{"product_id":"auchroisk-15-year-old-2008-smws-single-1st-fill-px-barrique-95-97-smile-and-wave-speyside-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2023-70cl","title":"Auchroisk 15 Year Old 2008 SMWS Single 1st Fill PX Barrique 95.97 Smile and Wave Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2023) 70cl","description":"\u003ch2\u003eAuchroisk 15 Year Old 2008 SMWS Single 1st Fill PX Barrique 95.97 Smile and Wave Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2023) 70cl\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 of 252 bottles produced from a single Pedro Ximenez Barrique\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eScotch Malt Whisky Society\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by Phillip 'Pip' Hills who, while travelling around Scotland in the 1970s, fell in love with whiskies drawn straight from the cask. After he expanded his syndicate the Society was purchased by Glenmorangie PLC in 2004. In 2015, the Society was sold back to private investors. In June 2021, the private owners floated the holding company The Artisanal Spirits Company plc on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has a unique code system where the first number refers to the distillery and the second refers to the cask from which the bottle comes. SMWS also offers the largest range of distilleries of any independent bottler. These curiously named drams really do have something for every whisky lover!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe SMWS are one of the Britain's most revered independent bottlers with a worldwide network of partner bars with one mission of getting as much whisky at natural cask strength without water to different nations including USA, Canada, Switzerland, UK, Austria, Germany and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTASTING NOTES\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView bottle js_itemPageProfile flavour-default\" data-categories='[\"Bottle Archive\"]'\u003e\n\u003carticle class=\"productView-description\" id=\"productView-description\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe found ourselves walking through a market in Madagascar where the scent of spices such as saffron, cumin, nutmeg and wild red pepper permeated the air at the same time as warm, smooth notes of vanilla. To taste, we recollected flavours ranging from marzipan, walnuts and sultanas to dried figs and dates, ginger and cinnamon. After reduction we baked a tea cake, almond croissants and apricot tarts, while on the palate were initially creamy, sweet Turkish delight and puff pastries. In the finish arrived a pleasant dish of chilli powder and cumin-spiced crispy roasted chickpeas. Following 11 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a first fill ex-bodega PX barrique.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout Auchroisk\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner wrapper\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-content\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-content-inner\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"introduction\"\u003eAuchroisk [pronounced Orth-rusk] is one of Diageo’s ‘nutty-spicy’ sites.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pagenav js-fixed\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere the heavy character is produced by rapid mashing, quick fermentation and, in the wash stills, a rapid boiling regime which almost cooks the solids and allows controlled carryover of some solids. This almost singed character [shared with Blair Athol] is most obvious at new make but recedes with maturation, being replaced by a balanced honeyed cereal sweetness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe building of Auchroisk in 1972 was meant to herald the start of a new era for blended Scotch. Certainly architecturally (like its contemporary, Allt-a-Bhainne) it stands out – a white, harled, modernist structure in the moorland. It was commissioned by IDV, at that time the parent firm of J\u0026amp;B which had decided that sales of the blend justified another distillery being built to join its Speyside portfolio of Glen Spey, Knockando and Strathmill.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuchroisk was first bottled as single malt in 1986 and was the first to carry the prefix ‘Singleton’, a name now attached to single malts from Glen Ord, Glendullan and Dufftown. Although highly regarded by writers and judges in its time, it never quite made the leap from cult to major brand. Interestingly, the maturation process involved decanting 10-year-old ex-Bourbon matured whisky into ex-Sherry casks for a further two years of secondary maturation, making it the first example of finishing, but IDV never thought of talking up the process, leaving Balvenie and Glenmorangie to be regarded as the pioneers of the technique. The brand was dropped in 2001 and has subsequently quietly slipped back into the shadows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough somewhat remote, the large tracts of land surrounding the distillery make this the ideal site for one of Diageo’s main northern warehousing complexes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/article\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e55.9% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Auchroisk","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55441581900101,"sku":"AUCHR15SMWS95.97","price":149.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0941\/9495\/8661\/files\/Auchroisk15YearOld2008SMWSSingle1stFillPXBarrique95.97SmileandWaveSpeysideSingleMaltScotchWhisky_2023_70cl.jpg?v=1755785909","url":"https:\/\/b1yyjg-bk.myshopify.com\/products\/auchroisk-15-year-old-2008-smws-single-1st-fill-px-barrique-95-97-smile-and-wave-speyside-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2023-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation Old","version":"1.0","type":"link"}