'Heresy'
Just a dash duo

“Teaspooning? What on earth is that and why do I need to know?”

Most Society members could be excused for asking questions about something that’s one of the more arcane aspects of the whisky world. It’s a widespread practice, but not widely discussed beyond the whisky makers – and the most well-informed drinkers.
The first part is straightforward enough, as our head of whisky creation, Euan Campbell, explains: “Teaspooning is the act of mixing a minuscule amount of one single malt – traditionally, no more than a teaspoon’s worth – into another.”

So why do it?

“It allows a distillery to sell its whisky to other blenders and at the same time ensures that it will never be bottled as a single malt bearing the distillery name,” says Euan. “It effectively becomes a blended malt, even if there’s only a teaspoon’s worth of another whisky in the cask.”
And why is The Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottling such blended malt whisky, I hear the cynics ask?

Well, as Euan says: “These whiskies are so remarkably close in character to their main distillery of origin that they are well worth bottling in their own right.” What’s more, stocks from the distilleries in question are often extremely difficult to come by or completely out of reach to whisky clubs and independent bottlers. These malts are bottled as single malts for their owners’ brands, and that is pretty much it. So, simply put, it may be the only way to bottle the character of those distilleries for our members.

Now that the fundamentals are out of the way, let’s have a look at the latest releases in our small-batch ‘Heresy’ series, with a pair of teaspooned tipples ending up in our clear glass bottles.

First up, Batch 36: Just a dash – Jammy cobbler. This 18-year-old blended malt takes after its main parent distillery (number 40, if you must know) for its classy yet exuberant fruitiness. Of course, though, as with anything Society related, there’s twist. In this case, Batch 36: Just a dash – Jammy cobbler is the result of two first fill bourbon barrels of that teaspooned malt married into a second fill Spanish oak PX butt for… let’s see, just a quick additional maturation of about eight years!

The results speak for themselves, with flavours taking you on an acrobatic journey between chocolate limes, and mango and all the depth and complexity of a darker demerara sugar and its balanced blend of spices. The Spanish oak is tamer than on a first fill, but still flexing its muscles. And while reduced to 50% abv, this dram still has room for water, bringing a mellower palate with roast peaches and coconut, as well as some reminiscence of bourbon, allspice and hazelnut spread on pancakes. The finish is smooth, orangey and laden with candied lemon, cask char and fennel seeds.