The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends led by tax accountant Phillip 'Pip' Hills as a private members club. Born out of a shared passion for exceptional single malt Scotch whisky, the Society quickly established itself as one of the most distinctive and influential voices in the whisky world. Today, SMWS operates a direct-to-consumer model across some 30 countries and is owned by The Artisanal Spirits Company, which continues to build a portfolio of premium spirits brands under its umbrella. What sets SMWS apart is its commitment to bottling single cask whisky at cask strength — a practice it helped popularise in the early days of the single malt renaissance. Every bottling is drawn from a single cask, presented unfiltered and undiluted, and identified by a unique cask number rather than a distillery name. The Society also played a pioneering role in sherry cask maturation, with its very first release — Cask 1.1 — setting the tone for decades to come. Members have access to an ever-rotating selection of rare bottlings, as well as the Society's own private cask programme. With over 1,000 open bottles available at its bar and a growing global community of enthusiasts, SMWS has built a legendary reputation among whisky lovers who value discovery, provenance, and the thrill of finding something truly one of a kind.