Review #870 - SMWS 100.35 'A Rollercoaster' - Strathmill 11 Year
Strathmill is a distillery that's quite difficult to find these days. It's almost nonexistent in official bottling form, and we don't see it too often from independent bottlers, either; the Scotch Malt Whisky Society has bottled 35 to 40 casks over the years, but we still don't see a release from this Speyside distillery too often.
This 11 year old single cask spent the first 7 years of its maturation in an ex-bourbon hogshead, the same treatment that the vast majority of SMWS whiskies get these days. After that, the rest of the aging process used a refilled toasted French oak cask, specifically a barrique, which points toward an ex-wine cask. After the full maturation, SMWS categorized this whisky in their 'Juicy, Oak & Vanilla' flavor profile.
SMWS 100.35 'A Rollercoaster' - Strathmill 11 Year
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price: USD 125 (2022)
Age Statement: 11 Years
Strength: 60.6% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in a refill toasted French oak barrique
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled October 28, 2010, 1995; 286 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times (once blind) over 6 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Orange fruit and cinnamon, brown sugar and toast. More fruit notes like tangy grape and tinned peach pop up, and it's relatively juicy at times. There's a hint of creamy grain, but lots of sweetness from malty notes and fudge. In the background, there's a little whiff of a vegetal note.
Palate: Wood spice, toasted oak - quite oaky overall. There's syrupy sweet flavor from grape juice, blood orange, and strawberry jam; orange spiced tea, peaches, and brown sugar arrive in time. Quite fruity overall, and the mouthfeel is medium-thick.
Finish: Warming and oaky with some leather notes and a baking spice like clove. Juicy prunes, effervescent strawberry bubblegum, and tart orange give way to Gobstoppers and Runts hard candies.
Final Note: Considering all of the red fruit notes we found in this whisky, we think this refill French oak barrique must have been a red wine cask in a previous life. Strong oak notes and a variety of strong fruit flavors battled for supremacy throughout the tasting experience, and it's a relatively intense dram overall. Good whisky, one that gave us some different nuances each time we tasted it.
Value here is just about average in our books. This whisky packs tons of flavor, but it also isn't cheap at $125.
Our Rating: 7.5 / 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: 6.00
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 Strathmill reviews:
