26 • FEATURE: A TO Z GUIDE G


is for…


GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT ... and the story behind the Society’s idiosyncratic


coding system, through which distilleries are known by a number rather than by name. The system is based on a gentleman’s agreement


between the Society and distilleries – it was invented as a means of obtaining a supply of casks and selling whisky without trading on the reputation of established brand names. The numbering system helps to dispel any


preconceived ideas members may have about particular whiskies and distilleries. By focusing on the whisky itself – its age, its cask type – it helps you approach it from a more objective and open-minded perspective.


CRACKING THE CODE


IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING, THE FIRST NUMBER REPRESENTS THE DISTILLERY AND THE SECOND IS THE NUMBER OF CASKS THE SOCIETY HAS BOTTLED FROM THAT DISTILLERY TO DATE. SO 93.47 REPRESENTS THE 47TH CASK BOTTLED FROM DISTILLERY NUMBER 93.


I


is for… INTERNATIONAL FAMILY


The Society’s international growth is one of the most exciting developments in its history. From the foundation of the US branch in 1993, the Society’s international community has grown to include branches all over the world, with our most recent being established in Poland, Canada and Sweden. Some branches, such as Switzerland, operate their


own Members’ Rooms venues, while others, such as Japan, have bars within venues (in their case, ‘Bar High Society’ in the Park Hotel in Tokyo), which stock a selection of SMWS bottlings. Others, such as the American branch, host a packed


programme of Society tasting events in a variety of locations and cities throughout the year.


H


is for… HILLS, PHILIP


Society founder Philip ‘Pip’ Hills, the son of a Grangemouth dock- worker whose aspirations of a career in medicine were shattered by a serious rock-climbing accident in his youth, is the maverick, businessman and raconteur who, in 1983, bucked convention by bringing single cask, single malt whisky to ordinary whisky lovers. In the late 1970s, Pip was a key figure in Edinburgh’s New Town bohemian set – an eclectic bunch from all walks of life, several of whom would join his whisky syndicate and eventually become founding members of the Society. Easily spotted motoring round Edinburgh in his prized Lagonda, Pip was (and is) a charming, softly spoken man, but passionate and determined. “Pip was utterly charismatic,” recalls


THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY


SAUCE


HOTSCOTCH


One of the Society’s happier experiments, arising from former Society managing


former Society director Anne Griffiths. “He was very articulate and very passionate about what we were doing. “Members loved him. A lot of the Society’s early success came from Pip’s charisma.


“The Society today is quite different in some ways, but you can still see Pip’s philosophy and influence coming through very strongly. The maverick and adventurous attitude comes directly from Pip.”


director Richard Gordon’s addiction to Tabasco. Hotscotch Sauce began life as an attempt to finish whisky in a cask seasoned with Tabasco. When that didn’t quite work as hoped, it was consigned to the back of a warehouse for several years. When it was reopened on a whim, the liquid had mellowed and evolved into something that was far better suited to cooking with than drinking.


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