Wemyss Malts: Smoky Shores
Official Bottling, January 2022| 46% ABV
Score: 5/10
Average. In a positive way.
TL;DR
A good sipper, but maybe a little one dimensional.
Wemyss Malts Are Back
I celebrated a milestone birthday in January this year and among an array of wonderful presents (including two spectacular bottles of whisky from friends and family) I was told to prepare and pack for a mystery weekend away.
Even on the day of departure, I had no idea where we were heading and loading up the car I let my mind wander. Could it be a trip to Brora and the newly reopened distillery? This was quickly dismissed as it would be a very long journey just to look at a few buildings. After all, there’s no point even thinking about going inside for a tour - not at those prices. Or perhaps it would be a jaunt down to England and a visit to the Spirit Of Yorkshire distillery for a drop or two of their tasty Filey Bay, or perhaps a weekend in the Cotswolds with more distillery fun thrown into the mix?
However, it became apparent within 20 minutes of setting off that a journey to the east of Scotland was on the cards and, in particular, the Kingdom Of Fife.
I last explored the East Neuk Of Fife in the good old days when whisky was cheaper and a decent mop of non-grey hair was simply taken for granted. But even my “new” old age could remember some particular highlights from all those years ago - and most were food related. From the rich steak pie I devoured at The Ship Inn at Elie, to a bountiful spread of fish and chips at the Anstruther Fish Bar. Happy days indeed.
Our destination this time lay between these two locations: the harbour village of St Monans - a place I’d never before visited. What I assumed would be holiday accommodation for a quiet weekend with my wife and the dog turned out to be anything but, with family from Cambridgeshire delighting me when they turned up on the doorstep after a mammoth eight hour drive. The birthday surprise had been covertly hatched months ago and it was fantastic to see everyone face to face for the first time in years due to pandemic restrictions.
A lovely long weekend unfolded, full of laughs, great food, music, whisky in front of a roaring fire – and multiple games of Uno with my nieces, who thought playing with half a pack of cards was fine. Despite the lack or blue and green cards, this took me a while to figure out - another indication of my march into old age.
Days out included trips to Anstruther, Pittenweem and, on the Sunday morning, to the windswept beach at St Andrews, where several hardy souls were braving the whipped-up waves on their surfboards.
The salty tang on the air and stiff breeze must have cleared my noggin and given me a moment of inspiration though, because I suddenly blurted out: “Why don’t we go to Kingsbarns distillery for lunch? It’s just down the road.” This was a confident pitch, even though I was clearly winging it as I had no idea if Kingsbarns actually sold food!
Thankfully, they did - and soup was sunk, crisps crunched and coffee quaffed before it was time for me to take a walk through the distillery shop.
“keep an eye on Uncle Clyde when there’s whisky.”
On display were bottles including Kingsbarns Dream To Dram, the Balcomie Sherry Cask, and the Distillery Reserve alongside a decent selection of Wemyss Malts single cask releases and their new-look core range of blended malts.
The new limited release of Smoky Shores was also on the shelf - a bottle released to coincide with Burns Night a few days before my visit. Beside me was one of my nieces, who had been told to keep an eye on me to make sure Uncle Clyde “doesn’t spend too much money.” So with thoughts of something smoke-forward to enjoy in front of the fire back at the house, I parted with £50 - a sum my niece declared too much and a price that was swiftly reported back to the Sutherland clan who were waiting patiently at the distillery car park.
While Wemyss say the Smoky Shores is a limited release of 5526 bottle, I was told it could become part of the core range to sit alongside The Hive, Peat Chimney etc. I was also informed this new bottle was an attempt to capture the spirit of their Kiln Embers bottle from around 2015.
Smoky Shores is a blended malt bottled at 46% and, according to the box (but not the bottle) is non-chill filtered. There’s no word about natural colour. It’s also advertised as “punchy, peated, powerful.” We shall see.
Review
First batch is limited to 5526 bottles. 46% ABV
£50
Nose
Loads of bourbon cask sweetness right off the bat. Lemony peat, banana chips, a hint of white pepper, red liquorice sticks and hard-boiled lemon sherbets. Salt and vinegar crisps and something herbal is in there too. It’s quite aromatic with the smoky damp ash held in check by the sweetness. Water brings out dry vanilla, reminiscent of chalky white Edinburgh rock. Lemon also comes through but the smoke seems to have been curtailed. I prefer it neat.
Palate
Nice oily mouthfeel. Rounded, clean and that sweetness is to the fore. Loads of vanilla followed by wafts of campfire smoke. Not a massive peat blast, but it still packs a bit of a punch. There’s a slight bitter green note on the finish which, for me, takes the experience down a couple of notches. Water doesn’t really do anything positive. It just makes it thinner and brings through more of the green notes on the finish.
The Dregs
Is this young Caol Ila blended with a smidge of something else? No idea, but I’m immediately taken to that particular distillery. It’s the salt and vinegar crisps - something I tend to find in Caol Ila, but I’m probably way off the mark. Not that it matters. The point of blends such as this is just to kick back and enjoy them for what they are. Attempting to guess is pointless. This is a decent sipper but I find it a little one dimensional. Enjoyable, but the price is perhaps £10 too much.
Score: 5/10
Lead image kindly provided by Wemyss Malts.
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. CS
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