All cracking points Erik, which I can relate to. Last Saturday I was at the SMWS vault in Glasgow with Ben from The Whisky Diary and what a fantastic experience it was. Sampled so many different whiskies and all were stunning. I'm now a convert and will definitely be joining up. Cheers buddy.
This is a "one of these days" type of thing. I'd definitely need more storage than I currently have lol. If I ever plan a trip to Scotland I'd probably join before that so I can visit their tasting room over there.
Having been members now for three years its very hard to go back to original bottlings. The quality of flavour and integrity plus the amazing social aspect that totally separates the society from other clubs. Its so much more than just whisky we could never imagine not being members. The other huge benefit is access to many distilleries with limited or small OB range that have stunning flavours. It really is a amazing experience to be a member.
I scoffed at SMWS prices at first.. then after I bought a 5yr octomore for $200 I realized my wicked ways, repented, and have been more mindful of the price/age/abv ratios.. and you're right... SMWS is way ahead of the curve.
This was a good video. When are they going to hire you? Lol. All your points are valid. I have been Member for 2 years now. The bottles have been great. They release a bunch of bottles each month. Wish I could get them all. Occasionally they offer discounts or free shipping at times. I usually take advantage of those offers. It's nice to explore bottles that you wouldn't normally find on a shelf. I did enjoy your tasting and review with Scott when you joined. I would like to see you do more of those with SMWS. By the way, your going to need more book cases soon for these bottles 🙂
Erik, does chill filter increase the percentage of alcohol by reducing the amount of water in the spirit? In ice beer, the beer is taken to freezing then the ice is separated and removed causing an higher alcohol content of the beer.
I have never heard or read that chillfiltering increases alcohol. Most whiskies that are chill filtered at a bare minimum level at 40-43% abv. The filtering removes elements that will make a whisky become cloudy when chilled at a low abv. such as a cocktail on ice but it also removes from flavor and texture in the whisky, which is why whisky enthusiasts are opposed to it. I talk about it in part 9 of my series on Scotch Whisky Production: th-cam.com/video/5pOP-e8mJD0/w-d-xo.html&inde
ALL of our videos (unless they’re negative) sound like advertisements for whisky. We’re paying money to make advertisements for distilleries! So, one brand has decided to invite a few of us on to THEIR channel to talk about whisky from distilleries we’ve already loved. I was given these bottles but NOT asked to make a video on MY channel. I’ll be using other SMWS bottles for upcoming videos in which I study distilleries that can’t otherwise acquire as official bottlings. Those will be bottles that I bought.
Once you have had SMWS bottlings its pretty hard to not rave about them. Integrity, quality, cask strength etc. we buy on average 3-6 smws bottles a month.
@@Scarebus_Driver I have tasted quite a few and find them on par with other IBs that bottle a lot of different finishes. 3-6 bottles a month sounds tasty. Finding what we enjoy in the whisky world is key, and if that is smws then great. My comment was merely pointing out that smws is being very generous with free bottles to whiskytubers.
@@fredhansen3340 yea pretty much agree with everything there mate. One thing i loved about visiting Scotland was you could go to Cadenheads or Gordon &Macphail and try before you buy. Something not available if you dont live there. Those IB’s plus many others are now doing some great stuff. The SMWS tasting panel who approve the releases of the SMWS and are independent of them really is one standout difference to me that sets SMWS apart from every other IB. If its not approved it doesnt pass and never gets released. We have really expanded our palettes via the SMWS flavour profiles and find ourselves drinking a far broader variety of flavours thanks to the quality and variety. We still have a good selection of OB’s but its great to get different flavour profiles from traditional distilleries that never see the light of day otherwise. Things like spicy and dry Macallans etc. love the variety..
@@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies I know you have the “this is not a paid promotion” caption but I would highly recommend more clarity about the origins of any bottles you don’t purchase even if it not a paid/sponsored review. In my opinion this will greatly improve the integrity of the review and my expectations as a viewer. I have no problems with whiskytubers doing reviews on free bottles as this hobby of ours is expensive and to do a different review every week would quickly add up but just let us know “hey, this was a gift from…” Side note 100% agree with your 10 reasons. SMWS is great and the bottles are awesome!
I was sadly disappointed by the recent over priced and overhyped committee releases, especially the "Fermutation." So, while I still love the core range I've moved on and don't plan on my buying any committee releases.
I really enjoy being a member but sometimes it’s hard to justify paying the $200-300 prices here in Canada for one bottle every monthly outturn (maybe I just have expensive taste) One time spent $500 on two bottles, don’t tell my wife. The least expensive I’ve seen is probably $160. That being said I haven’t disliked any that I’ve bought or tasted
Like everything else in life the SMWS has its Pros and Cons. I think you can have them hold shipments and then ship more bottle to save money on shipping. Compare the cost of cask strength bottles from distilleries and I think you'll find SMWS to often be more more reasonable.
Thanks Erik and we agree with everything you said!
TH-cam always subtitles the intro to your video “earthquake whiskey studies “
And I kind of love that
As long as we don’t have a 7 on the Richter scale I’m good with that! If we did my house would slide into the Pacific Ocean.
Awesome! I just wish I could get them delivered to my state without the extra cost going thru an distributor.
All cracking points Erik, which I can relate to. Last Saturday I was at the SMWS vault in Glasgow with Ben from The Whisky Diary and what a fantastic experience it was. Sampled so many different whiskies and all were stunning. I'm now a convert and will definitely be joining up. Cheers buddy.
This is a "one of these days" type of thing. I'd definitely need more storage than I currently have lol. If I ever plan a trip to Scotland I'd probably join before that so I can visit their tasting room over there.
Having been members now for three years its very hard to go back to original bottlings. The quality of flavour and integrity plus the amazing social aspect that totally separates the society from other clubs. Its so much more than just whisky we could never imagine not being members.
The other huge benefit is access to many distilleries with limited or small OB range that have stunning flavours.
It really is a amazing experience to be a member.
I scoffed at SMWS prices at first.. then after I bought a 5yr octomore for $200 I realized my wicked ways, repented, and have been more mindful of the price/age/abv ratios.. and you're right... SMWS is way ahead of the curve.
This was a good video. When are they going to hire you? Lol. All your points are valid. I have been Member for 2 years now. The bottles have been great. They release a bunch of bottles each month. Wish I could get them all. Occasionally they offer discounts or free shipping at times. I usually take advantage of those offers. It's nice to explore bottles that you wouldn't normally find on a shelf. I did enjoy your tasting and review with Scott when you joined. I would like to see you do more of those with SMWS. By the way, your going to need more book cases soon for these bottles 🙂
Great video sir. From India.
Sir if possible review all ur SMWS whiskey collection.
I joined yesterday
Erik, does chill filter increase the percentage of alcohol by reducing the amount of water in the spirit? In ice beer, the beer is taken to freezing then the ice is separated and removed causing an higher alcohol content of the beer.
I have never heard or read that chillfiltering increases alcohol. Most whiskies that are chill filtered at a bare minimum level at 40-43% abv. The filtering removes elements that will make a whisky become cloudy when chilled at a low abv. such as a cocktail on ice but it also removes from flavor and texture in the whisky, which is why whisky enthusiasts are opposed to it. I talk about it in part 9 of my series on Scotch Whisky Production: th-cam.com/video/5pOP-e8mJD0/w-d-xo.html&inde
@@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies Thank you for your reply.
How many of the six bottles did Scott send you for free? So many of the whiskytube SMWS videos sounds more like a commercial than anything else.
ALL of our videos (unless they’re negative) sound like advertisements for whisky. We’re paying money to make advertisements for distilleries! So, one brand has decided to invite a few of us on to THEIR channel to talk about whisky from distilleries we’ve already loved. I was given these bottles but NOT asked to make a video on MY channel. I’ll be using other SMWS bottles for upcoming videos in which I study distilleries that can’t otherwise acquire as official bottlings. Those will be bottles that I bought.
Once you have had SMWS bottlings its pretty hard to not rave about them. Integrity, quality, cask strength etc. we buy on average 3-6 smws bottles a month.
@@Scarebus_Driver I have tasted quite a few and find them on par with other IBs that bottle a lot of different finishes. 3-6 bottles a month sounds tasty. Finding what we enjoy in the whisky world is key, and if that is smws then great. My comment was merely pointing out that smws is being very generous with free bottles to whiskytubers.
@@fredhansen3340 yea pretty much agree with everything there mate. One thing i loved about visiting Scotland was you could go to Cadenheads or Gordon &Macphail and try before you buy. Something not available if you dont live there. Those IB’s plus many others are now doing some great stuff. The SMWS tasting panel who approve the releases of the SMWS and are independent of them really is one standout difference to me that sets SMWS apart from every other IB. If its not approved it doesnt pass and never gets released. We have really expanded our palettes via the SMWS flavour profiles and find ourselves drinking a far broader variety of flavours thanks to the quality and variety. We still have a good selection of OB’s but its great to get different flavour profiles from traditional distilleries that never see the light of day otherwise. Things like spicy and dry Macallans etc. love the variety..
@@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies I know you have the “this is not a paid promotion” caption but I would highly recommend more clarity about the origins of any bottles you don’t purchase even if it not a paid/sponsored review. In my opinion this will greatly improve the integrity of the review and my expectations as a viewer. I have no problems with whiskytubers doing reviews on free bottles as this hobby of ours is expensive and to do a different review every week would quickly add up but just let us know “hey, this was a gift from…”
Side note 100% agree with your 10 reasons. SMWS is great and the bottles are awesome!
No more ardbeg shrine? 😅
I was sadly disappointed by the recent over priced and overhyped committee releases, especially the "Fermutation." So, while I still love the core range I've moved on and don't plan on my buying any committee releases.
I really enjoy being a member but sometimes it’s hard to justify paying the $200-300 prices here in Canada for one bottle every monthly outturn (maybe I just have expensive taste)
One time spent $500 on two bottles, don’t tell my wife.
The least expensive I’ve seen is probably $160.
That being said I haven’t disliked any that I’ve bought or tasted
Ardbeg 10 > Lagavulin 16…. Press 1 if you agree. Press 2 if you disagree #therewillbenojudgement
1
7
Great whisky but, $100 yearly membership plus $40 to ship one bottle to Inglewood, CA..🤣 Not renewing this
Like everything else in life the SMWS has its Pros and Cons. I think you can have them hold shipments and then ship more bottle to save money on shipping. Compare the cost of cask strength bottles from distilleries and I think you'll find SMWS to often be more more reasonable.