Scotland - Speyside Archives - The Single Malt Whisky Club

Darkness Benrinnes 16 Year Old PX

$149.00
This 16 year old Pedro Ximinez finished whisky from BENRINNES is perfectly accompanied by the 12 year old Oloroso finished GLENROTHES. Normally, the Darkness releases are finished for around 6 months in their specialist casks but this amazing dram has been aged in ex-bourbon casks for the initial 15 years of life but ‘our’ Benrinnes 16 year old has had a full YEAR of finishing to take on the intense sherry characteristics from the Pedro Ximinez Casks. What makes Darkness so special in the whisky world? Well, their flagship bottling – Darkness 8 Year Old – has won HUGE accolades since launching in 2019, including Double Gold at the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Gold Medals at the 2020 and 2021 World Whiskies Awards, and 96 points from the IWSC in 2021 and 2022…so imagine how good a 16 year old release (or a 12 for that matter) is?

OUR TASTING NOTES

Nose: Lots of jammy notes up front, but also crushed nuts and sticky date pudding round out the nose nicely. Palate: A big, meaty dram by all measures. Lovely rich mouthfeel, and a touch of white pepper spiciness. Salty plumbs, chocolate and cinnamon, blackberries by the bucketload, stewed plumbs and vanilla pods. There’s a real meatiness to this dram as well, with a body like a footballer – Big and Solid, Rich and Round! Finish: Delicious chocolate notes swirl around white pepper, coffee, dark chocolate and stewed fruit. The pepper offsets the abundant sweetness and sweet spices perfectly! So big, so fruity, so jammy and good! As chewy as juicy fruit- and almost as fruity! It’s got a massive depth of flavour and handles 51.3%ABV with grace and style. A Big, Sweetie, Meaty Dram that will hug you tight in the cold!

Bottle Size : 500ml
ABV : 51.3%
Region : SCOTLAND (SPEYSIDE)
Peated : NO
Chill Filtered: NO
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Firkin 49 Dailuaine 2012

$139.00
A Firkin fabulous 10 year old Speyside dram that is Firkin’s very first Dailuaine release ever – the Firkin 49 Dailuaine 2012! What a Firkin fabulous way to get 2023 underway than a 10 year old dram from a legend in the whisky business – Mike Colling’s Firkin brand. This is the Firkin Whisky Co’s first Dailuaine release and Mike was eager for the SMWC to premier it to the world! We are pretty proud to have been chosen by this whisky legend to premier a new dram from this master whisky-man!

OUR TASTING NOTES

Nose: Very fresh and herbal on the nose. Newly cut grass, fresh orange juice and flowering jasmine. There is also sweet element that I’m having trouble putting my finger on – toffee, perhaps? Palate: Absolutely magnificently balanced spirit – wonderful oaky notes drizzled over milk arrowroot bikkies, light fruitiness and just a hint of biscuit spices. Round, rich and sweet (but not overly) with a lovely crispness to it as well. Finish: Long and satisfying with a real peanut-butter edge there. Granny Smith apple juice pops in and out as the mild pepper notes swirl around the subtle fruity tones. This is truly easy-dramming whisky. Light on the palate, yet full and round and fruity. Big on the palate but in no way overwhelming or hot – just perfect, in fact. This latest offering from Mike and his Firkin Whisky brand is very possibly the best Firkin I’ve tasted. And that’s no mean feat let me tell ya! “That’ll do Mr Collings…. that’ll Firkin do!"

Bottle Size : 700ml
ABV : 48.9%
Region : SCOTLAND (SPEYSIDE)
Peated : NO
Chill Filtered: NO
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Firkin Ten Linkwood

$149.00
Let’s FIRKIN get our whisky on! The RELEASE of not any FIRKIN WHISKY…A LINKWOOD…one of the rarest of the rare with only 1-2% ever being released as a SINGLE MALT – The Firkin Ten Linkwood 2010! The ‘Firkin Ten’ label denotes a spirit aged for 10 years prior to finishing in Mike’s custom casks. This Firkin Ten Linkwood was distilled at Linkwood Distillery, in the Speyside, in 2010. In 2020, it was bought by Mike and transferred to his hybrid, Madeira-seasoned casks where it was finished for a further two years. Bottled with no chill filtering and absolutely nothing added other than the water used to bring it down to the bottling strength of 48.9%ABV. We’re FIRKIN proud to be first to bring this new expression to market in Australia, and we’re pretty FIRKIN chuffed at the price we’ve got it for you as well!

OUR TASTING NOTES

Nose: Rich and deep oak, more floral than fruity for me with honey hints and nutty nougat and biscuit spices well represented. Palate: Lovely luscious and oily mouthfeel with an initial burst of ‘just the right amount’ of pepper to offset the nutty, peanut brittle sweetness. There is spicy fruit mince here – but it’s certainly not the star. Nutty-caramel and dark coffee notes steal the show for me. Finish: A fantastically more-ish finish – peppery oily pulses with burnt-sugary sweet, yet somehow palate-cleansingly crisp at the same time. Delightful, but that moreish-ness seems to find me impatiently sipping another dram before I let it play right out! Another abso-Firkin-lutley sensational whisky from a man who has been creating sensational whiskies for 50 years! This is one of those ‘open it with a mate or two and next thing you know it’s all gone’ whiskies. The Firkin Ten Linkwood 2010 is a stunner!

Bottle Size : 700ml
ABV : 48.9%
Region : Scotland (Speyside)
Peated : NO
Chill Filtered: NO
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Spirit Thief Benrinnes Bordeaux Red Wine Cask

$185.00
This is the very last expression ever of Spirit Thief’s independent bottlings…but what a whisky it is…a cask strength, double distilled, single cask finished in a French wine cask. The Spirit Thief Benrinnes Bordeaux Red-Wine Cask was double distilled at the Speyside Benrinnes Distillery in 2008. Bottled in 2019 it has spent 11 years in a first fill red-wine cask from Château Gruaud-Larose in the Bordaux region of France. Then bottled at a cask strength of 55.2% ABV with absolutely nothing added, and of course non-chill filtered. This is a superb example of wine cask maturation, hand selected from the Benrinnes bond-store by Tasmania’s own ‘wine-cask’ experts – Spirit Thief.
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: Sweet nutty nougat with a citrus twist but there’s also a slightly salty-savoury note behind the sweetness. Palate: A big spice burst first up but a solid creaminess of mouthfeel becomes apparent as the pepper fades. Big sweet red fruits cut through and there’s also crystallised ginger and custardy notes in there too. Finish: Finish is long and constantly evolving – pepper morphs to sweet fruit morphs to dry tannins.
Bottle Size : 500ml
ABV : 55.2%
Region : SCOTLAND (SPEYSIDE) / TASMANIA
Peated : No
Chill Filtered: No
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