02/06/2026 An evening at Tea & Proof Seoul

This is the SMWS embassy in Seoul -- or consulate, really, since it is a partner bar. It is well out of the way in Gangnam, one of the most-affluent districts, a place seldom visited by tourists. Locals, on the other hand, are plentiful: there is a twenty-minute wait to get a table for two, a period during which I see many sipping cocktails or regaling guests with their private bottles (the bar offers a dramcierge service).

We are in soon enough. The staff give us a menu and explain there is no list for the single casks (my words, not theirs) because they rotate too quickly. We are encouraged to go see the shelves and select, with their help, if needed. Yay!

I swiftly scan the SMWS bottles. The guy asks me if I know the SMWS. I explain we have been members for many years. His reaction suggests he does not hear that very often.

39.303 14yo 2009/2024 Champagne cupcakes (56.1%, The Artisanal Spirits Company for SMWS Society Cask In celebration of Korea's diverse cities and unique gastronomic culture imported by FJ Korea, 1st Fill PX ex-Bodega Barrique, 242b)

Nose: it has a similarity with 117.3 in that it has cut fruits and metal. Oh! it is, of course, not at all in the same league. It is a remote resemblance. Sultanas appear shortly thereafter. The second nose has perhaps a few flowers, but it remains a fruity, metallic number.
Mouth: fruity and metallic here too, it displays some horsepower, but it is not a brute. Mostly a lovely fruity affair. The second sip is more drying, a little sandy, if not gritty.
Finish: long and fruity. The sultanas from earlier welcome currants and prunes. The whole turns more purple at second gulp, then fresher: cut green grapes, all of a sudden.
Comment: we get the last full dram of the bottle and are treated to the last few drops as a bonus. Only then do I realise it is bottling .303. Totes fortuitous.
Score: 7/10

39.304 12yo 2011/2024 Pâtisserie next to a flower shop (61.7%, The Artisanal Spirits Company SMWS Society Cask In celebration of Korea's diverse cities and unique gastronomic culture imported by FJ Korea, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 215b)

Nose: it is a similar story to the dram before it, bursting with fruits and metal, but also herbs, this time -- oregano and tarragon. At a push, one may detect shoe polish or crayon shavings. The second nose confirms crayons and adds watercolour.
Mouth: well, it is even juicier than its sibling, despite the higher ABV. There is a dash of hot cocoa poured on warm papaya and mango cubes. Yes, really. Chewing adds a soft vegetal bitterness, yet it is hardly worth crying about.
Finish: long and fruity, it has fruit turnovers, hot mango slices, hot papaya cubes, hot choux dough, lush and comforting. It has the lingering bitter-sweetness of milk coffee.
Comment: even better.
Score: 8/10

As we try these beauties, the two girls next to us look intently in our direction. They clearly want to understand what it is that we are drinking. Since I am a gentleman (sometimes), I show them the bottles and explain the concept of the SMWS. The youngest is shocked: she lives around the corner, this is her local and she has never heard what this long nose has to say. I let her try 39.304, which she ends up polishing in a couple of sips. Serves me well. Ha! Ha!

They become very talkative, proving once and for all that alcohol is the ultimate social lubricant. She is local, the other is her mother, and they are celebrating the latter's birthday in this here bar. We move from, "What brings you to Korea" to, "I studied at NYU" in no time, but it still surprises me how quickly the conversation goes from, "Not many foreigners come to this part of town" to, "Are you interested in K-beauty?" and, "I do laser-lifting regularly." The best part is perhaps when the mother starts dancing. Judging by the distraught look on the staff's faces, they find it much weirder than I do. Ha! Ha!

We (she) talk a lot about "Korean moms." Social status seem to dictate they send their children to study in the States and pursue certain careers. How the country functions when everyone is trying to do one of two jobs is a question for another day.

tOMoH: "The real questions are: piano or violin? (Violin.) Law or medicine? (Neither; cannot remember what she studied and she emphasises the party aspect of her NYU days. She now works in cryptocurrency.)"

Glen Scotia 5yo 2016/2022 (57.7%, OB Exclusive Cask in Commemoration of the 3rd Anniversary of Tea and Proof, First Fill Bordeaux Red Wine Hogshead, C#21/756-10, 283b)

Nose: sweet, syrupy, it has lots of grapes, not too dark, but not green either (Red Muscat comes to mind). There is a whiff of tobacco in the back.
Mouth: super thick, it has honey-glazed almonds, stewed marmalade, and nuts simmering in it. Chewing releases some wood. we have wood dust and decayed wood at second sip. It is elegant and not at all a decrepit number.
Finish: lichen-covered wood staves dominate an otherwise liqueur-like finish, sweet, yet robust and a trifle mineral. It has nut liqueur at second sip, and a growing bitterness.
Comment: this is a sister cask of the one we had in 2023. Not sure why Korea got so many Glen Scotia, but this is another good one.
Score: 8/10

An Orkney Distillery 14yo 2008/2022 (63.6%, WhiskyNAVI Exclusive Bottling for Bar Purple label imported by Young Spirit, First Fill Amontillado Octave Cask Finish, C#122103)

Nose: grilled steak, then the wooden board the steak was cut on. Perhaps this has a whisper of smoke from burning hay at second nose too.
Mouth: lovely leather, polished sofas, soft-leather shoes and dried Medjool dates. It is a bit drying at second sip, peppery, with a bold alcohol kick.
Finish: huge, dry, earthy and fruity. Prunes, dates, raisins. It is not farm-y in the slightest, compared to the one from this afternoon. It has a lick of smoke, on the other hand.
Comment: one of a series of four Orkney whiskies with four different Sherry maturation, bottled by WhiskyNAVI for four different bars in Seoul. One can only buy all four bottles in one lot. This was the staff's pick of the four. I chose before they told me that, but I agree with them that it is good.
Score: 8/10

The rapport with the two girls next to us is now so relaxed that I tell the youngest that, if we do not catch the last train, we will have to stay at hers for the night. She casually replies we are welcome to.

We will make our train, though. tOMoH does not sleep at strangers' on the first night!

Before that, however, the bar manager treats us to another dram.

The GlenAllachie15yo 2007/2023 (60%, OB Single Cask to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Tea & Proof, PX Hogshead, C#6958, 358b)

Nose: desert-dirt dry, it has tanned leather and dried-as-rock blackberry jam.
Mouth: softer and more mellow than anticipated, with prunes, dried figs and dried cranberries.
Finish: long, comforting, it has more blackberry jam, now supplemented with blackcurrant jelly, both less dry than on the nose.
Comment: how cool to try yet another exclusivity! And it pleases even this non-fan of The GlenAllachie (the brand, not the distillery). Stunningly, the back label gives a Belgian address for The GlenAllachie Distillers Co. Limited.
Score: 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, 바텐더 박성민)

Neat little place full of interesting goodies and a nice vibe. My only regret is that we talked with the girls so much we had to renounce a third flight.

Hidden at our feet, a plethora of bottles of Azul.
JS's favourite tequila since Limburg.
We see it everywhere!

02/06/2026 A few drams at The Maltshop

Not exactly easy to find, this place

Extensive, eclectic selection

A couple of Korea-exclusive Kilchoman

And even a couple of exclusive single casks of Raasay

A quick flight to determine whether bottles are worth buying. In this location (The Malt Shop is a chain of stores and some do not offer the same selection), the number of bottles open is consequent. Most are exclusive to Korea or The Malt Shop itself. Hoping to try all of them, I am quickly brought back to reality: beside the obvious time constraint, each dram tasted has to be paid. Prices are reasonable and the pours are generous: at 2cl each, we might as well be at a bar. Still, in this setting, notes are scant.

Burnside 11yo 2011/2022 Private Edition No.11 (53%, The Maltshop Whisky Collection, Bourbon Barrel, 400b)

Light, fruity, it feels a little young. Funnily, they list Balvenie and Glenfiddich explicitly on the shelf tag. 6/10

Aultmore 9yo 2013/2022 Release No.105 Private Edition No.12 (59.1%, Angus Dundee for Alistair Walker Infrequent Flyers bottled Exclusively for The Maltshop imported by MetaBev, Pedro Ximénez Sherry Puncheon, 686b)

Earthy number, overflowing with prunes and dried dates. Good. 7/10

Orkney Islands 2009/2022 Private Edition No.5 (62.1%, The Auchtermuchty Bond for Berry Bros. & Rudd for The Maltshop imported by Trans Beverage, Hogshead, C#3, 150b)

Farm-y and briny at first, it becomes numbing and dry on the palate, before delivering more farm-y notes. The winner of the pack. 7/10

The Orkney appears to be a shared cask. The other part of the cask was bottled for Germany in 2024, with an ABV 1% lower.

We also see this, which we tried in 2024

27/05/2026 An evening at Cobbler

Just like last time, as soon as we explain to the barman that we like whisky and are keen to discover exclusive bottlings for the local market, he collapses and sends us his manager... who remembers us! She brings us a handful of bottles (amongst which a Ballechin). When JS says smoke is a secondary interest to us, she turns around: "Ah. All of these are smoky" and brings a different selection.

Also, complimentary cobbler on arrival

Mlla b.2025 (53%, Michel Couvreur bottled only for South Korea imported by Splash International, Dry Manzanilla Sherry Butt)

Nose: strongly herbal, like a génépi. Juniper leaves, laurel, fresh rosemary, maybe dried seaweed, though not much salt. Hinoki wood appears at second nosing. It smells like a warm bath in a scented tub.
Mouth: full-bodied, almost syrupy. More herbs (laurel and rosemary again), now complemented with stem ginger and cassia bark. It feels woodier at second sip, though it is still syrupy. Thuja, cypress bark, hinoki.
Finish: big, liqueur-like, this has thuja, hinoki and other scented woods. JS finds grapefruit pips. The second gulp has a lovely pine-tree-bark allure that makes me think of Benrinnes.
Comment: good effort. Matured "over a decade."
Score: 7/10

F b.2025 (53%, Michel Couvreur bottled only for South Korea imported by Splash International, Dry Fino Sherry Butt)

Nose: balsawood, sandalwood, oiled teak furniture and dried rosemary. It has a faint whiff of burnt sugar and torched molasses. The second nose has an earthy perfume from the 1980s, the name of which escapes me.
Mouth: fruitier on the palate, it has prunes and figs soaked in booze, berries liqueur, a gentle lick of wood (distant acacia). drier at second sip, it is very reminiscent of a Fino, mineral with a Sauvignon-Blanc vibe to it.
Finish: dry and robust, it has walnut-shell gratings and crushed fruit stones. Follow flint and slate chippings, bitter and mineral. It is fruity and dry at second gulp, like a good white wine.
Comment: even better. But then, Fino is my favourite type of Sherry.
Score: 7/10

Paired with olives and chocolate

Edradour 11yo 2013/2024 (60%, OB Ibisco Decanter imported by Stirling Korea, Bourbon Barrels, C#413+415+417+418+419+420+421+422+423+424, 1997b)

Nose: spirit-y, medicinal, even. Ether, surgical alcohol -- wait! Peaches appear suddenly and more and more pronounced, as do Turkish delights, then crème brûlée and gentle rubber. The second nose has custard and fruity yoghurt.
Mouth: ester-y and spirit-y again. This might as well be new make, so little character it has. In terms of flavours, that is, because it is otherwise rather fierce, with lashes of surgical alcohol. The second sip is more mineral, with quarry dust peppered over it.
Finish: eau-de-vie-like, here are distilled peach and kaki somewhat hidden behind a generous dash of booze. It is not poorly integrated; it just kicks like a mule. The second gulp is more quaffable, though still powerful. Custard-cream biscuit on acid. Water makes it more biscuit-y and gives it an impression of wet dog (Hardois, si tu nous regardes…)

Comment: the Korean text states Ibisco Decanter as the collection, even if it does not appear in English.
Score: 7/10

Glenlossie 12yo 2013/2025 (60.3%, North Star High Proof Guarantee selected and exclusively bottled for Jens Drewitz imported by Sansibar-Whisky imported by Roehni, 282b)

Nose: the Sherry cask speaks. This is lactic and animal: cow hides, cattle sweat, and it has a hint of alcohol in the back, before oily orange peels appear. The second nose has more and more orange rinds, dried, but still fruity.
Mouth: leathery and animal alright. Cattle breath, raw hides, rancio, and the bitterness of shoe polish. The second sip is more medicinal: ether at first, then plaster glue and muscle straps.
Finish: it kicks too, but citrus comes through more. Oranges, blush oranges, cured tangerines. The second gulp is, again, more medicinal (tuberculin).

Comment: a Korean import of a German import of a Scottish whisky. Ha!
Score: 7/10

Paired with nuts

A few people leave:

tOMoH: "If you want to go scan the shelves, go for it."
JS: "Yeah, now it's clearing up a little."
tOMoH: "Oh! yeah, the other long nose has gone. I'm now the longest nose in the room."
JS: "Let's call you Pinocchio."

We call it a night anyway. Early start tomorrow.

26/05/2026 An evening at Barrel Than Yesterday

One great joy of travelling is discovering that a bar on the other side of the world has whiskies one would never come across anywhere else. They may not be the most prestigious vintages, distilleries or ages, but that does not make them less exclusive.

Unlikely sightings

Tomintoul 8yo d.2014 Release No.106 (56.4%, Angus Dundee for Alistair Walker Infrequent Flyers imported by MetaBev, Oloroso Sherry Puncheon, C#2362, 696b)

Nose: sweet, syrupy, almost heady (in fact, not almost!). This has "cherry jam" written all over it. Waxed leather develops over time. The second nose has pressed currants and dried figs.
Mouth: thick, coating like melted chocolate. It has a clear Mon Chéri touch -- cherry-liqueur-filled, dark-chocolate pralines. JS finds it spicy. The second sip is a little woodier, if still as sweet and liqueur-like.
Finish: long, powerful and sweet. We have more cherry jam and a good dose of melted dark chocolate. A minuscule hint of musk struggles to make itself heard. The second gulp is woodier; oily exotic wood, such as teak or mahogany.
Score: 7/10

Knockdhu 9yo d.2013 Release No.104 (59.5%, Angus Dundee for Alistair Walker Infrequent Flyers imported by MetaBev, Bolgheri Red Wine Hogshead Finish, C#804977, 295b)

Nose: this one has dates and dried figs. It soon progresses to reveal strawberry bubble gum and a pinch of blonde tobacco..
Mouth: unctuous texture, liqueur-like, it has pressed currants, silky Cotton Candy grapes, but also some power. The second sip injects some bitterness into the mix. Wood or mocha? Probably dark wood.
Finish: big, a notch tannic, it has polished wood and coffee beans coated in honey. The second gulp has dried pineapple bark.
Score: 7/10

Ki One 3yo 2022/2025 (56.8%, OB, Hypebeans Coffee Cask, C#0297, 281b, b#211)

Nose: unsurprisingly, it reeks of coffee. More surprising are the notes of seaweed and urchin before it turns citrus-y. Lemon zest and hay. Smoked seaweeds rock up, with one mint crumble. The second nose offers seaweed-flavoured chocolate.
Mouth: it is very woody, especially considering the age -- even though there is no age stated, the distillery only started producing in 2020, so it is six years old at most. There is a hint of sweet latte, some pine-tree bark, followed by smoked grapefruit zest. The second sip is dry as bread dough that has too much flour. Dark flour (buckwheat?)
Finish: big and spicy, it has pine needles soaked in weak, watery coffee. Now, this is not watery! I mean that the coffee is not overpowering. JS calls it almost not a (malt) whisky, it being closer to a rye, sorghum or Coffey malt or grain. The second gulp is more whisky-like, yet it shows the cask influence clearly: coffee grounds, mocha filters, sandalwood and cedarwood.
Score: 7/10

Glen Keith 25yo 1998/2024 (49.7%, Whiskybroker for Club Qing Happy Loner imported by Roehni, First Fill Bourbon Barrel, C#149567, 191b)

Nose: very elegant. It has custard powder, citrus zest and cream soda, powdered peach skin, Turkish delights. The second nose is more-intensely scented, with fruity custard aplenty.
Mouth: it feels a tad watery at first (we just had a few high-octane drams, yeah?), but settles in as a fruity number, without surprise. Citrus zest, dried lichens, flower petals to provide a slight bitterness. It is fruitier at second sip, with peach, lime, grapefruit...What a cocktail!
Finish: wonderful custard cream with citrus zest. It has a little more Bourbon-y spices and lots of acidic fruits.

Comment: we have a winner!
Score: 8/10

Kimchangsoo 4yo 2021/2025 (51.7%, OB Single Cask, 1st Fill European Oloroso Sherry Hogshead, 276b)

Nose: phwoar! A refined peat hits my nostrils rather gently. Bales of dried meadow flowers, purple-primrose petals, then smoked green grapes. This moves from farming to gardening and back again effortlessly. It has a hint of chocolate-flavoured coffee too, but, mostly, it is farm-y. That said, rosewood embers grow in intensity. The second nose is earthier, with sweet potato peels and dried soil.
Mouth: rosewood, rosehip and earthy peat. This has burnt twigs, burnt rose bushes and dried earth (not scorched). It is a juicy, earthy number at second sip, full of drying peat bricks.
Finish: a trifle weaker here, it remains a solid peated whisky with some ozone and tar. The second gulp confirms: ozone, tar, even charcoal dust.
Comment: there are two different bottlings on the shelf. This is not the one we ordered, but we enjoy it anyway.
Score: 7/10

Ben Nevis 26yo 1997/2023 Private Edition No.2 (50.9%, North Star Spirits for Rotten Glasses x The Whisky Agency imported by Roehni, Sherry Butt, 120b)

Nose: a dirty Ben Nevis with sink funk, and some drying fruits, somewhere. We are treated to a vague smell of sewers from the street, and it is hard to tell where the Ben Nevis stops and the sewers start, so close they are.
Mouth: decaying fruits it is. Pineapple, apple, Comice pears, crunchy, crumbly and bruised in more places than necessary. The second sip confirms. Decaying fruits turn dirty, funky and a bit dry.
Finish: it has orchard fruits in disarray (apples, pears, quinces all past decaying point), Korean pears, perhaps kakis. That may be the location playing with my mind. The second gulp has a minty freshness and the drying touch of eucalyptus. Water turns down the funk and increases the fruitiness.
Score: 7/10 (8 with water)

Time to go. There are other drams to try, but tomorrow is another day.

22/05/2026 Glenfarclas

Glenfarclas 12yo (45%, OB for F.W. Hempel Metallurgical GmbH): nose: fruity and very dry, it shifts between hay and dried grapefruit peels. The latter take the upper hand, and even gain moisture, after a moment. Not much, but better than nothing. We catch droplets of grapefruit juice or grapefruit oil. Then, those same grapefruit peels receive the wine treatment: wine-cured grapefruit peels it is, rich and heady. It has a faint smell of an old blend (ye aulde blende); not in a dusty-cardboard way -- more a generic, old-school roughness, almost vinegary, though, of course, not that extreme. One may be tempted to call it briny, but there is no salt whatsoever. It goes back to fruity tones anyhoo, now closer to pressed currants. The second nose has a pile of wood, twigs, really, ready for the fire, slowly crumbling to dust. Last is a glass of heated flat cheap cola. Mouth: old school alright! This was bottled at a time when only a certain demographic would order a Scotch: men of a certain age, mostly smokers. Stale barley syrup, caramel and toffee, cardboard, tobacco oil... Chewing simply increases all that. It is intensely faded orange, a colour inextricably linked to 1970s curtains completely impregnated with tobacco smoke. It has a hint of peppermint at the top, but stale Mokatine is soon the dominant. Oh! and some ashes too. In fact, we have the content of an ashtray in which someone spilled half-a-glass of water. Counterintuitively, that presents a certain charm. The second sip may be a tad brighter, less orange, more yellow, with fresher grapefruits and even pineapple. Tobacco is still present, if more discreet. Finish: stale Mokatine all the way! Dusty caramel on cardboard, oily tobacco, wine-stained dried orange peels, ginger powder, cinnamon powder, ground cloves. It does not come across as overly woody, yet there is an undeniable wood influence at play. A wood-panelled smoking room with faded curtains. No-one is smoking at the moment, but last night's ashtray has not yet been emptied and the fireplace needs a clean. Retro-nasal olfaction gives us a whiff of cigar. Not so much the smoke or the leaves; more the smell that coats the walls of the mouth. Cigar breath, in other words. Genuinely an old geezer's dram. The second gulp plays a soft bitterness against the fruity acidity. Bay leaves or cigar leaves -- definitely cigar leaves, in fact, with a lick of stale Mokatine for good measure. I find this less convincing than on the night; a bit generic. It grows on me, however, and I could go to 8 on another day. 7/10