £91.40

The generous and vibrant nose brimmed with smoked honey, hessian, sacks of freshly malted barley, malt extract and milky darjeeling tea. We also got some slightly tangier and funkier tones of pickling juices, game meats and confit duck. And a definite impression of charcoal rubbed into sheep’s wool! Reduction brought cocoa and coffee grounds, peanuts roasted with paprika and singed raisins. It also became much earthier, sootier and smokier. Leaf mulch, wood smoke and green peppercorns were all present. The neat palate glowed with hot chai tea, game salami, engine oils, a gentle peaty tang and smouldering hay… read more


68.113 – Cinnamon Toffee (Pine) Apples

60.0% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead ~ 9yo ~ Highland ~ £60.00

The generous and vibrant nose brimmed with smoked honey, hessian, sacks of freshly malted barley, malt extract and milky darjeeling tea. We also got some slightly tangier and funkier tones of pickling juices, game meats and confit duck. And a definite impression of charcoal rubbed into sheep’s wool! Reduction brought cocoa and coffee grounds, peanuts roasted with paprika and singed raisins. It also became much earthier, sootier and smokier. Leaf mulch, wood smoke and green peppercorns were all present. The neat palate glowed with hot chai tea, game salami, engine oils, a gentle peaty tang and smouldering hay… read more