We're back with the Scotch Malt Whisky Society October 2024 outturn review. This months preview featured 29 new bottlings, including another new vaults collection. On paper this is a very exciting outturn, a good amount of aged stock, distilleries we've not seen in a while, we'll see if this excitement carries through to the drams themselves.
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...
1.277 - Glenfarclas Distillery
Name: Treasure trove of orange and clove
Flavour Profile: Sweet, Fruity & Mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 59.3%
Age: 10
Price: £69.50
The nose has oranges, ground ginger, and icing sugar dusted over shortbread fingers. There’s alcohol here but it’s not overly powerful, and we’re getting some toasted wood and toffee crisp bars. The palate has a decent mouthfeel, with a fair amount of orange, a little milk chocolate, brown sugar and toffee. The finish has more of a raw ginger flavour which outlasts the sweeter flavours. It’s also a bit spicier than we’d want. A decent 10 year old bourbon Speysider.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Nice to see this is a few pounds cheaper than the last Glenfarclas that was released.
4.374 - Highland Park Distillery
Name: The "Big Easy"
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 63.2%
Age: 11
Price: £69.50
Lots of Highland peat, soft honey notes, freshly turned earth, green plants, white sugar cubes, a little farmyardy too. The palate has more upfront vanilla sweetness, a little lemon, more farmyardy hay, a little funky but with honeyed sweetness coming through afterwards. It’s a good Highland Park, softer than usual but quite nice.
Score: 7/10
Value: A few quid cheaper would have been nice, but it’s not a terrible price.
5.125 - Auchentoshan Distillery
Name: If I were a lady and you were a carpenter
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Lowland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 56.1%
Age: 20
Price: £125.00
The nose opens with heaps of synthetic sugar, like a confectionary shop.. but not particularly fruity, more woody, polished mahogany, maybe even slightly minerally. The palate is thin, with flavours of simple sugar, pepper spice… and lots of it as it moves into the finish. It’s unbalanced and lacks any character for us.. a bit of sugar, lots of spice, thin, quite disappointing as we had much higher hopes.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Not a bad price for a 20yo.
9.288 - Glen Grant Distillery
Name: Overpowering enchantment
Flavour Profile: Old & Dignified
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 52.7%
Age: 19
Price: £125.00
The nose has some clove, toasted oak, lemon drizzle cake, wood polish, apple cores, vanilla pods, pear drops, a hint of lime too. The palate is flatter than we’d like, it’s got some texture but it just disappears on the tongue. We’re getting flavours of sugar cubes, red apples, vanilla bon bons, pear, lime juice and some grapefruit bitterness on the finish. The alcohol is in good balance and we’re getting a nice, older feel to the whisky. It’s nice, but just falls short for us on the palate, we’d like to spend a little longer and see if improved with air.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Again, not terrible for a whisky with a bit of age.
12.76 - Benriach Distillery
Name: Thrill seekers wanted
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Dry
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 59.6%
Age: 12
Price: £68.50
The nose opens with yeast, milk bread, lemon, lactic acid, apple, a bit of cream, not as dry on the nose as we would be led to believe. Saying that, going back we do find a bit of stripped wood. The palate has lemon verbena.. infact there’s more citrus than expected, along with light toffee notes, oat biscuits and ginger spice. We were trepidatious based on the flavour profile, but this isn’t as dry as they would lead you to believe.
Score: 6/10
Value: Ok price for a 12 year old.
16.88 - Glenturret Distillery
Name: Dressed to grill
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Refill re-charred hogshead
ABV: 62.8%
Age: 9
Price: £50.00
The nose has bonfire smoke, dark chocolate, burnt earth, alongside TCP, chlorine, a bit of tar and lemon juice. There’s also a handful of roasted nuts. The palate has a decent mouthfeel and more acidity than expected, lots of lemon juice, prickly pear, black pepper spice and earthy peatsmoke. It’s a bit too spicy for us, although there’s a good amount of flavour behind it.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good price for some peat, and one that is cheaper than the last release.
18.66 - Inchgower Distillery
Name: Roasted salted pistachio kernels
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 59.7%
Age: 12
Price: £69.50
The nose opens with toffee, caramel, mocha, sultanas, charred wood and roasted nuts. There’s a slight salinity in the background too. The palate has a decent mouthfeel, sugar syrup, Christmas cake, dark chocolate, cinnamon sugar doughnuts, ginger spice and black pepper on the finish. A reasonable sherry finish, a bit boring for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: Again, another release where the price is down versus past releases.
19.100 - Glen Garioch Distillery
Name: Peach melba meets knickerbocker glory
Flavour Profile: Sweet, Fruity & Mellow
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 56.4%
Age: 21
Price: £155.00
The nose is fairly tropical, papaya, mango, light pineapple, with a fairly strong Glen Garioch spirit character, giving a slight yeasty, fermented bread dough aroma. There’s also some fresh peach, and a bit of butter too. The palate bursts open with the aforementioned tropical fruits, melon, however turns very chocolately, cocoa beans and a little tiramisu too. A pleasant enough Glen Garioch, but we wanted something with a bit more texture and a bit more fruit carrying through.
Score: 7/10
Value: These Glen Garioch's are too pricey.
24.173 - Macallan Distillery
Name: Fine Oak
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 61.1%
Age: 15
Price: £125.00
The nose opens with some toffee, rancio, store brand ketchup, gingerbread. We’re getting way more of the sherry than the bourbon finish. There’s also cured meat and cherry cola. The palate has lots of sherry influence, ginger spice, caramel, toffee, raisin bread, brown sugar and peppery spice on the finish. There’s less rancio and meatiness on the palate but it’s still there. It’s inoffensive, but not the best teenage sherried Macallan of the bunch.
Score: 6/10
Value: The extra few years of maturation has added around £30-£40 compared with previous releases, but it's a good price for Macallan.
28.91 - Tullibardine Distillery
Name: Seville service
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.4%
Age: 10
Price: £60.00
The nose is fairly musty, a little tight, with younger spirit aromas coming through. There’s a bit of orange marmalade, nail varnish remover, pear and lime leaf, but overall it’s a fairly restrained nose. The palate has a bit more fruit showing though, apples, oranges, melon, with a fair bit of spice and bitter toffee in the background. It’s also fairly hot. It’s one of the poorer young bourbon casks this month.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Not a bad price all things considered.
35.349 - Glen Moray Distillery
Name: Hunky and chunky
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.3%
Age: 10
Price: £64.00
The nose opens with fondant icing, lemon peel, orchard fruits, a little vanilla cream and mellow white chocolate aromas. The palate has more of the same sort of flavours we got from the nose, white chocolate, vanilla, honeycomb and a little apple peel. It’s too warm but it’s good spirit in a good bourbon cask. If only it was more balanced…
Score: 6.5/10
Value: A few pounds cheaper would have been nice.
38.41 - Caperdonich Distillery
Name: A stroll by the Spey
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 51.8%
Age: 27
Price: £435.00
The nose has old wood, subtle orchard fruits, orange segments, peach skin and soft vanillas. We’re getting a very balanced alcohol, and it’s clearly an older, light Speyside dram. The palate is soft, light, lots of apple and pear, peach juice, simple sugar syrup, lime, a little fudge and green grape. It has a touch more alcohol than the nose would suggest, but it’s balanced in a warming, not overpowering way. Caperdonich always improves with air, so we’d like to sit with this longer but for now we’ll go with 7.5/10.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: Not exactly a bargain, but significantly cheaper than the last few Caperdonich releases.
39.198 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: Understated opulence
Flavour Profile: Light & delicate
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-toasted hogshead
ABV: 49.2%
Age: 30
Price: £310.00
The nose opens with polished wood, fresh grass, a little menthol, green apples, vanilla ice cream, biscuits and that old whisky smell. The palate has a decent texture, with more green apples, oak chips, chocolate buttons, and a crack of black pepper on the finish. We’re also getting some toffee and pear skins. The palate doesn’t give away the age, it feels closer to a 20 year old whisky for us if we tried it blind. Good whisky, just not what we wanted from this.
Score: 7/10
Value: A lot cheaper than the society has been pricing 30 year old whisky recently.
39.265 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: Naltzing with a Moscow mule
Flavour Profile: Sweet, Fruity & Mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.2%
Age: 10
Price: £60.00
The nose opens with red apples, delicate floral aromas, tangerines, lemon sherbet, spun sugar, a little fresh cut grass and some strawberry in the background too. There’s a bit too much alcohol up front, but it seems to soften with air. The palate has a bit of a thin mouthfeel, with a lot of upfront spice.. way too much spice. We’re finding strawberry chewits.. and more alcohol. There’s also milk bottle sweeties and creamy vanilla. It’s just too spicy and unbalanced.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Not a bad price all things considered.
41.161 - Dailuaine Distillery
Name: Crème de la cask
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-HTMC chinkapin oak barrel
ABV: 61.2%
Age: 16
Price: £90.00
The nose opens with toffee apples, light caramel, fudge, raisins, apple cider vinegar, and creme brûlée. It’s very sherry-like, without the rancio or meatier aromas. The palate has a thin mouthfeel, a little insipid, but we’re getting burnt coffee, overcooked toffee, ginger snaps, and brandy. The nose gave us a lot of hope but the palate really disappointed us, unbalanced, spicy, no integration. Disappointing.
Score: 6/10
Value: We suppose it's not a bad considering the cask finish.
44.182 - Craigellachie Distillery
Name: Fit for an emperor
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Dry
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 58.2%
Age: 17
Price: £115.00
The nose is.. punchy, meaty, with rancio, red currants, dirty earth, very funky, very Craigellachie. The palate has a thick syrupiness, akin to cordial or the syrup that goes into soda guns. There’s a red fruit sweetness, funky meatiness and gingery spice on the finish. Not the worst Craigellachie we’ve had on the palate, but we really don’t care for the distillery.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Should be nearer £100 in our opinion.
46.139 - Glenlossie Distillery
Name: Lifting a beehive lid
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 56.3%
Age: 12
Price: £69.00
The nose opens with beeswax, toffee wafers, cocoa nibs, pine needles, lemon juice and peel, and a touch of crumbly fudge. The palate is fairly dry and bitter, cinnamon, lemon, black pepper, with a touch of sweetness but overall it’s quite tannic and spicy. The alcohol feels a bit out of balance too. Lots of black pepper on the finish. Unbalanced for us, not our favourite bourbon cask.
Score: 6/10
Value: In line with comparable recent releases.
48.172 - Balmenach Distillery
Name: Aquatic attributes
Flavour Profile: Sweet, Fruity & Mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.7%
Age: 10
Price: £59.00
The nose has something quite salty, coastal, almost deep fried, oily, alongside sugar free bubblegum, dried peach and dried lemon peel. The palate has more sweetness, but the coastal salinity dominates the show. It’s like drinking saltwater with a sugar cube dissolved in. It’s… a little unpleasant for us, and we’re usually fans of coastal drams. It’s also a bit too spicy.
Score: 5/10
Value: Not a bad price all things considered.
53.442 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Piscator's lunch
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 60.2%
Age: 10
Price: £75.00
The nose opens with cashew nuts, sea spray, lemon peel, ginger, and a pleasant backbone of smoke. It’s exactly what you’d expect from bourbon Caol Ila, fairly well balanced too. The palate has those cashew nuts again, after a stint in the oven, alongside vanilla, bonfire smoke, lemon pepper seasoning and a little ginger spice in the background. Good quality Caol Ila, not messed with.
Score: 7/10
Value: Not bad for Islay peat.
53.483 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Supernaturally Sweet Smoke
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-PX hogshead
ABV: 53.6%
Age: 12
Price: £92.00
The nose is clearly sherry influenced, fudge, prunes, raisins, copper piping, with very light peat smoke - the sherry cask had overpowered this for us. Theres a nice chocolate aroma here too. The palate is disjointed, you get the base bourbon Caol Ila, but an overtone of overpowering sherry. Copper, Irn Bru, caramel, it’s just… not right. The palate is also thin.. it’s just a disappointment compared to the nose.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Sadly not bad given the distillery and the cask type.
58.58 - Strathisla Distillery
Name: Sweet treats after an autumn walk
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-HTMC hogshead
ABV: 57.4%
Age: 12
Price: £74.00
The nose has werthers originals, toffee, caramel, biscuits, a little brown butter and brown sugar. It’s so one note.. but it’s an enjoyable one note. The palate has a decent mouthfeel, moving into more fudge, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, creme brûlée, and gingerbread. In the same way as the nose, it’s simple, sweet, relatively tasty, one to drink and not think about too much.
Score: 7/10
Value: A few pounds cheaper would have been nice, but we're not complaining.
59.79 - Teaninich Distillery
Name: A slice of reminiscence
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 54.6%
Age: 13
Price: £73.50
The nose is fairly musty up front, fuzzy peaches, apple, haribo sweets, it goes between sweetness and dryness as you go back and forth on the nose. The palate has a decent mouthfeel, soft stone fruits, red apple sweetness and a little bit of pepper on the finish. A decent bourbon cask, nothing to write home about but reasonably drinkable.
Score: 6/10
Value: Reasonably priced, just a shame the whisky isn't better.
66.240 - Ardmore Distillery
Name: Juts and belts and engine oil
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 53.1%
Age: 25
Price: £195.00
The nose has Vicks vapour rub, soft Highland peat, fresh earth, honeydew melon, yellow squash, and engine oil from a car workshop. The palate is fairly light, a little thin and watery, with pickling spice, citric acid, grease, mellow white sugar sweetness and earthy, vegetal flavours in the background. It’s just a bit… flat and disappointing. It’s missing body for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: Nice to see the price coming down on some older drams.
78.81 - Ben Nevis Distillery
Name: Fizzy strawberry pisco punch
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-HTMC hogshead
ABV: 58.1%
Age: 11
Price: £71.50
The nose has red kola, ground ginger, brandy snaps, coriander seed, and warm caramel too. The palate has more of the same, the ginger really comes through as does the red kola, a bit of raisin fudge and caramel wafers. It feels a touch hot, but not as much as some other Ben Nevis’s we’ve had before. We enjoy HTMC casks, this is a decent finish but missing a bit more of the brown sugar sweetness to balance the spice.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: We suppose it's not a bad considering the cask finish.
80.53 - Glen Spey Distillery
Name: Well worth waiting for
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 58.1%
Age: 13
Price: £75.00
The nose is fairly metallic, copper coins, warm metal, brandy snaps, overcooked caramel and toffee, bitter chocolate, maybe a little tobacco too. The palate is a touch thin, caramel, toffee and copper coins again. The alcohol is in decent balance, but the palate is bitter and we’re struggling quite a lot with overly tannic, bittter flavours. Not the best sherry finish we’ve had.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Reasonably priced, just a shame the whisky is so poor.
93.200 - Glen Scotia Distilery
Name: The western shore of the kitchen sink
Flavour Profile: Oily & Coastal
Region: Campbeltown
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 61.1%
Age: 9
Price: £62.00
The nose opens with sea spray, wet pebbles, lemon peel, icing sugar, vanilla sponge cake, grapefruit and toffee poppets too. There’s a bit more richness to the nose than expected. There also good alcohol integration given the ABV. The palate has caramel logs, lemon juice, vanilla, whipped cream, simple syrup, with a fair bit of sea salt on the finish. It’s not as coastal as expected, but quintessential young, unpeated, bourbon matured Glen Scotia. It’s a tad hotter on the finish than we’d like, but it’s pretty darn good.
Score: 8/10
Value: In line with other society Glen Scotia releases.
105.45 - Tormore Distillery
Name: Spiced vanilla chai cake
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 66.8%
Age: 12
Price: £74.00
The nose opens with chai spices, it’s quite savoury and spicy, moving into something slightly toasted, cocoa powder, bitter melon, a touch of burnt toffee, and black pepper. The palate has a milky texture, cinnamon, black pepper spice.. actually a lot of spice, those chai notes are really coming through but without much sweetness to balance it off. Too warm, but interesting spice notes we don’t always get.
Score: 6/10
Value: A few pounds cheaper would have been nice, but we're not complaining.
121.106 - Arran Distillery
Name: A tropical no-brainer!
Flavour Profile: Sweet, Fruity & Mellow
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.5%
Age: 9
Price: £59.00
The nose is incredibly light, sweet, floral, with cherryade, lime leaf, peach skins, pineapple rings, guava, limoncello, and a fairly restrained alcohol punch given the monstrous ABV. The palate bursts open with more fruit, raspberry coulis, cherry jam, a little blackcurrant, vanilla sweetness and pink flowers. The alcohol is a touch warm, but not as much as we expected. It’s a really good younger bourbon matured Arran.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: Not a bad price for single cask Arran.
RW4.2 - Finger Lakes Distillery
Name: Second to none
Flavour Profile: SCS - other spirit
Region: Kentucky
Cask Type: Charred New Oak Barrel
ABV: 54.5%
Age: 5
Price: £80.00
The nose has cinnamon, ginger, clove, lots and lots of wood spice, alongside a touch of caramel and toffee. There’s vanilla and mint leaves too. The palate has a thinner mouthfeel than expected, lots of menthol, ginger juice, lots of spice too. It’s a bit astringent at the end of the palate and we don’t really get on too well with the dram.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: We're not familiar enough with the distillery to comment how it compares to the distilleries usual prices.
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