Review #974 - SMWS 64.162 'Adventurers Around a Campfire' - Mannochmore 17 Year
In the past year or so, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society has started to bottle more of these "Two to One" casks; instead of their usual single cask releases, which was modus operandi since their inception, they're creating larger outturns by combining two casks from a distillery into a 'single cask' release.
Here's a "Two to One" release from one of our favorite distilleries to buy from SMWS: Mannochmore. The two casks combined for this release share the same distillation date of September 25, 2007; while both began their maturations in ex-bourbon hogsheads, their finishes were different.
One was transferred at an age of 12 years into a first fill Oloroso sherry hogshead for about 5 years of secondary maturation; the other was in a bourbon cask for 13 years, and then spent at least 4 years in a refill charred red wine barrique for finishing. Actually, the Society gives us an interesting piece of information here: that refill wine barrique was previously used to mature spirit from Distillery 66 (Ardmore), so there may be a hint of peat lingering here.
After 17 years of aging, this 'single cask' was bottled at a cask strength of 53.5% ABV.
SMWS 64.162 'Adventurers Around a Campfire' - Mannochmore 17 Year
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price: USD 180 (2025)
Age Statement: 17 Years
Strength: 53.5% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon hogsheads, finished in a first fill Spanish oak Oloroso sherry hogshead and a refill charred red wine barrique
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled September 25, 2007; 421 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 7 months; bottles at 90%, 80%, and 40% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Oak-forward, with lots of sweet, polished wood notes. Past that, it's rich fruits: passionfruit, blood orange, lots of stone fruit like peach and apricot. This is showing age well beyond 17 years; we also get a musty malt scent, as well as some tropical notes like watermelon-mint salad and honeydew melon. Sweet perfume and peach cobbler are further accents.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium thick; wow, this is very pretty. The texture is borderline syrupy, and we get a nice mixture of spice and sweetness: strong oak, wax, tannic red wine, but also blackberries, peaches drizzled with honey, and sweet cranberry sauce. Orange spiced tea, sweet malt, and floral notes popped up in various tasting sessions.
Finish: Some leather and more polish are added to that oak profile, but we also get plenty of tropical fruit again: passionfruit, cheap cocktail cherries, blood orange, and candied mango. Sweet pineapple, pralines, coconut cake, and wine gums linger in the aftertaste; it's a medium-long finish.
Final Note: For some reason, these SMWS Mannochmore bottlings always present as much older than their age statements would suggest. So many old, sweet, polished oak flavors combine with lovely tropical stone fruits like peach, passionfruit, and a variety of red fruits. This is a delicious whisky, and while it isn't a single cask in the traditional sense, it does stand out with a unique profile compared to others we've tried from the distillery. We were able to pick out nuances from both the sherry cask and the red wine cask - great complexity and good definition.
Value here is around average due to the high price that is paired with that high quality from SMWS. We've always found these Mannochmores from the Society to be great though, so we'll keep looking out for them; if this whisky's profile sounds up your alley, we suggest you do, too.
Our Rating: 8.5 / 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: 6.02
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 Mannochmore reviews:
Review #785 - SMWS 64.154 'We're All Going on a Summer Holiday' - Mannochmore 16 Year
Review #599 - Single Malts of Scotland Mannochmore 16 Year Single Cask - Storied Company Selection
Review #578 - SMWS 64.149 'A Cake Walk in the Black Forest' - Mannochmore 17 Year
Review #250 - SMWS Distillery 64 Rare Release 'Luscious Velvet' - Mannochmore 15 Year
