Aug 2026In short · Balmenach (Speyside), 8 years, Fragrant & Floral.
“The nose was immediately creamy and sweet, with vanilla and loads of fruit (peaches, raspberries and plums) – basically a knickerbocker glory (with the emphasis on…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
SMWS 48.188 is a single cask of Balmenach, in the Speyside region, 8 years old, bottled at 56.9%, released in the Aug 2026 Outturn. Every Society bottle numbered 48.x is from Balmenach.
Specs, price and tasting-note extract from the SMWS. Full notes on smws.com.
Above the village of Cromdale, where the Spey runs cold and the Jacobites met defeat in 1690, Balmenach has quietly made whisky since 1824, one of the oldest distilleries in all of Speyside. It keeps to the old ways and the old character, a robust, weighty, faintly meaty make that blenders have long prized and that rewards the patient. These days the same site also turns out Caorunn gin, but the single malt remains a throwback, a big-boned Speysider with none of the modern polish. Under Inver House it works far from the tourist trail, which suits a distillery that has always let the spirit speak for itself.