07/02/2026 February outturn at the SMWS

It is that time of the month again. I join PS, Dr. CD, GT, JS, YM and HT to try the highlights.

9.313 17yo 2008/2025  Honey, I'm home! (55.6%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Barrel finished in 1st Fill ex-Sauternes Barrique, 311b): nose: gingerbread and paper paste. It has a certain funk and decaying berries too. It is a tad earthy, muddy and fusty, with a drop of nail lacquer. There are fruits in the background, trying to make their way up, though they never quite manage. Mouth: as cloying as jam that has simmered, then cooled off, solidified, and lost all of its moisture. It is extremely sweet and a bit acidic, perhaps elderberry jam and biscuit à la cuiller. The second sip is almost spoiled by half-a-teaspoon of Marmite. Finish: hot jams here too, and what appears to be hot metal. Strong liquid indeed, it stuns the taste buds a little. Is that industrial cleaning agent? Ha! No it really is hot metal -- so hot it cauterises the mucous membranes of the mouth. 7/10

I notice that the group behind me left without touching their cheeses. I try to blag them, but DS will have none of it. It all ends in the bin, much to my chagrin.

128.34 10yo 2014/2026 Dragon fruit soup (60%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Barrels finished in 1st Fill ex-Oloroso Hogshead, 312b): nose: the glass has been sitting there for thirty minutes or so, which may have made a difference, but, after JS told me she was disappointed with the lack of promised dragon fruit, I find this a right slap of tropical edibles (papaya, persimmon), before confectionary sugar rocks up -- Boudoir biscuits and apricot turnovers dripping with fruit syrup, followed by sherbet. Mouth: ooft! That is sweet. Palo Cortado comes to mind, tawny Port, then that moves towards bitterer notes closer to coffee, albeit a heavily-sweetened one. We have wine-cured marmalade and orange rinds too. It is more acidic at second sip, mixed peels and a pinch of ash. Finish: decaying peaches, Palo Cortado Sherry, a hint of rhubarb in a cupful of hot marmalade. Lots of exotic fruits at second gulp, mango and persimmon leading the charge, followed by peach, carambola, dragon fruit and baked Korean pear. Sure, the Sherry is loud, but it is a good dram, comparable to 128.18, in my mind. By the way, the bottling date engraved on the bottle suggests this is actually eleven, not ten. 8/10

PS hands me his glass. He ordered it, did not like it, added water and likes it even less.

68.142 11yo 2014/2025 Frangipane and apple granny (56.5%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead finished in ex-Rivesaltes Barrique, 302b): (with water) I find it pretty good, though it turns extremely bitter ten seconds after swallowing. GT reckons it would go well with goat's cheese -- bang on! An ash-dusted goat's cheese would be ideal. I crave cheese, now and resent DS for throwing perfectly good cheese in the bin, earlier (he is really just following his health-and-safety rules). 6/10 (Thanks, PS)

59.97 18yo 2007/2025 Highland modernity (52.8%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 265b): nose: this is a buttery one, even if PS promised all kinds of flowery activity. Sure, there are some daffodils, tulips and such, but, mostly, it is butter. Dried flowers appear in the long run -- forsythia and kerria Japonica. Mouth: it is plant-stem soup, not awfully bitter, but green and vegetal alright. Chewing adds a dose of powdered sugar followed by citrus foliage. Finish: very sweet, it has tangerine segments rolled into confectionary sugar. It reclaims that butteriness at second gulp, yet that is more a comment on the texture than taste-related. Indeed, the taste is that of tulip petals and forsythia in bloom. 7/10

122.84 9yo 2015/2025 Mango tango (58.8%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 184b): nose: lots of pastry and no smoke (nor the trademark roast chicken). Shortcrust, turnovers, jam on toast (apricot). That is followed by talcum powder sprinkled on a baby's cheeks. The second nose has sherbet and heaped tablespoons of confectionary sugar, with also citrus (calamansi and pomelo, toned down with smashed bananas). Mouth: thick apricot jam develops a chalky edge and hot steel. The second sip has more apricot, this time with the hot metal blade more obvious that cut the fruit. Finish: similar, for a second, then it delivers a burst of tropical fruits (papaya, some exotic peaches). Repeated quaffing brings candied fruit cubes (pineapple and papaya), along with a spoonful of fruit juice on the side. 8/10

One last one? I am ready to leave, but PS highly recommends the next one. Only available in the members' rooms, it is clear it is a now-or-never dram. That is enough to make me disregard my hate affair with SMWS Inchmoan dating from 135.11.

135.77 9yo 2016/2025 Restored to mint condition (61%, SMWS Society Cask, 2nd Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 197b): nose: a lovely farm-y peat introduces juicy fruits (peach, nectarine, apricot). It is a fantastic interplay between peat and fruit that usually does not come out until a whisky has spent at least twenty years in a cask. Oh! and the peat is so farm-y. Even lychee shows up at second nose, augmented with a drop of mercurochrome and a sprinkle of ash, later on. Mouth: mellow, if a tad peppery, it has the same velvety fruits (nectarine, peach, apricot, plantain, now) rolled up in farm-y mud. There is a hint of chalk, or chalky fertiliser, the kind one carries in hessian sacks that Dr. CD is so fond of (agricultural lime, or 'aglime' for short). The second sip welcomes a flinty Fino, fresh, fruity and mineral. Finish: an explosion of peaty fruits. Nectarines fallen into mud, peaches trampled by cows, apricots thrown into a peat fire. Perhaps my score is overly generous, but I find this fantastic, today. Annoyingly, YM does too, and snatches the last bottle. 9/10

157.1 8yo 2014/2023 Toasty, roasty and oaky (60.8%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Oloroso Butt, 622b): nose: a lot of dried dates and a drop of rye? With time, we have butter, oily wood and a syrupy white Sherry that resembles a sweetened version of Manzanilla. Mouth: oh! This is very woody. Oily teak and mahogany turn into darker-wood cabinets (walnut, iroko) and beef stock. The second sip has Demerara sugar and thick syrup. Finish: big, oily, woody. Oiled wood, tan shoe polish. What an unexpected delight! 8/10

YM: "I mean: who amongst us can say they don't have contacts with a Jeffrey Epstein, a Harvey Weinstein, or a Gary Glitter?"
tOMoH: "Well, the way I see it, either you know a person like that, or you are one."
PS: "I'll raise my hand and say I don't [know anyone like that]. But I'm glad you didn't say Jimmy Saville."

Good session. Fun times.