More than a number
If life begins at 40, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is living, breathing proof that it’s a fantastically exciting age to hit – and this past year has shown that as we enter our fifth decade, we’re in ruder health than ever.
WORDS: ANDREW DANE
That’s certainly the case when it comes to how many of you have signed up to be part of the Society, with membership numbers now approaching the 40,000 number for the first time in our history.
Much of that growth has been due to our increasing global reach and the number of people around the world who are discovering not only the Society’s incredible quality and variety of whisky, but the community we bring together to share it with at our Members’ Rooms, events, festivals, partner bars and online activities. Among the year’s highlights were the official opening of our newest international branches, in South Korea and Taiwan, where we’re already building passionate families of new Society fans.
ABOVE: Our new team in Korea get to know the SMWS with a visit to our Bath Street Members’ Room in Glasgow
ABOVE: the SMWS team celebrates the official opening of our Masterton Bond facility in March
Hitting a milestone such as 40 is always a mix of reflecting on where you’ve come from, and where you’re going. We kicked off the year by paying a nostalgic journey back in time to the remote Aberdeenshire farm where our founder, Pip Hills, first experienced the epiphany of tasting cask strength whisky drawn straight from a single cask. It was the precise moment that inspired him to set up a whisky society that would go on to share his personal discovery of whisky in its purest form.
Pip’s passion is still central to the Society he founded in 1983 – and it was a pleasure to have him as a guest at the official opening of our new maturation warehouse and bottling plant in Uddingston in March. Our Masterton Bond facility is testimony to where we see The Scotch Malt Whisky Society going in the future, with more control over cask maturation, bottling and distribution, as well as helping us lower our carbon footprint and tread more lightly on the planet.
Members, of course, are central to everything we do – and we were delighted to host 13 prize winning representatives from across the world to visit us at The Vaults in February, to take part in our first ever cask selection event for our annual Gathering celebrations. As one of the prize winners, Samantha Rothbart, subsequently wrote for Unfiltered: “At The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, we come for the whisky, but we stay for the company.” You never know where your Society membership might take you.
Of course, the huge variety and consistent quality of our whisky is at the heart of everything we do, and this year has been bigger and better than ever before. We’ve seen recognition across various prestigious whisky competitions for the quality of our bottlings, taking the number of awards gained since 2018 to 297 in total for the SMWS, with more than 50 per cent of the awards for our additionally matured whisky in the ‘better than gold’ category.
ABOVE: The Society has now picked up 297 awards across various competitions since 2018
ABOVE: A Guinness World Record is a wonderful way to mark our 40th anniversary year
We can also now count ourselves as a Guinness World Records holder – for the epic worldwide tasting that saw 447 of you in more than 15 countries come together in our online tasting event at the end of September – a huge achievement and a fantastic example of how the Society brings people together – whether it’s the afternoon in Edinburgh, 7am in the United States or midnight in Australia.
Of course, when you reach a certain age you also have to make sure you’re looking after yourself – and that’s exactly what we’ve done at our spiritual home of The Vaults, where we started out in 1983. The main part of the building itself dates back to the 17th century, so it’s had a few incarnations over the years, and it was time for us to give our Members’ Room a bit of a facelift. The bar now takes pride of place in the middle of the southwest wall, with more bottles on display and our treasured collection of .1 first distillery releases providing the perfect backdrop and a window into our 40-year history.
Look carefully at the carving on the bar and you’ll also see a quote from Pip: “The people who said it couldn’t be done were so dull.” We always hope to live up to that attitude of challenging convention, taking our own path, playing a progressive and inclusive role in the whisky world – and making sure we have fun along the way.
As we head into the new year we’re planning on bringing members an even richer experience in 2024, building on the best parts of who we are to deliver the world’s best whisky and ways to enjoy it together.
ABOVE: Getting hands on with a precious cask at our warehouse
We’ll see the new Membership & Bottle pack being rolled out, and our Drop & Dram subscription service that allows new whisky adventurers to savour what the Society offers. Our cask ownership programmes will also allow individuals or groups of members to join forces to enjoy a whole cask worth of Society bottles as we look ahead to our 50th anniversary in 2033.
Thank you to all of you for your continued support, your passion for the Society, and here’s to the next decade and beyond. I hope you have a peaceful and happy holiday and a great new year when it comes.
Slàinte!
Andrew Dane, Chief Executive