Review #942 - SMWS Five Region Batch 2025 'The Wandering'
This must be one of the most ambitious blended batches that the Scotch Malt Society has attempted so far: their goal was to incorporate malt whisky from each of Scotland's 5 official regions into the blend, and they've achieved it. The specific distilleries from Speyside, the Highlands, Islay, the Lowlands, and Campbeltown aren't disclosed, but we have guesses on a few of them based on which distilleries the Society bottles quite often.
Along with a minimum of 5 different distillates included in this blended malt, there are also a bunch of different cask types. Ex-bourbon barrels are included as usual, but we also have both Oloroso sherry and PX sherry casks; additionally, they used some heavy toast medium char (HTMC) hogsheads in the mix. With all of these different malts and cask types, this bottle is shaping up to either ooze complexity or potentially be a bit of a mess.
One thing that this batch has going for it versus other SMWS batches: this is bottled at cask strength (58.4% ABV) instead of the usual 50% ABV used for their batches. Let's dig in!
SMWS Five Region Batch 2025 'The Wandering'
Scotland - Blend
Price: USD 125 (2025)
Age Statement: 10 Years
Strength: 58.4% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon, Oloroso sherry, Pedro Ximenez sherry, and HTMC casks
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled June 10, 2014
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times (once blind) over 16 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Funky, a bit phenolic, with a decent amount of musty peat smoke. Creamy grains, oranges, and creme brulee come next; then we get some malt, wood smoke, and a bit of a damp oaky character. Graham crackers arrive, and then a fruity side develops: honeydew, along with creamy guava. Nice complexity here.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick; good texture, and this is a juicy and smoky whisky. Oranges, lemon-lime soda, and apricot combine with charred wood, strong peat, and some cinnamon spice. Tangy stone fruit like peach pops up later.
Finish: Lots of astringent wood smoke and peat, charred oranges, then some nice layers of leather, perfume, and cranberry. Notes of sweet and sour peach mix with an interesting aged gin flavor in the aftertaste; it's a medium-long finish.
Final Note: This is a very good batch from SMWS - a nice diverse range of tasting notes across our different sessions with this whisky. We found the peat influence to be quite strong overall, and it was accented by a lot of woody notes; those lighter fruit flavors really popped in later tastings, once this had time to air out.
As for our value score, we think it's right around average. This is on the cheap end of whiskies for SMWS, but that still makes it a relatively expensive whisky in the wider picture; the flavors are quite good, though, so we think this bottle is worth the purchase.
Our Rating: 7.7 / 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: 6.13
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 SMWS blended batch reviews:
