Craigellachie 8 Year (SMWS 44.116 "Pirate Ship in a Storm")

 

I met the famous author and scotch whisky expert Charlie MacLean on Tuesday evening (4/12/22), at a Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") event. He's one of the great treasures of Scotland as far as whisky experts go, and I highly recommend his various books on the subject, which are thoroughly researched and very nicely written. 

I'll cover that evening more in future posts, but I want to discuss this wild dram of chaos that I got to sip later in the night - SMWS of America director Tom Smith bought the whole room a dram (!), given only that it was (a) a Society bottle and (b) $30 or less (reasonable). 

Rhosdhu 13 year grain whisky (SMWS G15.11 "Worlds Collide")

 The third of six drams served at the April outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. At these events, you sit at a small table and one by one make guesses about the six scotches in front of you: age, type of cask, which distillery (multiple choice, out of five provided), along with a field to write notes. 

Inchmoan 12 Year (SMWS 135.35 "Stellar Stuff!")

 

The fourth of six drams served at the April outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. At these events, you sit at a small table and one by one make guesses about the six scotches in front of you: age, type of cask, which distillery (multiple choice, out of five provided), along with a field to write notes. 

Auchroisk 15 Year (SMWS 95.52 "Moorish and Moreish")

 The fifth of six drams served at the April outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. At these events, you sit at a small table and one by one make guesses about the six scotches in front of you: age, type of cask, which distillery (multiple choice, out of five provided), along with a field to write notes. 

Linkwood 10 Year (SMWS 39.229 "A Merry Dance")

 

 The sixth of six drams served at the April outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. At these events, you sit at a small table and one by one make guesses about the six scotches in front of you: age, type of cask, which distillery (multiple choice, out of five provided), along with a field to write notes. 

Auchentoshan 18 Year (SMWS 5.79 "Paris in the Spring")

 The second of six drams served at the April outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. At these events, you sit at a small table and one by one make guesses about the six scotches in front of you: age, type of cask, which distillery (multiple choice, out of five provided), along with a field to write notes. 

Glencadam 8 Year (SMWS 82.37 "Chewing Pencils in a Barbershop")

 

The first of six drams served at the April outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. At these events, you sit at a small table and one by one make guesses about the six scotches in front of you: age, type of cask, which distillery (multiple choice, out of five provided), along with a field to write notes. 

Allt-a-Bhainne 9 Year (Chapter 7)

It apparently is the season of new independent bottlings for me! First Five Lions and their bizarre, superoaky Craigellachie, now this 9 year expression of Allt-a-Bhainne. Allt-a-Bhainne is a small distillery founded in 1975 and owned by Pernod Ricard, and the vast majority of their output goes straight into Chivas Regal. I've never a seen an official single malt expression from them, but their independent bottling presence is pretty decent - they turn up fairly regularly from time to time. 

Arran 7 Year Sherry Cask "The Bodega"

 

Arran is a distillery I respect; even if it doesn't necessarily blow me out of my shoes with every glass, it is consistently high quality with unusual angles, and presented in a quality way. They are a recent distillery - they only opened in 1995 - and before them, the most recent official distillery closed in 1837 (!). Of course, in the intervening years there was a lot of moonshining. It operated at a loss for years, and the original owner Harold Currie sold out and resigned in 2003. Apparently they started turning things around back in 2010. These days they have a respectable if not dominant market position.

Ian MacLeod's Island Single Malt

 

A surprise sampling from friend Rob Martin, this is an unnamed/anonymous islands distillery released by Ian MacLeod, the company that owns distilleries like Tamdhu, Glengoyne, Rosebank, and labels like Smokehead, As We Get It, and Isle of Skye, along with many other things. A little bird informed Mr. Martin that this was Highland Park, young and fiesty, and released at a nice $40 price point. If had been given this totally blind, and told only that it was an island-based distillery, I would have guessed Ledaig or Talisker, easily. 

Aberlour Casg Annamh Batch 5 (NAS)

One of the first signs that scotch prices were beginning to spiral upwards and out of the reach of mortal men was when the no-age-statement sherry bomb A'bunadh by Aberlour climbed steadily from $50 (batch 33) to its current price of ~$100-125 (batch 72) depending on the store, at least in DC. The price of A'bunadh, for years, was a bellwether for scotch prices in general. Another was the old Yamazaki 12 Year, which went from $65 (!) in 2014 to its current 2022 insane (and not worth it) price of ~$150-165. 

Loch Lomond 12 Year

 

Ah, mysterious Loch Lomond distillery. They have so many imprints and sub-labels, it's hard to get a grasp on their full output... but I have had some really amazing stuff from them over the past couple years, and it's fair to say that they are on the rise these days. Their profile is definitely higher than it's ever been.

Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky

 Cutty Sark blended scotch whisky is probably the first scotch I can remember having, ever. I was probably 19 or 20, at an autumn bonfire in Damascus, Maryland where I grew up, and a handle of Cutty Sark was being passed around. I remember it being harsh, medicinal, and unpleasant. In the intervening years, my opinion of it has raised a bit, even though it still maintains something of a "bottom shelf" reputation. It's been many years since I had it last. 

Auchroisk 13 Year (SMWS 95.49 "Curious and Alluring")

 

I honestly don't know what is going on with casks of Auchroisk over at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), because every single expression I've seen over the last two years has been finished in some kind of wine cask, often a reconditioned one. I am so damned curious as this point what non-finished Auchroisk tastes like! 

Nonetheless, I find this strange system of wine finishing to be full of flavor, and this bottle is twice as old as most of the ~7 year releases that come out of the SMWS for Auchroisk (and I am a bit fatigued on bright young brash whiskies), so I am hoping for something mature and mellow while retaining the same complexity of flavor I like in Auchroisk. 

Bowmore 17 Year (SMWS 3.334 "Technicolor Panoramic")

 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an official bottling Bowmore is the worst expression of the Islay distillery, and that the distillate is best showcased in independent bottlings which have, as a result, steadily crept up in price over the years. This particular bottle hails from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"). 

No one knows what is going on over at Bowmore, but the opinion I just laid out is the party line everywhere that scotch drinkers gather. I've heard it on Reddit, in whisky bars, from friends, liquor store owners, everywhere. I have, in fact, discussed it in numerous posts on Bowmore here on the blog. They clearly get under my skin a bit.