Drag me to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society – Andrew Murphy

Just before Christmas, Angus and I headed out to meet Andrew Murphy at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Queen Street venue in Edinburgh.

I have been an on and off member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) over the last 10 years.

Full disclosure – At first I really didn’t get it.

But since we started recording the podcast, the last 14 months have been full of my perceptions being challenged and ‘whisky enlightenment’.

Over the course of the podcast, we’ve had a few distinguished guests who have worked for the SMWS who include Mark Davidson – Jolly Topper, Jan Damen and of course co-host Ross Barr.

Sian Buchan introduced me to Andrew Murphy who is the Venue Supervisor and Brand Ambassador for the SMWS Queen St venue in Edinburgh after we put out a call for SMWS people on a previous episode.

So there we were in the ‘Library’ private room, not surrounded withered old books, but by lovely iconic SMWS green bottles.

As Brand Ambassador and Venue Supervisor, Andrew was able to talk us through everything we needed to know about the SMWS.

How does a whisky club get started and grow to over 40,000 members around the world?

It all started when a man called Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills was able to source a cask of whisky from a distillery in 1983.

The story goes that he brought the cask back down to his Edinburgh home in the back of his car and then shared a dram from the cask with some of his close friends.

This triggered a chain of events which led to the concept of a small whisky syndicate who could source casks, bottle them and enjoy rare and unique single cask, single malt whisky.

The concept of single malt whisky back in the early 80’s  was fairly alien to most whisky drinkers, as blended whisky was the main type of Scotch on the market. Single cask whisky would have been almost unheard of back then.

A whisky club with access to this type of whisky for enthusiasts was the perfect idea and, over 40 years later, here we are.

What makes the SMWS different?

One of the main reasons that makes the SMWS so unique is ‘flavour first’.

The unique bottles which are all in green glass to prevent the drinker from making any judgement on the colour.

The distillery’s name is absent from the bottle, ensuring the drinker has no preconceived notions about the whisky based on its origin.

On each label, there is 10 pieces of information for the drinker:

  1. The name – a descriptive name based on the flavours of the whisky
  2. The tasting notes of the whisky
  3. The code – we’ll come back to this…
  4. The flavour profile of the whisky which is colour coded
  5. The outturn – the number of the specific bottle e.g. ‘bottle 1 of 230’
  6. The age of the whisky
  7. Date of distillation
  8. Cask type
  9. Region
  10. Strength ABV

As well as being the biggest whisky members club in the world, they’re also one of, if not the biggest Independent Bottlers as well.

The SMWS are releasing around 20 single cask new releases every month! That’s an incredible volume of whisky to be bottling and highlights the sheer scale and size of the society.

Just like Pip Hills 40 years ago, the society is constantly sourcing whisky, storing it and then putting it into bottles to be distributed, sold and enjoyed all over the world.

The Cask Number System

I had no idea about the cask number code system on each bottle, but it seems to be a poorly kept secret amongst drinkers of the SMWS whisky.

Andrew explains to us exactly what the code is and how to decipher the code.

The bottle that he used as the example had the code ‘53.457’ which stood for the 53rd distillery that the SMWS has taken whisky from (Col Isla) and 457th cask that has been bottled by the society from that distillery.

Why do they do this?

I suppose there are two main reasons why the society would do this:

We’ve spoken to many Independent Bottlers, all of whom shared the complex agreements required to bottle a distillery’s whisky under their own label.

Often, distilleries prefer not to have their branding on another company’s bottles, so part of the agreement prohibits the bottler from advertising the whisky’s source.

We all carry conscious and unconscious biases, gravitating toward some brands while avoiding others. The beauty of the SMWS is its focus on flavor—encouraging you to explore whiskies from distilleries you might otherwise overlook.

When it comes to drinking whisky from the SMWS, everything is on a level playing field and it’s all about one thing and one thing only – FLAVOUR.

Whisky and Drag

Andrew also had Angus and I looking out our lipstick and high heels when he told us about an event he organised called ‘Dram me to the Whisky Tasting’.

Andrew explained that as a gay man working in whisky, he is committed to creating more awareness and representation with the LGBTQ community within the whisky industry.

As part of Pride Month last year, Andrew put on a “stupendous, fabulous, flamboyantly fantastic evening” which included a 5 dram line up with a drag show.

Andrew aims to combine his passion for whisky and the LGBTQ community, showcasing that whisky is for everyone.

The SMWS have been extremely supportive of this “yes we are a primarily members only whisky club, but we are here for everyone and welcome everyone regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.”

Andrew’s What3Drams:

Tamdhu 12

This was Andrew’s ‘whisky that got him into whisky’.

During working for a well known whisky bar in Edinburgh – The Albanach, Andrew tried a Tamdhu 12 from the back bar and that was the moment he knew he could get into it.

Glenfiddich Grand Cru 

One of Andrew’s ‘happy drams’.

Springbank Cage Bottle First Fill PX

Having visited the distillery and done the full tour which includes ‘turning the floors’ in the distillery maltings, this is a dram that brings Andrew back to that moment and how much he enjoyed being there with his Dad and friend of the podcast Danny Dyer.

Thank you to Andrew for looking after us and treating us to his whisky stories and thanks to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society for their hospitality.

You can watch the full episode on our YouTube channel – https://youtu.be/hpOkI7ugrw8?si=g0EXADkNytgYP8mU

You can keep up to date with what’s going on at the SMWS Queen Street through their Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/smws_queenstreet?igsh=MWxxcGc3dDcxcTFxMg==

And you can find Andrew on Instagram as well – https://www.instagram.com/atm_301120?igsh=MTM4MXMybXptandwag==

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