Is a Scotch Membership Worth it? SMWS vs off the shelf bottles

Dan and I take a couple Scotch Malt Whiskey Society bottles we got in the most recent outturn and compare them to some shelf bottles someone might find local.
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[@Peyotecactis]

Literally caught my 7 year old doing blind taste tests cause of you guys. And on top of that he called me a pansy cause I don't have a lot of barrel proofs.

[@whiskycentral]

Only 49 seconds in and Sean has had 4 strokes. haha Love this video idea!

[@BourbonJunkies]

It was a rough day for me

[@teddyballgame25]

I was expecting some anti scotch snobbery, if that’s a thing, and was pleasantly surprised to watch a legit scotch review from you guys!

[@BourbonJunkies]

We actually love scotch, just not talked about as much on the channel.

[@bruceatherto2232]

Benromach cask strength bottled 2007 batch 1 @ 58.2 ABV is a moderately peated (think Ardbeg 10) Speyside single malt. Watched a review of it on The Whiskey Vault and googled it. Was able to order 3 bottles for seventy each to combine shipping. I think you would enjoy it.

[@Vortex1988]

SMWS is very good. The only real complaint I have with them right now is that a lot of the Speysides and Highlands seem to be very similar to each other, even across different flavor profiles. There are differences, but they're more subtle than you would expect. I did order multiple bottles from the same outturn though, so maybe the tasting panel is looking for certain flavors based on the time of year or something. Either that or it's just more difficult to do side by side comparisons of cask strength single malts than I expected. The peated stuff is very different of course. I suppose that their shipping costs could be a little cheaper as well.

[@josephboyne9327]

Some real chaotic energy in this video. 🤣

[@CosmicHiker22]

I joined SMWSA late last year. I live in the upper midwest and on average, it costs $50-75 for shipping+tax, you get charged New York tax regardless of where you live. A $140 bottle is roughly $200 to get to me. For a lot of people, that shipping and tax is a huge turn-off. If you're closer to NY, it's less of a hit. If you purchase multiple bottles it can "feel" slightly better, but it's still a large purchase. The thing that SMWS offers is access to distilleries and cask combinations that virtually no one else is offering in the United States. Some of the distilleries release casks through other independent bottlers like Signatory or Gordon & MacPhail, but the vast majority of the SMWS distilleries don't. This can create some pretty intense FOMO at times and if you are prone to impulsive spending, you can rack up some pretty hefty orders quickly. And when they are releasing 20-40 bottles a month, it can be hard to make a decision as in the back of your mind you're always wondering what if something better comes out next time. I've heard from some discussions on Reddit that the UK version of SMWS is much better value and more affordable. I've also heard rumors that they deliberately create FOMO to get people to spend more during outturns. I don't regret joining SMWS, I just wish I had more control over feelings of FOMO and I wish I didn't pay tax since my state has no sales tax, shipping could also be better, I've sent packages to Europe for cheaper than it costs for one bottle from SMWSA. Ultimately, if you're not willing to shell out $170-200+ for every bottle, it's not going to be worth it for you. Unless you just want the opportunity to buy single casks from distilleries you will quite literally never see a bottle from in the US.

[@steveno7058]

If you are looking for complexity in Scotch: Campbeltown. Springbank, Longrow, Kilkerran and Hazelburn.

[@DimitarShishkov]

That Aberlour is glorious, it is really hard to get easily available high proof Scotch of that caliber

[@francisrizzo1529]

"it's like a velvet blanket while you're naked laying on silk sheets" the marketing savant strikes again!

[@TheWhiskyBaron]

Great to see you guys getting a good scotch subscription over the pond!

[@iseedumbppol]

Joined SMWS during The Gathering last year (btw congrats Sean on beating Dan & Old Man Jeremy on their Livestream). Have picked up 5 bottles so far, not a single disappointing pour. Pricing is a bit steep for me, but they put out some stellar whiskies every month. Cheers.

[@BourbonJunkies]

Yea if you snag a couple a year it's worth the membership. Cask strength single barrel scotch is hard to beat sometimes

[@randc47]

I absolutely love the SMWS! Might have to check out that 11 year, Speyside.

[@BourbonJunkies]

Dessert whiskey

[@kyletaylor13]

Love this scotch content, maybe some non-club membership ones???

[@kyletaylor13]

oh shit, they did it, in the same video! cheers for this content guys, cool twist on unavalable bottles.

[@FSAS]

What's funny is these are the 2 bottles I bought this month. Cheers! 🥃 - Patrick

[@BourbonJunkies]

Two solid hitters

[@EthanSterner]

Isla is in the Highland territory, FYI. Isla is like a subset of Highland Single Malt.

[@TheNightAngel022189]

Love Scotch but definitely can’t afford to do the subscription as much as I would love to!

[@arbeckWA]

I had a game where you tasted an 8 year Clynelish from SMWS versus a 14 year single cask Clynelish from an independent bottler. I can't recall if you liked them.

[@musicmymusic2323]

Alway enjoy the scotch content.🥃

[@alanslavik3599]

Not really a fan of Scotch, but yall are funny with good virtues so I'll still watch it and smash that like button. Congrats guys..on the video

[@BourbonJunkies]

I see what ya did there

[@JohnKay79]

1:28 in... y'all ok? Gonna make it? lol

[@ernestboehm1584]

just finished a. 2014 booker on the rocks ,ps you should try compass box

[@BourbonJunkies]

Dan has a couple of them

[@WhiskeyFancies]

Absolutely love when you do Scotch videos. Would like to see you mix it up and drink the Scotch Malt picks last...ya know to watch your socks get blown off. Cheers!

[@BourbonJunkies]

Have only had 1 or 2 now that are just okay, and we have 25+ bottles now

[@normlang1994]

Dan getting a little carried away with the similes 😆

[@trZachJones]

Love the legit scotch content! Way better than that antisocial sippers club! Sean’s hair looks great btw….well considering what’s next to him to compare his too really isn’t fair but still looks great!

[@nickentros]

I wish my dumb state would let us (legally) ship because I'd probably have tried the SMWS by now. Seems like a cool way to do Scotch Single Barrels

[@ben_diedrich]

Which state are you in?

[@brewd1974]

Ardmore Legacy is decent peated highland that should be around $40

[@kevinlindstrom1480]

I've wanted to try that Aberlour for a while. Just hesitant with the price tag.

[@BourbonJunkies]

This comment means the world to us dude. This is the whole idea of the Livestreams. Thank you buddy!

[@irishted13]

@@BourbonJunkies Dan liking peated Highlands makes me think he’d be ALL over the Highland Park 12 Viking Honour…

[@drewanderson2401]

Doooo it!!!! Abund’h is one of the best whiskeys in the world under 100

[@dunny2124]

Abunah is a must buy!

[@mikeyB84]

Dan what is snotsmalt?

[@drewanderson2401]

Abund’h is a top 5 whiskey across all types under 100 dolllars and I’ll fight someone over it!

[@BourbonJunkies]

Yea for a shelf bottle it's fantastic. I have a 2 other sherry finished SMWS bottles that were around $150 that slap the crap out of the aberlour though.

[@DarthVirtus]

Pretty sure the Aberlour has coloring added. Also, Clynelish 14 should be closer to $50, and I'm sorry you got bamboozled.

[@BourbonJunkies]

Yea that aberlour is seriously dark, I d believe coloring was added

[@KingCobra66]

Got a question for you boys. Early on into my Scotch journey, I fell in love with heavily peated Islay. As I'm making my way through my Bourbon journey, I'm not finding anything that really jumps out and grabs me by the balls. So my question is, what Bourbon would you recommend to a "Peat Head" Islay junkie? I'm thinking maybe a Stagg jr or ECBP, but haven't tried them yet.

[@theukyankee]

Have you tried Texas stuff?

[@KingCobra66]

@@theukyankee I've hears some good stuff about Balcones, especially the reviews from Eric Wait on the different things they're doing. Those are on my list to seek out

[@BourbonJunkies]

I'd honestly start with cheaper easier to find bottles. Once you find one you enjoy you can explore more from that distillery. Wild turkey 101, old Forester 100proof, 1792 small batch, ect

[@BourbonJunkies]

Oh also just thought about Chattanooga scotch finished. It's in an islay barrel and is smokey, if you can find that

[@DimitriWithLemon]

A wonderful shitshow as always XD

[@danrudnick5252]

I really wish you could just order one offs. I'm intrigued, but can't really afford a subscription.

[@theakpal]

The subscription is only $99/yr. and if you look around you can generally get a $50 smws gift card back. So, although the membership is still 99, you can get 50 off a bottle...and it's the bottles that are the biggest expense. They ain't cheap, but they are excellent.

[@TheNewMailman]

Wooo

[@nv0us]

Not worth it. $100 yearly membership. As a member...$40 to ship one bottle to Inglewood..🤣

[@BourbonJunkies]

I get ya, it's not cheap but if you're looking for some of the best scotch you can buy they're worth it.

[@irishted13]

Sean, mini stroke?

[@BourbonJunkies]

Major

[@joeyyoshizumi]

You know it’s going to be a good video when Dan says that he has never tasted anything more fruity. #PizzaOrNothing

[@AdamShelton007]

If Sean would just frost his tips, those strokes would seem barely noticeable.

[@aaronatkins5520]

On this episode of