What's the address of the Glasgow store? I have to go sometime to grab some skate gear so may make a detour...

Best,
Pete

23 Bath Street. Don't know if you remember the old Precint 13 record store as it's now in there. It's easy to miss as it's down a set of steps and is below street level.

Had some Hakushu Bourbon barrel yesterday (the good old give a friend a bottle for his birthday, drink with him later ^^), was great. The combination of bourbon and some peatiness was unlike any whisky I've ever had.

just went to the store and had to reload the cabinet:



Guy behind the counter at Binny's recommended the balvenie 15 but I decided against it based on El T's review and the fact that the 12 year double wood is such great value imo.

He also recommended the aberlour 16, but I had already spent a little more than intended.

so far I am liking the dalmore the most(of the new ones to me which were the glendronach 15, dalmore 12 and glenmorangie lasanta):

Nose: nutty, coffee, and fruity.

Palate: spicy, with chocolate hints and a more subdued fruityness

Finish: not too strong with fruity tastes

you bought the regular angel's envy and not one of the one-off casks right? Which store did you buy all of that from?

yea, I like the regular AE, never tried the one off stuff.

The one in skokie

funny of this lineup the dalmore would be last on my list!
shows again how different palates can be...

4 new `friends´

never had any of them before.
a bourbon cask,a sherry cask,a cask strenght and a 15year old irish.
that should satisfy almost all my whisky needs(i know no peat bomb)
the glengoyne is said to be great i sherry cask bunnas and the other 2 were cheap so i picked them up.

hi fellow whiskey drinkers...what would be a good scotch to mix with a lemon wedge on the rocks????

Nerd,

Johnny walker red label.

Mann, never seen a sherried Bunnahabhain, looking forward to a review!

Second trip to jack rose in as many weeks and had this:



Wow! Highly recommended if you can ever find a pour. Copy/paste of my tasting notes to a friend:

Speakeasy select:

A little hot neat, but with a few drops of water...boom! Welcome to flavor country!

Lots of cherries on the nose, a little oak + vanilla, but not too much so.

The standout for me on this guy, though, is the mouth feel. There's something that some whiskeys have that I don't really know how to describe but really, REALLY, enjoy. Its that thing where you can take the tiniest sip (basically just inhaling the stuff), and you get the complete essence of the whiskey as it coats the entire mouth. Dunno if that makes any sense or not, or just sounds perverted, but there ya have it.

Spice/red hots at first on the palate and then the oak becomes more prevelant with lots of vanilla and cinnamon for a million year long finish.

Highly recommended (even though paid something like $35/ 1 oz pour.

its allready my 4th.
i usally see them buy&drink them.
but with 12 years the youngest i ever had.

Hi folks,

Dropped by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society yesterday to pick up my membership pack, as they can't deliver it whilst I'm at work. To give you all a bit of background, its £120 (~$200) for membership for the year, but you can add a second cardholder for £30ish, which is quite smart.

Bit of background on the society, they only do single cask bottlings and their bottles look like this: .

As you can see from the label, they do the odd rare Japanese/American whisk(e)y, as well as ciders, armagnacs etc., but their bread and butter are scotch malts. The label looks a bit weird but it's simply first number = distillery, second number = number of casks bottled from that distillery in SMWS history. The numbering system works in principle as a blind method to stop people pre-judging bottles, but there's a pretty comprehensive and peer-approved list of codes online at the whisky portal, which helpfully explains the one above is Yamazaki (we had a guess from a few, right?!)

All the SMWS bottles are cask strength, they add a few tasting notes you can choose to read or not, and all the other helpful stuff (type of cask, age, output, etc.).

So, that's their stock in trade. Membership basically gets one:
- access to their 2 places in Edinburgh/Leith plus London, with dining options as well as lots of whiskies to try at between £4 and £8/dram on average.
- 3x 100ml bottles to get you started (a Glen Moray 17yo, Bowmore 18yo, Glen Moray 25yo)
- Outturns with options to buy (bottles £45-90 on average, but they do 2 for £120ish deals)
- the odd special event

So it's basically a members' club that happens to be united by whisky. I've never been convinced it's worth the price: which is why it was an awesome gift (I think the very definition is something one would like that would never buy themselves). Mrs Harris has her own card too but doesn't drink, but her first comment was 'I hear the food there is good'. So we both have a reason to go.

We each get to sign in between 2 and 3 guests (3 at quieter times only) too, so I guess I'll be taking work colleagues along, and visitors to the city, of course! Plus somewhere else to visit in London on the odd (2-3/yr) occasion.

So far I've learned that whilst I can't say I like any Glen Moray outputs, their single casks I've had via SMWS were really nice. Perhaps they have a terrible blender on their singles...also I enjoyed Mannochmore (64) on occasion I've had some of those. But I'm looking forward to learning more, since it's a gift, a monthly visit should be the minimum, right.

Best,
Pete

@Peter looking forward to some tasting notes!
i´m especially interested in 3,10,25,27,33,43,61,76,111,119,120,127&132
but i`m fine with everything i can get

if i had the option to go to the tasting room close were i live i would consider a membership,but my next tasting room is 1000km away plus the prices for their whisky is even steeper here
so i guess i will stick to the IB that are available to me.

nose:honey,baked bananas,plums,lemons,caramel,almonds
palate:starts honey sweet(almost like a buttered easterbread(with raisons) + honey),silky&oily,some almonds,some candied tried fruits but then white pepper hits
aftertaste:caramel,honey some pepper and ends a bit dry.

not bad!since i only paid 29€ i would say great bang for the buck

That seems really cheap for a 16yo, did you get it at a big sale? I've never had Benriach, which other distillery would you compare it to?

if it is a bourbon cask its similar to a bourbon cask glendronach but it has more pepper at the end.
the benriach 12 sherry wood is a supersweet whisky and a great bang for the buck.
but the smoky benriachs that are finished in different casks are my favourites.
here are my Benriachs

1:a peated out of a bourbon cask
2:a peated out of a bourbon cask finished in a rum cask
3:---"--- finished in a Pedro ximinez sherry butt
4:---"--- finished in a port hogshead
5:---"--- finished in a madeira barrel
6:bourbon cask finished in ximinez sherry butt
7:sherry cask(oloroso+PX)
8:bourbon cask
9:bourbon cask cask strenght

ps:sorry for the crappy mobile photo

Holy ****.

I knew you had a big collection, but if you have that many bottles of a brand I'd never heard of.. how many bottles total?!

Foo, peter, Mann:

Awesome stuff from all of you, loving it!

over a hundred.
i like benriach,i only have more bowmores from 1 distillery.

Ooh, the madeira finished benriach sounds right up my street. Would love a dram of that.

I see no reason why we couldn't do an EDF whiskey exchange to share samples...Except for international shipping - cause F you guys outside of the US

I second this idea. I have a bunch of 4oz bottles at home (bought like 16 of them for $10 on Amazon) and could send out samples in them. That would stop me from buying a bunch of bottles I don't really need just because I want to try some new whisky.

International shipping would be a problem, but I'd totally exchange with Mann, he's got some real gems in his collection

i`m not allowed to send alcohol to the states