SMWS Codename : 68.28 “Monkberry moon delight” (aka, Jon’s Crackseed Store Delight)

Distillery : Blair Athol

Country/Region : Highland

ABV : 56.1%

Cask : Rechar Hogshead

Age : 8 Years (Distilled 11 June 2010)

Nose : Mashed berry monkey moonshine— the initial aroma is hot and takes some time to cool off.  Overripe berries and artificially fruity starburst begin to come forward, joined by the fruity sarsaparilla of root-beer and some twangy banana ketchup.  The fruit notes take over the longer the dram breathes with fresh figs and plums along with wolf berry (goji berries) pastries.

Palate : The dram opens just hot on the palate as it did on the nose and really needs time to open up.  Patience is rewarded with leathery dried persimmons, sweet katsu sauce, and fresh green vegetation.  The flavor profile has a nicely balanced sweetness even as it turns toward the candied notes of Haw flakes.  Wolf berry pastries, grape fluoride, and dried Chinese hawthornes (or mountain hawthorn/haw berry) come near the end and gradually come to dominate the palate giving it a fruity almost medicinal quality.

Finish : Lingering heat and fruity candies— haw flakes and dried plums.

SMWS Codename : 107.17 “Kissing a rainbow”

Distillery : Glenallachie

Country/Region : Speyside

ABV : 62.3%

Cask : 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

Age : 7 Years (Distilled 26 July 2011)

Nose : Opens with a baby burp of spoiled milk and stomach acid.  Beyond the spoiled milk are sweet candies: faintly waxy cinnamon red vines and licorice ropes.  If there is any rainbow here it is the aroma of melted skittles.

Palate : Sugar rush!  White sugar artificially fruity candy leads the charge: skittles, starbursts, and the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal.  The flavor profile is very one dimensional with different variations on artificial fruit flavors and sugar coming through : cherry flavored cough syrup anyone?  There are occasionally more pleasant notes, sweet tobacco leaf or tempura, the come forward, but the palate is very simple.

Finish : Bit of heat along with skittles and red vines.  The finish does not develop much or linger.

SMWS Codename : 113.22 “Cream of the crop”

Distillery : Braeval

Country/Region : Speyside

ABV : 63.0%

Cask : First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

Age : 8 Years (Distilled 22 Oct. 2010)

Nose : Opens with grassy sweet sugar cane and green unripened tropical fruits— pineapples, bananas, and mangos.  The nose is faintly sweet and like ripening fruit is has a fresh almost starchy note.  As the aroma develops a minty wintergreen comes through and takes the drivers seat.  Its either the experience of smelling a bundle of mint among cases of tropical fruit at a farmer’s market or chewing sticks of minty wintergreen and tropical fruit gum at the same time.

Palate : Lovely combination of licorice, fruit, and spices comes through on a medium oily body.  Mulled apple cider provides a sparkling fruitiness along with cloves, star anise, orange peel, and ginger.  Licorice notes come through with the star anise and grassy shiso leaf which also give the dram a sinus clearing herbal-medicine note.  The fruity notes have a tart edge like a half-assed homemade fresh cranberry sauce at thanksgiving.

Finish : Lingering sweetness of a caramel banana split along with slightly bitter toasted herbs.

SMWS Codename : 13.75 “Briny Dancer” (aka, Summer Love is Gone, No Regrets)

Distillery : Dalmore

Country/Region : Highlands

ABV : 59.1%

Cask : 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

Age : 11Years (Distilled 31 May 2007)

Nose : Light and delicate there are fleeting notes of floral strawberries, pink bubblegum, and sugar cane.  Everything is so subdued— the maritime notes come out as if one were walking down a street a few blocks from the sea and came across a group of people who just came from the ocean and still smelled faintly of salty and sun tun lotion.  Additional seaside notes come forward with aquarium fish tanks, melting pineapple ice cream, and wet bathing suites.

Palate : Creamy and buttery, the body on this dram is thick and viscous with a beautiful oily quality.  Subtle maritime notes come through in a faint sea breeze and only come through a bit stronger in combination with the creamier notes to create the impression of lobster bisque.  Lobster comes through even more strongly as a sweet and faintly salty seafood covered in butter.  Buttery ghee, buttery pasta, buttery prawns— the butter quality on this dram is absolutely lip smacking.  Melting tropical fruit flavored ice cream comes near the end providing a creamy fruity conclusion.

Finish : The melted ice cream continues into a velvety long finish. 

SMWS Codename : 77.57 “Down the old wax mines” (aka, Summer Sunshine)

Distillery : Glen Ord

Country/Region : Highland

ABV : 59.1%

Cask : Refill Hogshead

Age : 9 Years (Distilled 7 April 2009)

Nose : Opens with the creamy twang of a vanilla greek yogurt.  Waxy paper notes of a new comic book balance against the creaminess which turns toward a fragrant fruity body lotion.  Citrusy lemon, lime, and orange combine with cherries to smother a scoop of ice cream or blend into to tangy yogurt.  Orange oil wood varnish cuts through the cream.

Palate : Gorgeous waxy mouthfeel, this dram is rich and full bodied.  Bits of caramelized creme brûlée provide balance for the load of juicy fruits that tumble out.  A late summer fruit pie— a strawberry rhubarb or blueberry cobbler.  Lovely toasted pastry notes highlight the richness of the fruit.

Finish : A pie that lingers and lingers— strawberry, spices, cream, and flaky pie crust.

SMWS Codename : 10.175 “Pork scratching eau de vie”

Distillery : Bunnahabhain

Country/Region : Islay

ABV : 61.0%

Cask : Refill Hogshead

Age : 11 Years (Distilled 3 Oct. 2007)

Nose : Sinus clearing smelling salts and bile.  There is an unpleasant stink to this one; scalded milk, slightly spoiled milk, or—if you’ve ever worked in a cafe, ice cream shop, or other milky occupation, it is the smell of your clothes or apron after a long shift (or maybe a few shifts without washing).  Beyond the milk is some sugary vanilla syrup, a few wedges of green apple, and the light grassiness of an old lawn mower.

Palate : Exceptionally salty salt and vinegar chips.  It is a bit astringent and slightly bitter.  Vague fishy-meaty maritime notes come through as salted mackerel or pickled herring.  

Finish : Despite the salt on the palate, the dram fades quickly towards sweet sugars and just a hint of oily fish.

SMWS Codename : 93.115 “Seafood Cycles” (aka, Banana Lumpia)

Distillery : Glen Scotia

Country/Region : Campbeltown

ABV : 61.2%

Cask : First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

Age : 8 Years (Distilled 4 May 2010)

Nose : Bananas: slightly sweet, creamy, and starchy.  March of the Bananas: brown banana, mashed banana, banana brûlée, banana lumpia— mashed banana and sugar wrapped in a thin pastry shell and deed fried.  Beyond the fruit and pastry notes are metal polish and salt water pool.

Palate : Chocolate covered bananas from an Edible Arrangements Thank You bouquet.  Lovely slightly bitter chocolate and sweet banana combine with just a hint of smoke in the background.  Was the banana grilled?  The chocolate smoked?  Lovely sweetness like freshwater crayfish, creamy green curry, and a metallic bit like silver polish or when you accidentally bite down on a piece of silverware.

Finish : Lovely sweet charcoal smoke comes out on the finish along with some fruity punch.

SMWS Codename : 53.297 “Stampede of peat”

Distillery : Caol Ila

Country/Region : Islay

ABV : 58%

Cask : Refill Hogshead

Age : 11 Years (Distilled 24 Sept. 2007)

Nose : Plenty of heady maritime salt along with a burning plastic that really clears out the sinus.  Iodine and band-aides give the dram a medicinal edge.  Lemon scented cleaning products come forward along with murky mop water.  There is a bit of butterscotch sweetness to the nose, but its mostly dominated by the maritime, medicinal, chemical notes.

Palate : Dry and astringent— the body starts off with lemon scented furniture polish and wood chips.  A bit of smoke and char comes through as singed hair.  Nutty roasted peanuts come near the end.

Finish : Boiled peanuts linger for while along with black pepper and a bit of spice.