The SMWS Tastings - Part 1

It was a cold February afternoon as the three of us found a couch in a warm corner of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Leith. Jackets, gloves and scarves were dumped on one of the chairs, the notepad and pen were set on the pinewood table, hands were wrung and the cold air from outside let out in a chorus of sighs before the uncorking of the question -

“Right, what are we drinking?”

“Whisky?”

Talking was useless, there was nothing to squabble about. It only took eye contact before the number sprung up - 29. Like time leftover from the annual approximation of the earth’s arduous 93 million mile orbit around the sun adding up to the magical 29th day of February in a leap year such as this, it seemed an obvious answer. 29 - The atomic number of copper, an element so integral in shaping the character of Whisky; the number of bones in the human skull, encasing the brain and all the sensory translators within that allows the complex nature of Whisky to be analysed, savoured and debated upon - which was one of the prime objectives of our trip to the Society (or was just an elaborate excuse to be festooned upon our excuse to drink Whisky).

For the uninitiated, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (or just ‘The Society’ for us Whisky believers) is a member’s club that offers a wide range of rare single cask single malts devoid of the distillery labels. Each bottle is identified by a number - the Society code for the source distillery and the identifier for the cask the Whisky matured in, separated either side of a decimal point. This is aimed to detach the Whisky samplers (saying drinkers doesn’t have the same ring) from the prejudices they may hold of the expressions of Whisky carrying their traditional distillery labels. And 29 happens to be the Society code for Laphroaig.

“29? I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

“Which expressions from 29?”

“How about all of them?”

Nods. And grins.

We had been debating sampling strategies on our way to the Society - covering the expressions from the mothballed and closed down distilleries, exploring the expressions from the newest distilleries et al. I was backing these strategies up with a week of homework that involved collating and cross referencing Society codes against distillery names, the year they opened, their current status, etc. We decided to chuck it all out in favour of sticking to the expressions of 29 to begin with, before slowly making our way across Islay later. If the other Whisky producing regions are divided by beinns and abhainns, the Island malts divide as distinctly and literally as they are divided from the Mainland; and none as dramatically dividing as the Islay. The Sounds of Mull and Jura, the Irish Sea and where it meets the Atlantic forming the mighty Corryvrecken can all be felt in the character of the Islay malts that polarises Single Malt appreciators as apart as the referendum on Scottish independence did! And within the Islay, though there are tribes of believers who swear by a particular Distillery, everybody more or less backs off on squabbling over the big three on the south coast of ‘the Queen of the Hebrides’ - Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig (written alphabetically to avoid controversy over the order).

Anyway, we huddled at the bar for sizing up, and we had eight 29s to get through, a few 10s (Bunnahabhain) and 3s (Bowmore) on offer and nothing from the other five Islay distilleries today. Probably better, we wouldn’t be challenging ourselves too much in order to claim to have knocked down all the Islay that was on offer (if we got through them as we planned)!

Comparing similar Whiskies - lighter ones with other lighter ones and the bolder with other bolder ones - is both easy and difficult by the same measure as comparing dissimilar Malts. Both induce a sense of awe- the latter with the range in variation of expressions across the Whisky producing regions, the former with the surprising subtleties achieved within a seemingly similar brolly of styles. If comparing Islay malts to one another is indeed apple to apple, what we were embarking on was an even more specific Bramley to Bramley comparison. The foregone conclusion in unanimity even before we had begun was that while each of the 29s would probably be singular in themselves, the indulgent diligence would be in singling out the most striking expression. This conclusion was not driven by our prejudice towards Islay in general or Laphroaig in particular, but merely because of our own experience and confidence with the Society expressions- themselves never being inconspicuous on their own, but could only potentially pale in comparison with other Society expressions.

Our first roundup were three 16 year olds distilled in 1999 and matured in refill ex-bourbon casks. They varied mostly only in the size of the barrel and the strength.

Expression	Year Distilled	Age	Maturation	Strength (ABV)	Outturn
29.175 - "The Day's Catch"	1999	16	Refill Bourbon	52.60%	289
29.176 - "Splashing about in rockpools"	1999	16	Refill Bourbon	58.50%	228
29.177 - "Mind-wandering"	1999	16	Refill Bourbon	57.80%	180

The ‘Mind-wandering’, assumably from a smaller cask, was notably the mellower despite the ABV being slightly towards the higher side. The nose had smoking peat bogs in a distance, bandages and wet grass, and the body had charred wood, aromas of damp leather and wet mud, with a hint of syrup, and a shortish finish of fresh peaty water from a burn with a sweet touch of honey. ‘The Day’s Catch’ on the other hand, with whiffs of salty sea breeze bringing in all the familiar smells of the seas on the nose, had a more bold palate that is so characteristic of Laphroaig. The fresh bandages and smoked leather were accompanied by cured tobacco. A mostly tannin and iodic finish, not too long, and similar to that of a dry white wine. The middle of the spectrum- “Splashing about in rockpools”- was the unanimous winner of the round.There was definitely the scent of the sea on the nose, but the sweet heathery and candy notes gave a refreshing lift. The body was a complex mix of bitters, salt, citrus and sweet notes that would immediately pull you to the edge of the chair. Just as you grapple with all the notes that bloomed in the mouth, a very refreshing peppermint breezes over the long finish of charred wood, smoke and sea salt. A perfectly contemplative Malt worth all the attention it demands.

(More to follow)