SMWS Outturn October 2024 goes live on Friday 1st November 2024
Sherry Week Celebrations – 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 November 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 October 2024 outturn).
Sherry Week Celebrations November 2024 Outturn bottles:
1.291 – Picnic On The Sunny Banks of The Spey
57.6% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 12yo ~ Speyside ~ £79.00
The nose was a flash flood of fruity fun – green apple, limeade, fruit salad chews and jam, with lesser notes of birch twigs, nettles and rose in the slipstream. The palate, still sweet and fruity with citrus, kiwi and banana, led on to marmalade, dried apricot and pear skins, before finishing with ginger snaps, almonds and oak. The reduced nose had us cavorting in the sun with fresh hay, summer creams, apple turnovers, sweet peas and linen freshness…read more
8.44 – Touched by a Bear’s Paw
59.7% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Butt ~ 8yo ~ Speyside ~ £62.50
The inviting nose conjured a melange of aromas – candied orange slices, cherries dipped in chocolate, walnut bread, ginger-infused jaffa cakes and, always in the background, a hot toddy with brandy. It was “very potent”, like a bone-dry martini where the glass gets rinsed with vermouth and then discarded. In the aftertaste we sipped a rich and highly caffeinated Turkish coffee spiced with cardamom. Following the liberal addition of water, we imagined chopping the firewood for that night’s stay in our log cabin…read more
9.278 – Breakfast, But Mostly Dessert
54.3% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 19yo ~ Speyside ~ £125.00
Awakened by the smell of unsmoked bacon rolls on a mahogany plank, a fresh pint of amber ale and beeswax candles, we proceeded swiftly on to dessert. The palate was full of choux pastry, chantilly cream, chocolate-coated Turkish delight and bananas foster, with a lightly spiced finish. With water, the nose showed more floral qualities, along with lemon sherbets, linen jackets and new leather boots filled with lychees and peaches… read more
28.94 – Curry Ice Cream Flurry
59.9% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 10yo ~ Highland ~ £64.00
Fragrant aromas of lavender, carnations and cherries merged with honey drizzled over raspberry jelly and tutti frutti ice cream before olive oil soaked into oak staves in a dunnage warehouse. Robust ginger and wasabi spice on the palate softened to honey, toffee and caramel wafers with lemon sponge cake topped with butter icing and served with pomegranate in rhum agricole. Adding water enhanced the raspberry notes and honey but now with curious aromas of cumin seeds, turmeric and nutmeg… read more
35.340 – Merry with Sherry
60.1% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 16yo ~ Speyside ~ £97.00
The sumptuous nose was immediately evocative of shoe leather, brown bread, toasted sunflower seeds, espresso and cocoa powder. In time we also found it revealed mineral oils and pumpernickel bread spiciness. Reduction brought many notes of cured game meats, walnut wine, green muddled herbs with ginger syrup, unctuous earthiness and figs in honey. Just gorgeous! The palate was leafy and earthy up front, with bitter dark chocolate, treacle, bouillon powder, umami paste and chopped walnuts… read more
41.180 – Two-Stroke Engines and Wood-Fired Pizzas
56.9% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 14yo ~ Speyside ~ £80.00
Sticky pork ribs served with honey-roast carrots were followed by a blackberry baba and spiced mascarpone cream. On the palate, we met a lumberjack wearing a brushed flannel check shirt and leather boots greasing his chainsaw while smoking a menthol cigarette. After reduction there was, initially, that typical white smoke smell as the chainsaw’s two-stroke engine got started before deeper notes of teriyaki sauce and stewed porcini mushrooms appeared…. read more
46.150 – Nostalgia was Better in the Olden Days
51.3% ~ Re-Fill Ex-Oloroso STR Barrique ~ 31yo ~ Speyside ~ £375.00
The warm and deeply nostalgic nose was filled with rhubarb and apple crumbles, boozy trifle, quivering fruit jellies and lovely notes of marzipan, fruit scones slathered with blackcurrant jam and a hint of beurre noisette. Water brought out peach blinis, caramelised strawberries and a densely booze-sodden black forest gateau. The neat palate had the seductive ease of a mature sweet wine, with delicate tannins, light red fruit acidity, peaches flambéed with armagnac, orange liqueurs and dark chocolate…. read more
64.141 – Leathercraft in a Quince Orchard
62.8% ~ 1st Fill Ex-PX Hogshead ~ 15yo ~ Speyside ~ £92.00
The pockets of a new waxed cotton jacket were stuffed full with raisins and soft brown sugar and doused in that most well-known 5th-numbered perfume. On the palate we found orange zest and grapefruit juice, along with blackberry compote and golden syrup. Water brought forward the grapefruit and introduced a new leather jacket, cashews and quince…. read more
68.125 – Conkers in a Bonfire
57.3% ~ 1st Fill Ex-PX Hogshead ~ 12yo ~ Highland ~ £75.00
We all went bonkers with conkers as we threw them into a bonfire and listened to the explosive noise that sounded like a firework display. Sweet and juicy on the palate, our freshly squeezed pineapple was enriched with some sugar cane syrup and topped with raisins served in a wooden goblet. Water added spiced marmalade on toast, fudge and milk chocolate caramel wafers. We were then served a bowl of porridge with raisins and dried fruits accompanied by a wooden spoon… read more
85.95 – Chocolate Pigs and Sticky Figs
58.8% ~ 2nd Fill Ex-PX Hogshead ~ 13yo ~ Speyside ~ £80.00
It was heaven in a glass for any serious fan of raisins, dates and dried figs, wrapped in cured ham and served with toffee apples and Christmas pudding. Cinnamon and liquorice ticked all the right boxes while sticky treacle engulfed orange zest and dried cherries. A little water unveiled brazil nuts and almonds, lavishly coated in dark chocolate. Crispy pancetta mingled with crystallised ginger, marzipan and prunes, providing delightfully oily textures… read more
100.42 – Mochi and Chicharrones
58.1% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 13yo ~ Speyside ~ £75.00
The nose had sweet depth with a soupçon of savouriness – walnut fudge, manuka honey, mochi rice cakes and hints of balsamic glaze and chicharrónes. The neat palate majored on plums, mango and sour cherry sweets, dried figs and dates, but we also identified beef wellington and teriyaki pork. The reduced nose opened with orange boxes, found freshly cut figs then alighted on sweet and sour sauce on battered chicken. The palate now tempted us with tempura prawns and cherries dipped in dark chocolate, with cranberries, gooseberries and cinnamon on the finish… read more
130.9 – Across Herbaceous Borders
60.2% ~ Re-Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel ~ 8yo ~ Japan ~ £350.00
Green pine wood crackled and hissed in harmony with sizzling bacon, mackerel fillets and whole lemons on a barbecue deep in the woods. Next in line for the flames were lamb chops, coated with cumin and mint. A gust of fragrant smoke was like inhaling mouthwash and muscle rub, directly into one’s brain. A few drops of water cast our thoughts to the Western Isles of Scotland, with a reminiscent combination of beach barbecues and prawns grilled within a coating of sticky heather honey… read more
135.59 – As Dauntless in Battle as Tender in Love
54.9% ~ 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead ~ 19yo ~ Highland ~ £135.00
A big, juicy and intense fruitiness dominated this neat nose. Thick and gloopy exotic fruit cordials and syrups met underlying green-fruit aromas and a subtle cloak of sherry. We loved the way these various influences all entwined together. Water enhanced the weightier components of the spirit, bringing camphor, natural tar notes, exotic hardwood resins and crystallised tropical fruits. The palate displayed juicy dark and tropical fruits up front, with quince paste, sultanas and figs preserved in guava jelly – a stunning mix of dark and tropical fruit flavours… read more