Strathmill 1980 SMWS 100.1

Strathmill is a somewhat elusive single malt. The distillery was built in 1892 as Glenisla, and was renamed three years later by new owners, W&A Gilbey. A series of mergers over the years brought Gilbey's into the IDV fold, and Strathmill became a key component in its Justerini & Brooks blends (J&B). Now owned by Diageo, this remains the arrangement to this day. Such is the demand on its output by the blend, that only a single distillery bottling is permanently available, the Flora & Fauna release. A Diageo special release and a Manager's Dram are the only other official bottlings, and it is similarly rare independent releases like this that present the best chance to try Strathmill.

This Strathmill was distilled in October 1980 and matured in a single cask. It was bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in October 1992. This was the first cask of Strathmill that the SMWS had ever bottled.

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.