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June 2012
Bottling List
Issue 9
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w.smw
s.ca
Outturn
Fishing for a great idea for Father’s Day?
Have we got a cast for you...
www.smws.ca
Each Society bottling is unique. And each can be identified by its markings. The
tasting notes give you an insight into the characteristics of each whisky, and are
the best place to start.
You may find yourself drawn to ‘complex, captivating and Christmassy’ or have a
preference for something ‘a big eye-watering slap.’ Maybe your instincts lead you to
a dram that’s more like ‘an old jazz bar’ or perhaps akin to ‘Sophia Loren in a
mink coat.’
These curious descriptors are your best clue to what you’ll find within each bottle,
and are at the heart of The Society’s raison d’être.
With The Society’s monthly selection of single cask malts it’s not surprising that
some members find it hard to focus on their perfect bottlings. Thankfully it’s not
cheating to ask for help. Just call Kensington Wine Market at 403-283-8000
(within Calgary) or at 1-888-283-9004 (outside Calgary) or email us at
[email protected] or [email protected] for advice of an
expert nature.
How to use Outturn
Welcome to the June 2012 Outturn!
outturn n. 1 The number of Society bottles produced from a single cask. Varies
from cask to cask. A finite number that will, sooner or later, run out.
2 The name given to Society bottling lists, containing Tasting Notes for each
recently released Society bottling of which only a limited number are ever available
(see above).
2
Wowee!
Cask No Wowee! – a mouth-watering nose – initial waves of teriyaki, soy noodles,
crispy bacon, cough medicine and rum, followed by roast pork with apple
sauce and sultanas cooking in cinnamon, butter and sugar; also some grass,
wood glue and bubble gum. We tasted fascinating flavours of char siu pork,
dried figs and cooked cherries and apples – then a breath-taking finish of
liquorice, shoe polish, wood and posh leather. The reduced nose was sweeter
and tamer – spiced onion jam and Old English Spangles. The palate now
suggested brown sugar on porridge, maple candy and hints of grapefruit. The
distillery has a musical clock tower.
105.17 Bottle price
$189.99
While waiting for the roast pork to be ready - easy
on the water
Drinking tip:
Colour: Deep ginger Date distilled: September 1983
Cask: First fill sherry hogshead Alcohol: 55.3%
Age: 28 years Outturn: 310 bottles
www.smws.ca 3
Speyside (Spey)
Speyside (Lossie)
Sunshine on barley fields and meadows
Cask No The nose entertained us with spicy oak, leather, pepper, polish and glue;
considerable toffee and vanilla kept blossoming in the glass – followed
eventually by dusty tobacco, cigar boxes and saunas. The flavours were dark
and interesting – attractively bitter; hinting at dark chocolate, leather, singed
orange zest, liquorice, tarragon and chipotle chillies. The reduced nose gave
us sunshine on hay bales, barley fields and meadows, Old English spangles,
oatmeal, raspberry and banana, with tutti frutti ice-cream and vanilla
underlying everything. The taste became fruity, floral and perfumed but with
nippy, earthy elements – full and complex. From the distillery next to
Benriach.
7.73 Bottle price
$148.99
A lazy, sunny Sunday afternoon dram Drinking tip:
Colour: Rose gold Date distilled: April 1993
Cask: Refill barrel, ex-bourbon Alcohol: 56.4%
Age: 18 years Outturn: 224 bottles
28 years
A wonderfully restorative dram Drinking tip:
Colour: Pale peachy gold Date distilled: June 2000
Cask: First fill barrel Alcohol: 62.8%
Age: 11 years Outturn: 215 bottles
www.smws.ca 4
Highland (Island)
Soaring sweetness and ocean spray
Cask No Various bass notes grounded the nose (tobacco, creosote, burnt sticks, white
pepper, chipotle chilli, balsamic reduction) but soaring on a breeze of clean,
minty smoke and ocean spray, was a kite made of toffee, puff candy and
chocolate melted over ice-cream. The palate suggested smouldering bon-
fires, nippy sweeties, liquorice, menthol and ash, with barbecued chocolate
bananas and Weetabix. Water freshened the nose – chocolate limes,
perfumed soap, kiwi and pear belle Helene with mint sprigs. The reduced
palate was sweeter, less smoky and very tasty –rhubarb crumble, ice-cream
and banana chips; charred walnuts in the after-taste. From Scotland’s most
northerly distillery.
4.163 Bottle price $120.99
Speyside (Lossie)
A lady of the night
Cask No Dark scents beset us: date loaf with Pecan nuts, rum truffles, Jamaican
ginger cake, fudge with raisins, and a waft of (unlit) menthol cigarettes. At
natural strength the taste is sweet with a light bitterness like burnt toffee
(‘salt-water taffy’ commented one), dark chocolate in the finish and Kendal
mint-cake in the aftertaste. Water conjured a leather couch against a
backdrop of dripping candles, Pecan pie, treacle tart and Caramac, with a
smooth texture and a centre-palate taste, sweet overall, with hints of spice
and camphor in the finish. The malt comes from the last distillery to be built
in the 19th
Century.
85.22 Bottle price
$116.99
Reclining on a leather Chesterfield with a special
friend
Drinking tip:
Colour: Pale amber Date distilled: September 1999
Cask: Refill butt, ex-sherry Alcohol: 60%
Age: 12 years Outturn: 592 bottles
Haven’t seen distillery 4 since Jan!
Peeling tangerines in hospital
Cask No We found quite a bit of fruit on the nose – tinned pears, passion fruit and
‘someone peeling tangerines in a recently painted hospital’ – in addition we
enjoyed lavender, orange blossom, patchouli, burnt paper, smoky bacon and
well-kept stables – quite complex all in all. The palate had Elastoplasts and
gauze bandages, star anise, walnut fudge, honeysuckle, nutty tobacco and
baklava. Water brought freesias and parma violets, creosote and peat fires to
the nose, while the palate became sweeter, developing slightly burnt treacle
tart, sugar cane and dark chocolate coated marzipan with some coconut to
finish. The distillery was built in 1779.
3.182 Bottle price
$165.99
A good barbeque or campfire dram Drinking tip:
Colour: Brass door knob Date distilled: August 1990
Cask: Refill hogshead, ex-bourbon Alcohol: 46.4%
Age: 21 years Outturn: 159 bottles
An outdoor party dram Drinking tip:
5
Colour: Sauternes Date distilled: June 1999
Cask: Refill gorda, ex-sherry Alcohol: 59.8%
Age: 12 years Outturn: 796 bottles
www.smws.ca
Campbeltown
Islay
Low
outturn!
Tar, tea-chests and engine oil
Cask No The nose started out with wood polish and pear, before turning sweeter
(strong honey, toffee crunch ice-cream). It also had a smoky, oily meatiness,
like grilled lamb chops and a coal-miner’s overalls. The palate was somewhat
challenging at full strength – putty, plasticine, tar and liquorice root but with
big toffee and fudge sweetness. Water turned the nose cleaner – citrus, bana-
na, candle-wax and honeycomb, but with distant singed mackerel or breakfast
kipper. We agreed the reduced dram was eminently drinkable – bourbon
cream biscuits and brandy snaps balancing leather, tar, tea-chests and
engine oil. This distillery’s cast-iron mash-tun is painted bright red.
93.46 Bottle price $111.99
www.smws.ca
Grain
Fascinating and inspiring
Cask No We found the nose both fascinating and inspiring – lightly varnished wood,
then honey, toffee popcorn and marzipan sweetness; fruit cake (raisins and
cherries) and Italian sponge (lemon and vanilla). Typical of grain whiskies, the
taste lagged slightly behind – but definitely pleasant – peach and apricot,
lemonade, manuka honey, toffee, vanilla, scorched wood, almonds and a lem-
on peel finish. The reduced nose was light and bright – like sunshine on barley;
pineapple, pear, marshmallow, meringue, crème brûlée and sugared rose
petals! The palate benefited from water – scented wood, incense, Demerara
and a little frisson of nutmeg. The distillery is near the Ayrshire coast.
G7.2 Bottle price $179.99
Add a touch of water and take time to enjoy the fab-
ulous nose
Drinking tip:
Colour: Brassy gold Date distilled: May 1984
Cask: Refill hogshead Alcohol: 60.3%
Age: 27 years Outturn: 270 bottles
Our first
grain
whisky
release!
6
How to order from Friday June 1st
Through The Scotch Malt Whisky Society website at www.smws.ca, which will
then take you through to the Kensington Wine Market website for final purchase.
Through the Kensington Wine Market website at
www.kensingtonwinemarket.com - search for ‘The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’
under the Scotch tab.
By phoning Andrew Ferguson at the Kensington Wine Market at (403) 283-8000
(within Calgary) or at 1-888-283-9004 (outside Calgary).
In person at Kensington Wine Market, located at
1257 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 3P8.
Remember, you have to be a member to
purchase, so please have your membership number handy!
Not for swigging, glugging or knocking back! 7
But not forever!
Here’s a chance to sample some rare treats from our bottle bank of past Society
releases. Remember, Society whiskies are bottled from single casks, so they don’t
last forever. As the number of remaining drams decreases, their rarity increases.
Past Bottlings
Rabbit, ginger & treacle tart
Cask No Big rich sweet aromas accosted the Panel – ginger cake, strawberry Chewits,
treacle tart, cinnamon, malt loaf but also earthy mushrooms, Marigolds (the
gloves not the flowers), leather and musky horses; this was when one Panellist
pictured herself riding a spice-bag-laden Andalusian horse through orchards
wearing leather chaps. Warm, sweet, savoury on the palate, hot and tannic
with rosemary & sage, saddle polish, rabbit paella, warm chocolate sponge,
dried cranberries and hazelnuts. Diluted, aromas of olive groves, red apples,
hay and grilled rabbit with smooth, creamy tastes of oranges, prunes,
strawberries, apricots and more rabbit. Founded as Kinflat distillery in 1810.
71.34 Bottle price $121.99
Speyside (Lossie)
While riding through the orchard on hot summer
days
Drinking tip:
Colour: Veiled bronze Date distilled: March 1998
Cask: First fill sherry butt Alcohol: 56.8%
Age: 13 years Outturn: 830 bottles
Sherry bomb!
Great for
beginner
palates!
www.smws.ca 8
Speyside (Lossie)
Old jazz bar
Cask No A mellow nose with Calvados, baked banana and apple crumble with caramel,
almonds and ground nutmeg on top, consumed in an old jazz bar with
polished brass and leather straps. The taste was rich, smooth and velvety with
liquorice root, juicy sultanas, ginger biscuits and fruitcake. On reduction, the
nose became richer with burnt raisins, rum, chocolate and Victoria plums,
alongside linseed oil polish and new cricket bats. The reduced palate had
banana skins, pastry and walnut slice with traces of Calvados. This distillery is
situated under the shadows of Gallow Hill where executions were carried out
until the end of the 17th century.
35.53 Bottle price
$182.99
For frivolous moments - like going out to a fancy
dress party
Drinking tip:
Colour: Mustard gold Date distilled: June 2003
Cask: First fill barrel, ex-bourbon Alcohol: 62.3%
Age: 8 years Outturn: 218 bottles
Antics of a prankster
Cask No This dynamic nose started out with pears, fabric cleaner and swimming pools
– then opened up genially – ginger and cinnamon cake, tablet, toffee, fudge,
Battenberg cake and a bower of roses – eventually tobacco and oily rags ap-
peared. The palate was enjoyably big and complex – sweet barley, green apple
and sherbet stood beside dry sawdust and menthol and tobacco heat. With
water the nose turned more citric, also uncovering vanilla, unripe bananas and
tarry ropes – very interesting! The reduced palate seemed very tasty for its age
– its youthfulness suggesting a teenage prankster’s forgivable antics. Bottlings
from this 1971 distillery are very uncommon.
64.33 Bottle price
$116.99
Speyside (Lossie)
When relaxing, chilling out and listening to jazz.
Drink neat - or take care with water!
Drinking tip:
Colour: Antique gold Date distilled: December 1984
Cask: Refill butt Alcohol: 40.6%
Age: 26 years Outturn: 426 bottles
9 www.smws.ca
Speyside (Spey)
Satisfyingly sweet
Cask No Powerful sweetness hit the nose to start with. It became set honey, vanilla
pods and toffee bonbons and then lavender freshness with herbal notes of
thyme and cut grass. To taste it was hot and sweet. The herbal notes were
there too along with orange marmalade bitterness, tobacco and cooling
menthol eucalyptus. A good length of finish too. With water the aroma
becomes sweeter: baking (pastries, cakes & marzipan), sherbet, lemon icing
sugar, rhum agricole, but also an earthy note that took us to summer gardens.
Water calms down the taste and offers cake mixture dough, sweet tobacco
and orange pith in the finish. From the distillery that is the closest to Grantown
on Spey.
48.29 Bottle price
$121.99
For when you are in search of satisfaction Drinking tip:
Colour: Sunlight reflecting on gold Date distilled: September 1999
Cask: First fill barrel Alcohol: 61%
Age: 12 years Outturn: 182 bottles
Colour: Ripe apricots Date distilled: March 2001
Cask: Refill gorda, ex-sherry Alcohol: 60.6%
Age: 10 years Outturn: 816 bottles
Interesting
dram!
Long, hot sweet delights
Cask No Salty, dry and earthy - this really didn’t hide its cask influence; we were getting
treacle toffee, chestnuts, polished leather, mushrooms, smoked almonds,
raisins, sandalwood bark, ink, dark Indonesian soy sauce, and matchboxes.
The taste revealed savoury meaty notes of Szechuan peppered steak, wild
mushrooms and tuna steaks but also the sweet delight of peaches in
Sauternes. Water released Pedro Ximenez soaked prunes, more matchboxes,
hot sandpaper, root veg (beetroot), electric storms (!), sticky dates and
raspberry syrup. Long, hot, tannic to taste with dark chocolate, pine trees and
raisins. From the distillery that is vintage bottled by its London owners.
30.68 Bottle price
$121.99
Speyside (Spey)
Too big to take lightly Drinking tip:
10 www.smws.ca
Speyside (Spey)
A tonic to lift the spirits
Cask No Clean, fresh and simple on the nose, with saddle soap and leather polish to start,
then dentists’ mouthwash, pine needles and tonic water, with ‘Daim Bar’ (praline
covered with chocolate) after a while. Not as sweet a taste as expected; cooling
mint and liquorice; slightly salty, but with chocolate in the aftertaste. The cooling
effect becomes more pronounced with water – minty and mentholated
(‘Hoola-Hoola Ice Powder’, for those who have been to Thailand); caramel,
tobacco and nasturtiums. Now much sweeter to taste, though still lightly
mouth-cooling, with dark chocolate in the finish. The distillery, built in the 1950s,
was designed by a Past President of the Royal Academy.
105.15 Bottle price
$199.99
A chill-out dram after dangerous sports Drinking tip:
Colour: Deep amber Date distilled: September 1983
Cask: First fill sherry hogshead Alcohol: 55.4%
Age: 28 years Outturn: 306 bottles
Highland (Northern)
Complex, captivating and Christmassy
Cask No The complex nose captivated us immediately – sand candles, jasmine, musk,
orange blossom, butterscotch, dark chocolate-dipped cherries, green fruits,
cedar and wool carpets. The mouth-coating palate had myriad fruits (melon,
star-fruit, peach, cherry lips) and ginger, wasabi heat later. The reduced nose
was still lively, with a light fruit top note, but also deeper swirls and eddies of
mint, oak and candles on Christmas trees. The palate was rewarding and en-
joyable, with waxy textures, the cooling of mint and something that reminded
us of Christmas preparations – sweet home baking, the cosy hearth and
wintery weather outside. The distillery is in Brora.
26.85 Bottle price
$160.99
While preparing for Christmas, perhaps Drinking tip:
Colour: Shiny button gold Date distilled: May 1992
Cask: Refill barrel Alcohol: 58.7%
Age: 19 years Outturn: 220 bottles
Only one left!
11 www.smws.ca
Speyside (Spey)
A tonic to lift the spirits
Cask No Clean, fresh and simple on the nose, with saddle soap and leather polish to start,
then dentists’ mouthwash, pine needles and tonic water, with ‘Daim Bar’ (praline
covered with chocolate) after a while. Not as sweet a taste as expected; cooling
mint and liquorice; slightly salty, but with chocolate in the aftertaste. The cooling
effect becomes more pronounced with water – minty and mentholated
(‘Hoola-Hoola Ice Powder’, for those who have been to Thailand); caramel,
tobacco and nasturtiums. Now much sweeter to taste, though still lightly
mouth-cooling, with dark chocolate in the finish. The distillery, built in the 1950s,
was designed by a Past President of the Royal Academy.
105.15 Bottle price
$199.99
A chill-out dram after dangerous sports Drinking tip:
Colour: Deep amber Date distilled: September 1983
Cask: First fill sherry hogshead Alcohol: 55.4%
Age: 28 years Outturn: 306 bottles
Highland (Northern)
Complex, captivating and Christmassy
Cask No The complex nose captivated us immediately – sand candles, jasmine, musk,
orange blossom, butterscotch, dark chocolate-dipped cherries, green fruits,
cedar and wool carpets. The mouth-coating palate had myriad fruits (melon,
star-fruit, peach, cherry lips) and ginger, wasabi heat later. The reduced nose
was still lively, with a light fruit top note, but also deeper swirls and eddies of
mint, oak and candles on Christmas trees. The palate was rewarding and en-
joyable, with waxy textures, the cooling of mint and something that reminded
us of Christmas preparations – sweet home baking, the cosy hearth and
wintery weather outside. The distillery is in Brora.
26.85 Bottle price
$160.99
While preparing for Christmas, perhaps Drinking tip:
Colour: Shiny button gold Date distilled: May 1992
Cask: Refill barrel Alcohol: 58.7%
Age: 19 years Outturn: 220 bottles
Only one left!
Curious? Read on!
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, founded in 1983 in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the world’s largest
single malt whisky club, with 26,000 members in 16 countries. The Society bottles in excess
of 300 casks each year from up to 128 distilleries, all at cask strength, and
available exclusively to members.
Members also receive The Society’s award winning magazine, Unfiltered, and have access to
member’s venues in Edinburgh, London, Tokyo and elsewhere.
The Canadian branch releases new single malt whiskies every month on the
first Friday of the month (“First Fridays!’).
In Canada, The Society’s exclusive retailer is Kensington Wine Market in Calgary. Membership can be
purchased for $230 plus GST (which includes the new member’s kit, pictured above) by calling
Kensington Wine Market at 403-283-8000 or visiting KWM’s website at www.kensingtonwinemarket.com.
Annual renewals are $120 (plus GST).
Only single cask, single malt whiskies that promise to intrigue, entertain and delight
our members are selected, true to our motto:
To leave no nose upturned.
www.smws.ca
12