March Outturn 2022

NEW RELEASES WILL BE ONLINE AT MIDDAY AEDT, FRIDAY 4TH MARCH

Outturn Turn it up: Friday 4 March Issue 02, 2022

MUSIC & MALTS weave the flavours and sounds of Outturn with music and malts to match

FIND YOUR MUSICAL MALT AT SMWS.COM.AU

Contents Let’s get out and about Andrew Derbidge........................................................................... 3 Music & Malts Matt Bailey......................................................................................... 6

Your musical whisky companion Andrew Derbidge........................................................................ 20

OUR BOTTLINGS SPICY & SWEET Cask No. 112.84 Seductive shapeshifter.............................................................

OILY & COASTAL

17

DEEP, RICH & DRIED FRUITS Cask No. 24.147 Red wine and cola sangria spritzer.................................

Cask No. 4.278 By the beautiful sea.....................................................................

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LIGHTLY PEATED

11

Cask No. 12.54 Delishably delectable................................................................ 14

JUICY, OAK & VANILLA Cask No. 5.75 (Malt of the Month) Juicy-licious ................................................................................... 8

Cask No. 3.324 Split personality ......................................................................... 16

PEATED Cask No. 66.192 The dalai farmer ........................................................................

17

BLENDED MALT Cask No. Batch 12 Clementine confit......................................................................... 18

SOCIETY EXPERIENCES Events in your state.................................................................... 12 Champs are back.......................................................................... 12 Rock ‘N’ Rollers of Rum Virtual Tasting........................ 13

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CELLARMASTER’S NOTE

Let’s get

out and about!

Generally speaking, as a nation, we are bunch of people who like to travel.

Being isolated on the other side of the planet means we have to jump on an aeroplane for 15-24 hours if we are to visit and experience those aspects of Europe, Asia, and the Americas that so pervade our screens, media, and culture. And we readily, happily, and regularly do it.

C

OVID, therefore, has put a very big dent in the travel plans and behaviours of most…including the many of us who entertain thoughts of heading to Scotland. While we lament and despair that we can’t leave the country as we once so freely did, we sometimes overlook the other side of the coin: People from overseas can’t freely come and visit us.

The flow on from this is the interesting impact it’s had on the marketing and promotion of Scotch whisky in this country. Prior to COVID, Australia enjoyed a regularly rotating door of Scotch industry luminaries who would visit us and present product launches, tastings, masterclasses, press/media functions and the like. Names like Bill Lumsden, Jim McEwan, Richard Patterson, David Stewart, Graham

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“Their presence, energy, expertise, and – in many cases, showmanship – would inject life, excitement, colour, and variety into Australia’s whisky appreciation scene.”

Coull, Anthony Wills, Brian Kinsman, Ian Logan, Ian McWilliam, Brendan McCarron, Colin Scott, Jim Beverage, Georgie Bell, John Campbell, Dave Broom, Charlie Maclean, Stewart Buchanan, and….well, the list goes on.

And on. Master blenders, distillery managers, whisky icons, global brand ambassadors, whisky writers; these people were once regular visitors to our shores. Their presence, energy, expertise, and – in many cases, showmanship – would inject life, excitement, colour, and variety into Australia’s whisky appreciation scene. Not to mention knowledge, education, and awareness.

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Needless to say, such visits have been nonexistent for two years now. Many of these industry icons would piggy-back tours of Australia off the back of the Dramfest whisky festival in New Zealand, although this, too, was cancelled last month because New Zealand’s current border restrictions with COVID prevented the international presenters from attending the event!

The industry, of course – like every other business – had to adapt, and so promotional tours and visits were replaced with online/ virtual tastings. Whilst such outcomes have been consolation substitutes, there’s simply no comparison to seeing these men and women in the flesh, and tasting their products as they give you the inside word and insights into the brand, the distillery, the history, and the whisky you’re enjoying with them in real time.

Lots of businesses and operations are contemplating what the new normal will look like once this pandemic is behind us.

How much of the “work from home” ethos will remain, and how much will we return to more traditional work arrangements? The marketing arms of the Scotch whisky industry face the same question. It’s my earnest hope, nay prayer, that the brands will see value in dispatching their missionaries to our shores

once more, and to spread the gospel of malt.

But take note: Such undertakings are a twoway street. Speakers at public events need an audience, and the other side of this equation is that if the brands and distributors are to organise and put on tasting events, then we as individuals need to support and attend them.

We cannot complain about the brands no longer putting on the public tastings like they once did if we don’t leave our front doors and head into the city to attend the events. Live tasting events need bums on seats; presenters need a “live” audience to feed off and respond to; whisky pre-poured out into glasses needs to be drunk.

We cannot complain from our lounge chairs at home if the distributor elects to forgo public tastings and simply sends a free bottle to an Instagram influencer instead.

On a vaguely related note: There’s been a lot of chatter amongst Society members recently around the release of whiskies through Outturn, and the bottlings that are now being released at other intervals during the month. What’s less spoken about and is perhaps less appreciated by members – although perhaps it’s fallen into the

shadows of COVID over the last two years – is that we bring in a lot of SMWS casks that are released only at live events. Yes, you read that right – we have numerous casks and Society releases that we don’t release through Outturn or alert members to via email, but we serve up as exclusives at our live events, where the attendees can then grab a bottle for themselves.

It’s just another reason to get out and head to a tasting event! Our State Managers have been champing at the bit to host live events again after being shackled for two years. On the assumption that we can proceed with events this year and not be hampered by COVID, I encourage you to take advantage of the warm community that is the Society. The Australian branch was founded in 2002 on the basis of holding convivial tastings, dinners, and whisky gatherings. Long may it continue….

Cheers.

Andrew Derbidge ~ Director, Cellarmaster & NSW Manager 5

AMBASSADOR’S ARTICLE

M

usic & whisky. Malt and music. I’ve long been fascinated about the relationship between music and whisky. For those who don’t know me outside of the whisky game, I’m also a musician. I’m a trumpet player, which was and still is a huge part of my journey thus far. I grew up listening to Hakan Hardenberger playing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto, then later it was Arve Henriksen recordings that warped my mind. Through university, it was artists like Aphex Twin, John Zorn, Fennesz, George Crumb, Steve Reich, Laurie Anderson, Derek Bailey (no relation) or Gastr del Sol that widened my soundscape. The widening of my flavour journey would come later on after I’d stopped buying cheap blends and instant pasta. I like to think flavour does the same thing to us as music can. Flavours in spirit that can make us go “oh wow, I never knew that existed” much in the same way music can. They can take us on a journey into the unknown, into the realm of discovery.

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T EYE OU N A P KEE THIS ICON ask FOR d each c a

aire rn with ve p We’ is Outtu ng. Scan . in th cular so o listen t i t e r d a o p QR c each

As both a musician and a whisky geek, I’ve long thought about how one would go about pairing whisky and music together. In other pairings like cheese and whisky, you’d find the complementing or contrasting flavours, work out what works best, or in some cases create the dishes around the whiskies to best pair up and create a flavour experience. In the case of music, subjectivity and intangibility play a role, but still occupy a crucial sense through auditory spark. Have you ever been to an amazing restaurant or bar where the food, service, drinks are all fantastic, but the music doesn’t fit at all? The mid-2000’s house music is ruining your steak tartare? How much does that play into your overall enjoyment of the venue? It all depends on how much emphasis you put into your auditory senses in your environment. For me, it’s a fair bit!

Elsewhere in this Outturn, Andrew’s written an amazing piece that has been featured in our Unfiltered Magazine about music and whisky, positing that mood is the secret to a pairing that engages our ears, and less about genre or melody. Mood already plays such a huge role in our enjoyment of single cask spirit, so any instance where that mood can be moved, changed, altered, improved with music is an exciting proposition To kick Music & Malts months off, we’ve paired each cask in this Outturn with a particular song

that we’ve worked out will pair really well with that whisky. Is it an exact science? No. But it’s certainly a bit of fun to work out which malts need something a bit long and contemplative versus which ones are pure bubble gum pop in a glass. Some of these selections are fun songs, some are lengthy works of art. I hope you’ll have some fun with these! You can scan each QR code to listen to each on YouTube, or scan below for the full Spotify playlist.

Music & Malts will stretch across both March and April Outturn, along with some of our exciting weekly releases we’re continuing to pop online each Friday!

Cheers and happy listening!

Matt Bailey ~ SMWS National Ambassador

SCAN THE QR CODE for the Music & Malts Spotify playlist

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ELEGANT LOWLANDS

When was the last time you saw a Lowland whisky as a Malt of the Month?

This is an exciting and musical month for the Society, so offering up a 1st fill, 18 year old, Lowland whisky of incredible creamy quality is cause for a needle drop on the turntable! Triple distilled, this Juicy, Oak & Vanilla profile cask has been quietly maturing for 18 years before being selected by the expert tasting panel for the Society. Expect an elegant bouquet of peach blossom, tropical fruit salad, marshmallows and pink wafer biscuit. A juicy-licious example of this distillery’s distinctly classy make. Truly elegant and enticing spirit.

AS PREVIEWED ON THE MELBOURNE FESTIVE TRAIN JOURNEY IN DECEMBER REGION

Lowland

CASK TYPE

1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE

18 years

DATE DISTILLED

16 January 2003

CASK NO. 5.75

OUTTURN

209 bottles

ABV

56.7%

REDUCED FROM $235

AUS ALLOCATION 52 bottles

JUICY-LICIOUS JUICY, OAK & VANILLA

$199

Limit of one bottle per Member

T MALTHE F O NTH MO

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An enticing, open and refined scent of elegant perfume layered with different aromas ranging from peach and pear blossom, to a sweet and citrusy note then finally bourbon vanilla and orange enticed us to take a sip.

Lush, creamy and soft like a delicate lemon curd and ginger fool or taffy apple grapes; green grapes dipped in candy and rolled in nuts. Water added on the nose a tropical fruit salad, marshmallows and pink wafers while on the palate a fruity voluptuousness followed by a creamy butterscotch flavour with a finish of warm baked apple alongside vanilla cream and muscovado sugar.

This cask pairs with this song HAVE A LISTEN

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This cask pairs with this song HAVE A LISTEN

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RED WINE AND COLA SANGRIA SPRITZER DEEP, RICH & DRIED FRUITS CASK NO. 24.147

$220

Scan the QR Code or CLICK HERE to submit your ballot entry

BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA OILY & COASTAL CASK NO. 4.278

$195

REGION

Speyside

CASK TYPE

1st fill Pedro Ximenez hogshead

AGE

12 years

DATE DISTILLED

13 October 2008

OUTTURN

336 bottles

ABV

63.3%

LOT BAL TLING BOT

AUS ALLOCATION 36 bottles The smell was initially like opening a jar of candied pitted olives and cherries in sweet sherry. The cherry theme continued with cherry Bakewell tarts, cherry lips and fizzy cherry cola bottle sweets. The taste was something special; raisin concentrate, fig syrup and prunes in a sweet dark bitter chocolate sauce. Water added sticky toffee pudding and spiced poached pears in chocolate sauce before we washed it all down with a Kalimotxo cocktail - red wine and cola sangria spritzer. In 2018 we combined selected oloroso butts before returning the single malt to a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks.

REGION

Highland

CASK TYPE

1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE

13 years

DATE DISTILLED

28 January 2008

OUTTURN

208 bottles

ABV

61.0%

AUS ALLOCATION 42 bottles Imagine spreading a picnic blanket on slightly wet grass overlooking Kirkwall and Scapa Flow, the light breeze carrying the salty sea air intermingled with a wisp of peat smoke ascending from the pagoda roof nearby. We enjoyed cherry peach crisp with oatmeal cookie crumble and lightly smoked venison carpaccio. When we added a drop of water, we wandered down a seaside promenade full of enticing aromas - ice cream, marshmallows, caramel, jellybeans and crushed shells. To taste; sweet, viscous and so very delicate - hints of exotic wood smoke, rose petals and heather. In 2017 we combined selected hogsheads before returning the single malt to a variety of different casks to develop further.

This is one of those casks.

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SOCIETY EXPERIENCES HOBART

MELBOURNE

IT’S S-S-SMOKIN!

POET’S CORNER: THE WHISKY MUSE

Cigar and whisky pairings with a 4th generation tobacconist with variations on peated whisky to pair. Whisky, cigars, jazz, and good times.

Limited spaces, book early.

Music and malts brings our first big whisky experience for Victorian members as Alex Moores takes us on a musical journey in song and poetry.

SAT 19 MARCH, 2PM

THUR 10 MARCH, 7PM

New Sydney Hotel 87 Bathurst St, Hobart

P.J. O’Brien’s 16/3 Southgate Ave, Southbank

FOR OUR LATEST EVENT LISTINGS AND TO BOOK ONLINE VISIT SMWS.COM.AU/EVENTS All events will require proof of vaccination, and may be altered due to density limits or other restrictions. Keep an eye out for any changes on our website.

CHAMPS ARE BACK Hundreds of competitors, three huge prizes, one sold out event taking over the whole Art Gallery of NSW.

SATURDAY 26 MARCH, 2022 Watch the stream on our socials on the night and see who takes home the trophy!

For all other state events, see www.smws.com.au/events for what’s coming up in your state.

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ONLY

$79

PER PACK*

$1,470

WORTH OF RUM IN ONE TASTING!

JOIN IN THE LIVE STREAM ON WEDNESDAY 16 MARCH, 7PM AEDT ON FACEBOOK & YOUTUBE Is there anything more rock and roll than rum as a spirit? This is music and malts month, but what about whisky’s uncanny cousin, rum?! We occasionally get the opportunity to bottle some incredible rums at the Society, and it’s rare that we have at least five single casks on hand at any time, so we’re using this opportunity in our music month to rock out with some rum! Join in, taste along, learn everything you wanted to know about rum, and discover how SMWS rums aren’t what you expected! From distillation to nuances between Panamanian to Trinidadian, there’ll be something for everyone to learn and take away from this rocking evening hosted virtually.

R2.14 CARIBBEAN CRAB CAKES R9.9 CHALLENGING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM Upcoming release

R13.2 READY-MADE MARMALADE Rare

R11.12 DUNDER THE SEA Outturn Feature

R2.13 FUNKY FUN FLAVOURS

GRAB YOUR VIRTUAL TASTING KIT AND JOIN IN THE FUN! SMWS.COM.AU/SHOP *Includes 5 x 30ml drams of the above bottlings, two tasting mats and full tasting notes.

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DELECTABLE DANCES Cask 12.54 Delishably delectable is a special offering from the SMWS in our Music & Malts Outturn. Distillery 12 has had something of a single malt resurgence of late. Relatively new ownership, fascinatingly diverse cask selections, and a spirit that leaps out of the glass when youthful, but finds its stride when older. Cask 12.54 is a piece of umami heaven straight from its distillation date of 1989. Expect poached prunes, hazelnut butter, roasted cocoa, and full-term sherry maturation grace dancing on the tongue for this special release.

DELISHABLY DELECTABLE DEEP, RICH & DRIED FRUITS CASK NO. 12.54

$950

Limit of one bottle per Member

M MIU PRE T TLING BO RA EXTRATION U MAT

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REGION

Speyside

CASK TYPE

1st fill Oloroso butt

AGE

31 years

DATE DISTILLED

7 September 1989

OUTTURN

477 bottles

ABV

58.0%

AUS ALLOCATION 36 bottles Beautiful rich and dark aromas right from the word go; hazelnut and oregano pasta, poached prunes with rum baba and roasted cocoa nibs. On the palate very thin slices of Spanish Jamon Serrano carved off the bone with a glass of Amontillado VORS sherry – we were in nutty umami heaven! With the addition of water, we were served a ginger crème brûlée with Cointreau-flambe oranges on the nose while to taste we were eating the main course, this time in Japan, with Teppanyaki wagyu beef. After twenty-nine years in a refill American oak oloroso butt, we transferred this whisky into a first Spanish oak oloroso butt.

This cask pairs with this song HAVE A LISTEN

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This cask pairs with this song HAVE A LISTEN

SPLIT PERSONALITY LIGHTLY PEATED CASK NO. 3.324

RA EXTRATION U MAT

$355

Limit of one bottle per Member

REGION

Islay

CASK TYPE

1st fill STR barrique

AGE

17 years

DATE DISTILLED

16 February 2004

OUTTURN

251 bottles

ABV

56.0%

AUS ALLOCATION 48 bottles

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A deeply scented and aromatic nose full of exotic hardwood resins and spices. The inside of a freshly made acoustic guitar and then big dollops of mango jam, sandalwood, potpourri and cocktail bitters.

Exotic fruit chutneys and a kiss of spicy peat smoke.

Reduction brings marzipan, honey roast root vegetables, sweetened black tea and cough mixtures.

Subtle notes of wintergreen and dried seaweed. The palate was immediately rich with bonfire embers and wood char. Cured game meats, BBQ smoke, bitter chocolate and black pepper. Water brought tarred ropes and enhanced the oily texture. Notes of hot smoked paprika, fig syrup, heather ales, toasted fennel and black olive tapenade. All washed down with a shot of long aged Absinthe. Previously in bourbon hogshead for 14 years before being transferred to a first fill STR barrique.

SEDUCTIVE SHAPESHIFTER SPICY & SWEET CASK NO. 112.84

$170

REGION

Highland

CASK TYPE

2nd fill bourbon hogshead

AGE

13 years

DATE DISTILLED

8 August 2007

OUTTURN

268 bottles

ABV

56.1%

AUS ALLOCATION 24 bottles A variety of aromas came to mind when nosing neat; malted milk biscuits, chewy toffee, mint eclairs, salt and sweet popcorn, caramel custard and strawberry laces.

Mouth-coating spiced rum punch with a good balance of sweet fruitiness like barley water orange squash. A bit of a shapeshifter as we added water and the scent of strawberry liqueur, with a slight citrussy edge, was poured over vanilla ice cream. Meanwhile, lingering in the background we found red roses, honeysuckle and pine sap. On the palate a mixed berry and banana smoothie, Jammy Dodgers and coffee, chai, orange and lemon flavoured seductive rainbow chocolate creams.

THE DALAI FARMER PEATED CASK NO. 66.192

$145

REGION

Highland

CASK TYPE

1st fill bourbon barrel

AGE

7 years

DATE DISTILLED

17 September 2013

OUTTURN

230 bottles

ABV

61.5%

AUS ALLOCATION 42 bottles Initially we got soft, fragrant smokiness tinged with wispy farmyard notes. Things like old iron railings, abandoned tractors and gutters full of rainwater and leaf mulch all came to mind. Also smashed slates, hot coal embers and starched linens scented with distant peat smoke. With water came bog myrtle, anthracite, oily sheep wool, metallic paints and pork sausages with sage. The mouth was initially full of coal tar soap, lanolin, smoky heather ales, olive oil and bacon lardons frying on a hot iron skillet. A sense of steel wool doused in soy sauce. Water added hot cross buns drizzled with mercurochrome, smoked olives, pasta water and aniseed sweeties. A drizzle of natural tar liqueur in the aftertaste.

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HERESY IS HERE! Every so often, SMWS Spirits Manager Euan Campbell is let loose in the vast SMWS warehouses full of casks and he tinkers with some spirits to create something a bit special for our so-called heresy collection. These are blended spirits to create something for member approval and enjoyment outside of our core focus of single cask, cask strength whiskies. Blink and you’ll miss it!

CLEMENTINE CONFIT BLENDED MALT

SMALL BATCH 12

$149

Limit of one bottle per Member

D NDE BLE ALT M

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REGION

Scotland

CASK TYPE

New Caucasian & American oak barriques

AGE

10 years

DATE DISTILLED

30 March 2010

OUTTURN

1,138 bottles

ABV

50.0%

AUS ALLOCATION 90 bottles A wonderful bouquet of sweet and fruity aromas, plum jam, banana bread, Amarena cherries coated in dark chocolate, creamed coconut and a refreshing mango cinnamon ice cream. Mouth-coating like a star anise meringue with mango coulis and fresh raspberries while in the finish, the star anise might have been swapped by matcha powder giving this dessert a light spicy Asian edge. With a drop of water, we got the same aroma but from three different countries; German Aachener Printen, Belgian speculoos and British ginger bread, while on the palate we were all eating candied orange sticks and candied clementine confit with Moroccan spices.

This cask pairs with this song HAVE A LISTEN

THE NERDY STUFF CASKS & MATURATION ON CLEMENTINE CONFIT This latest small batch expression utilises two distinct types of custom cask from Seguin Moreau cooperage in France. For type one, the staves were coopered from new American oak. Each stave was specially selected for a higher than average content of lactones and aromatic compounds. A heavy toast was applied contributing coconut sweetness and a rounded texture to the finished blend. For type two, the staves were coopered from new Caucasian oak, sourced from east of the Black Sea. A longer toast applied here provides orange and stone fruits. Toasted heads were applied to both cask types, accentuating notes of exotic spices.

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MUSIC & MALTS FEATURE

Your Musical Whisky Companion

BY ANDREW DERBIDGE

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Whisky is a versatile spirit that lends itself to many occasions and applications. In the last 20-30 years, it’s also increasingly being used to pair, match with, or provide contrast to other foods and drinks.

T

he Australian branch of the Society has been particularly active in this regard, presenting some wonderful events for members that have gone beyond the ubiquitous whisky dinner where malts are matched to food courses. The Society “down under” has also curated and showcased Whisky & Cheese events, Whisky & Chocolate, Whisky & Beer, Whisky & Coffee, and Whisky & Ice Cream. Other entities have endorsed pairings such as Whisky & Cigars. And if you look around in social media, you’ll see, for example, Facebook groups espousing concepts such as Whisky & Watches, or Whisky & Cars.

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“My experience has been that a successful match relies more on mood than it does on, say, rhythm, melody, or genre.”

The only pairing I’ve struggled with is the concept of Whisky & Music. It’s a far less tangible concept than pairing whisky to food, not to mention being a more subjective pursuit. After all, people’s tastes and preferences in music cover a far more diverse (and sensitive) spectrum, and it’s difficult to assign objectivity to the applicability or success of any whisky + music match. For example, who’s to say a 10 year old dram from 22

Islay is lifted or enhanced by drinking it to Beethoven’s Third Symphony any better than it would if paired with ‘Uprising’ by Muse?

Does a 12yo SMWS speysider from a 1st-fill bourbon barrel shine any brighter if you drink it with 1970’s disco in the background, than it would against the backdrop of Metallica? Is SMWS Distillery No. 4 more Beatles or Stones?

Having said that, I do like the idea of bringing the last of the senses into whisky appreciation.

The enjoyment of whisky already exercises sight, smell, taste, and touch. (We admire the whisky’s colour with our eyes; we smell its nose/bouquet; we taste its flavour on our palate; and our tongue, cheeks, and gums feel the whisky’s texture and heat). But pairing whisky and music lacks objectivity – what is the yardstick and how do we account for personal musical taste? It is thus an individual pursuit. For most people, we have a favourite whisky and we have a favourite artist, and we’re happy to enjoy both at the same time. But does that make it a match? Or is it just multi-tasking?

My experience has been that a successful match relies more on mood than it does on, say, rhythm, melody, or genre. Whisky certainly has a mood and a character – a malt can be soft or aggressive; it can be bombastic or it can be contemplative.

It can be vibrant and awakening or it can be calming/soothing. Some whiskies are even soulful, whilst others are simply fun. And, thus, there are pieces of music, and certainly songs, that share all the abovementioned characteristics. As such, if you’re open to the concept, an appropriate pairing can yield a result that is more than the sum of the parts.

Just as the Society created its 12 Flavour Profiles to broadly encompass and capture whisky’s diverse spectrum, is it possible to create appropriate Musical Profiles to capture music’s full range? Note that I’m not referring to genre…after all, there’s nothing in a whisky’s character that tangibly makes it a “Classical” dram or a “Rock” dram, or hip-hop or whatever. But what if those musical profiles reflected concepts such as feel, mood or tone?

We could have profiles such as “Quiet and soothing”, “Powerful and driving”, “Loud and dissonant”, and so on. Would this then create a roadmap for successful pairings? For example,

“Whisky and music? Aye, it works. Just don’t spill your dram whilst tapping your feet.”

would a Society “Spicy & sweet” dram dovetail with a song that was in the musical profile of “Fun and buoyant”? Could something “Old and dignified” pair well with a piece of music deemed “Solemn and majestic”?

Interestingly, I believe Scotch whisky is more difficult to match to music than other whiskies or spirits. Other drinks seem to have natural musical partners. For example, there’s something intrinsic about, say, bourbon and blues. Similarly, rum and reggae. Both rum and tequila also lend themselves readily to salsa music. Perhaps it’s simply because the bagpipes aren’t the most universally appreciated instrument, but – outside of a Burns Supper – there’s less of a link between Scotland’s national drink and its national instrument. But that’s not to say it can’t be done, and a few artists have made it easy for us with some great songs that showcased the bagpipes: Try pairing ACDC’s “It’s a long way to the top (if you want to rock and roll)” with something Young & Spritely. Or Paul McCartney’s “Mull of Kintyre” with something Sweet, Fruity & Mellow. And, if you’re feeling indulgent, try pairing a classy Vaults Collection release in the Old & Dignified flavour profile with John Farnham’s “You’re the voice”.

Whisky and music? Aye, it works. Just don’t spill your dram whilst tapping your feet.

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Society bottlings are offered and sold through The Artisanal Spirits Company Pty Ltd, Liquor Licence LIQP770017428.