Tormore 1983 SMWS 21 Year Old 105.10 75cl / US Import

Tormore is one of Speyside's most aesthetically pleasing distilleries, designed in 1959 by Sir Albert Richardson (then president of the Royal Academy). It was built by the Schenley company in order to provide malt for their Long John blends. Despite this, its single malt has been bottled by all of its owners over the years, including as part of the short-lived Caledonian Malts range from Allied Distillers, alongside Laphroaig and Glendronach. Despite this, distillery bottlings are still something of a rarity.

This Tormore was distilled in September 1983 and matured in a single cask for 21 years. It was bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in August 2005 for the American market.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends lead by tax accountant Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills as a private members club. The concept behind the society was to source casks from all over Scotland which would then be bottled and made available exclusively to its members. Perhaps the most famous feature of these bottles are the unique codes. Each distillery is represented by a different number and the following digits indicate that particular release. That same year, the SMWS set up its first location in Leith’s Vault buildings in Edinburgh where it still stands today.