They are making room on the shelves by hosting a tasting in which we can try entries from the various iterations of this collection. Tonight, we can taste them as part of a flight, just like any other outturn. To spice things up, the good folks at SMWS offer a few venue exclusives to try as well.
35.388 32yo b.2024 Homecoming: The essence of heritage with Shona Hardie -- Snug and toasty (53.9%, SMWS The creators collection, 2nd Fill ex-PX Hogshead Finish, 182b): nose: prunes, raisins, dried figs. Here is an archetypal PX cask at work. Sweet and elegant, it opens a jar of strawberry-and-blackberry jam, spreads said jam on plasticine, adds a spoonful of buckwheat honey, and serves that with a bowl of lychee and purple maracuja on a metal plate. The person serving is a mechanic who just applied grease to a cylinder block and wiped hands with a rag. The second nose is a pint of lukewarm chocolate milk with a dash of windscreen defroster. It is seconds until we find another fruit stash -- blueberries, purple maracujas, pink peaches, dark grapes, slightly-smoked mulberries. It has something pine-y too, and if it is not génépi, it is droplets of pine liqueur. Fruitier yet with water, it adds oranges and blush oranges to the plums. Bizarrely, something in the back feels almost butyric or akin to lactic acid. Mouth: spicier than anticipated, it has dried green-chilli flakes to impart a soft bitterness and heat. A second's chewing coats the tongue with plasticine, adds cut flowers in a vase (daffodils, tulips, irises) and brings us back to fruits, although it is almost only plums, this time. There is a hint of menthol or peppermint, rather subtle. The second sip sprays defroster onto plums and pine needles. Chewing conjures up images of the stale air trapped in a drawer one opens once a year at most, and cinnamon-flavoured cocoa. It acquires lukewarm orange juice, in the long run. With water, it ventures towards wood and plastic, with old chipboards, plastic buckets and hardened plasticine. Desiccated plums are here too. Finish: rancio, plums and prunes enhanced with a dollop of minty or mentholated toothpaste, then clay and chewy cinnamon sticks to accompany some flowers. It is really chewy -- imagine wet chamois leather. Perhaps it has ginger powder too, yet loudest are cinnamon and a peppermint paste. The second gulp gives a slap of fruits (unripe plums and nectarines) and woody notes: dried lemongrass, sawn chipboard and cinnamon yoghurt. Riper and riper plums slowly come back to prominence, however, supported by lovely mixed peel. The addition of water makes this very fruity again; plums, berries, grapes, discreet purple maracujas and a dusting of cinnamon powder. This is excellent. My score may be generous, but I love it. 9/10
149.15 9yo b.2026 Lovely lozenge (63.7%, SMWS In Celebration 28 Queen Street Exclusive Cask, ex-Bourbon Barrel, 196b): nose: sharp and strong, this nose presents eau-de-vie and industrial cleaning alcohol, if not surgical alcohol. Hot desert sand, a distant whiff of iodine, and something that promises to be earthy, but never quite delivers. Further sniffing catches incense, empty husks, bone-dry grist. That is it! It is extremely dry is what it is. The second nose takes a turn towards caramel flan served in a galvanised-iron bucket. Water fertilises the earth from earlier. It does not become muddy, but it is greasy earth alright, good for crops. Mouth: unexpectedly mellow, even juicy. We find plum juice and peach nectar, pressed cotton grapes, silky, sweet. That is quite a contrast with the nose! Chewing stirs that to bring earth to the surface, dried, crusty lumps of earth that make the whole drier again, yet especially numbing. This is one that leaves the tongue shaken as if hit with a lead pipe. Despite that, it still manages to serve some fruits -- greengages in the lead. The second sip is drier; sand, beach sand, quarry dust, shingles, crushed glass. It is not long before that is balanced with a spoonful of light-brown sugar. Water reveals wooden skewers, charred, oily, but with no food left on them. Finish: once past a heat slap on the tonsils, the finish presents comforting waves of warmth, fruity tones (baked greengages come to mind), and a blend of granite. Instead of being overly mineral and desiccating, that granite seems to add structure to the whole, which is nice. The second gulp feels more mineral. Nothing off the scale, but certainly quarry dust and residue on a flint knapper's outfit. It has virtually no fruit left; perhaps ground greengage stones is all. Adding water brings out oily prune syrup. The mineral profile turns earthier and richer. This is nice. I do not know if I prefer it with or without water. 7/10
149.21 9yo 2016/2026 The New Wave: A taste of our next-generation gems -- Machair medley (60%, SMWS The Creators Collection, 1st Fill ex-PX Butt, 666b): I make no notes on the night other than: "It is really good." I realise the following day that we tried this when it came out.
156.9 10yo 2015/2026 The spirit of five: An exploration of Scotland's whisky regions -- Breakfast in Seville (61%, SMWS The Creators Collection, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 179b): nose: hot plastic! Oilcloth left in a conservatory on a sunny day, the yellow, corrugated-plastic container of that brand of cocoa, also left in the conservatory, plastic buckets and watering cans in the greenhouse... Until a galvanised-iron bucket appears too. Zinc gutters join rubber boots in the greenhouse, as does bird feed, a mix of sunflower seeds, peanuts, oats etc. It stays in the greenhouse, with hoses, planters and earth supplementing the cans, buckets and bird seeds. The second nose blows a whiff of cut flowers (narcissuses, crocuses, hyacinths) and minty almond lozenges. There is a hint of milk chocolate in the background, as well as gunpowder -- or paper gun caps for a toy gun, to be accurate, and that is most unexpected. Adding water renders this more breakfast-y, with lukewarm coffee or cocoa, and hot pains au chocolat, perhaps a couple of oranges not yet pressed. Mouth: hot and acidic, it peddles a heated lemon paste, turnover style. Chewing adds fudge, chewy, sweet and a little earthy, as if one had poured a spoonful of weak coffee onto vanilla custard. The second sip seems more welcoming; hot custard buns and citrus turnovers. Yes, chewing confirms the citrus in particular: it is a lovely calamansi paste in a puff pastry augmented with a generous dose of pepper. Adding water turns the palate into an earthy-fruit jam (elderberry) enhanced with smoked orange segments, which makes it a lot brighter. Finish: assertively metallic, this has a heated knife used to cut fudge into squares. The second gulp seems spicier: white pepper, ginger powder, ground mace. All the same, what dominates is hot citrus pastry and the metal tray it was baked on. Beautifully sweet with water, it has orange marmalade spread onto a pain au chocolat. This one too improves with water. Without it, it is a solid... 7/10
3.364 21yo 2004/2026 The spirit of five: An exploration of Scotland's whisky regions -- Smoked lavender (56%, SMWS The Creators Collection, 1st Fill ex-Oloroso Hogshead, 217b): nose: I want to say smoke, but it could just as well be old cardboard boxes in a dry basement. Past that (thirty seconds in), we spot crayons, chewy dried fruits (raisins). Oh! there is smoke, alright, coming up a few minutes later; the smoke of a thyme-twig fire next to which someone left a suede pouch. A minuscule amount of shoe polish becomes notionally perceptible, as does the recently-polished plastic dashboard of a newish vehicle. The second nose is less defined. We have dusty old glass bottles, empty for yonks, and musty warehouses, which is to say damp clay and stale air. Deeper nosing brings back some smoke. Mouth: shoe polish is a little more identifiable on the palate. Next to it is waterproofing spray. It is upon chewing that things change for the better: tropical fruits tumble out of a cornucopia, smoked mango, baked plantain, papaya cubes, and even timid yellow maracuja. The second sip has grilled and roasted fruits (mango, pineapple, plum, nectarine), a pinch of ash, charred-wood gratings (hazel) and the soft bitterness of unripe plums. There are smoked brambles too, but, again, the smoke factor is low on this one. Finish: although still fruity, it is cardboard boxes in the basement that catch one's attention. That clings to the tongue and the throat until the taste buds realise some of the fruits have not gone anywhere: papaya and plantain are still here, but not baked, now. The second gulp has crystallised berries and chewy sweets of the dark variety: blackberry, blackcurrant, elderberry in sweet format. It stops short of liquorice, thankfully, and only tickles cough drops. Perhaps it offers mango skins, yet the fleeting lush tropicality of the palate is nowhere to be seen. All the same, this is very good. 8/10
3.365 21yo 2004/2026 The spirit of five: An exploration of Scotland's whisky regions -- Sweet seduction (55.2%, SMWS The Creators Collection, 1st Fill ex-Oloroso Hogshead, 211b): is it not crazy that one could try a different SMWS Bowmore every day of a non-leap year? They are wildly different too, so there would never be a dull day (although trends would undoubtedly surface). Nose: generous, greasy peat, fertile soil, dark earth. There is a (cattle-)farm-y aspect too, cow stables or pastures, that almost entirely hides juicy fruits. Indeed, we have plums and peaches trying hard to punch through a wall of leather and cattle hair. Cow dung has a small part too, and it is tempting to picture a horned ruminant taking a dump on a basket of fruits. Unless the cow ate the fruits, then shat them. But cows do not eat fruits, do they? The more we sniff, the closer we come to suede and shoe polish, which is odd, as no-one in their right mind would put shoe polish on suede. The second nose displays aromas of clay beads, crayons and a distant barbecue grille. A marsh-like note appears, lush vegetation growing in suffocating humidity. Mouth: silky and lukewarm, it is very comforting on entry. Warm honey, then the faint smoke of a gas stove, a jam or another, still warm from the cauldron it simmered in. Half-a-chew slaps one in the teeth with cut papaya, even if that pulls a discreet note of violet in its wake. Not to worry! Smoked comes to the rescue and turns the palate into a herbs marinade of the kind they sometimes put on lamb burgers and that holds mostly rosemary. The second sip is fruity, a little smoky and softly bitter. The smoke is reduced to that of a bramble fire, whereas dark wild berries now dominate. Finish: warm and comforting here too, this gives several waves of flavours. First is smoke; then come crayons, borderline waxy; finally, a mix of smashed berries settles, then becomes smoked berries -- smoked on a herbs fire, that is. Tropical fruits do a fleeting dance, for a tenth of a second. The second gulp has blackberry sweets, elderberry drops or liquorice-flavoured Haribo sweets. 8/10
156.7 10yo 2015/2026 The spirit of five: An exploration of Scotland's whisky regions -- No mean confection (61.2%, SMWS The Creators Collection, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 198b): nose: powerful and metallic, the nose quickly opens up to reveal a mix of spring flowers (daffodils), cut yellow fruits (peach, apricot, nectarine) and plain crackers. It is the aromas that become loudest, fragrant and promise bitterness, which takes us back to metal. That swiftly makes way for sherbet and the smell of straw bales in a barn in a place with a cool and humid climate. The second nose is a wonderful mix of sherbet, flour and chalk or talcum powder. Perhaps it has cosmetic powder too -- it is powdery, at any rate. Adding water evokes a freshly-cleaned bedroom, with soft pot-pourri from the vacuuming, and clean sheets. A minute later, dark chocolate turns into mocha, then chocolate pudding. Mouth: fresh and indistinct at first, it is only seconds before it adopts the bitterness and sharpness of a stainless-steel blade -- pencil-sharpener blade, kitchen knives, that sort of things. Chewing immediately adds a note of milk chocolate and a drop of ink. It is noticeably powerful, without surprise. Straw is in the background, merely a backing dancer, while little of the fruits appear, other than that freshness, which could be associated with unripe nectarines. The second sip is drier. Straw comes back, backed by sherbet and candy necklaces. In other words, it develops a chalky touch, before pouring grenadine syrup on top. Soft and custard-y with water, it has the bitter-sweet taste of Seville-orange marmalade. Finish: it kicks bouteille without aggression. Cut unripe nectarines, flower stems and tons of metal. Cold steel, to be precise. It leaves the mouth throbbing and applies dried orange zest on the taste buds. The second gulp is softer, warm not hot, and peddles gingerbread-y flavours. Sourdough comes out albeit one slathered with apricot jam and a spoonful of marmalade. Water underlines orange marmalade spread on toasted sourdough. It improves with water, in this taster's opinion. Neat, it is... 7/10
Nice wee sesh.
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