May Outturn 2024

Dishing up on Friday 3 May Issue 5, 2024

DESSERTS TO DIE FOR

Whisky & desserts are a match made in heaven. Join us throughout May in celebrating all those wonderful pairings with each cask

YOUR SOCIETY

DESSERTS TO DIE FOR

BY MATT BAILEY

Just last month, one of our amazing ambassadors Matt Wooler, along with his friend and collaborator Osheen Arakelian from Dolly’s Donuts, brought a dessert & unusual pairing to life in Sydney.

Donuts and drams. Sounds bloody unreal. It’s both an unusual pairing, and a desserts & drams night, really. All brought to life thanks to Wooler’s inimitable hosting style, Oshi’s amazing donuts, and The Captain’s Balcony’s latest venue in Crows Nest. The part that not a single guest in the room would have been ready for was when the ‘meat pie donut’ came out. What?! A savoury donut that was centred around a meat pie in construction.

This kind of thing is what I love most at the SMWS, and in pairing flavours. Those moments where you say “nah, this couldn’t possibly work” and then it creates that 1+1=3 moment. This equation has been mentioned a few times over the years thanks to regular collaborators with the Society such as Franz Scheurer and Andrew Derbidge. That moment where two unlikely elements meet in the middle and create a truly eye-opening and palate-busting moment.

This month is all about the dessert pairings. Adam Ioannidis on our team has written a beautiful piece further into this issue, and we’ve provided some dessert-pairing ideas with some of the casks this month (the ones we’ve also already tasted of course) to try at home. Most of the Outturn goes on sale on Friday, 3 May at midday AEST, as well as some special offerings on the 17th as well.

Happy dessert month and happy dramming to you all!

Cheers.

Matt Bailey ~ Branch Director, SMWS Australia

EXPLODING FRUITY BOOTY!

MALT OFTHEMONTH

A long-aged, insanely balanced, absolute fruit-bomb of a whisky! Imagine, in a year of wild inflation, we can offer up to members a 19-year-old, single-cask, cask-strength Society whisky, for $249, down from $280, for Malt of the Month. Crazy value indeed. This Society cask hails from a substantial distillery on the outskirts of Keith in the Speyside region of Scotland. Rarely seen as a single malt, and heavily used in the creation of the Ballantine’s blend, to see this spirit as a single cask, with substantial age, and at cask strength, is a rare fruity and tropical treat indeed. Pour a dram, slice some of your fruit flan, and settle in. Strictly limited bottlings for Australia branch, and on sale Friday, 3 May at midday AEST.

BRIMMING WITH FRUITY BOOTY

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW

CASK No. 63.95

$249

REDUCED FROM $280

The nose is brimming with fruity booty – pear drops, pineapple liqueur, apple sherbet and lemon peel – also some coconut oil, pine sap and wild flowers. The palate suggests foamy shrimps, toffee and plums, heather ale with a hoppy grapefruit zing, floral Armagnac, and Turkish delight with pistachio. The reduced nose still majors on fruit – poached pears, stone fruits, banana bread and orange Jaffa cakes – but includes polished wooden furniture and autumn leaves. Now the palate gives a waxy, chalky mouthfeel with flavours of rhubarb crumble, banana chips, honey, and pineapple – the finish brings hessian, charred wood, and mint to mind.

SHEER PLEASURE

SPICY & SWEET

CASK No. 9.244

$269

REGION Speyside

CASK TYPE 1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE 18 years

DATE DISTILLED 11 September 2003

OUTTURN 189 bottles

ABV 56.8%

AUS ALLOCATION

36 bottles

Nosing this, we entered a country house (polished expensive furniture) fresh from an autumn walk in the woods and were served extravagant fruit salad, Tunnock’s caramel wafers and honeyed golden dessert wine – sheer spoiled pleasure. The palate combined honey and malted biscuits with strawberry sherbet and Love Hearts; then finished with lingering hints of eucalyptus and Fisherman’s Friends. On the reduced nose, pink custard now joined the exotic fruits and we discovered vanilla, coconut, fragrant wood, muesli and cinnamon sticks. The reduced palate delivered custard over jam roly poly, papaya and toasted coconut, finishing with sophisticated cinnamon and gentle ginger.

FROM SWEDEN WITH LOVE

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW

CASK No. 151.4

LITTLE DRAM ON THE PRAIRIE

SPICY & SWEET

CASK No. 140.12

$240

REGION Sweden

CASK TYPE 1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE

13 years

DATE DISTILLED 16 May 2008

OUTTURN 286 bottles

ABV 46.5%

AUS ALLOCATION 36 bottles

An aromatic and rather entertaining nose we all agreed. Showing such diverse things as peach stones, wet dog, dried herbs, lemon pith and tropical bubble-gum with vanilla pods. Water brought vanilla cream cake, custard, butterscotch, maple syrup and meadow flowers with firmer hint of coconutty gorse. The neat palate opened with pineapple crisps, orange blossom, candied pistachios, tropical fruit syrups and white peach. With water it became greener and more tart with hints of juniper, damsons, cherry schnapps and a nice waxiness in the texture.

REGION Texas

CASK TYPE 2nd fill port barrique

AGE 4 years

DATE DISTILLED 10 May 2017

OUTTURN 172 bottles

ABV 62.0%

AUS ALLOCATION 36 bottles

After one year in a French oak barrique which previously contained Baby Blue Corn Whiskey, this whisky was transferred into a second-fill port barrique. The nose holds definite port, plum jam, toffee apples, cherries and raspberry jam tarts as well as funky rum, raisins, molasses, Demerara and new leather. The palate, initially chalky, radiates warm cinnamon and chilli spice, before settling to toffee, sweet bourbon, toasted coconut and vanilla ice-cream, with leather and tobacco to finish. The palate now delivers buttery pancakes, honey, stewed fruit, Golden Virginia, hickory, chicory and sour cherry – remarkable.

PAIR WITH BANANA PUDDING

TRANSPORT

HARVEST TIME

Distillery 38 was built across the road from its ‘mirror image’ distillery (Code 9) back in 1898 during a huge boom in demand, which was meant to supplement the demand Distillery 9 was getting at the time. They designed this now-destroyed distillery to ‘mirror’ the site across the road, but the problem was it never did. The spirit had its own unique profile and was generally ‘creamier’ and thicker than the bright and tropical plant across the road. This made replication and blending difficult. Its life as a distillery was short-lived however, and it closed down soon after opening (merely 4 years of production between 1898 and 1902) where it lay dormant for decades. Demand for blending surged again in the mid-1960s, which is when the distillery sprung back to life again, before finally getting its own name in 1977. It then ran all the way up until 2002, when it was closed again before finally being permanently demolished in 2011.

When you open your bottle of SMWS Cask 38.39, distilled in 1992, you’re literally pouring liquid history into your glass, and one of the rarest examples of this spirit ever seen in both single-cask, cask-strength form, ever. You’re enjoying a moment in Scotch whisky history that will never be repeated.

The expert tasting panel picked up those warm sunny day vibes, ripe peaches, almond cream, lychees, bourbon vanilla ice cream, and juicy pears. Let the world slow down around you as you sip this now-demolished distillery, and enjoy a taste of yesteryear in your glass.

IT’S HAY SEASON!

SWEET, FRUITY & MELLOW

CASK No. 38.39

$1,195

REGION Speyside

CASK TYPE 2nd fill bourbon barrel

AGE 30 years

DATE DISTILLED 17 June 1992

bottles

AUS ALLOCATION

TASTING NOTES

bottles

We imagined sitting by a river on a warm, sunny day and watching hay being baled in a nearby field. On the palate, sweet fruity flavours of ripe peaches and juicy pears met a super-smooth mouthfeel coming from caramelised apricots with an almond cream. A drop of water and we were presented with a bowl of lychees served in a lemongrass syrup. To taste, tropical fruits galore, with a scoop of delicate bourbon vanilla ice cream. At 26 years of age, we combined selected casks from the same distillery. We then returned the single malt into a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks.

THEY DON’T MAKE ‘EM LIKE THEY USED TO

Have you been into whisky for a while? Do you have a particular sherried whisky that stands out for you above all others? Well, this is that whisky. No kidding. Cask 24.169 Seared foie gras and lingonberry jam is one of those miraculous casks from a Speyside distillery whose sherried whisky prowess needs no introduction. Notes of cinnamon buns, raspberry ice cream, brioche, and rich Oloroso sherry. Limit of 1 bottle per member and on ballot for May Outturn, being drawn midday AEST Wednesday 15 May 2024.

REGION

SEARED FOIE GRAS AND LINGONBERRY JAM

DEEP, RICH & DRIED FRUITS

CASK No. 24.149

$295

We were busy in the kitchen baking gingerbread as well as malt loaf and one panellist’s favourite from mum ‘ooey-gooey’ cinnamon buns with raspberry and blackberry jam. On the palate like a baked Alaska flambe served with pistachio and raspberry ice cream. Diluted a dark chocolate brownie with burnt raisins or a dark warm sourdough bread dipped into a balsamic fig dipping sauce emerged. The taste was deeply characterful, mature yet graceful – seared foie gras and lingonberry jam on brioche toast. In 2018 we combined selected Oloroso butts before returning the single malt to a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks.

A SHERRY MASTERPIECE

We’ve talked in the past about how the SMWS flavour profiles for each cask are determined by the flavour, and the flavour alone. Not the cask, the distillery, or the age. This is a textbook case of this in action: Cask 44.155 is from an absolutely A+ distillery with a chunky pineapple-led spirit character, but then the experts in the SMWS team have extra-matured this in a 1st-fill toasted hogshead, giving it the Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits flavour profile. Yet, not a sherry cask has been seen at all here, but it presents like a clean, richly sherried, silky and deep whisky. Amazing. It’s my pick for a reason, it’s a banger!

REGION

WELL WORTH CHASING DOWN

DEEP, RICH & DRIED FRUITS

CASK No. 44.155

$335

CASK TYPE

Speyside

1st fill custom toasted American & European oak hogshead

AGE

DATE DISTILLED

OUTTURN

ABV

AUS ALLOCATION

19 years

6 November 2002

252 bottles

56.7%

36 bottles EXTRA

There was a lot going on nosing it neat. Leathery and slightly oily mechanical aromas joined the scent of warm banana bread, blackcurrant jam and plum wine. On the palate, we ate a venison haunch steak au poivre with sautéed potatoes and bit on a small pellet from a shotgun. Water added rum cherries and boozy cherry molasses while to taste, a dark sambuca liqueur with pungent flavours of aniseed, liqurice and black pepper emerged, with a spiced blackberry cordial in the finish. Following 17 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a 1st fill custom toasted American (70%) and European (30%) oak hogshead.

SWEET SUCCULENT SMOKE

CASK No. 66.207

$345

UNTO THINE OWN CASK BE TRUE

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA

CASK No. 73.143

$199

Imagine driving in a Jaguar 1967 420 Compact Saloon, all windows down due the sun and the warmth, and the wind carried the whiff of sweet smoke from lobster meat and oranges being barbequed over a peat fire. We stopped and were invited to enjoy a plate of lobster meat which had undergone the miraculous Maillard reaction producing all these incredible deep flavours. Following twenty-one years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a 1st fill shaved, toasted and re-charred Oloroso barrique.

CASK TYPE 1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE

years

DATE DISTILLED 25 March 2011

OUTTURN

ABV

AUS

bottles

bottles

The panel found a warm and inviting nose that expressed toasted coconut, cask char and a playful note of pocket-warmed softmints. We also noted coconut milk, gorse flower and a stodgy lump of oatmeal flapjack. Water brought out freshly varnished oak, satsumas, wintergreen and herbal teas. A kiss of menthol tobacco beneath! In the mouth we got mini milk ice lollies, dried pineapple slices and a touch of aniseed distillate. Beyond that some custard cream biscuits and a gentler note of chamomile tea. Water revealed cherry lip balm, sour apple liqueur, peppery watercress and things like sandalwood, muddled mint leaves and white pepper.

REGION

FRUITY FLORAL FANTASY

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA

CASK No. 5.103

$275

SEASIDE SHERBET

OILY & COASTAL

CASK No. 4.340

$199

Lowland

CASK TYPE 1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE

19 years

DATE DISTILLED 27 January 2003

OUTTURN 78 bottles

ABV 55.5%

AUS ALLOCATION 24 bottles

The first comment was ‘perfectly ripe fruits’ - peaches, pears and mangoes next to a passion fruit parfait, lychees in syrup and a bourbon crème anglaise. On the palate neat, a lovely lemony peppermint zing at first before custard creams, cinnamon bagels and apple slices. Water added a floral aroma reminding one panellist of walking though the famous Amsterdam flower market along the Singel canal, while to taste soft and sweet like peach iced tea and fresh mango salsa prepared with red bell pepper, lime juice, jalapeno, red onion and cilantro leaves.

REGION

Highland

CASK TYPE 1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE

12 years

DATE DISTILLED 29 October 2009

OUTTURN 246 bottles

ABV 63.1%

AUS ALLOCATION 36 bottles

Delightfully waxy and oily textures on the nose coated rock salt, brown sugar and gentian liqueur. On the palate, however, we discovered progressive smoke that grew into spices, aniseed and thyme while vibrant plums and strawberries combined in smoked sherbet. Adding water expressed the aromas of salty sea air over an outdoor swimming pool as sugar-coated lemons and grapefruit joined shellfish, ships’ ropes and ice cream cones. Floral flavours now embraced rosewater and violets alongside sweetened earl grey tea before pineapple joined marjoram and cloves on a pine sap-tinged finish. At eight years of age, we combined selected casks from the same distillery. We then returned the single malt into a variety of different casks to develop further.

AN ODE TO INTENSITY

LIGHTLY PEATED

CASK No. 3.347

$360

A COAL SCUTTLE OF JAM AND TREACLE

PEATED

CASK No. 149.7

$195

REGION Islay

CASK TYPE 2nd fill bourbon hogshead

AGE

18 years

DATE DISTILLED 16 February 2004

OUTTURN 232 bottles

ABV 55.7%

AUS ALLOCATION 36 bottles

Plenty of intense, fragrant, sweet peat smoke, tropical bath bombs, smoked pineapple and peaches and pears poached in a smoked sweet wine. On the palate, peat-smoked honey garlic prawns macerated in whisky and brown sugar in an Asian stir fry with jasmine rice, alongside an exotic fruit smoothie of kiwi, pineapple and lychee. Following reduction, the aroma was that of smoky lobster bisque, seafood linguine, lavender shortbread, Thai basil and muddled mint. The taste was like a slice of wood-fired frutti di mare pizza with herbed shrimps, scallops, anchovy fillets, chopped basil leaves and fennel seeds.

REGION Highland

CASK TYPE 1st fill Spanish oak Oloroso butt

AGE

7 years

DATE DISTILLED 19 September 2015

OUTTURN 570 bottles

ABV 61.7%

AUS ALLOCATION 144 bottles

Thick and syrupy Pedro Ximénez sherry, infused with fragrant smoke, oozed over toasted peanuts and red berry fruits on a thick slab of sugary toffee. The palate was a compounded conglomerate of tinned fruit, blood oranges and dried herbs, swirling together in an old coal scuttle and topped with cinnamon, ginger and ash. Adding water only released further treacle, toffee and honey, still in a dusty old coal scuttle but now with dried flowers and lemon zest. The palate had somewhat softened, however, now embracing peat-smoked flapjacks, dark berry jam and roasted peaches with sprigs of thyme, and the light sweetness of mead on the finish.

SWEET & PEAT PERFECTION

The SMWS has a special relationship with Distillery 53. We get everything from young (5–9yo) casks, incredible Vaults Collection casks that edge over 30+ years in wood, and then casks like this 53.415 which is right in the middle at 15 years old and utilises just phenomenal sherry wood usage from our SMWS team. Rich treacly sherry, a clean whiff of smoke — like a sherried smoky stream of silk in each glass. This is in our top 10 sherried whiskies of 2024 and we’re not even halfway through the year. Islay whisky as it should be.

COSMIC COLLISION OF SHERRY AND PEAT

CASK No. 53.415 $355

The nose is a cosmic collision of sherry and peat –treacle, fudge, raisins, lapsang souchong, carbolic, balsamic and seaweed drying on the Islay shore. The palate combines prunes and plum pudding with burnt heather and Big Red gum – the finish a swirling sensation of anise, white pepper, chilli oil and muscle rub. The reduced nose evokes sherry, jamon, truffles and a seafood platter, smoked almonds, tarred ropes and rock-pools. The palate now adds toasted malt loaf, smoke from a smouldering heather moor, cask char and devouring grilled langoustines. After 13 years in ex-bourbon wood, we transferred this into an American oak PX hogshead.

SALTED MARZIPAN SANDWICH

PEATED

CASK No. 155.5

$220

WAFTS OF SMOKE

PEATED

REGION

CASK TYPE 1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE

years

DATE DISTILLED 25 July 2018

OUTTURN

ABV

AUS ALLOCATION

bottles

bottles

A heavy slab of marzipan found itself wedged tightly in a madeira cake soaked in calvados and Jamaican rum while crispy seaweed was fried in tempura batter. On the palate a wave of drying spice wove a smog of smoked paprika and cinnamon around singed porridge with salt and a life-affirming dash of sweet marsala wine. Adding water encouraged us to clean a barbecue with half a lemon before serving green peppercorn salami and oysters with a bouquet garni and bay leaves. Now sweeter flavours combined almond oil, hazelnuts and salted peanuts with subdued smoke wafting over spearmint and chamomile tea.

REGION England

CASK TYPE 2nd fill bourbon barrel

AGE 11 years

DATE DISTILLED 22 July 2010

OUTTURN

ABV

AUS ALLOCATION

bottles

bottles

Big, rich smoke greeted the Panel as, in the neighbour’s garden, beef jerky was being cooked over an open peat fire while we hung linen on the washing line. On the palate, even more smoke, as the neighbour started another open fire using damp turf and moss to grill peppered mackerel with soy, lime and ginger. Following reduction we thought it was like a peat reek in a bothy, with smoked paprika, chargrilled lobster meat and a whiff of medical ointments. To taste, still plenty of smoke now intermingled with coal dust and warm wood ash, while chalky and flinty in the finish – quite an experience.

REGION Islay

CASK TYPE 2nd fill Oloroso butt

AGE

HEAVILY PEATED

CASK No. 10.213

$199

There was smoke, “one hell of a lot of smoke!” Imagine sitting on a pebble beach near ‘the mouth of the river’ overlooking the Paps of Jura on a full moonlit night with a sailing ship anchored in the bay. The wind suddenly changed direction and a blanket of smoke from the barbeque has engulfed us. The taste was massive and unapologetic, not sweet, not floral - just peat, well maybe a hint of salty rockpools and ashtrays. With water we gazed into the sky, the moon light illuminating the lighthouse further along the coast, when we noticed a lightning storm rolling in off the sea. A

PITCH DARK FRUIT

ARMAGNAC

CASK No. A5.5

$550

7 years

DATE DISTILLED 17 October 2013

OUTTURN

ABV

577 bottles

60.5%

AUS ALLOCATION 48 bottles

REGION

CASK TYPE

Bas Armagnac - Colombard

Refill Gascon black oak Armagnac barrel

AGE 1992

DATE DISTILLED 1 April 1993

OUTTURN

ABV

586 bottles

55.9%

AUS ALLOCATION 24 bottles

A gorgeous nose, dripping with dense rancio and things like chewing tobaccos, plum wine, bodega funk, orange blossom and then wee complexities like cinnamon liqueur and muscle rub vapours. Reduction brought Battenberg cake, orange wine, crème brûlée, boot polish and wintergreen. Highly aromatic, mature, and expressive. The neat palate displayed liquorice and chocolate liqueurs up front, then fir resins, toasted wood spices and plum wine. With water we found superbly classical things like booze-soaked raisins, eucalyptus oils, strawberry cough mix and mentholated tobaccos. Some leaf mulch and bitter chocolate in the aftertaste.

AGED MALTERNATIVES

When the SMWS first bottled Japanese whisky, there was member outrage, and don’t even get me started on when we bottled our first English whisky…but when the Society first bottled an Armagnac, well, there was pure joy from the members. Why? Armagnac is often described as the whisky drinker’s “malternative”. Single distilled wine, made only in the tiny Armagnac region of France, this A5.6 was made entirely with w; an Italian white wine varietal, often referred to as Trebbiano, which was distilled back in 1989 and bottled in 2022. Insane value for a 33yo distilled spirit that will blow your mind in complexity. Keep an eye on our YouTube channel for more info.

LE MOUTON, LE CERF ET LE NOIR BITUME

ARMAGNAC

CASK No. A5.6

$395

PAIR WITH AN APPLE

REGION

Bas Armagnac - Ugni Blanc

CASK TYPE Refill Gascon black oak Armagnac barrel

AGE

1989

DATE DISTILLED 1 April 1990

OUTTURN

616 bottles

ABV 60.4%

AUS ALLOCATION 24 bottles

A glorious aroma, riddled with classic aged Armagnac characteristics in beautiful harmony. Corinthian raisins, hessian, old style rancio, pipe tobacco, apricot jam, and fig chutney. Everything in its place and perfectly balanced. With water we got orange cocktail bitters, aniseed, red liquorice, strawberry wine, and old leather books. The palate was initially surprisingly rich and spicy with dark grained breads, rye spice, wormwood, long aged balsamic and menthol pipe tobaccos. Reduction brought blood orange marmalade, mint jelly, Darjeeling tea, toasted fennel seed and wood spices like cinnamon and clove. A long, lingering and wonderfully complex finish followed on...

LUKE, JOIN THE DARK SIDE…

Last time we had a B5 in an Australian Outturn, it was Cask B5.3 and it vanished off Outturn in minutes. It was incredible. We’re inclined to think that this B5.8 is no different. Don’t let the name fool you into thinking this is a rum, or has a rum cask involved, it’s a flavour that evokes the spice, food, and culture of Jamaica. But this whisk(e)y is definitely from Tennessee, and while there are 26-ish distilleries in Tennessee making whiskey these days, there are two that are best-known for it, and this is the other one. Incredible sipper & mixer.

DARK ‘N’ STORMY IN JAMAICA

We imagined walking among grapes which were being sun-dried on straw mats, a process known as “soleo” in Spain. On the palate, it was initially dry and spicy with sweetness in the background, like a fiery Jamaican dark ‘n’ stormy cocktail using navy-strength rum and strong ginger beer –invigorating! Following reduction we lit a bonfire on the beach, watching flying sparks and hearing the pop and crackle of the burning wood. To taste, salted caramel, stewed raisins, cherry pie and vanilla custard with a long finish of PX sherry over luxury spiced Belgian chocolate ice cream – simply divine.

HOW DOES ALL OF THIS WORK?

We’ve had a lot of new members join the SMWS in the last few months, and so we sometimes like to get back to basics on how all of this works. We realise that once you jump into the deep end with SMWS, it can be a daunting mine of codes and names, almost like a ‘secret language’ to wade through. Here are 3 things that might be really useful in the early stages of your membership (or even later, this might make for a great refresher for many!)…

No1

WHO NAMES THE CASKS AND WHAT DO THE NAMES MEAN?

Dandelion Sauternes? Seaside sherbet? Pitch dark fruit? The names of the Society casks are named by our expert tasting panel in the UK, who use a mixture of flavour descriptors, sampling notes, and emotive language to best convey each and every cask we release. Every single cask is unique, so each one gets its own name. Some casks are more logical and descriptive of flavour, while others can be quite surreal and wild. What you can be assured of however is that every cask goes through the same vigorous panel screening process before being approved for release.

No2

WHERE DO I START? HOW DO I PICK OFF THIS OUTTURN?

Start, and end, with flavour. Read the tasting notes, observe the flavour profile that casks have been assigned, then look at things like cask type, age, region, and all the other stats we give you. Want to learn more? Ask fellow members what they think in our community on Facebook, or drop into a Partner Bar and see what they have!

No3

WHY DON’T YOU LIST THE DISTILLERY NAMES?

The real question is, why would we need to? A distillery name is a brand, and their house style is often so far removed from what we bottle of their spirit. By not listing the names of the distilleries, you get to focus on flavour first and foremost (see question 2 above) and we get to source from the widest range of distilleries on earth.

DESSERT PAIRINGS DRAM FINE

BY ADAM IOANNIDIS

JIt’s dessert month (not to be confused with desert month, its drier counterpart) and the easiest way to celebrate is with what one may call a “dessert” dram. Something sweet, maybe juicy? A few come to mind from over the last year: Cask 94.43 Soirée with Crème Brûlée, CW1.5 Cinnamon sins, and Cask 68.70 Intriguing idiosyncratic; all of these I would consider to be dessert drams in one form or another on account of their sweet or sweet-adjacent notes (cinnamon, Nutella, burnt sugar, custard etc.). But pouring a “sweet” dram is easy, what about pairing a Peated whisky with a Greek pastry, or an Ex-cosecha-winebarrique-matured whisky with a peanut butter and chocolate cookie?

I decided my time was best spent trying a few of these dessert pairing combinations so you, our dear members and readers, could know the outcome and perhaps be inspired to recreate or try your own pairings. (We already saw some brilliant dessert pairings during Unusual Pairings month in March, so we know many of you won’t shy away from a sweet and a dram). Let’s begin with…a light appetiser with a tasty and fun wood finish!

PAIRING #1:

PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE COOKIES PAIRED WITH CASK 13.99 TART CHERRY FRUITCAKE

This is already honestly such a fun dram and a flavour journey in itself; five years in ex-bourbon and four years in an ex-cosecha wine barrique. The cookies were generously donated by our friends over at No Vacancy Gallery (this is not sponsored content, by the way) and were the crumbly kind, not the

“I ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE A STAB AT PAIRING SOME TASTY, SWEET TREATS WITH SOME DELECTABLE SINGLE-CASK, CASK-STRENGTH DRAMS!”

doughy kind. Neither element overpowered the other (I have a gut feeling that may not have been the case had this been a doughy cookie), but certain elements of both the cookie and the dram were enhanced.

The first thing I noticed, was that the peanut butter aspect was turned into a peanut butter syrup once I allowed the dram to wash over the thousands of taste buds in my mouth. Similarly, a Woolies cheesecake topped with kiwis and strawberries made an appearance, I would say an enhancement of the dram more than the cookie itself. This was a nice pairing, but as my lunchtime progressed, so too did the quality of the pairings.

PAIRING #2

HOKKAIDO BAKED CHEESE TART PAIRED WITH CASK A5.5 PITCH DARK FRUIT

Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart (which is the name of the business) have a few stores in various states around Australia so if you’d like to replicate this pairing at home, you may not have too much trouble. I opted for a traditional flavour — “Original Cheese Tart” — and was not disappointed. The single-cask Armagnac was an adequate pairing as the tart itself was not very sweet, but the dram was (plenty of stone fruits and blackcurrant bordering on syrupy Ribena, but thankfully never crossing that border).

My first takeaway from this pairing other than “damn” was how the flavour of the tart’s crust was enhanced; suddenly it was like I was having the freshest possible version of the tart as if it had just come out of the oven. My other takeaway was that the cream

cheese filling when paired with A5.5 almost became like a syrupy Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits dram (which makes sense considering the flavours of the Armagnac on its own), with a little pinch of sulphur, something I personally did not mind.

PAIRING #3

BANOFFEE PIE PAIRED WITH CASK 66.207 SWEET SUCCULENT SMOKE

A rare treat deserves a rare dram, and would you believe this was my first ever banoffee pie?! And before you ask, no I did not eat ALL of it. Cask 66.207 has a gentle smoke and sweetness on the nose, but the palate lacks that same level of sweetness. Enter the banoffee pie. Though, the pie doesn’t necessarily enhance the sweetness in the dram, as much as the 66.207 enhances the caramel note of the pie in a way that will make you think the caramel emanates from the dram.

“POURING A “SWEET” DRAM IS EASY, WHAT ABOUT PAIRING A PEATED WHISKY WITH A GREEK PASTRY, OR AN EX-COSECHA-WINE-BARRIQUE-MATURED WHISKY WITH A PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE COOKIE?”

I was told that the crust is a real treat on a banoffee pie, so I thought I should take a slice out of the back to see how that would hold up with a dram. I felt like a wash of white sugar particles had just danced and frolicked all the way down the back of my throat and thought “wow, damn”. I’m fairly certain the crust had some extra sugar compared to the base, and that the 66 simply activated it in a way that made it come alive. So far, this was certainly the most decadent pairing with the soft Highland smoke transforming the pie into a whole new beast. One day we’ll have an exclusively desserts and peated whisky pairing experience. For now, though, it’s time to finish with the final pairing.

PAIRING #4:

KATAIFI PAIRED WITH CASK 149.7 A COAL SCUTTLE OF JAM AND TREACLE

Kataifi — κανταΐφη — is a Greek sweet consisting of pastry, nuts, honey syrup and cinnamon. It’s fantastic, and a personal favourite of mine. Being that it was probably going to be the richest of the four desserts — on account of the syrup and the lady behind the counter asking me if I would like extra syrup (take a guess what my answer was) — I decided to pair it with Cask 149.7 from the peninsula of Ardnamurchan, a 7yo peated whisky matured in an ex-Oloroso sherry cask.

Both of these elements shared a similarity, they both contained notes of cinnamon (my favourite spice, as it were), so it came as no surprise that a wave of deep-heat cinnamon

took over my mouth after a bite of kataifi and a sip of the 149.7; it was like a less sugary version of a Gloria Jeans cinnamon hot chocolate (remember those guys?). The next note I detected was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one — 100s and 1000s sprinkles. This was a tasty pairing, but I can’t help but feel like it would have benefited from being paired with a more heavily peated dram.

Desserts aren’t for everyone, but even if they’re not really your thing I encourage you to take a stab at pairing some tasty, sweet treats with some delectable singlecask, cask-strength drams! Bonus points if they’re some of the all-star casks featured in this month’s Outturn. Pair ‘em up, show us your favourite pairings and tasting notes on the social channels, and you could with something special...check out our member offer this month to find out more. Until next time — slàinte.

MIGHTY OAKEN CASKS

PART #3: CASK IS THE CRAFT PART OF WHISKY

BY CHRIS MIDDLETON

Whisky appreciator and writer Chris Middleton continues his Outturn series ‘Mighty Oaken Cask’ in this issue with the third chapter, delving deeper into the coopering method, how it really has remained one of the truly “handmade” elements of whisky making since the beginning, and looking at European Oak from tree to cask

Every whisky on the market can claim handmade status, as every cask is assembled by hand*. Machinery only plays a secondary role in sawing and pneumatics, as manual activities are necessary for raising, repairing, and maintaining every cask through its productive life.

While all parts of the whisky distillery and manufacturing have been mechanised or automated, coopering casks and barrels remain the last bastion of this manual skill. In 19th century America, many distilleries and brands claimed ‘handmade’ status instead of the modern-day term, ‘craft’, even though most did not practice manual methods other than the generic sourcing of barrels. Hand-made referred to cooking and mashing by hand until the advent of steam and mechanical equipment eliminated this labour-intensive cost. Some whisky brands claim to be handcrafted. However, such claims rarely stand up to scrutiny as few distillers practise any form of manual intervention or physical touchpoints in manufacturing whisky — except for the universal cask, where handmade and craft is not marketing puffery, but fact.

Stave ricks open-air seasoning

“WHILE ALL PARTS OF THE WHISKY DISTILLERY AND MANUFACTURING HAVE BEEN MECHANISED OR AUTOMATED, COOPERING CASKS AND BARRELS REMAIN THE LAST BASTION OF THIS MANUAL SKILL.”

There are three branches of coopering: wet, dry and white. The casks for holding potable spirits, wine and beer are called tight or wet. Oak is universally the wood of choice as it is the superior hardwood — durable, strong, able to bend into shape, sufficiently porous to breathe and extract by interactive hydrolysis, forming desirable flavours to ameliorate the liquor. Until the 1930s, wet casks included the fish trade (i.e., herring), oil and other fluid products packed in cheaper spruce, elm, fir and other woods. Dry or slack coopering are not water-tight casks. They were purposed to hold loose items such as nails, sugar, grain, gunpowder, etc. White coopering is an arcane category describing household and farm pails, wash tubs and butter churns — white because these simple, straight-stave domestic vessels were bound with white ash hoops.

READYING OAK TREES TO BECOME CASKS

European oaks take 90 to 200 years to reach logging maturity and grow for 1,500 years. American oaks mature between 50 to 150 years; harvested within forest conditions where the lateral branches develop higher up the trunk, they can produce three 200-litre barrels from a healthy tree’s circumference. The quality of the tree’s wood, especially its annual growth rings and the tightness of the grain, is affected by factors such as soil conditions, seasonal temperatures, precipitation and exposure to sunlight.

Oak trees are best logged when the sap is not running in the coldest seasons and sent to saw and stave mills. European oak can only be split, while rotary saws cut American oak. The next step is seasoning by air and kiln drying. The best wood is air-seasoned outdoors for over two years, allowing rain and sun to leach out tannins and fungi and bacteria to break down the wood cellulose and lignin, causing biochemical transformation and extra porousness, improving the sensory value of the staves for whisky. Kilning for a couple of months is a 20th-century fast-track alternative that also prevents the risk of shrinkage. Until the early 20th century, the chemical soaking of virgin casks with brine and sodium carbonate or scolding with steam or boiling water also helped leach out tannins and green notes from poorly seasoned casks before rinsing and filling with whisky.

Raising Up The Barrel

Preparing the barrel head

Toasting cask with cresset

“THE CASK IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE RAW MATERIAL IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHISKY. THE COST OF A FINISHED NEW CASK IS DETERMINED BY OAK SPECIES AND LABOUR.”

The cooper assembles the staves by hand, ‘raising the cask.’ The heads that tightly fit the ends of the cask use no nails, screws or glue. The precision labour of the cooper, secured by hoops, holds the finished cask together. Before metal hoops, coopers made tightened branches of hooped willow, hazel or ash for structural support.

The cask is the most expensive raw material in the manufacture of whisky. The cost of a finished new cask is determined by oak species and labour, with an American 200-litre white oak typically costing about $300 AUD and many times more for European casks. America’s single-use law for straight whisky and filling used wine casks benefits the lighter distillates in British-style whiskies for second use and even multiple refills until the cask is exhausted; some are reconditioned by coopers, extending the cask’s working life.

The impact of every cask is a Rubik’s cube of variables, starting with different parts of the cut oak trunk and how each stave is affected by seasoning programs. Next, the cask assembly, where roasting and charring affect the thermal treatment of each stave. The next set of variables is liquid storage, from previous liquor the cask contained, frequency of fills liquor, entry proofs, and other maturation factors like airspace fill volumes. As the whisky matures, the geographic location for storage plays an important role, including macro and micro warehousing environments, and the time

whisky stays in the cask continues to add flavour nuances. Hence, the axiomatic observation is that every cask is different; ergo, every whisky from a cask has its unique flavour fingerprint, like the cooper who made it.

*Recently commissioned mid-scale cooperages have entirely automated the cask-making process. With over 50 million handmade whisky casks currently in worldwide storage, mechanical casks will take a long time to make a negligible future contribution to whisky inventory.

Chris Middleton is a long-time Society member and collaborator, regular contributor to Whisky Magazine, and former Chairman of Starward Distillery. Keep an eye out for part four of the Mighty Oaken Cask series in future Outturns. You can read the first two parts on our site’s blog Whiskywise now.

WEDNESDAY 22 MAY @ 7PM AEST

Not everything we bottle is single-malt whisky. In fact, members are more and more enamoured with our non-malt spirits, or what we like to sometimes call ‘malternatives’. These are those delightful other spirits coming out of other countries that can lead us down a flavour adventure like no other.

Jump in for this virtual tasting and discover what other spirits, other grains, and other flavours are out there! Nearly $2,000 worth of bottles are being opened and shared around for this month’s virtual, all to be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home, with 5x 30ml samples in each pack, for just $99.

We’ll be hosting this live on YouTube and Facebook on Wednesday 22 May, 7pm AEST. Tune in live, or watch later at your own leisure.

CASK No. A5.6

SCOTTISH GIN

YEARNING FOR BUBBLES ARMAGNAC

CASK No. GN6.3

LE MOUTON, LE CERF ET LE NOIR BITUME COGNAC

CASK No. C7.1 A

CASK No. A8.1

JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

DARK ‘N’ STORMY IN JAMAICA ARMAGNAC

CASK No. B5.8

AMERICAN BOURBON WHISKEY

SMWS EXPERIENCES IN YOUR AREA

SYDNEY

SCOTCH WHISKY FESTIVALS

All the Society festival casks, music, masterclasses, a full festival with all the casks from the regions being hosted live at the same time as the festivals across Scotland, plus the whole Victoria Room at the RACA for the SMWS. Perfect. Only catch is, it’s just sold out.

SOLD OUT

Saturday 22 June, 2pm, RACA.

MELBOURNE

COFFEE & WHISKY MASTERCLASS

We’re collaborating with one of the biggest names in coffee, St Ali, for a very special and intimate pairing of single origin coffees with single cask whiskies. Will you find your match made in heaven? Seats VERY limited, first come first served.

Thursday 30 May, 6:30pm, St Ali.

SYDNEY

WHISKY & BEER WITH DR CHUCK HAHN

Dr Hahn is a living legend of brewing in Australia. The name ‘Hahn’ sort of gives that away, and we’re proud to be collaborating with him again for a special boilermaker night of whisky and beer, literally inside his own brewery. Be quick...

Thursday 9 May, 5pm, Malt Shovel Brewery.

MELBOURNE

LAST TICKETS

SCOTCH WHISKY FESTIVALS

All the Society festival casks, music, masterclasses, a full festival with all the casks from the regions being hosted live at the same time as the festivals across Scotland, plus the whole venue takeover at The Kelvin Club. Perfect. Last tickets remain...

Saturday 8 June, 2pm, The Kelvin Club.

HOBART

SCOTCH WHISKY FESTIVALS

Your Tassie ambassador Tom Rofe picks his favourite Society festival casks, music, a full dinner and full festival with the casks from the regions being hosted live at the same time as the festivals across Scotland, plus a classic night of banter upstairs at the amazing New Sydney Hotel in Hobart CBD. Perfect.

Saturday 29 June, 6:30pm, New Sydney Hotel. Members in PERTH, CANBERRA, ADELAIDE, BRISBANE, LAUNCESTON & around the country: keep an eye on your inbox, more festival events TBA. MORE

MAY IS FOR MEMBERS

ONE OF FIVE BOTTLES OF CASK 63.95 ‘BRIMMING WITH FRUITY BOOTY’

For the whole month of May, if you join the world’s leading whisky club, you’ll automatically go in the draw to win one of five bottles of this month’s Malt of the Month, Cask 63.95 ‘Brimming with fruity booty’, valued at $249, completely on the house.

It’s really that simple. Join off any of our membership types and you’ll be in the draw to win one of these decadent and tropical 19 year old single cask whiskies, simply by joining the Scotch Malt Whisky Society!

Stack your odds, join the club, and get extra whisky simply by joining this global, and local, community of whisky lovers!

Offer runs from 01/05/24 until 31/05/24 inclusive. Number of entries will be tallied up on Monday 3 June and then winners will be announced via a live-stream on Tuesday 4 June at 7pm AEST. Offer is not applicable to existing members, renewals, or in conjunction with any other offer. 1x

JOIN WITH JUST MEMBERSHIP

1x entry in the draw.

JOIN WITH MEMBERSHIP + BOTTLE OF THE MOMENT, OR + MYSTERY

MALT, OR VIRTUAL KIT

2x entries in the draw

JOIN WITH MEMBERSHIP + WHISKY FOR A YEAR

5x entries in the draw!

Flambé that soufflé and bake that tart, it’s time to get your dessert creative juices flowing! Take a photo of your favourite Society & Dessert pairing in May, and automatically go into the draw to win 1 of 3x Fèis/ Festival mega-packs coming in June. These packs will feature ALL TWELVE of the rare release festival releases coming in June Outturn, and you have a chance to lock one in, valued at $199 each.

How to enter: just take a photo of your SMWS dram & dessert, post

it in our Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram, with the hashtag #smwsdessertsanddrams with your flavour notes. If you don’t use either of those platforms, just email it to us directly at: bailey@smws.com.au with your submission.

No purchasing necessary to enter, just show us your dessert pairings and flavour notes, however simple or complex, and the most creative entries will win one of the three packs. We’ll livestream the winners on Wednesday, 29 May, 2024 at 7pm AEST.