This just came across my desk here at the JSMWS HQ:

“Subject: Sneaky peek at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Spirit Cellars whisky selection engine (launches on Friday)

It’ll not be launched until Friday Sep 10, but if you log on to www.smws.com/the-spirit-cellars just now you’ll see how widgets like Moodbot, Flavour Bandit, Phrenology Lab and Palate Equaliser will help users select the right, single cask, single malt whisky for them. It’s just got bottles available to UK members at the moment but will be rolled out across the world in due course.

As you probably know, the Society has an Outturn of around 20 new bottles a month and an ever-changing catalogue of available whiskies. Even the most dedicated malt whisky enthusiast is going to need some help finding their way round this incredibly diverse collection, so The Spirit Cellars was born.

It’s a bit of fun, but it’s got some serious technology and research running it. The complex tasting notes of each of the Society bottles are run through advanced algorithms developed for the computer dating industry and this is the first time the software has been used in the UK. The Spirit Cellars also runs using live stock data so users can buy their matches should they wish.

The Spirit Cellars is an organic beast and will evolve at the suggestion of its users. If users can think of a widget that’ll help them, the Society will look in to developing it.”

Not only am I a whisky dork (and a big fan of the SMWS) but I am a technology geek as well.  I’ve fiddled around with some of these tools (after having visited www.smws.com/the-spirit-cellars) and I was pretty impressed by what they’ve got going on so far.

As you know, I focus in on suggesting malts by mood or season and to have access to cool widgets that do the same thing for the SMWS bottles???  Very cool.