Here is our last USA Exclusive cask of 2020, and your last chance to own a whisky bottled only for US members of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society during this historic year! The process for choosing this special cask was a very comprehensive one. With more than ten thousand casks maturing in our warehouse in Scotland, dozens of casks were considered and many taste-tested to ensure that this selection would represent our commitment to not only bottling the very best single whisky in the world, but also offering a special whisky that our US members could truly appreciate during the holiday season. After a thorough taste-test of many samples, all conducted with no prior knowledge of the spirits’ origin, age, cask type, or strength, we are proud to present our latest USA Exclusive Cask chosen by your SMWS America team: Cask 16.48 Gunsmoke over the moor!

Reflecting on the cask selection process, SMWS America team member Ben Diedrich says:

‘One thing I love about Society whisky and its celebration of the single cask is that just when you think you’ve tasted it all, there is yet another surprising waiting to be discovered. This whisky is absolute madness; a brutish profile of gun smoke, burnt hay, dampened wool, vegetable stew, and bike chain grease. Plumes of smoke are intertwined with cold earth and steel, which has me envisioning a mid-winter hunting trip to the Scottish Highlands. The spirit is bold yet elegant, aggressive yet serene. It’s an absolute stunner of a whisky and I could not think of a better tasting experience to keep us warm by the fire this holiday season.

As with our previous USA exclusive casks, we anticipate very high interest among our members. To ensure you have a fair opportunity to order a bottle yourself, Cask 16.48 is available via lottery drawing only. Entries must be completed by Monday, December 21 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. To enter the lottery drawing, please click the link below. Good luck!

Cask No. 16.48

Title: Fire your engines

Tasting Note: A bewildering nose that jangled with fermenting fruits, mutton broth, oily sheep wool, camphor, smoked olive oil, gorse, putty and limestone. Mineral, farmy and densely meaty - huge notes of paraffin, bike chain grease and deconstructed tractor engines. With water the nose was all on caraway, raw antiseptic, wood ash, kippers drizzled with olive oil and brine and then pickled onion chips. Salted pistachios and mud smoothie! The neat palate was riddled with burning hay, iodine, more chips - salt ‘n’ vinegar this time - goat cheese rolled in ash, roof pitch, caraway eau de vie and carbolic acid. Total, yet rather brilliant, madness. Reduction brought canvass, wax jacket grease, tarragon, Thai sweet chilli chips (so, many chips!), smoked paprika sausage, horseradish, vegetables in Scotch broth, salty pasta water, natural tar and petrol-doused hessian! A single prawn cocktail chip in the aftertaste...

Age:10 years

Date distilled:December 2009

ABV:60.1%

Region:Highland Southern

Barrel:Re-charred hogshead

Outturn: 261 bottles

US Allocation: 261 bottles

Price: $105

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