We're back with the Scotch Malt Whisky Societies October 2026 outturn review. This month features 23 new bottlings, including the first Tamnavulin we've seen in a long time, as well as the first ever blended scotch from the whisky team.
We've heard there may be a few mid month surprises so we'll attempt to review those as we get further into the month. Check out our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get updates on the mid-month 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...
4.406 - Highland Park Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 64.4%
Age: 14
Price: £92.00
The nose opens with toffee pops, honeycomb, freshly baked bread, and a very light, very heathery smoke in the background. A refill bourbon into first fill bourbon - we’re big fans of the additional bourbon maturation. We’re also getting icing sugar and pencil shavings. The palate has a nice syrupy texture, more vanilla, toffee, heather and runny honey notes. This is very Highland Park - but in a well done way. There’s a lot of lemon and mango flavours on the finish too. We’re a bit torn on score, it could be a 7.5 but the ABV on the finish brings this to a 7/10.
Score: 7/10
Value: The price feels a little too high for us.
6.94 - Macduff Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 48.0%
Age: 7
Price: £48.00
The nose opens with honey, lemon peel, dried oak, sandpaper and a bit of vanilla essence. There’s a light fruitiness in the background too, but it just feels a bit flat. The palate has some cooking chocolate, stewed apples, more vanilla and a bit of lime zest. This is just quite boring, there’s not much going on and falls flat of our expectations.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: It's sub £50 which is great, but also not cask strength.
9.318 - Glen Grant Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 53.5%
Age: 18
Price: £105.00
The nose opens with tango, red berries, honeycomb, a little milky chocolate and pear skin. There’s a lightness in the background but overall it’s quite a rich, deep nose - a fair bit of oak. The palate has orangade, gingerbread, beeswax, and a real citrusy zing as it moves into a chalky finish. This is really quite tasty, there’s more going on and we’d like to spend some more time with this dram.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: This feels like a good price for the age and the distillery.
10.304 - Bunnahabhain Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Coastal & Maritime
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 58.5%
Age: 12
Price: £87.00
The nose open with hazelnuts, honeycomb, peanut skins, saltwater, seaweed, and a dirty, earthy smoke that is way more prominent than the flavour profile would lead you to believe - this is definitely a Stoisha. The palate is citrus forward, and much less peaty. There’s iodine, saltwater, honey roasted peanuts and vanilla paste as the finish develops. It’s way too spicy though, the alcohol is just too unbalanced.
Score: 6/10
Value: The price is in line with what most other indie bottlers charge.
16.106 - Glenturret Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 61.4%
Age: 11
Price: £70.00
The nose opens with sour apples, proving dough, lime juice, dusty wardrobes and something a little vegetal, like steamed brocolli. There’s also a fair kick of alcohol here. The palate has apple juice, freshly squeezed lime, toffee, blackcurrants and dried leaves. It’s a bit astringent, with a bit of concrete in the background. It’s not our favourite Glenturret, it’s a little weird.
Score: 6/10
Value: Decent price for a hit of peat.
18.78 - Inchgower Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 57.0%
Age: 15
Price: £80.00
The nose opens with saline solution, sandalwood, verbena, icing sugar, sour gooseberries and a little rum funk too - interesting but not super pleasant in our opinion. The palate has a decent texture, and more salt water, wood spice, pear, simple syrup and black berries right in the background. This isn’t really for us, it’s a bit too all over the place.
Score: 6/10
Value: Reasonable price given the distillery.
19.116 - Glen Garioch Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 58.7%
Age: 13
Price: £88.00
The nose opens with pineapple, brown sugar, strawberry chewits, mango, passion fruit and all of those esthery tropical Glen garioch notes. It jumps out of the glass at us, there’s a lot of aromas here. The palate has chocolate, cherries, big red gum, pineapple chunks, tizer, wafer biscuits and a bit of ginger spice. It feels like the palate has been over sherried, and lost all of the topicality that Glen Garioch naturally gives. Saying that, it’s a tasty whisky, and we’re a bit torn but we’ll go with 6.5/10.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: This definitely feels a little on the expensive side.
34.7 - Tamnavulin Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 58.0%
Age: 13
Price: £87.00
The nose opens with an earthy, vegetal note, mushy apples, charred casks, wet dog, and weetabix. We’re not gonna lie - this feels a bit like a dud cask, it’s like a questionable Ardmore. The palate has foost, murky water, sour lemon, wet newspaper and peanut skins. It’s weird, we really don’t like this but keep going back for more. There’s a bit of peach in the background too. We can understand why Tamnavulin does 99% unpeated spirit.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: We'd have liked to have seen this cheaper, but we suppose you're paying for the fact it's not a number you see often.
35.413 - Glen Moray Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-px hogshead
ABV: 59.6%
Age: 10
Price: £58.00
The nose opens with toffee pops, caramac, fudge fingers, blackcurrant jam and gingerbread. It’s quite PX forward, lots of rich, syrupy sherry notes. The palate has a good mouthfeel, more chocolate, cherries, blackcurrant cordial and lots of toffee towards the finish. There’s a bit of bitter dark chocolate and over reduced cola syrup as we go for subsequent sips, maybe a bit too bitter and drying on the finish which is a disappointment as it started so well.
Score: 6/10
Value: Good price for the distillery and cask type.
48.189 - Balmenach Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 61.4%
Age: 9
Price: £52.00
The nose has lots of green apple, sandalwood, honeycomb, pear drop sweeties and mild toffee. There also a florality here in the background. The palate has a nice syrupy texture, some mandarin, apricot and light caramel, moving into some wafer biscuits. It’s a pleasant dram, but feels a little simple, nothing to write home about.
Score: 6/10
Value: Always nice to see a bottle around the £50 mark.
53.527 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Coastal & Maritime
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-oloroso STR barrique
ABV: 59.7%
Age: 12
Price: £84.00
The nose opens with peanuts, toffee, ash, blackcurrants, iron and other metallic notes. This feels quite sharp and a bit unbalanced. The palate has ketchup, chocolate tart, dark honey and salted caramel as the palate develops. There’s too much metal in this for us, it’s just a bit too much.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: It would have been nice to see this a few pounds less.
53.530 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 1st fill STR oloroso barrique
ABV: 56.8%
Age: 13
Price: £92.00
The nose opens with chocolate coins, the cheap ones, almond paste, mackerel skin, and a little artificial cherry. There’s also a fairly coastal, salty peatsmoke in the background. The palate opens with bitter chocolate, lime juice, fish sauce, fish oil tablets and a chocolatey bitter smoke in the background. It’s definitely cask forward, the oak feels like it’s enhancing some of those richer, slightly bitter flavours.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: In line with recent sherried Society Caol Ila releases, although we'd still like to see it a few pounds cheaper.
53.537 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Islay
Cask Type: refill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 56.1%
Age: 17
Price: £120.00
The nose opens with seaweed butter, white vinegar, scampi fries, solvent, and not too much else. It’s really flat for a 17yo, we thought it might be a bit younger on tasting blind. The palate has cashew nuts, simple syrup, cooking chocolate, sea salt flakes, more chippy vinegar and flaky white fish. The alcohol is softer but the flavour and nose isn’t here for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: We'd have liked to have seen this cheaper, but Islay whisky carries a premium.
55.102 - Royal Brackla Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 54.3%
Age: 13
Price: £68.00
The nose opens with marshmallow, buttercream frosting, sponge cake, sweet lemon and a bit of orange too. Instantly this is more balanced than a lot of the casks we’ve had this outturn. The palate has lemon sponge, orange essence, a drizzle of honey and some buttery biscuits. Really good whisky. This might be the best Royal Brackla we’ve had from SMWS ever.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: Good whisky at a good price.
66.264 - Ardmore Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 58.8%
Age: 9
Price: £66.00
The nose opens with lots of orchard fruits, apples, pears, it’s quite juicy but in a thinnish manner. There’s also some earthy, slightly vegetal notes in the background, along with custard sweetness. The palate has a decent texture, with more of those orchard fruits mixing with fresh banana and a little mango peel. It’s fairly bright, the alcohol is in good balance but it feels a little one dimensional. It’s a decent dram but not one we’ll remember tomorrow.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: We're sad to see the price of this has increased over last month's release.
73.177 - Aultmore Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 55.9%
Age: 15
Price: £80.00
The nose has lemons, marshmallow, white pepper, flaky pastry and orange oil. There’s a depth here that’s quite nice, it’s not overly sweet but there feels like there’s something other than just sugar. The palate has brown sugar, black pepper, toffee, dark chocolate and some charred oak on the finish. It started well but got a bit spicy and dry on the finish for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: This feels like a decent price given the age and cask type.
79.19 - Deanston Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.5%
Age: 8
Price: £65.00
The nose opens with quite a waxy, oily aroma, some sandalwood, vanilla beans, preserved lemon, malt and sour candies - there's an overriding sourness to the dram. The palate has a fair amount of sweetness, toffee, vanilla fudge and chocolate, moving into a lime juice-led finish - the sourness from the nose riding through it. The mouthfeel is good, and it’s a solid dram, but nowhere near as good as last months Deanston.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: In line with recent Society Deanston releases.
135.83 - Loch Lomond (Inchmoan) Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill HTMC hogshead
ABV: 62.7%
Age: 9
Price: £59.00
The nose opens with an Armagnac richness, dried fruits, old polished furniture, wood lacquer, it’s very oak forward but not in a bad way. There’s a good alcohol integration too. The palate has a decent texture, caramel sweetness moving into orange segments, burnt toffee, red kola, candied ginger and a bit of chili heat. The nose was better than the palate, but it’s still decent. Maybe a little overoaked but it’s a good dram.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good price for the distillery and cask type.
163.6 - Isle of Harris Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 57.4%
Age: 8
Price: £105.00
The nose has light vanilla, sponge cake, wet leaves, sand, saltwater and some simple sugar syrup. Fairly simple, nondescript but pleasant. There’s also some newmake spirit aromas coming through, giving away the age. The palate has vanilla sponge cake, sugar syrup, fondant icing, lemon peel and dried oak. There’s a soft smoke here but it appears more as an after note on the finish. It’s a little simple, a bit youthful and totally fine but a few more years would have helped.
Score: 6/10
Value: Nice to see another 163, less nice to see the price jump.
167.4 - Clydeside Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Lowlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 61.6%
Age: 7
Price: £60.00
The nose has candyfloss, pineapple, cream soda, toffee, but it’s a little funky, something a bit industrial here. It’s very much Penderyn style for people who enjoy that. The palate has caster sugar, dried pineapple slices, green apples, mango juice and a bit of a bitter finish. We’re left chewing the dram, puckering our cheeks. There’s also some gingerbread and toffee coming through on the palate - more of the sherry cask coming through.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good value for a cask-strength Clydeside.
168.6 - InchDairnie (KinGlassie) Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Lowlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-rye whisky barrel
ABV: 60.1%
Age: 7
Price: £55.00
The nose opens with earthy salted peanuts, menthol, fiery ginger, autumnal leaves and orange peel. It’s a litttle restrained, not jumping out of the glass at us. The palate has a nice texture, more upfront sweetness, moving into more salted peanuts, honey, menthol, peach, and a little shaved chocolate on the finish. It’s nice but it’s not something we are rushing to come back to.
Score: 6/10
Value: Good price compared with other indie Kinglassies.
G15.42 - Loch Lomond (Rhosdhu) Distillery
Name:
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 63.8%
Age: 10
Price: £50.00
The nose opens with some raw wood chippings, light vanilla, green apple flesh, and pear. It’s quite hard to get through that initial oaky dryness however, so this might be one that benefits from air. We’re also getting some peach and nectarine. The palate has a good texture, more of those peaches and nectarines, some toffee and sherbet. There’s a bit of spice on the finish, but it’s really not bad. We like G15, and this is a good example of it.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good value as always with the G15s.
Batch 44 - Heresy
Name: The Blenders Notebook
Flavour Profile: Small Batch Blended Scotch
Region: nan
Cask Type: Ex-bourbon, oloroso & px
ABV: 50.0%
Age: 18
Price: £80.00
The nose opens with a mix of white chocolate, cherry jam, raspberry purée, apricot, lemon peel and something a little industrial. There’s also a light menthol and sawdust note. The palate has sour plum, dark chocolate, soft vanilla, brown sugar, custard, and a grain backbone. This is quite interesting, for us the nose is really quite nice, there’s a lot going on and we appreciate the mix of casks and spirits, but the palate lets it down, the grain pushes to the forefront and feels a little youthful. Perhaps we should revisit this on a fresh palate - but we’ll go with 7/10 for now.
Score: 7/10
Value: Fair price if you compare it to other blends on the market.
If you like what you’ve read then check out our social media Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get notifications of when we post a new review or just to chat about whisky with us.
Leave a comment