I’ve been getting back into scotch lately particularly with cask strength IB bottles so I decided to give the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society a try especially since the membership and a bottle included an intriguing 19 year Speyside with a moscatel finish.
Whiskey Network Review #248: Scotch Malt Whiskey Society 36.168 Fruity, Earth and Exciting
Distillery: Benrinnes
Age: 19 years
Abv: 113.2 proof
Initial Cask: Ex-bourbon hogshead
Final Cask: 1st fill ex-moscatel hogshead
Price: $150
Neat
Nose: Dark fruit, warm spice, oak, honey, something else sweet I can’t place
Taste: More dark fruit, brown sugar, warm holiday spices and honey.
Finish: Long, warm and dry with lingering spice, pepper and oak notes
Conclusion
I really enjoyed that. I was hoping for a bit more earthiness especially for a leather note they called out on the label. The moscatel finish definitely added a lot of sweetness that brought out notes that reminded me of my favorite sweeter bourbons.
As far as the SMWS goes I’ll continue to order some bottles for the rest of the year and evaluate at the end whether I felt like it was worth it.
TL;DR: Fruity and exciting, not all that earthy. Great intro the SMWS bottlings.
8 - an excellent bottle I’d like to have at home
Scale
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