The 30th release in The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s experimental small batch Heresy range showcases the secondary maturation skills of its Whisky Team and their mission to create unique flavour adventures for whisky fans.
Skooshy Stroopwafel – a rare single malt among the Heresy range which typically features blends – is a 11-year-old single malt Scotch whisky which showcases what happens when Speyside spirit is matured first in bourbon hogsheads then in European oak sherry butts.
The whisky began its journey on April 8, 2013, in bourbon hogsheads at a Speyside distillery. After eight years of initial maturation, the Society’s Whisky Team found these casks had developed a lovely fruitiness with gentle cereal notes and stone fruit sweetness.
Hunting for deeper, darker flavours, Head of Whisky Creation Euan Campbell transferred the whisky to four fresh European oak sherry butts from the Juan Pino cooperage, each seasoned for 13 months with Pedro Ximénez sherry, in Spain’s sherry triangle. The team regularly visit Jerez to taste the wine in their casks, allowing them to better understand the flavour profiles they would lend to the whisky and use their expertise to create the final result.
The choice of butts over hogsheads was deliberate – while European oak sherry hogsheads can provide quite an intense maturation, the larger volume of butts allows for a gentler wood influence while still delivering the sought-after sherry character. After 32 months of additional maturation, all four butts showed remarkably similar profiles, leading to their combination into this single bottling.
The marriage of bourbon and sherry cask maturation has created a dram that’s both complex and approachable. The Society’s Tasting Panel found themselves transported to a Belgian fair, with notes of lotus biscuits, muscovado sugar and whipped cream (known as “skooshy cream” in Scotland, home of the SMWS, on stroopwafel, all complemented by hints of pumpkin spice frappuccino.
With only 2,382 bottles available, Skooshy Stroopwafel is bottled at 50% ABV and will be available from January 10th for £55. https://smws.com/skooshy-stroopwafel/
“This release perfectly demonstrates our commitment to exploring the interplay between spirit and wood to create a unique adventure in flavour,” says Julien Willems, Whisky Quality Manager at SMWS. “While our Heresy range is known for innovative blends, we occasionally find single malts that embody the experimental spirit of the series. The decision to use sherry butts rather than hogsheads allowed us to enhance rather than overwhelm the distillery’s fruity character.”
The Society’s Heresy range selects and blends casks for maximum flavour impact. It started in 2017 with a 10-year old blend named Exotic Cargo, and has since featured bottlings including Peat Faerie – the first attempt to use peat while combining very different whiskies, and Battle Axe, which was purely composed of Islay whiskies. The bottles are clear, differing from the SMWS’s signature dark green bottles, and each has a specially designed label unique to the batch.
There are several more Heresy releases to come this year with the next bottling launching in March for St Patrick’s Day.
