We're back with the Scotch Malt Whisky Societies November 2024 (Part 2) outturn review. The second release in November features another 30-odd bottles, unfortunately we didn't get through some of the single cask spirits, but we've got a sneak peak from a new collection of older peated releases coming out soon.
Not all bottles from the outturn were available at the preview, but check out our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get an updates on any missing bottles and heads up on our other reviews.
The scores below are based on our initial impressions. For full disclosure, we won't spend as much time with a dram as we usually do for a full review, but we hope you'll find the scores useful.
- 10 - Perfection. One in a million
- 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
- 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
- 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
- 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
- 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
- 4 - Below average. Passable.
- 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
- 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
- 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.
Onto the bottles...
4.358 - Highland Park Distillery
Name: Salt Baked Viking
Flavour Profile: Oily & Coastal
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 63.2%
Age: 12
Price: £77.00
The nose opens with lots of icing sugar sweetness, salt baked fish, vanilla icing, sea spray, a little lemon zest, some butter biscuits and an earthy, vegetal aroma in the background. There’s a peppery heat that’s kicking around in the background if you get too deep into the glass. The palate has a milky sort of texture, with caster sugar, vanilla bon bons, white pepper spice… and lots of it. There’s also salted caramel, fresh chili and lots of spice lingering. There’s lots to like here, we really enjoy the oily and coastal profile, however it’s way too hot and that throws off the balance immeasurably. It also isn’t your typical Highland Park. If it had better balance, we’d be much higher, but we’re at a 6/10 for this.
Score: 6/10
Value: A few quid cheaper would have been nice, but it’s not a terrible price.
4.391 - Highland Park Distillery
Name: The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.3%
Age: 14
Price: £85.00
The nose has slightly old apple cores, candied pear, candied ginger, some honeyed sweetness and butterscotch. It’s a very fresh, sweet nose where the peat is almost non-existent. There’s also some caramel sauce and white pepper. The palate has more peat up front, very honeyed, but more spice also appears. There’s brown sugar, butterscotch, a bit of rye spice and sawn wood. We appreciate the bourbon finish and think it’s brought something to the dram, but it’s overly warm on the palate for us.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Like this months other Highland Park, we'd have loved to have seen this a few pounds less.
4.396 - Highland Park Distillery
Name: Heather Ember
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-Bodega oloroso butt
ABV: 49.5%
Age: 25
Price: £295.00
The nose has a lot of sulphur, rubber, struck matches, but past that we’re finding treacle, honey, some red fruits, cinnamon chewing gum and red grapes. The nose does open up with time, and the peat smoke is very much a background character here. The palate opens with red berries, currants, burnt twigs, overcooked caramel, red kola, raisin fudge, a little cream and some cinder toffee. The sulphur ruins it for us though, however if you’re not as sensitive then the backing notes are very pleasant. Good alcohol integration, reasonable length finish with some spent coffee grounds. For us it’s a 6.5.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: £200 feels like a fairer price for this.
5.118 - Auchentoshan Distillery
Name: The New Old Fashioned
Flavour Profile: Sweet, Fruity & Mellow
Region: Lowland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 55.1%
Age: 20
Price: £125.00
The nose opens with dry Sauvignon Blanc, ice gems, green apple, yeast, cookie dough, vanilla and menthol. It smells considerably younger than it is.. not in spice but in new make spirit-aroma. The palate has more apples, pears, a little mango, orange peel, some light toffee and some crushed mint leaves too. It’s much better on the palate, much more of the Auchentoshan style. Unfortunately, the nose lets it down for us.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not a bad price for a 20yo.
10.269 - Bunnahabhain Distillery
Name: Don't Peat Em Mean, Keep Em Keen
Flavour Profile: Heavily Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 58.2%
Age: 10
Price: £75.00
The nose opens with peanuts, lemon juice, icing sugar, wet pebbles, iodine, and a touch of chlorine too. There’s also chippy grease, white bread and gherkins. The palate has a reasonable, but thinner than expected mouthfeel, and we’re finding dry roasted peanuts, brine, dry oak.. It’s just a touch too dry. The alcohol works for us, it balances well, but the profile is a bit unbalanced and astringent for us.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: We can’t help but compare this to Signatories 100 proof range, and not in a favourable light.
29.293 - Laphroaig Distillery
Name: Moss and Mist
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 53.3%
Age: 25
Price: £425.00
The nose opens with wet cardboard, iodine, seaweed, brown sugar, hospital rubber gloves, crushed mint leaves, a hint of lime, and dusty cupboards. It screams of old Laphroaig, and a good quality one at that. The palate has a fair bit of upfront sweetness and citrus, icing sugar, lime juice, fudge, moving into cardboard, wet dog, and subtle yet present coastal peat with a hint of sea salt. The cask works well with the spirit, and it’s not overpoweringly alcoholic either. The mouthfeel is a touch thinner than we want, but it’s an easy 8/10.
Score: 8/10
Value: Old Society Islays are really expensive these days.
35.332 - Glen Moray Distillery
Name: Peppermint Peppernuts
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 59.8%
Age: 10
Price: £55.00
The nose opens with coconut oil, icing sugar, pineapple sweeties, peppermint chewing gum, light white chocolate and whipped cream with a dash of limoncello. It’s quite a vibrant nose, very sweet, fruity with a punch of menthol in the background. The palate is astringent, with ginger, chili spice and fresh mint leaves. It’s also a little thinner than expected, but does linger for a medium length. The palate does have some nicer milk bottle sweetie flavours, but it’s too hot, minty and unbalanced for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: It’s nice to see the price of 10-year-old Glen Morays coming down.
39.262 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: An Ice Cream Parlour On A Sunny Day
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.7%
Age: 10
Price: £55.00
The nose opens with fresh cut grass, vanilla, icing sugar, blueberry, cracked black pepper spice and a bit of green apple. There’s also some grape must and candy floss. The palate has a decent mouthfeel but a fair whack of upfront spice, moving into artificial sweetness, raspberry jam, pink peppercorns and a bit of oak spice on the finish. Again, there’s too much spice for us, it feels a bit unbalanced even though there’s some nice sweetness riding through.
Score: 6/10
Value: £5 cheaper than the last comparable release.
39.266 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: Blue Raspberry Candy Laces
Flavour Profile: Light & Delicate
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 61.3%
Age: 10
Price: £55.00
The nose opens with vanilla, fudge, caramel, butter biscuits, Werther’s originals, white pepper and some fresh meadowsweet. There’s a bit too much alcohol appearing on the nose. The palate has a reasonably texture, there’s a creaminess, with vanilla bon bons, milk bottles, white chocolate, but too much alcohol burn for us. The cask gives it some nice flavour and aroma, but it’s unbalanced and quite astringent in places.
Score: 6/10
Value: More whisky released around £50 is always welcome.
41.179 - Dailuaine Distillery
Name: Made Our Mouths Water
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 57.0%
Age: 14
Price: £80.00
The nose opens with ginger, cinnamon, sweet brown sugar, red kola, candied almonds, cola cubes and red currants. There’s also toffee, fudge and fondant. Fairly good alcohol integration on the nose. The palate has a good texture with a lot of the oloroso up front, dried nuts, cola, Cointreau, but with a fair bit of bitterness on the back palate. There’s also strawberry coulis and some blackcurrant cordial too. It’s a decent sherry finish, a tad bitter and drying in places but we’d drink a dram.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not bad for the distillery and cask type.
44.170 - Craigellachie Distillery
Name: Browsing in a Christmas Shop
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-PX hogshead
ABV: 62.5%
Age: 16
Price: £107.00
The nose opens with raw potato, ashy wood shavings, black pepper, stale brown bread, growing ginger, sweet chili crisps, and a bit of copper. The palate opens with a nice texture, fairly syrupy, moving into citric acid, ginger snaps, brandy, lemon and some almonds in the background. There’s also some bitter dark chocolate on the decent length finish. It’s not offensively Craigellachie (for us), but it feels a bit flat/stale. We’d drink a dram, but wouldn’t seek one out.
Score: 6/10
Value: Should be nearer £100 in our opinion.
44.189 - Craigellachie Distillery
Name: Jagerworm
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 59.1%
Age: 18
Price: £125.00
The nose opens with used fryer oil, burnt black peppercorns, Chinese 5 spice - the clove and anise specifically. There’s a mellow sweetness, but it’s primarily burnt, spicy aromas. The palate has a reasonable texture, but begins quite sour, very plum-y, red berry, raspberry compote, moving into ginger beer and more aniseed. We expected to hate this but actually the palate is quite well balanced, probably our favourite Craigellachie from the outturn, although still not something we’d fork out cash for.
Score: 7/10
Value: A few quid more expensive that the last 18yo release.
53.481 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Petal Serenading Seaweed
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 43.0%
Age: 33
Price: £550.00
The nose opens with a little herbaceous ness, soft peat smoke, menthol, charred oak, lemon slices, icing sugar, a little orange, and some dead vegetation too. The cask is starting to push past the Caol Ila spirit. The palate is subtle, some fresh citrus, very little peat up front, with a bit of murky water, tar and ash. The mouthfeel is a touch thin, you can tell it’s got some age but it’s lost some of that viscosity we look for in naturally lower strength drams. The finish lingers on for a decent length with some seaweed and sand. We’ve had better older Caol Ila’s unfortunately. It’s between a 6.5 and a 7/10.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not cheap, but at least the price hasn't went up since the last vaults collection 53.
53.495 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Peat Bloom
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 44.0%
Age: 33
Price: £550.00
The nose opens with orange peel, campfire smoke, some salted mackerel, tar, a little charred wood and caramel cask sweetness. It feels like it has some age on the nose, with the peat sitting mellow in the background. The palate has a bit of caramel and chocolate up front, but moves quickly into dirty, earthy flavours on the finish. We’re also finding lemon juice, iodine, caster sugar, peppermint schnapps, turnip and blowtorched fish skin. The mouthfeel is ok, there’s texture here but it’s thinner than we’d like. A good quality dram, but we had higher hopes for the age.
Score: 7/10
Value: Expensive, but at least you get a pretty picture.
60.44 - Aberfeldy Distillery
Name: Shallots In A Sweet-Tart Glaze
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 57.4%
Age: 10
Price: £70.00
The nose opens with lots of dry sherry, roasted nuts, prunes, ginger, a little dark chocolate, alongside a bit of rancio too. Very typical oloroso, not particularly sweet but very rich. The palate follows on a similar vein, with dry nuts, a bit of caramel and toffee, raisins, along with more dark chocolate and ginger spice. The spice isn’t too overpowering but is still quite prevalent, but there’s enough sherry cask influence to combat this.
Score: 6/10
Value: Not bad given it's a sherry finish.
66.256 - Ardmore Distillery
Name: House-Tamed And Lovable
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 53.3%
Age: 12
Price: £74.00
The nose opens with smoked tea leaves, cigarette ash, grassy meadows, burnt honey, and torched orange peel. There a bit of Szechuan pepper, chimney smoke, must and bacon fat. The palate is sweeter with some maple bacon and brown sugar glaze, grass, bitter cocoa, cracked black pepper and a fair bit of peat in the background. It’s pretty classic Ardmore, nothing super special but if you like Ardmore you’ll probably like this.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not bad for peat in this day and age.
66.257 - Ardmore Distillery
Name: Fern and Flame
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: American oak oloroso hogshead
ABV: 53.3%
Age: 26
Price: £195.00
The nose opens with pickling spice, hay bales, butter, orange peel, cinnamon sticks, plum jam, with highland peat the melds more into the background with the deeper you get into the glass. We’re also finding torched cherries and red kola - the sherry is making itself well known. The palate has lots of coffee and chocolate, coffee revels, cherry jam, candied orange peel, ginger bread, cinnamon sugar and burnt toast. The sherry has added a little extra oomph to the spirit, and we’re mostly finding sherry flavours with a hint of peat. Decent mouthfeel, decent length finish. The cask finish has definitely helped here, it’s a pretty good dram.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: Nice to see the price coming down on some older drams.
71.95 - Glenburgie Distillery
Name: Caribbean-Style Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 55.3%
Age: 13
Price: £69.00
The nose opens with some must, grape skins, fizzy peach, mushy apple, but overall, it’s quite tight and restrained. The alcohol feels in balance, but it’s also not giving much like the rest of the nose. The palate has a decent texture with some upfront citrus, lime, mandarin, mellow pineapple and lots of warm peppery spice. The finish is a bit short, although is fairly fruity but too spicy again. There’s a dryness on the finish that isn’t working for us either. A letdown, not much going on and what is, isn’t too pleasant.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Not a bad price given the distillery, cask and age.
78.83 - Ben Nevis Distillery
Name: Heathery And Leathery
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-HTMC hogshead
ABV: 57.5%
Age: 11
Price: £70.00
The nose opens with lots of toasted oak.. in fact that’s pretty much all we’re getting. There’s some petrol, lemon rind, charred wood and big red chewing gum. The alcohol is a touch warming but not as much as we usually get from Ben Nevis. There’s a touch of strawberry ice cream sauce too. The palate has a good texture with cinnamon, lots of it, ginger, milk chocolate, a touch of engine oil and brown sugar sweetness. It’s a little one dimensional, but it’s an interesting dimension and it’s probably the most drinkable Ben Nevis I think we’ve ever had.
Score: 7/10
Value: It's not a bad price considering the cask finish.
95.91 - Auchroisk Distillery
Name: Dry Hay On A Scorching Summer Day
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Dry
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.7%
Age: 12
Price: £69.00
The nose opens with sawn oak, mellow lemon zest, old cupboards, grapefruit and digestive biscuits. There’s some dried banana here too. The palate opens with more banana, this time mixed with some whipped cream, but that moves quickly into dry oak, a little sugary sweetness but lots of peppery spice to accompany this. It’s unremarkable, nothing to write home about.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: A few pounds cheaper would have been nice.
121.110 - Arran Distillery
Name: Merry Christmas
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-Sherry hogshead
ABV: 60.9%
Age: 12
Price: £63.00
The nose opens with lots of Christmas cake, coffee grounds, bitter chocolate, raisins and sultanas, not too much sweetness but lots of rich toffee and caramel. The palate has more of the Christmas cake, ginger, cinnamon, brown sugar, toffee sauce, roasted nuts, a bit of coffee too. It’s very sherried, and some will love that. For us it’s got a bit too much dryness without the corresponding sweetness to balance it out. Saying that, it’s still pretty tasty and we’re fans of the Arran spirit in sherry.
Score: 7/10
Value: Good price for a full maturation release.
121.114 - Arran Distillery
Name: Citric Peppermint Smoke
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 61.9%
Age: 8
Price: £57.00
The nose opens with pear, caster sugar, vanilla bon bons, a little vegetal water, lime leaf and mint too. The nose is a little simplistic, but there’s enough coming through to keep our attention. The peat smoke starts to appear more as the dram sits in the glass. There’s a bit of antiseptic too. The palate has a great texture, and we’re finding much more peat influence with dirty water, coriander stems, freshly turned earth, but juxtaposed with simple sugar syrup and some lime cordial. The finish lingers for a good length, but there’s a bit too much cracked black pepper for us. Saying that, pretty darn good and people who enjoy this style won’t go wrong.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: Good price considering it peated.
13717 - St. George's Distillery
Name: Medicinal Chocolate
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: England
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 64.0%
Age: 12
Price: £90.00
The nose is fairly perfumed, roses, fresh meadows, light citrus peel, dusty wardrobes and a light peat smoke behind. It’s fairly soft, musty but with a handful of salted peanuts too. The palate opens with zesty lemon, earthy peat, dry earth, bonfire smoke, fairly dirty, earthy and dry. Those flavours dominate the palate, there’s a light sweetness but overall, it’s earthy, dirty peat and some pepper spice. Not for us, some may enjoy more.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: In line with the price charged by other bottlers.
138.23 - Nantou Distillery
Name: Panel Piggies Paradise
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Taiwan
Cask Type: 1st fill #3 char barrel
ABV: 58.2%
Age: 5
Price: £87.00
The nose opens with caramel wafers, brown sugar, fudge doughnuts, alongside lots of alcohol. It’s a bit of a punch in the face on the nose, but there’s a creaminess here which is quite pleasant. The palate has sweetened cream, caramel, sweet pastries, cherry compote, sherbet, lemon peel and a little floral note right on the back palate. The spice is still out of balance and there’s a lot of dry oak that lingers on the tongue. One of the better Nantou’s that we’ve had, but we’re not converted yet.
Score: 6/10
Value: Expensive for a 5yo, but not a bad price for the distillery.
140.17 - Balcones distillery
Name: Bowled Over By Cinnamon Cola
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Texas
Cask Type: #3 char new oak barrique
ABV: 62.8%
Age: 3
Price: £85.00
The nose opens with warm caramel, cinnamon, toffee crisp bars, some clove and warm oak, but it’s very hot on the nose.. singeing our nose hairs as we go back to it. We’re also getting leather, red currants and fresh cherry juice. The palate has a lot of up front cinnamon, sweet tea, aniseed, burnt coffee, and red kola right on the end of the palate. It’s too hot, a bit unbalanced, and a whisky that we can only drink one dram of in an evening. We like Balcones but this isn’t working for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: In line with what single casks from the distillery retail for.
149.10 - Ardnamurchan Distillery
Name: Blue-Sky Thinking
Flavour Profile: Oily & Coastal
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.5%
Age: 8
Price: £79.00
The nose opens with warehouse funk, wet pebbles, sea spray, lemon peel, melon balls, vanilla fondant and green apple skins. The palate has more of the above, the salt is balanced with a good amount of citrus, the melon is more prevalent, with the sweeter vanilla, fudge and a little fresh strawberry coming through too. The alcohol is a touch warm but the other flavours bind together well. It’s a good single cask Ardnamurchan.
Score: 7/10
Value: Good price for a single casks from the distillery.
B4.10 - Few Distillery
Name: Tropical Cheesecake
Flavour Profile: SCS - other spirit
Region: Chicago
Cask Type: #3 char new oak barrel
ABV: 61.2%
Age: 4
Price: £75.00
The nose opens with a bit of charred oak, toffee, caramel, crushed mint leaves, black pepper spice and corn syrup. It’s stereotypical bourbon for us, a bit simple. The palate opens with sweet tea, caramel, more toffee and those mint leaves are coming through in a candied manner now. There’s a touch of ginger and cinnamon too, but the alcohol is in reasonable balance. A little boring, simple, basic, 6/10 for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: Feels a tad expensive given the price of previous releases.
G15.27 - Loch Lomond (Rhosdhu)
Name: Minty Marzipan
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 61.4%
Age: 9
Price: £50.00
The nose is fairly restrained, there’s a bit of sugary sweetness, but it’s fairly watery. Going back, we’re getting dusty cupboard, shortbread, green herbal liqueur, light anise and melon skin. The palate has a reasonable mouthfeel but follows the nose in being fairly tight and restrained. We’re getting peach juice, menthol, eucalyptus, white pepper and a bit of rough raw alcohol. It’s by far one of the worst G15’s we’ve had, it’s too rough around the edges without many redeeming qualities at all.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Glad to see this at a £50 price point.
BAT.27 - Gastromic Fusion
Name: Gastronomic Fusion
Flavour Profile: Small Batch Single Grain
Region: nan
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrela & 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogheads
ABV: 50.0%
Age: 8
Price: £45.00
The nose is fairly spirit forward, younger in age, a bit of prickly pear, apple skins, soft peach, sugar syrup, saffron and tomato water. It’s fairly tight and uninspiring. The palate has more of a savoury character, salt, fatty pork, cranberry sauce, a bit of cheap cooking chocolate, and bitter melon on the finish. It’s a touch watery, interesting flavour profile but we’re not sure what the society were trying to achieve here. Either way, it’s a 6/10 for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: Sub £50 whisky at 50%, we won't complain.
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