Scotch Malt Whisky Society 2023 "The Gathering," in Washington DC with Pip Hills (founder of SMWS)

Tonight the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") celebrated its annual Gathering at the Jack Rose Saloon... with founder Pip Hills in attendance, all the way from Scotland. It was a night of six whiskies, and many new faces to meet and greet and swap stories with. 

The whiskies were as follows: 

Macduff 14 Year (6.71, "Twin Notes of a Family Favourite") - A sherry bomb, matured in a 1st fill Spanish oak Oloroso butt, with a nose packed with molasses, rum, shag tobacco, leather, caramel, creme brulee (accent on the brulee), with a sticky sweetness. The palate was grape candy, game meats, dry leather, wood polish, yeast, duck l'orange, and toffee. The finish brought dry dry leather, wood, and spices. A real sherry bomb with several dimensions. 

Glen Scotia 8 Year (93.202, "Coastal Cruising") - Coming after a scant 8 years of first fill ex-bourbon maturation, this was a fairly straightforward Glen Scotia. The nose held funky bleu cheese, yeast, brandy or cognac, wood, paper (eventually I changed this to "linen"), citrus, baking spices, lavender, and vanilla ice cream. Pretty rich stuff. The palate was hot - lots of alcohol - but also held cognac, more grape candies, butterscotch, salt, cheese rinds, wood staves, vanilla wax. The medium-length finish was rather sweet and concluded with wood and vanilla and grape.

Caol Ila 11 Year (53.454, "Friends and a Fall Bonfire on a Pacific Beach") - One of the better Caol Ilas from the Society of late, from a 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead. The nose held peat, lots of tar, mint, pine, salt, char, malt, lemon and ... shoe polish (!). The palate advanced these into tar, ocean water, peat, smoke, menthol, pinecones, iodine, lots of green apple, and hints of motor oil. The finish was long, and full of scorched wood, tarry rope, burnt bread, and menthol cigarettes. Quite a nice, robust Islay profile. 

Glen Garioch 19 Year (19.83, "A Finer Class of Travel") - This was in attendance mostly because of the cask number - 1983 was the year the Society was founded. However, most people chose this as their favorite cask of the night! After 19 years in a second fill ex-bourbon barrel, the nose was very very complex and evolved tremendously over time. At first it was dirty, funky, thick, complex, full of such disparate notes as cake, sausage, peppermint, black olives, old rum, lemon and lemon peel, and fertilizer (!), it eventually settled down into vanilla frosting, machine grease, and hints of rum dunder. The palate brought those many flavors down to earth, with a tongue full of tea with lemon juice added, fresh motor oil, apple sauce, raw sugar cane and rum, and a bit more sausage. The finish closed it off with a huge halo of tea and lemon peel and wood. A really wonderful whisky, completely representative of the Glen Garioch house style. 

Mortlach 32 Year (76.150, "Glory Be to the Patisserie") - This was my favorite of the night. After 28 years in an Oloroso butt and a further 4 years in a Spanish oak PX butt, this was a very interesting and rich whisky from the Beast of Dufftown. The nose was full of pork shoulder, melon, lemon, apple, young leather, blackberries, vanilla cupcakes, and, eventually, cotton candy. Like a picnic where you have grilled meat and a cupcake on the same plate. The palate that followed was refined, sweet, yet distinctly sulfurous, with meat, vanilla, leather, wood or even sawdust, pear flambee, creme caramel, and a nuttiness. The finish ended with wood floors freshly sanded, apples, leather, berries, and citrus marinade. Rich, decadent stuff. 

There was also a sixth whisky - Ardnamurchan 7 Year (149.6, "Recipe for Success") - which I recently reviewed when it was first released. It was an extremely popular whisky tonight, with people across the spectrum raving about the depth of flavor. 

Founder Pip Hills told a great story about how the Society was originally launched - through him, a group of friends went in on a cask from Glenfarclas, and the word spread and spread and spread. Soon they found themselves buying further casks from Glenfarclas, Glenlivet, Bowmore, and Highland Park, and it only grew from there. Soon they bought the Vaults building in Leith, and about a decade later it spread to the United States, thanks to the work of Alan Shayne - who was also in attendance tonight, and also quite a storyteller!

Many thanks to Tom Smith, the director of the SMWS of America, who came down from New York to lead the night's activities. And many thanks, as always, to Bill Thomas and the staff at Jack Rose, who hosted the event in the great Cathedral of Whisky - there really is nothing like that bar anywhere else.