Banff 1977 SMWS 67.3

A distillery almost as synonymous with fire as it is with whisky, Banff experienced four separate blazes during its chequered history, including a bombing by the Luftwaffe in 1941. The distillery operated until 1983 when it was closed by DCL (now Diageo) after a downturn in the market lead to an oversupply. Unsurprisingly, it caught fire in the process of being dismantled and has never re-opened. Its malt was predominantly reserved for blending in its time, but it has contributed to some particularly sought after independent releases over the years.

This Banff was distilled in February 1977 and matured in a single cask. It was bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in March 1992. This was only the third cask of Banff 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.