Inchmurrin 1966-1997 - 31 Year Old - SMWS 112.3 - Rich Soaked Fruits

Inchmurrin is the name given to one of the unpeated single malt whiskies made at experimental distillery Loch Lomond, whose 11 stills are capable of producing a wide range of spirit styles. Previously, several other unpeated or lightly peated spirits were bottled by Loch Lomond including Loch Lomond, Glen Douglas and Old Rhosdhu, but after a recent range revamp by owners Hillhouse Capital, Inchmurrin is now the umbrella brand name for all Loch Lomond’s light, sweet, fruity whiskies. 

Like the distillery’s peated whisky Inchmoan, the Inchmurrin spirit is made on Loch Lomond’s straight necked pot stills, which are equipped with three rectifying plates inside the neck. Newer official bottlings of Inchmurrin are a mix of Loch Lomond’s different unpeated or lightly peated spirits, but older Inchmurrin bottlings (and newer single casks) are of the Inchmurrin spirit alone and are gentle, highly fruity whiskies.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) began in late 1970s Edinburgh when founder Pip Hills persuaded a group of friends to chip in for a cask of Glenfarclas, and was officially formalised in 1983. Today the SMWS has two venues in Edinburgh, a London bar and a string of international partnerships serving its 35,000 members. 

The Society’s whiskies are known for their unique SMWS coding system. Each cask bottled is assigned two numbers, representing the distillery and the bottling number, so 1.45 is the forty-fifth cask bottled from the first distillery and 33.27 is the 27th cask from the 33rd distillery.

Glenmorangie bought the Society in 2004, but sold it in 2015 to a private consortium who floated the SMWS on the stock market in 2021 via their holding company Artisanal Spirits Co.