SMWS Outturn August 2024 goes live on Friday 2nd August 2024
Unchartered Territories – 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.
See below the full list of bottles being released for the July 2024 outturn. If you are not a member, 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 July 2024 outturn).
Unchartered Territories August 2024 Outturn bottles:
6.75 – La Belle Epoque
54.6% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 15yo ~ Highland ~ £83.00
The aromas on the neat nose reminded us of key lime pie, mascarpone cream, lemon shortbread, and honey and nut granola – but also of tart green apples and sour gooseberries. We found loads of sweetness on the palate, with icing sugar, gomme syrup and vanilla cup cakes, plus chocolate caramel wafers and teacakes. After reduction we imagined standing next to Van Gogh in the countryside as he painted sunflowers in his typical naïve style using thick paint and bright colours…read more
10.265 – On the Beach at Night
57.7% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 10yo ~ Islay ~ £75.00
Things opened with a classic nose – dying beach bonfires, sweet smoke, ash, a sea breeze and maybe potatoes in the embers – with additional hints of toffee, vanilla, green apple and orange boxes. We found quite a bit of fruit on the palate, including stewed apples and rhubarb, pineapple chunks, pear, and the burnt edge of fruit cake, plus toasted coconut, roasted nuts and maple syrup on a charred stave. The reduced nose gave us gentle smoke, cinnamon rolls, old sea chests and toasted marshmallows…read more
12.83 – An Enthralling Experience
57.5% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £95.00
Wow! We imagined flaming a Christmas pudding, honey-roasting pecan nuts and candied strawberries. On the palate, we baked a chocolate raspberry cake with layers of dark chocolate, silky chocolate buttercream and a raspberry filling with a chocolate raspberry ganache. To drink we had a perfect Manhattan of rye whiskey, sweet red vermouth and gentian-herb bitters, garnished with a candied maraschino cocktail cherry. With a drop of water, if you wish, we enjoyed a rice pudding served with a liberal dash of blackcurrant liqueur… read more
12.84 – A Character-Building Experience
59.8% ~ 2nd Fill Shave Toast Re-Char Oloroso Barrique ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £90.00
The aroma evoked vivid impressions, like a “punch on the nose” with a leather boxing glove, or walking into a dentist’s waiting room a“ very clean, and with a faint candied aroma from the decades-old bowl of lolly pops and chocolates. The palate was very feisty, very malty and very sweet, like a rum-soaked prune cheesecake with a caramel sauce. With the addition of water our noses latched on to a lamb, black pudding and mustard hotpot, which we were all looking forward to after a thrilling suspended walk in a forest surrounded by a variety of tree species… read more
18.62 – It’s Raining Smile Emojis
54.1% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £79.00
The ultrasweet nose enticed us with toffee sauce over ice cream, calvados-soaked sultanas, glaca cherries and dried pineapple, before we found additional hints of toasted pine nuts and petrichor. The palate brought smiles to our faces, thanks to the continued sweet theme which included chocolate-coated raisins, a penny bag of gummies, sour bites, jelly beans and sweet hard candy, plus rhubarb rock and damson jam on toast; the finish left us with cinnamon, nutmeg and dark chocolate. The reduced nose discovered flambaed peach, tinned mandarins in syrup, madeira cake and rolling tobacco… read more
28.101 – Desert Oasis Dram
60.6% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 11yo ~ Highland ~ £68.50
There was a desert-like dryness in the air, but we could also spot an oasis, and this was no fata morgana. The aroma reminded us of sawdust, dried camomile, malted milk biscuits and charred lemons but also lemongrass, lime soda and icing sugar. On the palate, we found a sweet, fruit-flavoured bonbon with a sour chilli centre. With a few drops of water we reached the oasis and the minty, refreshing scent of elderflower and peach-flavoured fizzy water took centre stage…. read more
35.394 – A Sprinkle-Laden Dream
55.9% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 10yo ~ Speyside ~ £50.00
A very pleasant aroma of juicy peaches, nectarines and plums greeted the Panel before deeper notes such as cinnamon, marzipan and a sweet acorn muffin emerged. We found plenty of vanilla on the palate neat: cupcakes, slices, extract and a fresh vanilla-mint smoothie. Other flavours were of white chocolate, lemon shortbread and, in the finish, a hint of orange bitters. Following reduction, the woody scent was more aromatic – indeed, perfumed – and the overall impression was that of an off-dry white wine: pear, watermelon and a hint of kumquat and raspberry…. read more
39.291 – Panko’s Leather Satchel
62.1% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 12yo ~ Speyside ~ £69.00
The nose was cured ham slices atop a bed of panko breadcrumbs. This had a sweet-salty core, with a touch of green peppercorns and capers. The palate was reminiscent of an old brandy served with toasted cashews on a slab of new leather, with a finish of spiced pears and sea salt. With water, the nose was a light, young tobacco, freshly polished leather satchels, lemon and honey tea, and talcum powder…. read more
41.174 – Candied Leather
57.5% ~ 1st Fill Ex-PX Butt ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £92.00
Into our nostrils fell popcorn topped with freeze-dried raspberries, candied lemon peel, salt and powdered hessian. Pedro then joined the party, with the palate full of leather, ginger, treacle, and a honey and raisin puree. A tickle of water teased out toffee, mince pies and prunes on the nose, while the palate displayed strawberries and cranberries in salted caramel sauce. After 10 years in an ex-oloroso butt, we transferred this to a first fill Spanish oak Pedro Ximénez butt for the remainder of its maturation… read more
42.87 – A Smouldering Treat of Pickles and Peat
55.9% ~ Re-Fill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead ~ 18yo ~ Highland ~ £105.00
At first nosing we detected a sooty, ashy and yet nicely crisp smokiness. Pure, heady peat smoke aromas were all invigorated by a clear and potent coastal freshness. We also got impressions of bacon frazzling in a hot cast-iron skillet, and touches of soy sauce. Water softened the smoke ever so slightly and revealed aromatic notes of bonfire embers, kippers, barbecue sauce and natural tar extracts. The palate revealed a pure, thick carpet of peat smoke laced with iodine and seawater. We also found malt vinegar, pickling brine, cornichons and a pristinely sharp saltiness… read more
44.183 – Food Fusion
59.3% ~ 1st Fill #4 Charred Hogshead ~ 17yo ~ Speyside ~ £107.00
We cooked Japanese udon noodles with spicy duck breast in a wok using plenty of sesame oil and a generous sprinkling of shichimi togarashi. On the side we had a Greek-style tuna and feta salad and to finish the meal, a shot of ouzo. It clearly was a foody dram. After the addition of water, we got spaghetti in a chilli and garlic sauce as well as a salade niçoise on the nose. To taste, we found an olive oil and balsamic dip for a chunky piece of herbed wholewheat bread… read more
48.171 – Berrylicious
52.7% ~ 2nd Fill American Oak Toasted Barrique ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £83.00
We cracked the hard caramel top of a mixed berry crème brûlée and had a bite of a coconut, almond and raspberry traybake. The wonderful texture reminded us of chantilly cream, butterscotch sauce and a wild berry smoothie made from blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple chunks and orange juice – a real treat for the taste buds. After the addition of water, a chai-spiced rocky road with dried cranberries sprinkled with mini marshmallows and a dusting of cocoa emerged. It still had a lovely mouthfeel: imagine Madagascar vanilla ice cream with a red berry coulis… read more
53.463 – Victory at Trafalgar
55.7% ~ 1st Fill Ex-PX Hogshead ~ 15yo ~ Islay ~ £110.00
The complex nose included fish boxes, tarry ropes, lemon peel and ash, smoked blackcurrant jam smeared on bandages, perfumed cigarettes stubbed out in treacle, and after-dinner port and cigars. The palate was a curious concatenation of dried grass and cereals, balsamic vinegar on jamon, roasted chestnuts, dried fruits and coffee beans. The reduced nose offered citrus (brown sugar on baked orange or yuzu) and a whiff of burning ships at Trafalgar (gunpowder, singed hair and wine casks exploding into the sea)… read more
58.56 – Harvest Hoedown
57.4% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 16yo ~ Speyside ~ £95.00
Aromas of banana split, blueberries, orange peel and honey, flower meadows and dusty straw bales in the sun made us think of a harvest hoedown. The palate seemed to balance the sweet sensations of juicy pear, mango and charentais melon, vanilla, gummy jelly sweets and honey, with drier, deeper flavours of tobacco leaf, spicy oak, black coffee and dark chocolate with cherry pieces. In reduction, the nose turned more tropical and exotic a“ incense, bougainvillea and grilled pineapple…read more
59.81 – Molasses Gummy Bears
53.0% ~ 1st Fill American Oak STR Barrique ~ 16yo – Highland ~ £88.00
To start things off, the Panellists breathed in the delightful aromas of a distilled cocktail made using black cherries, coal, treacle and oak. We then tucked into a buffet of toffee, burnt toast, red wine, rum truffles and pomegranate molasses. Water added a delicate sophistication to the nose, with a posy of carnations, lilies and sweet pea flowers. To finish, we gorged on ginger and chocolate biscuits, coffee cake, and dark fruit gummy bears… read more
63.105 – Dangerously Gorgeous
53.8% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 20yo ~ Speyside ~ £112.00
The neat nose suggested to us honey on sandalwood, wintergreen, dusty flower pollens, fir wood sap and flowers in vase water. Holding everything together in the background: a lovely brittle waxiness. A distinctly old school profile we agreed. With water we noted mentholated tobaccos, dried mango, heather honey and hints of traditional IPA hops and limoncello. The mouth opened with a superbly vivid waxy texture and flavour. Some wonderfully honeyed qualities, herbal mouthwash, mothballs, citrus curds and exotic fruit teas… read more
64.148 – Apple Wax
41.7% ~ Re-Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 26yo ~ Speyside ~ £199.50
The nose here gives the lie to the notion that this is a lighter or in any way ‘lesser’ make. We found a superbly waxy and vividly fulsome aroma, full of buttery cereals, bruised apple skins, wine cellars, beeswax on old furniture and more playful hints of elderflower and gooseberry. Water added to the weightier aspects with tobacco, banana skins, vellum and venison salami with a wee touch of rowan jelly. The palate was immediately chock-full of waxy apples, old mead, cigar humidor notes, aniseed and fruity black coffee flavours. This was proving to be a big, robust and complex whisky… read more
66.253 – Alsatian Plum Eau De Vie Fumee
54.2% ~ Re-Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 12yo ~ Highland ~ £74.00
The very pale colour stopped us short to wonder whether this sample had ever been in a cask. It was a delightful, flavoursome spirit reminding some of us of mirabelle plum eau de vie from Alsace, with a teasing sweet smoke lingering in the background. On the palate, carpaccio of scallops came prepared with lime juice, and seasoned with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. After the addition of water we were served a glass of champagne and, soon after that, plates of smoked salmon and caviar cocktail blinis, bite-sized buckwheat pancakes… read more
70.52 – Cloudberries in Flam
57.8% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 14yo ~ Highland ~ £83.00
Blackcurrants were crushed by sticks of cinnamon and liquorice, before a drizzle of lemon juice, waxy green apple segments and a dollop of bread sauce. A warming fennel and sweet pea greeted the palate, with bergamot peel and a bouquet garni being used to spread jam on a wholemeal cracker. Water amplified the fennel and we now had a bag of salt liquorice being paired with a malty rye beer in Flåm as we sat on sheepskin rugs, nubuck leather and lilies… read more
71.106 – Bellinis and Bouquets
60.6% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 11yo ~ Speyside ~ £64.00
Light, delicate, fragrant and attractive a“ the nose had fruit pastilles, raspberry sauce on vanilla ice cream, pineapple cube sweets, candied lemon and a bouquet of freesias, carnations and jasmine. The palate was equally fruity a“ freshly squeezed orange juice, foamy bananas, peach yoghurt and vanilla, and finishing with gentle, sweet, spicy tongue tingles (white pepper, clove, nutmeg, ginger Edinburgh rock). The reduced nose spoke to us of pineapple lumps, sherbet lemons and honeysuckle at the edge of a pine forest. The palateas fruitiness (bellini cocktails, apricot jam, bitter lemon) was augmented by red onion and chilli marmalade… read more
80.54 – Ruby Hues Day
60.4% ~ 1st Fill Australian Shiraz Barrique ~ 11yo ~ Speyside ~ £59.00
After seven years in ex-bourbon wood, further maturation in a first fill d’Arenberg shiraz barrique has given this a ruby hue. Perhaps unsurprisingly our nose comments included red apple, ripe plum, cherry lips, pink marshmallow twists, strawberry hearts, and raspberry and coconut chocolate bars. The palate combined chocolate, caramel and butterscotch sweetness with fruit leathers, raspberry ripple, red laces and blackcurrant diluting juice; finishing with oak, pepper and leather… read more
82.48 – The Big Yellow Marshmallow
62.8% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 11yo ~ Highland ~ £68.00
Fragrant roses, lavender and carnations merged with strawberry jelly and vanilla sponge cake topped with icing sugar, white chocolate and marshmallows. The prickle of wasabi and pickled ginger on the palate led us towards quince jelly, hazelnut fruitcake and shortbread, with choux buns and fresh pine wood on the finish. With water came crystalised lemon, orange and kiwi fruit before strawberries and gooseberries joined green apples, cut grass and candyfloss on an oak stick… read more
85.74 – Nutmeg Marmalade
59.4% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 16yo ~ Speyside ~ £97.00
Bold aromas of marmalade, figs and walnut oil joined fragrant heather honey and caramel wafers while spiced apple chutney was served with Serrano ham. The palate was backed by the robust spice of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, with a little chipotle paste, before cherry cola and vanilla cream coated sticky baklava. After adding water, spicy rye whisky aromas emerged, merging hints of peppermint and pink peppercorns with cinnamon rolls, sandalwood, fresh rosemary and dill. Flavours now encapsulated blackcurrants and grapes, with oak sawdust and cocoa nibs in bitter chocolate to finish… read more
93.208 – A Transcendent Experience
58.8% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 9yo ~ Campbeltown ~ £65.50
The light and fragrant aroma surprised the Panel as we prepared a pitcher of fresh lime margarita combining tequila, triple sec, lime juice and sugar, served in a glass moistened with a lime wedge and then rimmed with sugar and salt. The taste was like apasta cacio e pepea (pasta with black pepper and cheese), but light on the cheese and heavy on the pepper. Following reduction, we felt a fresh sea breeze while relaxing under a pergola and gazing far out across the sea to the horizon… read more
93.212 – Punch-Drunk, Slam-Dunk, Coastal Funk
59.4% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 9yo ~ Campbeltown ~ £65.50
Classic C-Town funk on the nose; tinkering under the bonnet of an old car, green olives in brine, pears and chocolate candies – all with the sea close by. The palate was coastal, smoky and sweet – peat fire-grilled prawns, seaweed, caramel-glazed toasted almonds, aniseed gobstoppers, torrone and oily rags – and quite muscular in its intensity. Adding water shifted the nose to oysters with ponzu dipping sauce and moules marinière, plus anise, clove, polished shoes and sugared buns in an old fish box… read more
95.99 – Waxed Cedar Gloves
60.3% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 11yo ~ Speyside ~ £64.50
The Panel found new leather gloves wrapped in heavily waxed paper, hidden for a generation in a cedar cigar box. The palate was a luscious cocktail of grape, blackberries, sweet cinnamon and danish pastries soaked in port. Just a drop of water presented pancakes swimming in maple syrup and topped with custard. Be prepared for the palate to deliver a powerful cinnamon spice, alongside a soothing orange oil and a clear sherry pedigree… read more
115.29 – Visions of the Basque Country
47.4% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 32yo ~ Speyside ~ £495.00
Our noses offered visions of Basque tart, mango cubes and mandarins drizzled with linseed oil and decorated with a fan of exquisitely thin red apple slices and quince paste. The palate was cocoa nibs, tobacco, quinine and a citrus Thai salad. Water provided fresh floral notes on the nose, along with lime leaves in a linen-lined cigar box. To finish, the palate was a sweet vermouth, hazelnut cream and tarragon… read more