Review #701 - SMWS 71.108 'European Vacation' - Glenburgie 9 Year
In early November of 2025, we had a chance to attend the outturn tasting for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's November 2025 releases for the United States. Typically, these outturn tastings consist of 6 or 7 different whiskies, and all of the tastings are done blind, with the bottles revealed only after tasting notes and guesses have been discussed. Most of the time, these bottles are single malt Scotch whiskies, but they originate at a variety of distilleries (the Societies has bottled whisky from over 150 distilleries), and there's a huge range of casks at are used for aging. This is 1 of 6 reviews from this month's outturn.
This Glenburgie single cask named 'European Vacation' comes with a 9 year age statement and is presented in the Society's 'Young & Spritely' flavor profile. Glenburgie is a little-seen distillery, even in independent bottling, but SMWS seems to have quite a few casks from this Speyside producer. Typically, Glenburgie's spirit is used for blends, especially the Ballantine's blend.
Ex-bourbon was the cask choice for this bottling, specifically a first fill barrel; after those 9 years of maturation, 180 bottles were yielded at a hefty strength of 61.7% ABV.
SMWS 71.108 'European Vacation' - Glenburgie 9 Year
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price: USD 110 (2025)
Age Statement: 9 Years
Strength: 61.7% ABV
Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon barrel
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled December 15, 2014; 180 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed blind 1 time. Tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Floral and bright, with some sweetness from brown sugar and honey. Vanilla adds another baking note, and we get a nice waxy scent; there's a decent amount of oak for the age, a very drying oak.
Palate: Sweeter, with apple notes and white grape. It's a bit starchy, and again the oak has a decent influence; malty notes, accented by vanilla and hay, build over time.
Finish: Reflects the palate well, with grape, malty grain, vanilla, and some floral notes. Lemon-lime soda builds in the aftertaste with a bit of fizz; overall, it leans sweet again.
Final Note: Surprisingly oaky considering the single digit age statement, but a nice surprise. Most in our tasting session guessed that this would be an older whisky, something in the 15 to 20 year range due to that oak; it has a classic ex-bourbon profile of malt and light baking notes. The grape note came forward much more strongly with the addition of a few drops of water.
This is a very good single malt, and one of the surprises of the tasting after the reveal. Value is also good, one of the highest that we've rated for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, as this bottle is on the cheap end of their range: $110, not including the membership fees.
Our Average Rating: 8.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.68
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other Glenburgie reviews:
Review #151 - SMWS 71.83 "Amuse Your Bouche" - Glenburgie 10 Year
