Around the world with the Society
Here’s a flavour of what’s been going on at the world’s most entertaining whisky club
Celebrating five years of SMWS in China
On a cold and rainy evening on 9 November 2017 we kicked off the first tasting event in Shanghai with 20 whisky enthusiasts. We marked this date as the beginning of the Chinese branch. To celebrate this special anniversary, we chose five special bottles as the 5th anniversary China exclusives, but due to Covid restrictions, unfortunately events were cancelled. The branch now has over 15,000 fans, 2,000 members and 25 partner bars across 16 cities. The SMWS provides over 250 different casks each year to Chinese members, sharing Society whisky around China.
ICYMI: new podcasts
The Society has added two new episodes to the Whisky Talk podcast. Dr Bill Lumsden, the head of distilling and whisky creation at Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, has been a constant force of innovation and flavour development in the industry over the past 30 years. SMWS members were fortunate to attend a tasting conducted by Dr Bill at The Vaults in October, tasting some fantastic whiskies from Glenmorangie, Ardbeg and of course the Society. In the episode he shares his thoughts on everything in the whisky world from additional maturation to non-aged statements, the use of sherry casks and a whole lot more in between.
Episode 50 of Whisky Talk features Karine Polwart, one of Scotland’s most respected singer-songwriters. She sat down at The Vaults with Vic Galloway for the latest episode of Whisky Talk: Malts & Music, to talk about about her passion for whisky and what songs – and places – our selection of Society drams conjured up in her mind.
Lifetime achievement award for Pip
SMWS founder Pip Hills received a significant lifetime achievement award for services to Scotch whisky at a national awards celebration at the end of November. Pip was presented with the Dr Jim Swan Award at the 4th annual Scottish Whisky Awards in recognition of his trailblazing efforts to create what is now the world’s largest whisky club, with over 35,000 members.
You can read more about the award here.
Society visit to Clydeside Distillery
Late in October a handful of Scotch Malt Whisky Society members gathered on a dreich night in Glasgow for a special Society visit to Clydeside Distillery. After being drawn in by the alluring wafts of the sweet new make spirit and the glowing golden stills, members were warmly welcomed with a refreshing Clydeside cocktail, complete with ginger beer and lime. Tour guide David led the group through the distillery taking them through the industrial history of the area and the distillation process before finally showing off the mash tun, washbacks and stills. Members soaked up the experience whilst chatting to the distillers and taking in the intriguing range of aromas meandering through the distillery.
After the tour, David welcomed the group around a table where he walked them through four single malt drams produced by the distillery. The group were able to try two exclusive Clydeside spirits, one matured in a bourbon cask and the other in a sherry cask. They were then able to sample a pour from the distillery’s Stobcross bottling. The tasting was then wrapped up with a 61% ABV cask strength expression called Dechar Rechar, which quickly became a favourite among members. After being gifted with their very own Clydeside glasses and treating themselves to a bottle or two from the gift shop, the members were driven back to the Bath Street Members Room for dinner. Members finished off the evening with Cask No. 94.32: Sunshine on a wedding breakfast and Smokus fruticosus, a new small batch release.
Sprucing things up
In the August edition of Unfiltered Magazine, we wrote about an exciting new collaboration with the Wasted Degrees brewery in Blair Athol to create a whisky influenced beer. The brewery used four Society casks handpicked by our own Head of Whisky Creation Euan Campbell to produce a limited edition barrel-aged spruce tip stout.
After their use, the casks will be returned to the Society where they will once again be filled with Society whisky. The barrel-aged spruce tip stout was released on 1 November with 2,393 cans. This project is just one of five taking place between Wasted Degrees and SMWS, which involves 17 casks in total.
A Sense of Place in NYC
Over in the US, American members were able to chat with author Dave Broom as a part of his A Sense of Place US book tour. The evening events in Boston, New York and Washington DC, saw attendees guided through Dave's beautifully crafted narrative whilst enjoying six single malt whiskies from distilleries featured in the book.
A Sense of Place is a personal journey exploring Scotland's whisky through its terroir- including the land, weather, history, craft, and culture that feeds and enhances the whisky itself.
Photo credit A.J. Gottschalk
DIY Drams
Over in the north of the Netherlands, Society Members André Boekholt and Rob Vergouw of Oude Pekela were inspired to share SMWS whisky with their local whisky club. They struck up the idea to put on a tasting for their friends and fellow malt lovers. The pair were keen to introduce their club to Society drams and worked together to orchestrate a tasting session. Rob selected a range of drams for the group to try whilst André, who just joined the Society this year, enthusiastically volunteered to host the tasting. We hope that the club’s members were just as impressed with the whisky as André and Rob were.
