We're back with the Scotch Malt Whisky Society September 2024 outturn review. This months preview featured 30 new bottlings, including a new vaults collection. Another big outturn, lots of bourbon casks with a sprinkling of sherry and wine.
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...
4.389 - Highland Park Distillery
Name: Yellowtail sashimi and smoked mackerel
Flavour Profile: Oily & Coastal
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.7%
Age: 14
Price: £85.00
The nose has dry earth, a little baby sick, tiger bread, orange peel, honey nut conflakes, alongside a clinical, hospital-like aroma. The palate has honeyed sweetness, brown sugar, sterile gloves, ginger snaps, warm chili heat, juniper berries, salt, glue sticks and fresh wood stain. The mouthfeel is ok, the finish is fine, it’s just a mid tier Highland Park for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: This seems in line with other Highland Parks of this age.
9.294 - Glen Grant Distillery
Name: Penitence potion of sackcloth and beeswax
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 56.7%
Age: 20
Price: £112.00
The nose opens with soft peaches, a little ripe mango, tinned pineapple juice/syrup, artificial watermelon, barley sugars and almond paste. There’s a bit of beeswax here too. The palate has a nice mouthfeel, opening with orange, maple syrup, waffle cones, brown sugar and a bit of black pepper. The alcohol is in decent balance, the finish is a touch too warm with a little dry oak. Decent bourbon cask, not anything special.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good price for a 20 year old.
11.51 - Tomatin Distillery
Name: Beef consumme
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 58.4%
Age: 9
Price: £64.50
The nose opens with honey, spent charcoal, dark chocolate, wet kitten, pebbles, cherry pits, cocoa butter, and ground ginger. The palate has candle wax, more cocoa butter, honey, brown sugar and warm nuts. There’s also tangy orange and blackcurrant. The mouthfeel is much thinner than we anticipated, and there’s a lot of spice to throw this out of balance. There’s still a nice sweetness, so we’ll go with 6.5/10.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: This feels a little expensive for what it is.
18.64 - Inchgower Distillery
Name: A golf caddie with a tea caddy
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 53.3%
Age: 15
Price: £79.00
The nose opens with fresh green apple, zest lime, pears, very orchard fruit forward. You have to get deep into the glass to get anything though, it’s quite a restrained nose. We’re getting a little simple sugar too but that’s about it. The palate is fairly flat.. there’s not many discernible flavours here - it’s a whisky that tastes like.. whisky. We get a few of the orchard fruits from the nose, there’s something a bit green here, fresh, a little sweet, but not much more. Disappointing, even though the mouthfeel and finish are alright. There’s not too much wrong here, there just not much to go on.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Not a terrible price, it’s just a shame about the whisky.
24.172 - Macallan Distillery
Name: Soothing invigoration
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 49.1%
Age: 34
Price: £1,950.00
The nose is full of mellow fruits, cantaloupe melon, runny honey, currants, grape must, light fudge and cinnamon notes. The alcohol is very light on the nose, quite pleasant. The palate opens with raisin fudge, toffee ice cream, a little chocolate, with a few raspberries sprinkled on. The mouthfeel isn’t too special, it’s like a watered down sugar syrup, and the finish falls a touch flat for us with drier flavours of roast nuts and coffee grounds. It’s fairly sweet, fairly fruity, but overall a bit uninspired, especially for a malt of this age.
Score: 7/10
Value: We guess you could argue there's other 34yo Macallan for more, but at this price it's an expensive ornament. Cheaper than Bonkers for Conkers though!
24.175 - Macallan Distillery
Name: Andalusian daydream
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 62.5%
Age: 15
Price: £125.00
The nose is very sherry forward, Irn Bru, candied ginger, baked cherries, honey roast ham, warm brown sugar, cherry jam. The palate has a good mouthfeel, but a fair amount of peppery spice up front. Behind this, we’re getting burnt vanilla sponge cake, ginger biscuits, toffee, dark chocolate and roasted hazelnuts. The mouthfeel is alright, and the finish has a decent length, with tangy orange fanta, bitter orange pith too. Lots of sherry, lots of spice, people are going to buy it anyway because it’s Macallan.
Score: 7/10
Value: The extra few years of maturation has added around £30-£40 compared with previous releases, but it's a good price for Macallan.
28.100 - Tullibardine Distillery
Name: Fresh as a mountain stream
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-Sauternes barrique
ABV: 49.8%
Age: 18
Price: £115.00
The nose is very strawberry and cream, artificial sweetie style, along with soft almond nougat, wafer cones, baking milk chocolate, hazelnuts and a little bit of salt, along with honey. The palate has a bit of a flat mouthfeel, more honey, like honey nut cheerios, the cream has turned into milk, and we’re at the breakfast table. There’s also dried apple skin and a bit of sweet ginger. If the palate held up we’d rate this higher, but it’s pleasant for what it is.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good price for the age.
29.292 - Laphroaig Distillery
Name: Peat in parts per thousand
Flavour Profile: Heavily Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Refill ex-PX butt
ABV: 58.2%
Age: 23
Price: £435.00
The nose is punchy with peat, but in a balanced way. There’s wet burnt rubber, surgical gloves, lemon scented cleaning products, maraschino cherry, and love hearts hand soap, with a subtle smoke in the background. The peat is incredibly well balanced on the nose. The palate has wet graphite, cherry jam, paintbrush bristles, a little smoked ham, rusty metal, smoked fish, black pepper and a little glue too. It’s a really nice Laphroaig, the mouthfeel is decent and the finish lingers for a while with lots of ashy smoke… but a little too dry of a finish for us. Either way we’d probably drink a few more drams. First time we've seen a full maturation PX butt as far as we're aware.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: This feels quite rough, but there's dwindling older Laphroaig stocks it seems.
35.354 - Glen Moray Distillery
Name: Dolly's mixture
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.3%
Age: 10
Price: £50.00
The nose has a copper note, like old coins, ginger, nutmeg and water biscuits. There’s a sourness, it’s like red kola, lots of synthetic sweetness, candies, and brown sugar. The palate has something quite vegetal, broccoli stems, but also honey, brown sugar, candied ginger, tanghulu grapes, and nutmeg too. The mouthfeel is alright and finish lingers on. A decent Glen Moray, not much wrong but not much that stands out either.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good price for a 10yo cask strength Speysider.
36.223 - Benrinnes Distillery
Name: Toffee fairy cake
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 56.6%
Age: 12
Price: £65.00
The nose has very light fudge and toffee notes, strawberry laces, plum jam, quite pleasant. Sweet fruits come through as the primary aroma. There’s also something a bit flowery and perfumed about the nose. The palate continues with the sweet, fresh flavours, more perfumed than fruit. It reminds us of light purple, if you could visualise a colour for the whisky. There’s some peaches, lilacs and caster sugar. The finish is decent, and the alcohol is quite well balanced. A good, fresh, bourbon cask, a springtime whisky.
Score: 7/10
Value: We'd like to see thid £5 cheaper, but it's reasonable.
39.294 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: A perfumed strawman chews liquorice comfits
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.2%
Age: 11
Price: £64.00
The nose is fairly green, grassy, lime juice, stone fruits, plum and baked cherries, like from a cherry pie. There’s a hint of flakes almonds and a little hazelnut too. The alcohol is a bit peppery, it’s definitely up there in ABV. The palate has more baking spices, a little clove and cinnamon, plums and almond brittle. There’s also some pastry dough and caster sugar, along with a bit of potpourri coming through. Decent mouthfeel, fairly syrupy, and a reasonable finish, but the alcohol is a bit difficult to contend with in places.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: In line with other Linkwoods of similar age.
48.167 - Balmenach Distillery
Name: Wham bam ginger jam
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-American oak PX hogshead
ABV: 51.5%
Age: 15
Price: £90.00
The nose has a cold fruit salad of grape, red currants, strawberry, melon and a little bit of yoghurt too. There’s also blueberries and cinnamon coming through. The palate has cherry jam, ginger cake, toffee apples, caramel, currants and dried apple skin. It’s drier than expected on the palate with a bit more spice than we were anticipating (or wanting). An empire biscuit without the sugar. We had high hopes based off last month’s exceptional Balmenach, this falls a bit short of those.
Score: 7/10
Value: Not ter for a PX sherry finish malt.
48.168 - Balmenach Distillery
Name: Tantalising and temptatious
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 59.8%
Age: 10
Price: £59.00
The nose has vanilla, merengue, warm milk, fresh warm bread, a little bit too much yeast though. There’s also bruised mint, spun sugar and wild onion leaves. The palate has more vegetal notes, along with aniseed, honey, ginger, it’s like a weird hot toddy. The alcohol is a bit warm, but that may be a combination of the spices from the cask, and we’re finding French toast on the finish. It’s alright, but a bit astringent on the palate for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: About £5-£10 more expensive than we'd like to see.
53.474 -Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Ultimate pub grub smackdown
Flavour Profile: Peated
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 59.3%
Age: 13
Price: £??
The nose has sweet vanilla, oily fish, wet pebbles, balanced Islay peat smoke, cotton, petrichor, a little rubber and tarmac too. The palate has more sweet sugar syrup, burnt meat, singed hair, smoked raspberries, red clay, tomato seeds, with a reasonable viscosity on the palate. The finish lingers for a while with more smoke and burnt oak. A really solid bourbon Caol Ila, the 1st fill cask comes though really well.
Score: 7/10
Value: We didn't catch the price on this one, but we'd say that £80-90 would be around market average.
59.77 - Teaninich Distillery
Name: Leather tobacco pipe roll
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-Spanish oak oloroso hogshead
ABV: 55.5%
Age: 13
Price: £80.00
The nose has lots of cocoa powder, baked into a cherry chocolate brownie. There’s also heavily toasted caramel, blackcurrant cordial, warm roast almonds, and a little fudge too. The palate has a thinner mouthfeel than we’d like, with more cherry coming through and some lemon too. There’s baked French pastries, struck matches, Madagascan vanilla latte, and a little raspberry jam. There’s a bit too much sulphur for us, too much egg and struck matches. Otherwise it’s a fine, reasonable sherry finish.
Score: 6/10
Value: A touch pricey but you're paying for the sherry cask.
60.36 - Aberfeldy Distillery
Name: Never judge a dram by its colour
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 59.0%
Age: 9
Price: £59.00
The nose opens with vanilla fondant, whipped cream, sugar strands, a little shortbread, and tablet too. It’s got a fair whack of alcohol, definitely on the younger side, however not overly new make-y. The palate has custard creams, sherbet, lime zest, a little yuzu and a hint of mandarin orange too. There’s lots of sweetness here too, lots of vanilla and cream sweeties. The alcohol is a bit unbalanced, it’s leaving quite the warmth on our palates. Decent mouthfeel, but again, lots of spice on the finish, with a bit of orange marmalade too. It’s fine, just too hot for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: A little more expensive than we'd like for a 9 year old.
66.247 - Ardmore Distillery
Name: For the drenched hillwalker
Flavour Profile: Lightly Peated
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 54.2%
Age: 25
Price: £195.50
The nose has lots of fresh earth, salt water, peach juice, sugar syrup, petrichor, vanilla essence and mellow highland peat smoke. It’s fairly well balanced on the nose, not overly aromatic but the alcohol is in check. The palate has creamy vanilla, highland peat, dry roasted peanuts, walnut whips, soft merengue, a smidge of lemon and wet concrete. This is really well balanced, good integration and just quite pleasant to drink.
Score: 7/10
Value: In line with what you'd pay elsewhere.
73.162 - Aultmore Distillery
Name: Fresh, bright and charming
Flavour Profile: Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 59.9%
Age: 11
Price: £63.00
The nose opens with soft stone fruits, pannattone, currants, and a handful of raisins too. There’s also some white flowers, vanilla essence and lavender too. The palate has a richer beginning, chocolate biscuits, rye bread and cinnamon spice. There’s some candied ginger as it moves into the finish. The alcohol feels really quite warm, a little astringent, but there’s enough honeyed sweetness to carry it through. There’s also a bit of orange essence coming through. It’s good, although too hot.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: £10 too much for us.
73.163 - Aultmore Distillery
Name: A flavourful fountain of fruit
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 56.6%
Age: 12
Price: £69.00
The nose has a good amount of sugary sweetness up front, pear skin, apple purée, some blackcurrants and freshly baked pastry dough. It’s got a patisserie-like aroma coming off of it. The palate has more backcurrant, reminiscent of Ribena with a squeeze of fresh lemon. There’s also apple strudel, light brown sugar and a little baked merengue. The finish lingers for a decent length, fairly oaky, a little peppery with some candied ginger too. Decent whisky, interesting flavours and aromas, again suffers from the heat and bitter oak on the finish.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Again, we'd like to see this £5-£10 cheaper.
78.80 - Ben Nevis Distillery
Name: Give us the funk
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-PX bodega barrique
ABV: 60.3%
Age: 13
Price: £87.00
There’s that classic Ben Nevis funk coming through right away. Salt, red clay, artificial raspberry, wet rock, turned earth, a little bit of grass too. The palate has burnt coffee, burnt caramel, more clay, salted dark chocolate, wet pebbles, with a lot of alcohol burn.. these younger Ben Nevis casks are always filled at such a high ABV. There’s also dirt, wet mud and cacao beans. We struggle with these young Ben Nevis’s, some may enjoy it more but for us it’s a 6/10.
Score: 6/10
Value: A bit pricey but it is in sherry...
80.52 - Glen Spey Distillery
Name: A topic of conversation
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-American oak oloroso hogshead
ABV: 58.8%
Age: 15
Price: £85.00
The nose opens with honey, vanilla, burnt sand, a little lemon, baked raspberry, like in a French pastry, a little synthetic sugar too. The palate has a good mouthfeel, strawberry jam, raspberry coulis, vanilla fondant, sponge cake, and a little banana bread with maple syrup on the latter palate. The finish is a touch warm, but it melds into the dram quite well. We’re enjoying this more than expected, probably our favourite sherried dram of the evening.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: In line with what others would charge.
95.93 - Auchroisk Distillery
Name: Truly a braw dram
Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 61.1%
Age: 10
Price: £50.00
The nose is a bit rubbery, in a good way, alongside toasted rice grains, fresh pen ink, blackberries, clove and something a little metallic too. There a touch of burnt sugar in the background, as well as sticker adhesive. The palate has a good upfront sweetness, orange essence, a little cinnamon, plum jam, mild salt flavours too. There’s also wholemeal bread, butter, grated ginger and black pepper. It’s too hot though, out of balance even with the stronger sherried flavours. Interesting but a bit unbalanced for us.
Score: 6/10
Value: Very good price for a 10 year old sherried whisky.
108.71 - Allt-a-Bhainne Distillery
Name: An autumn vineyard walk
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-Cosecha wine barrique
ABV: 61.5%
Age: 15
Price: £85.00
The nose is immediately funky, wet rotting oak, petrichor, herbal aromas of roasted white sage, coriander seed, and a fairly prominent alcohol. The palate has richer flavours of toffee and caramel, but in a burnt, astringent way. The alcohol is also overpowering, lots of black pepper spice which throws this out of balance. There’s still a heraciousness, tea leaves, mild sweetness but overall not for us.
Score: 5/10
Value: Seems ok for the age and cask type.
122.67 - Loch Lomond (Croftengea) Distillery
Name: Builders brew, masala chai and chilli boba tea
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.8%
Age: 8
Price: £57.00
The nose has foam bananas, white chocolate, almond nougat, merengue, whipping cream, lemon zest, butter biscuits, fairly expressive and interesting on the nose. The palate has a good mouthfeel, lemon shortbread biscuits, merengue again, toasted marshmallow and a bit of cask char on the finish. It’s spicier than expected, throwing it a bit out of balance. We had high hopes for the nose but the palate didn’t really deliver for us. Still, interesting notes from Loch Lomond as always.
Score: 6/10
Value: A little pricey for Loch Lomond at this age.
138.20 - Nantou Distillery
Name: Lust for custard
Flavour Profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Region: Taiwan
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 55.5%
Age: 7
Price: £105.00
The nose has potpourri, spicy honey, orange marmalade, sponge cake, lemon zest, vanilla fondant, ginger biscuits too. The palate has tart vanilla, cookie dough, quite citrusy, a combination of lemon and orange. There’s also honeycomb, beer hops, honeysuckle, candied ginger and warm white chocolate blondies. The mouthfeel is nice, a little thinner than we’d like but there still something there. The finish is a touch spicier than we’d like but overall we enjoyed the dram more than we expected.
Score: 7/10
Value: Seems a bit expensive.
G15.38 - Loch Lomond (Rhosdhu) Distillery
Name: A bed of crushed sea shells
Flavour Profile: Yound & Spritely
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 58.5%
Age: 9
Price: £55.00
The nose is fairly nutty, along with boiled milk, pear drops, currants, and a big hit of alcohol too. There’s a hint of pistachio and filo pastry, baklava-like. The palate has a viscous mouthfeel and is much richer than expected, strawberries, currants, more roast nuts, nutmeg, chocolate and a little liquorice right at the end. The palate has surprised us, for us it’s better than the nose and really quite interesting. It’s still too warm, but we could probably get past that. Close to a 7, but we’ll go with 6.5/10.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: This is in line with other releases.
GN3.22 - The Borders Distillery
Name: Bath-time pamper session
Flavour Profile: Other Spirit
Region: Hawick
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 51.8%
Age: 1
Price: £49.50
The nose has fresh lemon, air freshener, honeysuckle, a little aniseed root and it’s a touch industrial. The palate has a good mouthfeel, thick, luscious, creamy with sugar cane, more lemon, fresh raspberry, a touch of pine, salt and lots of juniper too. Good quality gin as usual from SMWS.
Score: 7/10
Value: We still think SMWS gin is too expensive, even if it is good.
RW6.4 - Kyrö Distillery
Name: Land of a thousand cakes
Flavour Profile: Other Spirit
Region: Finland
Cask Type: 1st fill #3 char barrel
ABV: 52.3%
Age: 6
Price: £80.00
The nose has Victoria sponge and balsamic vinegar, lemon cleaning products, a little lavender too. Alongside this we get tutti fruitti shampoo, and Hovis biscuits from your Christmas cheese board. The palate has an abundance of oats, honey, maybe mature cheddar cheese? Also simple sugars, onion chutney, brown bread and cinnamon spice. It’s weirdly reminiscent of a cheese board at Christmas.. it’s stuck in our heads. We don’t really know what to think about this, but we want to revisit it at a later time. We’ll go with 6.5 but it may be a 7.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not too bad for what it is.
BAT 26 - Spanish splendour
Name: Spanish splendour
Flavour Profile: nan
Region: nan
Cask Type: Refill & 1st fill ex-bourbon, Spanish & American oak oloroso hogsheads
ABV: 50.0%
Age: 10
Price: £55.00
The nose is fairly marmalade forward, butter, white bread, very breakfasty. There’s also chocolate orange, mango chutney, bread dough and mild passion fruit too. The alcohol is still a bit punchy, even after the reduction to 50%. The palate is mostly orange marmalade and brown sugar, tree bark.. nondescript sweetness. It’s thin, a little insipid, just needs something to back up the sweeter flavours. Because of the lack of body, it feels sickly sweet, it’s just a bit disappointing.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: We're glad to see some releases in the £50-£60 range
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