ISLAY FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LOTTERIES
As our Festival Season reaches its climax, we are thrilled to present three (3) new casks - all exclusively bottled for US members of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society - in commemoration of the Islay Whisky Festival! The tiny Hebridean island of Islay is home to some of the most sought-after whiskies in the world and has successfully captured the hearts and minds of whisky lovers everywhere. Our offering today takes us to the sandy beaches of Loch Indaal and the calming Sound of Islay with three perfectly peated casks for your collection!
If you like peated whisky, you will LOVE Distillery 10 Small Batch Release – Smoky Maritime Hit! This ‘heavily peated’ seven-year-old malt was created especially for US members by Spirits Manager Euan Campbell, featuring a marriage of Pedro Ximenez hogsheads and re-charred hogsheads. Please click here to watch Euan presenting his creation with SMWS America Director Tom Smith. This marriage of heavily peated spirit matured in sherried and charred casks creates an unforgettable experience for our Islay devotees! Seductively smoky aromas leap out of the glass accompanied by dried fruits, salted caramels and an incredible assortment of spices! The smoke crescendos through the palate with savoury foods, floral accents and a lovely touch of maritime character indicative of the region. Sweetness returns on the lengthy finish for a decadent dive into the deep end of the peat pool! Of note, there is a two (2) bottle limit per member for this exceptional release (one for you and one for your best friend!) and you may place your order immediately to secure your collection!
Our next two single casks are USA exclusives as well! Cask 3.316 Madame Butterfly in the Garden of Eden is an enchanting dram, perfect if you are seeking a lighter touch of peat in the glass. Bursting with floral elegance and honeyed character, the smoke is more perfumed and persistent throughout the palate, treating us to a complex and captivating dram. Cask 53.367 A Green Sea Tapestry draws us to the ocean for a driftwood bonfire with incredible aromas. Smoke and mineral character is joined by iodine, vanilla, toasted marshmallows and smoky fish on the palate. Its powerful dose of peat is alluring whilst notes of anise, thyme and caramel join in the seaside fun. This is big, boisterous whisky that will make your mouth water for another dram!
The popularity of our Islay Whisky Festival releases is unparalleled. Considering their limited quantity, Cask 3.316 and Cask 53.367 are both available via lottery drawing only, to ensure all our peat-loving members have a fair opportunity to order a bottle. Entries must be completed by Monday, May 24th at 12:00PM ET. Winning member names will be drawn at that time. They will be contacted shortly thereafter and will have 48 hours to purchase their bottle(s). To enter the lottery drawings, please click the links below.
The Society’s Tom Smith and Jenna Elie sat down earlier today to taste our Islay Festival 2021 collection…. click here to check out their thoughts on this exceptional trio! Each beautifully designed bottle offers a singularly compelling taste experience that captures the magic of this legendary isle. Be sure to participate in our two lotteries and to secure your bottles of Distillery 10 Small Batch Release - Smoky Maritime Hit today before they are gone forever!
Slàinte mhath!
Distillery 10 Small Batch
Title: Smoky Maritime Hit
Tasting Note: Sweet, smoked raisins, beech smoked prunes, smoked orange marmalade and chargrilled lobster served in a smoky balsamic sauce – in three words: massive, sweet smoke! However, nothing could prepare us for the taste neat, ‘we were going up in smoke’! Soy roast whole duck with a tangerine-hoisin glaze, salty, briny and ashy but at the same time it was like biting into a toffee apple - crunchy crackly caramel surrounding a juicy ripe apple. With water we dowsed a beach barbeque with sea water, opened a heather ale and had smoky candy floss before we ate a Reuben sandwich with homemade smoky Russian dressing and a spiced rum soaked Jamaican ginger cake accompanied by a ‘Phenol Espresso’.
Age: 7 years
Date distilled: October 2013
ABV: 59.6%
Region: Islay
Barrel: Second-fill Pedro Ximenez & re-charred hogsheads
Outturn: 932 bottles
US Allocation: 932 bottles
Price: $140
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Cask No. 3.316
Title:Madame Butterfly in the Garden of Eden
Tasting Note: Some whiskies take you to sunny places – this one trails you through gardens and orchards – the nose has orchard fruits; pear, peach then lemon cake, restrained lavender, geraniums, bog myrtle, flowering laurel and cherry blossom – also delicate wood smoke, ash and hints of leather. The palate has blackberry, melon, lavender honey and violet creams, but leans more to suggestions of seaweed, shrimp and langoustine, smoked fish and Earl Grey tea, with perfumed smoke – sweet, salty, smoky and silky smooth – one panellist saw ‘Madame Butterfly smoking a cigarette in the Garden of Eden’. The finish picks up stem ginger and sweet aniseed warmth.
Age: 16 years
Date distilled: February 2004
ABV: 56.2%
Region: Islay
Barrel: Second-fill hogshead
Outturn: 178 bottles
US Allocation: 178 bottles
Price: $245
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The entry period for the Islay Festival lottery is now closed. We will be contacting all winners after 1pm on May 24th, and will email all members who entered when the drawing is officially completed. Please allow us up to a week to make all the selections. Feel free to email info@smwsa.com or give us a call at 646-844-1154 if you have any questions!
Cask No. 53.367
Title:A green sea tapestry
Tasting Note: Our noses twitched at the peat smoke, white pepper, Sudocrem and muscle rub, before discovering a green tapestry of smoky stewed spinach, moss on a dyke, seaweed sorbet, olives in brine and bread dipped in moules marinieres liquor. The palate was equally smoky, but somehow cleaner, even elegant – poached pears, oysters, pickled cucumber, sea-salt sherbet, thyme, samphire and smoked mackerel. New aromas on the reduced nose were cut grass, pea shoots, lime and eucalyptus; peanuts in shells, toasted sesame seeds, popcorn and swimming pools. The reduced palate remained substantially textured, with flavours of salted caramel, liquorice, pine sap and mint humbugs.
Age: 10 years
Date distilled: September 2010
ABV: 60.3%
Region: Islay
Barrel: Refill hogshead
Outturn: 265 bottles
US Allocation: 265 bottles
Price: $145
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The entry period for the Islay Festival lottery is now closed. We will be contacting all winners after 1pm on May 24th, and will email all members who entered when the drawing is officially completed. Please allow us up to a week to make all the selections. Feel free to email info@smwsa.com or give us a call at 646-844-1154 if you have any questions!