Wemyss Merchant’s Mahogany Chest Single Cask Scotch Review (2013)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Even though Wemyss has a knack for giving descriptive names to its single cask line, “Merchant’s Mahogany Chest” is a particularly dandy one. In my mind, it evokes an elegant, heavy, dark piece of furniture owned by a seafaring, 19th Century British trader, involved in the import of everything from Indian spices to Port wine. Of course, the single malt contained within doesn’t have all of those mercantile flavors, but it does look a lot like that piece of furniture.

The Scotch
Mahogany Merchant’s Chest is the last of the Wemyss 2013 year-end, biggest-ever single cask release under review here at The Whiskey Reviewer, and we accidentally saved the best for last. The color lives up to the single malt’s title, a deep amber so dark it would be untypical even for bourbon, and is most unusual for scotch.

Open up that chest and one finds it was used to store tobacco and spices. The nose has a blend of citrus and red fruits sweetness, spiced with ginger, plus notes of dry wood and sea spray. The flavor is a little more woody and touched with a spoonful of rich sherry, but still predominately red fruit sweet seasoned with cinnamon and ginger. Coming on late is a palpable tobacco note, and I must say that makes it almost rye-like in nature. The finish leaves a warm, long-lasting afterglow tinged with spiciness.

Wemyss found Mahogany Merchant’s Chest at Glen Scotia, a distillery in the tiny Campbeltown region. Although small, the Campbeltown peninsula was a busy scotch region, with almost 30 active distilleries. Glen Scotia has been around now for more than a century, and revamped their own line of single malts in 2013 by introducing several new expressions.

This particular Glen Scota was distilled in 1991, making it a 22 year old. The bottling run for this cask yielded 807 bottles. Like all Wemyss single cask scotches, it is bottled at 46%, and comes in a clear glass bottle with a charming label reminiscent of what one might find at an upscale farmer’s market.

The Price
Wemyss Mahogany Merchant’s Chest was still available on the market at the time of publication, and listed at £105 ($170).