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The Scotch
Malt Whisky Society has announced their
annual whisky festival bottles for May
2019, four Islay, two Speyside and a
Campbeltown expression.
With one of the biggest festival
months on the Scotch malt whisky
calendar fast approaching The
Scotch Malt Whisky Society has announced
that they will be hitting the road once
again to take their colourful events and
characterful cask strength whisky to the
Speyside, Campbeltown and Islay
festivals which take place in May.
The whisky experts, with branches and
members across the world, have an
extensive programme of events and an
exceptional range of special celebratory
bottlings.
The Society's festival tour kicks off at
the start of May at the Spirit of
Speyside festival (1 – 6 May), later in
the month the Society will be heading
west for its first appearance at the
Campbeltown Malts Festival (21 – 22 May)
and last but by no means least it will
be finishing the festival month at the
renowned Feis Ile, the Islay Festival of
Music and Malt (24 May – 1 June).
Firstly, the Society’s Speyside
shenanigans will include partnering with
whisky writers Hans Offringa, Charlie
MacLean and Dave Broom to host a series
of events at the Dowan’s and
Craigellachie hotels as well as hosting
a special drop-in bar with rare drams.
There will be a series of exclusive
Spirit of Speyside bottlings available
at the festival and then on sale to
members from Friday, 3 May. This will
feature an 11-year-old from the Sweet,
Fruity & Mellow flavour profile and a
21-year-old named ‘Succulent,
scintillating and substantial’.
In the West of Scotland later in the
month, the SMWS will be taking over the
Ardshiel Hotel in Campbeltown from
Tuesday, 21 May, with celebratory malts
available throughout.
The Campbeltown festival experience will
also be shared with the Society’s global
membership through a virtual tasting,
meaning if they can’t attend in person
they can take part in the event with
fellow whisky enthusiasts online. For
more information on the Campbeltown
virtual tasting, visit;
www.smws.com
Ambassadors John McCheyne and Matt
Bailey will join forces to taste drams
of exclusive festival whisky live from
Campbeltown, which will be broadcast to
members via Facebook.
For the first time, there will be a
dedicated SMWS bottling specially for
the Campbeltown Festival, which will be
a Lightly Peated 10-year-old whisky with
lovely sweet mellow notes backed up with
peatiness to give it added complexity.
An essential fixture in any whisky fan’s
diary is Feis Ile, the annual Islay
Festival of Music and Malt, where
distilleries and venues across this
magical whisky island open their doors
for tastings and events.
Much like previous years, the SMWS will
be hosting a variety of events
throughout the festival and producing an
exclusive range of bottles, kicking-off
with its open day in the splendid
surroundings of Islay House, where
members and non-members alike are all
welcome.
In what promises to be a memorable
experience for members, the Society is
also hosting a ‘Tour de Islay’, which
will see a peloton of whisky fans cycle
around the island, stopping off at each
of the nine distilleries and collecting
stamps as they go. For information on
how to sign-up, contact
www.smws.com.
In between masterclasses, guests can
also fulfil any fantasies of taking part
in a Highland Games with two rounds of
Islay-inspired games on the grounds of
Islay House, which will include
hi-jinks, soft landings, and liquid gold
prizes for the winners.
The coveted Islay Festival bottlings for
2019, which range from 10 to
27-years-old and include four different
cask types, will go on sale to members
on Friday, 24 May. The first is called
‘Cuquillo black olives’, and is a
full-term bourbon maturation of unpeated
spirit, giving it an Oily & Coastal
character. By contrast, there’s no
mistaking the Heavily Peated character
of ‘Cooking for Hades’, which has spent
eight years in an ex-bourbon hogshead.
Those looking for a big bruising Peated
Islay dram should be delighted by ‘A
beachcomber’s stash’, whereas the final
bottle, named ‘A visceral, elemental
experience’ is incredibly dark, fruity,
smoky and sweet.
The SMWS festival bottlings will be:
- The SMWS 9.161 Glen Grant 11
Year Old
- The SMWS 93.108 Glen Scotia 10
Year Old
- The SMWS 30.106 Glenrothes 21
Year Old
- The SMWS 10.168 Bunnahahbain 13
Year Old
- The SMWS 10.170 Bunnahahbain 10
Year Old
- The SMWS 53.285 Caol Ila 10 Year
Old
- The SMWS 29.260 Laphroaig 10
Year Old
For more information on SMWS
membership, festival bottles and
activities, visit
www.smws.com
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