SMWS Outturn March 2025 goes live on Friday 7th March 2025
Whisky With Hidden Depths – 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 March 2025 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 February 2025 outturn).
Whisky With Hidden Depths March 2025 Outturn bottles:
6.81 – The Well Shod Gardener
56.9% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 16yo ~ Highland ~ £96.00
The nose combined blackcurrant pastilles, damson crumble and bramble jelly with the earthiness of cinnamon stick, eucalyptus and digging the garden in new leather shoes. The palate was sweet and fizzy – contrasting kir royale, elderberry and peach with some soft caramel. Adding water, the nose suggested sucking cherry lozenges and caramel candies in an antiquarian bookshop. The reduced palate still had good bite and delivery – pomegranate molasses and fruit leathers, baked squash and biting an orange through the skin to the juice….read more
7.283 – The Sun Sets Behind Clementine Clouds
40.4% ~ Re- Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel~ 33yo ~ Speyside ~ £650.00
The sun dipped with the glow of dried orange skin, illuminating green mangoes arranged in fruit boxes on top of dry bales of hay. Fluffy clouds glided above like cream cakes from a pâtisserie, alongside the occasional cinnamon bun. Adding water revealed bottles of sticky herbal medicine, with earthy tones, and the fragrance of fresh flowers and bergamot petals. As the sun dipped further, streaks of colour radiated across the heavens. The cream cakes burst into shades of clementine, kumquat and stewed rhubarb…read more
9.270 – Ginger Pear Puff Pastry Tarts
61.3% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 14yo ~ Speyside ~ £80.00
We immediately noticed an aroma of very ripe pears and apples as well as pineapple alongside vanilla custard creams as one Panellist, reliving his Scottish childhood, enjoyed a bag of oddfellows: traditional mixed aromatic hard candies. There was plenty of zing on the palate neat, with tangy wine gums and a mango salsa made from diced bell pepper and fresh coriander. Following reduction we discovered apple turnovers, ginger pear puff pastry tarts and rich tea biscuits… read more
10.280 – Ice Cream Beach Barbeque
56.7% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead ~ 11yo ~ Islay ~ £75.00
A handful of salt and pepper cashews came wrapped in the contents of a first aid kit, accompanied by warm tar, fennel and thyme, and a serving of vanilla ice cream. The palate was surprisingly sweet yet echoed the story our noses told while adding a platter of popcorn and blueberry pancakes. Water drove the nose in a sweeter direction, adding lemon zest, freshly milled pine and apples baking on a charcoal beach fire… read more
10.282 – Sweetness & Darkness
61.3% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 11yo ~ Islay ~ £85.00
Unreduced we experienced sweetness and darkness with toasted coconut, balsamic glaze, sundried tomatoes and dried plums with ham and melon. Elsewhere there were oak floors, chesterfields with ginger snaps, bourbon biscuits and burnt toffee. With water there was creamy sweetness with juicy fruitiness. We had cola with vanilla ice cream, milk chocolate dusting powder, stewed apples and pears, with cloves on an iced cinnamon bun… read more
60.43 – Compote in the Caribbean
58.9% ~ 2nd Fill Hybrid Oak Hogshead ~ 10yo ~ Highland ~ £75.00
A bowl of mixed berry compote drifted past us as we supped on a glass of Caribbean fruit punch. The nose was predominantly sweet, with honeyed fruit notes, while the palate introduced cupboard spices, roast chestnuts, and birch water served with a slice of apple pie. Water elevated vanilla and lanolin on the nose, joined latterly by honey-roasted parsnip and fennel. The palate now presented cinnamon and cedar, clove and cherries, cigars and coriander…. read more
11.57 – Writing Desk Transposition
59.7% ~ HTMC New Oak Hogshead ~ 9yo ~ Highland ~ £60.00
To charred barbecued peaches, we added toffee encrusted with salt crystals and proceeded to spread this sticky mixture on a warm leather-topped writing desk while wearing a waxed cotton jacket. Transposed on to the palate, the writing desk appeared to be of cherry wood, polished with pomegranate molasses and given texture via panko breadcrumbs, sweetness from peach cobbler and a delicate spice from nutmeg. Water served to lighten the dram with notes of orange fondant, vanilla sponge and peaches on the nose…. read more
39.293 – Headbutted by a Biscuit
59.9% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 11yo ~ Speyside ~ £640.00
This proved to be a slightly fuller example than we were used to from this distillery, with lots of shoe leather, mineral oil and pine sap up front. Heady aromas of hibiscus, wildflower and runny honey faded in and out in the background. Water gave us biscotti, milk chocolate, earl grey tea, aged mead and rye bread spiciness. The neat palate was full of banana syrup at first sip, then lemon curd spread on white toast followed by hints of coconut and marmalade…. read more
64.156 – Ye Olden Flavours of Lovelyness
56.6% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 16yo ~ Speyside ~ £92.50
Initial nosing revealed creamy sherry notes (or, just cream sherry) along with candied orange jellies, strop leather, mineral oils and pipe tobacco, plus some lovely, deeper notes of camphor and pine wood. We all agreed this one was really lovely! Reduction brought a whole host of marmalades, candied orange peels, rosewater, expensive Turkish delight and then more medicinal aspects such as natural tar and wintergreen. The palate showed wonderful up-front notes of freshly brewed coffee, coconut oil, marzipan, salted almonds dusted with paprika, and dried herbs… read more
64.159 – The Perfumery’s Orchard
56.5% ~ 2nd Fill #4+ Char Hogshead ~ 12yo ~ Speyside ~ £65.00
As we walked through an apple orchard towards a bowl of custard, a fine perfume appeared on the breeze. Our noses detected malty notes, with orange oil, green apple, gooseberry and vanilla. The Panel commented on the silky texture of the dram and enjoyed lavender jelly drizzled with warm pine resin, orange peel in warm custard, and tropical fruit salad. Water gave both the aroma and the palate pineapple, lime and earl grey tea… read more
80.61 – Summer Garden Party
57.5% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead ~ 13yo ~ Speyside ~ £69.00
We blended cranberry, pineapple, orange and lime juice together with ginger ale, added real fresh fruit and prepared an exotic fruit punch. Others enjoyed a white Belgian-style wheat beer brewed with orange peel and coriander. On the palate, we nibbled crispy chocolate-dipped almond florentines while sipping our amaretto sour cocktails, made using amaretto liqueur, whisky, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white. Following the addition of water the scent became even more summery, with flowering cherry blossom trees, teak oil on new garden furniture… read more
88.33 – Think Pink
53.6% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Port Barrique ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £90.00
Weak-minded suggestibility perhaps, but we all had pink impressions – the nose suggested plum jam, marshmallow strawberries, cranberry and red liquorice. The sweet, juicy palate was dominated by raspberry jam and redcurrants, pink bubblegum, English madeleines and Zinfandel rosé – a delightful combination, with hints of cough syrup and aniseed to finish. Water brought rosehip tea, pop tarts and red roses to the nose, with lighter brush strokes of blackcurrant leaf, butterscotch and eucalyptus… read more
94.41 – Rich as Cake, a Little Sourdough
48.6% ~ 1st Fill Ex-PX Barrique ~ 14yo ~ Highland ~ £91.00
The Panel met on a grey winter afternoon for a snack. “A new type of enriched sourdough” was mentioned, along with rye bread with dried figs and dates, the scent of tropical fruit salad and green banana doused in cask-aged balsamic drizzle, plus cocoa powder. Neat, it was love at first bite: rich rye sourdough with a hit of menthol, assorted dried fruits, papaya jam, pineapple and Cavaillon melon chunks with an apple-cinnamon tea coulis and a sprinkle of cocoa powder. With added water, Panellists were nosing a slice of this rich dried-fruit sourdough, with an olive oil, aged balsamic and mulled cider dip, while an orange-coated glass of oloroso sherry… read more
95.78 – Beef Flower Loaf
56.1% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £86.00
At first nosing we detected roasted red apples with golden syrup, watermelon boiled sweets and freshly baked soda bread slathered in honey, plus subtle notes of breakfast cereals dusted with icing sugar, sultanas and citrus marmalades. With water we found it became much more floral, with heady wafts of garden centres, geraniums and hints of young calvados, apple schnapps, crystallised orange peel and heather ales. The palate opened with a lovely mix of pears, apples and boiled lemon sweets, followed by herbal cocktail bitters and sweet cereals… read more
95.102 – Like Snow White’s Apple – Dangerously Seductive
59.6% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 11yo ~ Speyside ~ £64.50
The nose exuded an enticing warmth of vanilla pods, strawberry jam, caramelised apple, treacle tarts and dark chocolate melted on pumpernickel bread. The palate, powerful and punchy, dark and mysterious, had candied fruits, marzipan, malt extract, root beer and cough syrup. Adding water brought Christmas cake to the nose, as well as walnut bread, poached pear, raspberry pieces in dark chocolate and Snow White’s apple (not poisonous perhaps, but dangerously seductive)… read more
122.77 – Bacon Seaweed Baguette
58.3% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 8yo ~ Highland ~ £62.50
Sweet, savoury, salty; we noted glazed doughnuts, smoky bacon and vegetable stock. The nose of this dram had us snacking alongside a peat bog, witnessing the heather burning on nearby hills. The palate gave beechwood-smoked bacon in a buttered baguette, topped with crispy seaweed, hot sauce and a drizzle of honey. Water elevated the salinity, while adding coal smoke and the exhaust fumes from of an old diesel locomotive. The palate finished with honey in the lead, much lighter, with notes of raspberry and plum… read more
122.78 – Divide and Conker
59.3% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 8yo ~ Highland ~ £57.00
The panel hiked deep into the woods for an autumnal barbecue on a conker-littered forest floor that smelt of woody embers. Next a feast of tuna, mackerel and capers with pork sausages. To finish: coffee beans, apple cider and burnt vanilla pods on tea cakes. Reduced the panel were divided, one side favouring sweetness while the other found notes of maritime salinity. There were oyster shells, smoked kippers and anchovies while on the flip side, vanilla pods, tropical fruits and toffee buttons… read more
149.8 – The Fable of the Tortoise and the Hare
61.3% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 8yo ~ Highland ~ £79.00
The nose, complex and attractive, combined captivating sweetness (butterscotch, fudge, sherbet straws) with a lively fruit attack of gooseberry, lemon, green apple and black pepper on ripe nectarines. The palate was a tortoise and hare contest between the youthful, woody intensity of walnut shells, dry oak and allspice and the more leisurely development of its sweet character – clover honey, vanilla custard, birnenbrot and cherry tarte tatin (which eventually crossed the finishing line under rose petal confetti)… read more
153.3 – Dynamical Botanicals
59.7% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 7yo ~ Denmark ~ £135.00
Strolling through the sweet scent of new pine furniture, we turned a corner to find ourselves in a botanical superstore. Sacks of caraway seeds, coriander seeds, and chamomile tea were stacked high before us. We then noticed the jars of dried mint, gorse petals, and home-made limoncello, as well as the definite sense of spicy bonfire smoke. The smoke evoked heavily charred lemons, but with star anise and the complex herbal botanicals of dry vermouth. A few drops of water released sweet aromas, however, as lemon sorbet mixed with hazelnut cream and sweet dessert pastry… read more
163.2 – Distressed Tranquility
58.1% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 6yo ~ Highland ~ £85.00
Some of us were reminded of long-gone school days opening a ‘distressed leather’ pencil case, drinking instant hot chocolate and building a traditional balsa wood model aircraft. On the palate these memories were soon erased by tart and prickly flavours of sea buckthorn juice, pink peppercorns, medicinal herbs and pungent hickory-smoked sausages. Water released, at first, a petrolic, ripe fruitiness like an aged Riesling wine before the scent of burning heather and candied smoked chestnuts took centre stage… read more
Caramel Cascade
50.0% ~ Single Malt Irish Whiskey ~ 12yo ~ Northern Ireland ~ £85.00
Following the release of our Shimmering Silk small batch single malt last year (Batch 23), we have teamed up again with our friends at Dunville’s Irish Whiskey to create another very special Society exclusive. This time we explore the delights of Palo Cortado sherry seasoned casks, a curious wine that benefits from both biological and oxidative aging. Enticing wafts of varnish, exotic woods, and supple leather jigged around an old wine cellar, occasionally glancing off baked banana and oily serrano ham… read more