36.206 The Drum Majors Dram

Scotch Malt Whisky Society cask 36.206, The Drum Major's Dram, is a single cask single malt Scotch whisky from Benrinnes in Speyside (SMWS distillery code 36). Distilled on 22 August 2006, it spent 13 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead before being moved to a first-fill barrique from a small, family-run bodega that works only with the Pedro Ximénez grape, and was bottled at 16 years old. It was bottled at a cask strength of 58.1% ABV, with an outturn of 207 bottles. The Society files it under its Deep, rich & dried fruits flavour profile. The Tasting Panel imagined a Highland games: heather, grilled sausages and venison burgers on the nose, then a robust palate of sticky barbecue ribs and steak and ale pie, with water bringing out the pageantry of a massed pipe band. Like every Society bottling it is bottled at cask strength without chill filtration.

Nose: Blooming heather and floral notes with beer-simmered sausages and venison burgers

Palate: Robust and savoury: sticky barbecue ribs and steak and ale pie

Serve: Neat, then with a few drops of water to open up the aromas; at full cask strength it rewards patience.