We could tell straight away this was a heavier and oilier type of distillate. Lots of initial aromas of rapeseed oils, mechanical tool box rags, hessian cloth, olive oil and liquorice. Some dark fruit beers, black tea, red apple skins and dried cranberry. Water brought hints of wine must, lemon cough drops, myrtle, hawthorne and mustard power warmth. The palate maintained this sense of weight with notes of chopped dates, cinder toffee, aniseed sweets and heather honey cake. Also putty and waxiness. Water brought an elegant leathery note, along with plum wine, fir wood resins and more aniseed notes that included liquorice and some herbal liqueurs. Matured for 13 years in a bourbon hogshead before being transferred to a 1st fill American oak oloroso sherry hogshead.

About Balmenach

Situated in the district of Cromdale on the banks of the River Spey the distillery stands in beneath the nearby hill of Tom Lethendry where the Jacobites were defeated in the Battle of Cromdale in 1690.

Balmenach Distillery is one of the earliest distilleries sanctioned as a result of the Excise Act 1823. In 1897 the distillery was purchased by Glenlivet and was served by its own railway branch off the Strathspey Railway until 1969. The distillery closed in 1941 and re-opened in 1947, following expansion of its facilities.

The Distillery is owned by Inver House Distillers Limited, a privately owned distiller whose other distilleries include: Speyburn-Glenlivet Distillery; Knockdhu Distillery; Balblair Distillery; and, Old Pulteney Distillery.

About SMWS

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends lead by tax accountant Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills as a private members club. The concept behind the society was to source casks from all over Scotland which would then be bottled and made available exclusively to its members. Perhaps the most famous feature of these bottles are the unique codes. Each distillery is represented by a different number and the following digits indicate that particular release. That same year, the SMWS set up its first location in Leith’s Vault buildings in Edinburgh where it still stands today.