Scotch Malt Whisky Society The Finesse of a Fragrant Furnace
For Feis Ile 2023, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) released several whiskies in partnership with Islay distilleries. The SMWS Feis Ile whiskies I have kept track of include Floral Petrichor, Edge of Midnight, Sound of Singing Sand, Blowtorched Mexican Mousse, and the whisky we are covering today, The Finesse of a Fragrant Furnace.
The bottle states that it is a Distillery 3 Rare Release, which means the whisky was created in partnership with the Bowmore distillery on Islay. As mentioned in our previous post on Floral Petrichor, the SMWS uses codes to mask what distillery the whisky was created by. However, there are websites which have collected information on which distilleries correspond to which number. For instance, The Whiskey Jug has published a full list here. The other whiskies from the SMWS were produced by Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain.
At 18 years, The Finesse of a Fragrant Furnace is the oldest whisky released by the SMWS for Feis Ile 2023. It was matured in a refill bourbon and a refill Spanish oak Oloroso sherry hogshead. Bowmore whisky matured in bourbon or sherry is usually a winning combination, so I am hoping this whisky follows that trend.
This may very well be one of the last Feis Ile 2023 releases I cover this year on the blog. I would still love the chance to try Caol IIa’s non-SMWS offerings, but those are proving more difficult to find. If this is the final Feis Ile 2023 whisky, I would just like to say thanks to all the distilleries for giving me the chance to try very spectacular whiskies this year, and also thanks to all who have read this blog along the way. I have learned a lot from the whiskies created this year, and I am looking forward to next year’s festival.
The Basics
Aged: 18 years
Bottles available: 1,173
Casks: Bourbon and Oloroso sherry
ABV: 56.9%
Color: Gold
Nose: Hand sanitizer, mango, caramel, wood
Cost: $267 (auction fees and shipping were $65)
Purchased at: Scotch Whisky Auctions
Taste
The first sip gives a taste of mango followed by caramel, maple syrup, and cinnamon flavors. The finish leaves a bitter taste in your mouth along with more mango, caramel, and cinnamon flavors and a light peaty finish.
The mouthfeel is a bit oily, and there isn’t a strong alcohol burn after drinking it. You definitely get stronger bourbon flavors in this whisky, but there is a nice fruit flavor that pairs nicely with the heavier bourbon flavors.
Neat or With Water
Despite the higher ABV of this whisky, I found drinking it neat was a better experience for me. The flavors of this whisky are very strong without water, and there is very little alcohol burn while drinking. You do get a slightly stronger smoky finish with some water, but it comes at the expense of other great flavors.
Summary
Accessibility: This whisky is still available for sale through the SMWS USA website. You do need to be a member to purchase through the website though. An alternative to membership is to look for it to appear in whisky auctions, which is how I bought this bottle.
Price: At $267, I feel like I got a small deal on this bottle. It sells for $285 through the SMWS USA website. In whisky auctions before shipping and auction fees are considered, this whisky has sold for $222 on the high end and $185 on the low end.
Quality: The mango and bourbon flavors come together very nicely in this whisky to give you a very sweet, lightly peated whisky. From a mouthfeel standpoint, it is a bit on the heavier side, but it is still very smooth to drink and the flavors all work very well together. It did take me some time to begin appreciating this whisky. I found that opening the bottle up and giving it a few weeks helped to change and make the flavors a bit smoother overall. It becomes a much nicer whisky with a little patience.
Score: 6/10 (See our scoring system explanation)
The thing that really stood out to me about this whisky is the strong mango flavor it gives. It’s such an interesting flavor that I would not have thought would work well with a whisky, but it really works nicely with the heavier sweet flavors of caramel, maple syrup, and cinnamon. You get a lot of strong flavors from this whisky that work together very smoothly.
The bourbon flavors are a lot stronger than the sherry’s in this whisky, and the less smoky finish should be interesting to those who are not as big of fans of peat. It is also still strong enough of a smoky taste to not scare off the peat heads. If bourbon and light peat is your thing, this will be a great whisky for you.
I do not think I will try to buy another bottle of this whisky. As I have written in the past, strong bourbon flavors are not always my favorite in a scotch whisky. Even though the mango flavor is very interesting in this whisky, I do not know if I like it enough to want that kind of flavor again in a dram. I think there is definitely an audience for this whisky and think it is a nice whisky, but for me it is a little overpriced and not exactly the flavors I really enjoy a dram.