The KOTQ

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is a private membership club dedicated to the “discerning appreciation and consumption of the most rare and unique of single malt whiskies; unfiltered, single cask, single malt Scotch whisky”.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was formed in 1983 by a small group of Scottish connoisseurs who had discovered the “superiority” of whisky taken straight from the cask. In flavor and, of course, in strength these whiskies are markedly different from the commercially bottled versions, which have been chill-filtered and diluted. This group of Edinburgh whisky drinkers had access to malts of the very highest quality. They purchased for their onw use unusually fine casks which they then bottled without any intervening process of filtration or dilution (as usually happens with bottled spirit). Because the contents of each cask were bottled separately, the individuality of the cask became apparent in the taste of the whisky.

To join the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America, you must be at least 25 years of age upon payment of the initial membership fee of $179.00, which includes the purchase price of one 750ml bottle of “an extremely rare and unique malt whisky never to be avaliable again”. There is a $35.00 annual fee/subscription and membership is renewable annually on the anniversary of your enrollment.

Members receive regular newsletters listing the current bottlings available to the society. In addition members receive bottling lists and a gift catalog. Membership also entitles members to visit the three main venues of the Society, two in Edinburgh, Scotland (with their headquarters being The Vaults, in Leith, a port of Edinburgh) and one in London, England.

In addition, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society also hosts whisky tastings for members and guests worldwide. There actually was a tasting on 9/29 at the Union Club of Chicago.

For discussion at our 3rd Quarter 2005 meeting, I am providing some detail about the significance of the Scotch Whisky Association.

The SWA is essentially a trade organization. It’s the main organization that represents the interests of the scotch whisky industry as a whole in Great Britain and overseas. The SWA is comprised of members that represent the industry: distillers, blenders, brokers, brand owners, etc. Overall, the SWA believes it’s current membership represents 95% of the scotch whisky market. The organization is the primary voice for the interests of the scotch whisky industry.

The existence of the SWA has dated back to 1917, but the association didn’t incorporate until 1960. With incorporation, the organization raised its standing to carry out legal proceedings, especially overseas. With the strengthening of its relationship with the rest of Europe, it has been able to influence legislation which has helped to, among other things, 1) keep the identify of scotch whisky intact by covering standards for labeling, marketing, and packaging, 2) review production issues relating to safety, environment, and 3) represent the industry in the tax treatment of scotch whisky.

The SWA has 12-16 members, elected annually by the members, and then the Council further establishes committees to help advise the Council on the different aspects of its work. The main office is in Edinburgh and a second office is in London.

In short, the SWA’s principal functions, as quoted from their website at http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk, are:
· To promote Scotch Whisky as a quality product made of natural ingredients.
· To protect the image and integrity of Scotch Whisky throughout the world.
· To represent the industry’s interests to the British Government and to overseas governments.
· To fight tax discrimination and trade barriers against Scotch Whisky.

Know your Clynelish and it’s sister distillery Brora!!! There really are two…or is that one…or is that two? 😀

Let’s start with Brora which is the name of a fishing and resort town where there are located two distilleries…

1) The first of these two distilleries was established in 1819 by the Marquis of Stafford (later the Duke of Sutherland by marriage). It was named Clynelish and when viewed from the outside with its hump-backed hill rising behind, is a fine example of the classic, close-knit little Victorian distillery – steeply sloping warehouse roofs, an imperious pagoda head rising high above everything but the chimney-stack and a fort-like cluster of stone buildings round a courtyard. This distillery ceased production in 1983.

2) The second of these distilleries went into production in 1967. The original distillery ceded it’s name, Clynelish, to this distiller. It is attractive in the modern way, but anonymous. Land from Clynelish Farm was acquired and water supplies were augmented from the Clynemilton Burn. The new Clynelish is three times the size of the original and has three pairs of stills. It very much continues the tradition of the original Clynelish.

3) Between 1967 and 1983 (or so) both of these distilleries, in the town of Brora, were in production. The original, classic/Victorian-styled, distillery was re-named Brora, after the town, and used an especially highly peated malt.

4) Clynelish, the somewhat anonymous and modern distillery, is still in production today and uses a medium peated malt. Both, Brora and Clynelish, in fact, are a classic case of a coastal malt having a slightly “island” character.

When you see Brora think:

Originally called Clynelish, from 1819, with the classic pagodas and courtyards, re-named with the new Clynelish was built and closed in 1983…some independent bottlings do exist. Snatch them up if you like a heavily peated “island” type malt.

When you see Clynelish think:

Modern distillery, still in operation, with a nice medium peat with “island” characteristics from the Northern Highlands.

The Scapa distillery was founded in 1885 by John Townsend and MacFarlane, distillers from Glasgow, and is settled on the banks of the famous “Scapa Flow”. The distillery had a century of production involving few changes of ownership. During World War I, the distillery barely avoided a fire thanks to the intervention of sailors of the Royal Navy. The distillery was used as an ammunition depot for the British army. It was silent for two years from 1934 and was owned for a time by the Bloch brothers, the owners of Glen Scotia distillery in Campbeltown. In 1954 Hiram Walker bought the distillery and he added amongst other things a Lomond still. Scapa was rebuilt in 1959 with further internal improvements made in 1978.

The water supply carries a considerable amount of peat from the Lingro Burn and local springs, as a result of which the barley it uses is left unpeated. The waterwheel that supplied power to the original distillery is still there but the maltings were taken out of use in the 1960s not long after the rebuilding of the distillery.
The distillery has a single pair of stills, one of them is of the Lomond type, a rare feature. It has a short, stubby top instead of the elongated goose-neck heads customary in Scottish distilleries. An appealing aspect for hard-line traditionalists is that the whisky is made without the usual hi-tech automation. The distillate intended for bottling as a single malt is aged exclusively in ex-Bourbon casks – which is oakwood charred on the inside of the staves. Over the years, most of the distillery output has gone into the Ballentine’s blend.

The distillery was mothballed in 1994. A year ago, in the spring of 2004, owners Allied Distillers committed to reopening the distillery investing £4 million in Scapa and Glendronach distilleries using traditional building skills and techniques in order to retain the unique style of malt produced. Scapa has been fully operational (purportedly) since January 2005 with intermittent production. Further work being phased over a two-year period. Scapa is currently managed by its Orkney neighbor, Highland Park the northern most distillery in Scotland.

The 2 Scapa stills (with the Lommond on the Left)

Views of the beautiful Scapa terroir:

There’s a new area in the sidebar that I wanted to introduce to you. The “Scotch Links” area is an area for all of us to contribute our favorite and most useful websites related to single malt scotch.

You can put magazines, distillery sites, research sites, societies, whatever you think is a great single malt site for all of us to use and enjoy. This links can be a very valuable tool down the road to assist with homework research and execution as well!

I have put a few of my favorites so far in the list to give you an idea of what to put in there. I also have set up a separate area dedicatd to Whisky Magazine On-Line. Whisky Magazine is an amazingly rich resource to use to keep abreast of the whisky industry as well as post your own threads to robust world wide forums.

How do I do it you ask?

Go the “Site Admin” area and click on “Links” and then within there click on “Add Link”. But, be sure to choose the “Scotch Links” category for your link so that your link will show up in the “Scotch Links” area of the sidebar.