Scotch Malt Whisky Society Floral Petrichor Review
Maybe it wouldn’t be right to call this our first Caol Ila whisky, but it is certainly our first independent bottler. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) has been around since the late 1970s and has focused on partnering with distilleries across the globe to produce unique single-cask, single-malt whiskies. The distillery 53 reference on the bottle is supposedly to denote the Caol Ila distillery without saying so explicitly. You can find all the code numbers used and corresponding distilleries in this article by The Whiskey Jug.
After the partner distillery produces the whisky, the SMWS then sells the resulting whisky to members of the organization. To join the SMWS, there is a $99 annual fee which gives you access to buy SMWS whiskies and also to go to SMWS member rooms in Leith, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London to sample SMWS whiskies. However, you can often find SMWS bottles for sale in auctions and available to try at locations where you do not need to be a member.
The SMWS primarily focuses on single-cask whiskies, meaning the whisky you get from them is sourced from a single cask before bottling. However, that does not mean only one cask was used to mature the whisky. It’s all about if the whisky used in all the casks is the same from the first cask as what eventually ends up in a bottle or dram. What you typically see distilleries do is blend whiskies together from several casks to produce a bottle of whisky.
Aged 14-years in first-fill American oak Pedro Ximenez hogsheads and refill hogsheads, the Floral Petrichor is one of four releases the SMWS created for the Islay Whisky Festival 2023. The others were The Finesse of a Fragrant Furnace, The Edge of Midnight, and Sound of Singing Sand. I am not sure why the SMWS refers to the Islay Whisky Festival versus using Fèis Ìle 2023. Maybe there are certain rules about labeling a whisky a Fèis Ìle whisky or it’s a marketing decision in case members are not aware of Fèis Ìle. Make no mistake though, the whisky being reviewed today is in the spirit of Fèis Ìle 2023.
The Basics
Aged: 14 years
Bottles available: 2,085
Casks: First-fill American oak Pedro Ximenez hogsheads and Refill hogsheads
ABV: 56.8%
Color: Mahogany
Nose: Greasy bacon, BBQ, salt
Cost: $197.50 ($17.50 shipping cost)
Purchased at: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Taste
The first sip is a very sweet hit of cherries followed by a smooth transition into raisin flavors. The finish has strong raisin, cinnamon, and smoke flavors.
It’s interesting you do not get much sweet spice, if any, from this whisky when you first begin sipping, but it begins to grow stronger as you imbibe more.
Overall, this one is a heavy dose of fruit, sweet spice, and smoke.
Neat or With Water
At 56.8% ABV, this is actually a very smooth whisky even when neat. I did find adding about 2-3 drops made the alcohol burn a complete after thought though. I would recommend a little water, but play around with it and see what works for you.
Summary
Accessibility: Finding SMWS whiskies outside of being a member can be a bit challenging. Your best bet outside of membership is to look for bottles in whisky auctions, but it is not guaranteed and the number of bottles for each release is limited. Your best bet is to pay the membership fee and join, which will give you access to all of their offerings. For this particular whisky, only 450 of the 2,085 bottles were made available for the United States market.
Price: Since I bought this bottle directly from SMWS, I think it’s fair to say the price I paid was a good deal. When available in auctions, you can often find deals that are below what SMWS offers. I was able to find The Finesse of a Fragrant Furnace in a whisky auction that saved me about $65. I have yet to see this bottle available in auctions, but maybe you can get a deal on it with some patience.
Quality: This whisky offers strong flavors of cherry, dried fruit, sweet spice, and a very nice peaty finish. This is exactly what you want out of a Pedro Ximenez-sherry-matured whisky. While it could definitely be a bit smoother transitioning between all the flavors offered and try to hide the alcohol taste a little better, this is pretty well-executed whisky.
Score: 8/10 (See our scoring system explanation)
The Caol Ila distillery would be proud to have their name on this release. It’s got the sweet peat flavors that I have really come to appreciate. You should be excited to try this one if you have the chance and should appreciate a bottle if you happen to have one.
That said, the price is very high for this whisky when compared to similar Pedro Ximenez-aged whiskies. The fee to join the SMWS is pretty costly on its own, but this whisky costs $180 before shipping. You could make the argument that you might be happier not joining the SMWS and getting a bottle of Laphroaig 10 Year Sherry Oak Finish for the price of the SMWS membership. One could also argue that we cannot count on distilleries to consistently produce 14-year-aged, single-cask whiskies, and the price is the best an independent bottler like the SMWS can offer.
I’ll enjoy this bottle of Floral Petrichor, and I think it’s a great one from the SMWS. The price makes getting another bottle of this a bit difficult to recommend though. I think there are definitely whiskies that are similar in terms of quality for a lower price, but make no mistake that I think it’s a great dram.