Wemyss “A Matter of Smoke” 15 Year Old Scotch Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B-

“A Matter of Smoke,” a 15 year old single malt, single barrel Islay scotch from Wemyss Malts
Credit: Wemyss Malts

Premium vatted malts are only half of what those clever blenders at Wemyss Malts do. The other half is bottling select barrels they come across into limited edition, single barrel, single malt scotches. “A Matter of Smoke” is just one example of this line of rare birds.

Distilled in 1996 and bottled in August 2011, “A Matter of Smoke” was limited to 337 bottles. It’s an Islay scotch from Caol Ila, a major supplier for Johnnie Walker and Black Bottle. Note that this scotch is a single barrel, meaning the contents of a given bottle came from just one barrel, and not a cask strength. Thus “A Matter of Smoke” has a 46% abv.

The Scotch
In the glass, this 15 year old single malt has the color of a pale, almost bleached-out straw. The yellow is there, but it borders on translucent. I found the nose to be very aromatic, oily both in scent and texture, and smacking of dry, smoky ash. The scent carries a palpable tinge of citrus as well.

The flavor is light. The smoky aspect of the whiskey goes from being a shovelful of chimney ash on the nose to something far wispier on the palate. The oily facet is there as well, supplemented now by oak, and a dash of cinnamon and pepper. The latter give the flavor a spicy, medicinal bite at the end. The finish is short, trailing cinnamon in its wake, but leaving a lingering spicy and warm coating on the mouth.

If all of this sounds familiar, it should, because it is similar to the “Lemon Smoke” scotch Wemyss released as part of the 2012 installment of this line. “Lemon Smoke” is drawn from a barrel from what is basically the same batch of scotch as “A Matter of Smoke,” only aged for an extra, 16th year. I’m not sure what happened, but I think the extra year plus possibly some other unknown factors made a big difference in the outcome, as “Lemon Smoke” earned an “A,” whereas this scotch wasn’t that impressive.

The Price
In the United States, bottles of “A Matter of Smoke” run for about $120.