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1257 Kensington Road NW
1 (403) 283-8000 / atyourservice@kensingtonwinemarket.com
$359.99
This KWM exclusive 1998 vintage Blair Athol was matured 28 years in a Refill Hogshead cask, before bottling at 56%.
This Blair Athol 28 Year is a partial cask, from which we took 120 bottles. The balance of our cask was married with another (lower ABV) Blair Athol from the same vintage and bottled as a general Decadent Drams release; it is not coming to Canada. But it is worth noting that other Blair Athol was given a 90% score by Le Serge of Whisky Fun fame, so that should give you an idea how good our cask is!
The label design for the Blair Athol is inspired by old Blair Athol OB labels from the 1960s, as Angus feels the liquid to be reminiscent of that era. The moose is a bit of pandering to stereotypes of Canada, and also a riff on a famous Scottish painting, The Monarch of the Glen (1851). Walter has been depicted riding the moose in Black Watch robes, pouring himself a generous dram of the Whisky Sponge Craigellachie 20 Year (from the first bottle he ever featured on), into a nosing bowl, with his one blue eye poking through his sunglasses.
Producer Description
"A Decadent Dram for a Decadent Dog! Walter has worked closely with Angus and the team at Decadent Drinks to select this highly natural, pure and old school example of Blair Athol. A 1998 hogshead, bottled at natural cask strength which displays elegant notes of squeaky toys, biscuit treats, tail wagging and fascinating scents that require intense scrutiny while out on walks. Only 124 bottles were availableas Walter required 84 bulk litres distributed across a wide variety of nosing bowls in order to comprehensively assess and approve this cask."
700 mlPRE-ORDER
This is not a guarantee of availability. You will not be charged until we can confirm we can get you a bottle(s). In the event we have more pre-orders than bottles we will draw names by ballot to allocate bottles for sale.
My Tasting Note
Nose: creamy, floral, and nutty with sweet citrus and a waxy body; juicy; lemon squares and Starburst fruit candies; cocktails galore: Mint Julep, The Final Word, and Penicillin; candied ginger and toasted oak spice.
Palate: creamy, honeyed, waxy, and floral with slightly tart citrus; more Starburst fruit candies and orange oil; lemon drops and lemon squares; rather herbal, which is likely where some of those cocktail notes came from; sage and cool mint; a touch earthier than expected, nutty and a little musty; building spices: fennel, anise, and black pepper with more warming candied ginger.
Finish: long, waxy, and floral with nutty toasted oak; still juicy, more Starburst fruit candies and lots of sweet lemon.
Comment: this is a lovely, elegant, and juicy dram with lots of layers; lighter and more delicate than I would have expected from Blair Athol, without a trace of the iron notes I get in most younger expressions; what were they doing differently in the late 1990s?
$299.99
Distilled in 2003, this Glenburgie spent 21 years maturing in a first fill ex-Bourbon barrel (Cask #3397) before being bottled at a cask strength of 54.5%. But 146 bottles, exclusively available from KWM!
This is only our 3rd ever KWM cask of Glenburgie, but it is our 15th KWM exclusive cask from Gordon & MacPhail, and it is arriving with a 16th!
$219.99
This G&M Miltonduff was selected and bottled exclusively for Kensington Wine Market. Distilled in 2007, this Miltonduff was matured for 17 years in a first fill ex-Sherry hogshead (Cask #19600502) before being bottled at a cask strength of 56.9%
This is only our 2nd ever KWM single cask of Miltonduff, but it is our 16th KWM single cask bottling from Gordon & MacPhail!
$184.99
This KWM exclusive bottling of Glenlitigious (cough: "Glenfarclas") is from a 2013 vintage PX sherry seasoned American oak hogshead, bottled after 12 years at 53%. Note this is not cask strength, rather it was diluted to 53%, partly because Angus felt it was more drinkable, and partly to keep the price down. While we generally go for cask strength, Decadent Drinks frequently dilutes some of their bottlings (as do some others) a few degrees to an ABV they feel best suits the individual whisky.
The Glenlitigious labels from Decadent Drams are for bottlings of Glenfarclas, a famously litigious distillery, who doesn't appreciate independent bottlers identifying it by name. Our Glenlitigious label features Walter in a powdered wig sitting in judgment over a ram stuffy, his paw on a squeaky toy gavel, and his tail playfully wagging. This is a not so subtle nod at our last KWM exclusive Glenfarclas bottling, the Door Crasher Edition, which featured a Trojan ram on wheels speeding towards the front of our shop. That whisky was bottled to mark the 2nd anniversary of the Infamous Dodge Ram incident of February 11th, 2022, when a stolen pickup truck was employed to enter our store outside business hours.
Angus' Back Label Text
"Walter is a good judge, both of character and casks. This richly sherried, Speyside single malt, from a rather notoriously prickly family-owned distillery, is a classical example of the make and got Walter's tail wagging approvingly. We've called it 'Glenlitigious', it's suitable for wee dogs and Canadians, but no ram raiders allowed!"
$259.99
This 1996 vintage Glen Keith was matured 20 years in a Sherry Butt before bottling at 46.6%. Only 24 bottles have come to Canada, exclusively for Kensington Wine Market. But while our logo is on the label, there are just 24 bottles, meaning this isn't your typical KWM cask... so what's the story?!
More than a year ago, while looking at some casks with Elixir Distillers, we were offered 24 bottles of a 1996 Glen Keith, bottled at 20 years of age, presumably in 2016 or 2017. We assumed it was a single cask, bottled for another of Elixir Distillers' clients. In any case, the whisky was good, and the price was fair so we decided to take it.
On arrival, we did a little digging, and came upon an interesting coincidence. We don't know this for sure, but we can only find two other 20 year old 1996 vintage Glen Keiths bottled at 46.6%, and they were both done for the Whisky Exchange, which was owned by Elixir Distillers at the time. One of them appears to have been bottled for the 20th Anniversary of the Whisky Exchange in 2019, and the other, presumably the same year, as a Staff Christmas bottle, also marking the 20th Anniversary.
The most likely explanation, is that ours is the same whisky. In any case it is excellent, and we aren't getting very much of it!
