SMWS G3.4 Caledonian 27yo Review - Southside Whisky Club

grains

sswc

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#100d Banff 1971 33yo

#100c SMWS 3.46

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#82 Auchroisk 27yo

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#81b Westport 2006 WhB

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#79a Macduff 9yo WB

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#78b Cu Bocan 1988

#78a Port Dundas 1988

#77c Hazelburn 12yo

#77b Imperial G&M 1996

#77a Cadenhead Creations 17yo

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#72c Glenkinchie Distillers 2015

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#72a Glenkinchie Distillers 2006

#71c Octomore 7.2

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#70c SMWS C1 Cognac

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#70a Kingsbarns Spirit Drink

#69b Clynelish 1998 15yo

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#66 Mackmyra Midnattssol

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#58a Jameson 15yo (1970s)

#57d Chichibu Chibidaru

#57c SMWS 27.107

#57b Edradour Super Tuscan

#57a Glen Moray 10yo

#56b Hellyers Road Pinot

#56a Sullivans Cove DC

#55b Cooley 2005 13yo

#55a Port Ellen OMC 26yo

#54 Ben Nevis 1998

#53c SMWS 129.2

#53b SMWS 120.5

#53a SMWS 76.74

#52c Glen Scotia 12yo

#52b Glen Spey 1995 CC

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#51b Three Ships 10yo

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#50c SMWS 4.191

#50b Kilchoman 100% #3

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#49 Elements Lp4

#48 Dà Mhìle LL 12yo

#47b Glendronach 1994

#47a Benromach Organic

#46b WS Islay 25yo

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#45b Via Saum Behm Wiski

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#44b Caol Ila 1991 17yo

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#42b Bruichladdich Organic

#42a MacDuff 14yo 1997

#41b Tomintoul Peaty Tang

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#40b Laphroaig 15yo DC

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#39c SMWS G3.4

#39a SMWS G10.1

#38c Powers John's Lane 12yo

#38b Green Spot

#37e Yamazaki 18yo

#37d Hakushu 12yo

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#37b Nikka Coffey Grain

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#36b Miltonduff 1998

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#34c SMWS 33.122

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#33c As We Get It - Islay 8yo

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#33a CB The Spice Tree

#32 Christmas 2012

#31b Clynelish 1998 13yo

#31a Scapa 16yo

#30b Kilkerran WiP 3

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#29b Talisker 10yo

#29a Rundlets & Kilderkins

#28b Tullibardine Moscatel

#28a Glenturret 15yo

#27 North British DC 50yo

#26b SMWS 84.14

#26a Glenmorangie Lasanta

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#25a Twat's Reserve

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#22b Elements Lp1

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#21a WoodWinters 23yo

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#19b MoM Highland-P 13yo

#19a MoM Orkney 12yo

#18 Elements Kh1

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#16b Bladnoch 1990 20yo

#16a Glenkinchie 1989

#15b Benromach Sassicaia

#15a Benromach PX

#14 Whisky Fringe 2011

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#12b Laphroaig 1/4 Cask

#12a Bruichladdich Peat

#11b Glencadam Portwood

#11a Blair Athol 12yo

#10 Fettercairn 17yo 1993

#9d Elements Ar2

#9c Nikka 'From The Barrel'

#9b Redbreast 12yo

#9a Sazerac Rye

#8b Lagavulin PX 94

#8a Elements Lg1

#7 Official Tasting

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#5 Glen Ord 28yo

#3 Longrow 10yo

#2 Ardbeg Blasda

#1 Aberlour A'bunadh

The Southside Whisky Club

SMWS G3.4 Caledonian 27yo | 57.5% | Grain

77

72

39

Oriental

Wood

Spiced

Distillery Info

Caledonian Distillery, Scotland founded: 1855 | silent
For more detailed mapping of the distilleries in the area from our whisky map page, use this link.

Meet Deets

Meet #39 | 06/07/13 | Hosted by Phil
It was time to give a few grain whiskies a chance, after only dabbling in one or two over the past years. Will they be corny disasters or a grainy utopia?

Other bottles sampled:
#75 SMWS G10.1 | SSWC review 39a
#76 SMWS G1.9 | SSWC review 39b

Smells

It smelled light and thin in a good way, smooth like a fine Cuban. Lemon and dandelion and burdock bring in some interest for the nosey bobbins, and the sweetness was described as butterscotchy. By way of nasal metaphor, think of coop wholemeal loaf that's just about to go mouldy (I don't think this was said in a bad way).

Tastes

A really intriguing taste with exotic origins: onion bhajis with yoghurt dip, lemon rind, Eat Me dates (the hottest kind..?), cardamom, cheesy curry. Then things got a bit sweeter to nicely balance the exotica - pineapple juice (and Hamish's terrible joke...now forgotten), pineapple drops and Jamaican ginger cake. Then, just adding a hint of the mundane to proceedings, we got a little portion of oatcakes in there too.

A surprisingly complex and unique-tasting grain whisky - yum!

Finish & Comments

We only got 4 things on the finish but they're pretty definitive: Tamarind keeps up the exotic nature of the taste, HP sauce adds some pep with a paintball gun explosion to give you the intensity impression, finally finished off with a citrus burst right at the end.

Scott

Scott

Hamish

Hamish

Phil

Phil

Jamie

Jamie

Liz

Liz

Laura

Laura

Chris

Chris

Rob

Rob

Ali

Ali

Average opinion

Average opinion

Cost

~£73 (70cl)

Useful Links

GRAINS - SMWS G3.4 Caledonian 27yo | http://meiotic.co.uk/grains/smws_g3.4_caledon

Rating

We've always scored out of 10 in our group (see number in red box, below), with scores regularly given across that spectrum. The value out of 100 below is adjusted to the scale most commonly used for whisky reviews, to allow for better comparison.

84 / 100

7.2

Average score

Detailed scores (out of 10)

Ali: 7.4
Chris: 10.
Hamish: 6.7
Jamie: 7.4
Laura: 4
Liz: 7.3
Phil: 7.8
Rob: 6.9

Tasting Game Points (out of 0)

No scores available.

[ for other thoughts on whisky and more in-depth activities of the group, check out whisky on meiotic ]