Matt Bailey

The times they are achangin’

This is a landmark Outturn. By the time you’re reading this, you’re either rugged up with a good book & a dram, or you’re safe from all this resurgence of COVID we’re seeing again. In what would have been a Champs month last month has been pushed back to October, and we’re all hoping there’s enough vaccinations to go around sooner rather than later! We’ve only knocked over the first half of the year, but what a whirlwind it’s already been.

The second thing you’ll notice is that this is a bigger Outturn, both in physical size and offering. Our first ever Australian release is here, and we’re super excited to share this with you. This is a turning point for both Australian whisky, and for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. We’ve worked incredibly hard in making this happen, and it’s been a long and winding road that is just at the beginning.

As you’ll read further into this Outturn, you’ll see we’ve devised three chapters of this journey, culminating in the bottling of 147.1. Renowned Australian whisky writer and reviewer, Luke McCarthy, kicks off the first chapter of this story looking at the very early beginnings of Australian whisky production. Distilleries like Warrenheip, Federal, and Corio that can justifiably be called the first wave of Aussie whiskies. It goes back further than you might realise!

Our Chairman and Cellarmaster, Andrew Derbidge, tackles chapter two of this story and takes a look at the growing pains of the early 90’s onwards, with the likes of Cradle Mountain, Lark, and Sullivans Cove. This era is arguably the most important in the current context of where we are today as an industry, as many of these distilleries have shaped the landscape of distillation in Australia.

The final chapter which I’ve penned looks at where we are now, and how we got here. The meat and potatoes of modern Australian whisky and how it’s changing even today. This industry never slows down, diversity of offering is increasing, and those distilleries who are producing with purpose and getting the fundamentals right will shape our national dialogue and palate for decades to come.

So with that, we raise a glass to distillery 147 joining the Society’s esteemed coding system that keeps the focus on the quality of what’s in the glass. The first of many Australian whiskies the Society has been quietly beavering away on, ensuring the quality is always panel-approved and worthy of wearing our monogram. A moment in our history, in showing the world what the Aussies can do, and doing it our way. This isn’t ‘hit and hope’; this isn’t ‘what’s available to us’; this is hand-picked, locally-bottled, panel-approved, and utterly enjoyable.

Elsewhere in this issue we also have an incredible list of other Society single casks as always, including the delicious Malt of the Month, Cask 48.120 “Worm tub stodge” which oozes everything we love about worm tub distilleries from the stone fruits to the tinned peaches and beyond, it’s a ripper. Keep an eye on our livestreams and website as always for all the latest write-ups, videos, and more for this special Outturn.

Cheers,

Matt Bailey ~ SMWS National Ambassador