Revision of SMWS Outturn 253 - Hearty Brunch from Mon, 05/06/2017 - 20:46

SMWS 10.113 - The crowd pleaserA very good list here, albeit with teething problems again...

The 7.168 is yet again delayed due to labelling issues, and the 37.91 will arrive mid-month (watch for an update!). But to make up for it, there are three special Feis Ile 2017 bottlings.

There are also three mail-order exclusives - 44.80, 9.120 and 50.94. I have no issues with putting them in the outturn, but having spent a Friday evening at the bar sampling whiskies I can say that it's not done very well. There was a steady stream of people wandering up to the bar hoping to try them, and then being disappointed. I know there's a clear logo stating "mail order only" on each entry, but people do assume (not unreasonably) that the SMWS member's room will have the SMWS whiskies available at it. I'm not asking for them to appear at the bar here - although that would be lovely - but I think that the delayed and mail-order drams should probably go into their own section at the back, with a different coloured background and "Not at the member's rooms" prominently displayed. Having so many people be disappointed by when trying to buy a dram cannot be good in the long term...

That having been said, time to move on to the list itself. And it's a bit chalk and cheese for me this month. A lot of the drams I thought I'd like didn't score as high as I'd hoped, because they suddenly became dominated by spicy notes when I added water. I don't think I've written the word "cinnamon" so often! And yet there are three drams scoring 4.5 - the sherry monster that is the Glenrothes, the peaty joy that is the Bunnahabhain, and the younger of the two Highland Parks. If you had the light and sweet drams in the betting pool, I feel sorry for you!

There are also three drams that get a respectable score of 4. The younger Bowmore balances fruit with smoke delightfully. The Ardmore tastes like a Caol Ila, which is no bad thing! The Auchentoshan has a lovely light sherrying, very well handled.

Sherried and peated whiskies being my favourites? Are you sure you're still in the universe you woke up in this morning? ...