On October 4, 2011, Alan Shayne, President of the SMWS of America and Freddy May, Glenfiddich Brand Ambassador put on a tasting at the Downtown Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri. The tasting included five SMWS bottlings, four Glenfiddich distillery bottlings and a three course dinner.

The SMWS was started in 1983 by enthusiasts who wanted a chance to taste whisky directly from the cask. It has grown tremendously since then and now has thousands of members and many branches around the world, including: Australia, Austria, Benelux, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the U.S.A.  Each bottle is a casks strength, single cask, non-chill filtered bottling that has been selected by a committee that meets weekly to evaluate potential casks. The bottlings available in the US differ from those in the UK. The society was acquired by Glenmorangie, PLC in 2004.

The origins of the Society begin with Phillip “Pip” Hills in the late 1970s, when  he sampled several whiskies drawn straight from the cask in his travels through the Scottish Highland

In 1978, he persuaded several acquaintances to share in the cost of a cask from the Glenfarclas distillery. Over time, the group of friends expanded to become a small syndicate and more casks were purchased, bottled and distributed to subscribing members.

Coinciding with the decision to open membership to the wider public in 1983, the Society purchased its first property, The Vaults, in Leith. The Society created a set of members’ rooms there. Today the society also has rooms in Edinburgh and London for tasting and purchasing their bottlings. To purchase bottles one has to be a member of the society.

The Society has an agreement with distillers not to print the names of the distillery on their bottles and so has devised a code. The code has two numbers. The first denotes the distillery and the second denotes what number cask has been bottled from that distillery. So for instance one of the malts we tasted was designated, Cask No. 27.90. The 27 corresponds with the Springbank Distillery and this is the 90th cask bottled from Springbank. The Society also has whimsical names for each bottling which attempt to sum up the flavor profile.

Next was “Chutney on Hot Wood,” Cask No. 71.33, from Glenburgie. (Used in Ballantine Blends.) This dram is from a refill sherry butt, aged 20 years and bottled at 57.4% ABV. Dried dark fruits, nutty and ginger spicy on the nose. The palate shows walnuts, more hot spice, like wasabi and a savory sweetness. Society tasting notes here. BUMS rating 80-85

Finally, two firecracker smoke-heads...Springbank and the Bruichladdich Port Charlotte.

Finally, Freddy May came forward to talk up the Glenfiddich line of single malts. He led us through a tasting of the Glenfiddich 15 Solera Reserve, Glenfiddich 18, Glenfiddich 21 and Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix.

A Solera is a large vat that, in the case of Glenfiddich, is capable of holding 9 1/2 thousand gallons of whisky. In the Solera aging process for the Glenfiddich 15, Solera Reserve, 40% ABV, whisky that is aged at least 15 years old is poured into the Solera vat which is never completely emptied when bottlings are done. Each time only half of the Solera is emptied, so that over time each batch has older and older whisky in it. This process also means that from batch to batch there is little difference because of this amalgamation of barrels.  Although I like the Solera Reserve it has a slight bubble gum scent on the nose as well as lemon, pecan and wood. On the palate, is a light sherry hit, followed by honey, light malt and butterscotch. Before emptying into the Solera, the Glenfiddich 15 is aged in a combination of virgin American oak as well as ex sherry and ex bourbon casks. BUMS rating 75-80

Each Glenfiddich bottling is a different combination of  the percentage of sherry aged casks to bourbon aged casks. In this case we have 80% sherry casks, which gives this bottling a richer, deeper flavor than the 12 or the 15. Each batch of Glenfiddich 18 is made up of a 120 barrel vatting where the flavors are allowed to “marry”. That’s a rather small batch size, so they have to be very choosy on their barrels since each can affect the flavor so strongly. To give a comparison, about 800 barrels go into a batch of Grant’s blends...three times a week.  Glenfiddich 18, 43% ABV has a nice butterscotch, caramel nose, with some nuttiness and creme brulee. The palate is slightly oily and creamy with honeyed cereal and dark fruits with a bit of red pepper spiciness. BUMS rating 80-85

Finally, we had the delicious Glenfiddch Snow Phoenix, NAS, 47.6% ABV. This bottling contains whisky ranging from 13-30 years old in various casks. On the nose it is floral with pear, sherry, vanilla, pineapple and a spicy note.On the palate it is creamy, with caramel maltiness, some white pepper spiciness and blackberry fruit. The finish was long with a dark chocolate ending.  With water it becomes more malty and creamy. BUMS rating 85-9o  This may still be available in some locations but was a one-off bottling of 60,000 bottles early last year. Now hard to find.

An enjoyable night. Thanks to our hosts for getting to St. Louis and Cheers to them and all of you. SMWS bottlings available only to members, on line. http://www.smwsa.com/