SMWS code 18 is Inchgower, in the Speyside region. It is an operating distillery, founded in 1871. Any Society bottling numbered 18.x (for example 18.1, 18.42) is a single cask from Inchgower.
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On the Moray coast at the edge of Buckie, where Speyside meets the sea, Inchgower has stood since 1871. This is a coastal Speysider, and it tastes like one, a firm, slightly salty, waxy spirit with a nutty edge that sets it apart from the softer valley malts inland. Owned by Diageo, it has spent most of its life as a backbone of blends, above all Bell's, and bottlings under its own name are comparatively rare, which is part of the quiet thrill of meeting it as a single cask. A working distillery, unshowy, shaped by the salt air off the Moray Firth.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottles single casks under numeric codes rather than distillery names, so a label reading 18.403 means cask 403 from distillery 18. That distillery is Inchgower, in Speyside. More on Inchgower at Wikipedia.
The 12 most recent, newest first. See all 25 →
Sold outJul 2026In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 14 years.
“The nose took us in various directions – one Panellist propped up an Andalusian bar (sweet sherry, cigarette smoke-infused pata negra); one drank black tea sitting on…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outNov 2025In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 14 years.
“A variety of images came to the fore nosing neat.…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outOct 2025In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 17 years.
“One Panellist walked through Central Park towards Spanish Harlem, nicknamed El Barrio, with a brown bag full of toasty, roasted, crunchy cinnamon-sugared peanuts just…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outAug 2025In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 13 years.
“We began by pouring cold pear juice over the morning newspaper, rummaging through a bag of fruit gummies and dusting the air with lavender talc.…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outMay 2025In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 16 years.
“We summarised the neat nose thus – “sea salt and soot, with a whiff of petrol and beef drippingsâ€.…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outApr 2025In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 15 years.
“Ready to embrace your taste for adventure?…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outOct 2024In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 12 years.
“An inviting aroma of blood orange and dark chocolate madeleines, and hot chocolate with marshmallows – along with delicious crispy bacon and a whiff of salty sea air –…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outSep 2024In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 15 years.
“We had an early breakfast of blueberry flax cereal with cinnamon, apple slices and pineapple tarts before heading to the first tee of a links golf course on a sunny,…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outAug 2024In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 15 years.
“The ultrasweet nose enticed us with toffee sauce over ice cream, calvados-soaked sultanas, glaca cherries and dried pineapple, before we found additional hints of…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outJun 2024In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 15 years.
“At first we got initial notes of Jamaica ginger cake, cedarwood cigar boxes, liquorice, pipe tobacco and damp dunnage funkiness.…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outMar 2024In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 15 years.
“This delivered a very entertaining first impression, with plenty of different aromas.…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
Sold outNov 2023In short · Inchgower (Speyside), 15 years.
“Golden rays of sunshine melted creamy butter over charred oak driftwood as we relaxed by dunking chocolate bourbon biscuits in espresso martinis.…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
See all 25 Inchgower bottles →
Other Speyside distilleries: 1 Glenfarclas, 2 Glenlivet, 7 Longmorn, 8 Tamdhu, 9 Glen Grant, 12 BenRiach, 15 Glenfiddich, 24 Macallan, 30 Glenrothes, 34 Tamnavulin, 35 Glen Moray, 36 Benrinnes · all Speyside codes
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