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1257 Kensington Road NW
1 (403) 283-8000 / atyourservice@kensingtonwinemarket.com
$102.99
The inaugural release of whisky from the Isle of Harris Distillery is here. This lightly peated (12-15 ppm) single malt was matured at least 5 years in a mix of First Fill ex-Bourbon casks as well as Oloroso and Fino Shery Butts. It is married for at least 12 weeks in small batches before bottling at 46%. We are expecting a mix of Batch 4 and 5, of the 8 batches of inaugural release, which the distillery has bottled. Please note we have no control over which batch we receive, and we won't be differentiating; they are to be treated as the same product!
750 mlOUT OF STOCK
If you'd like us to try to order it, add it to your cart. We can't promise, but we'll do our best!
My Tasting Note Batch 003
Nose: soft, floral, malty, and toasty; fresh and saline with a silty minerality; dried apple slices, candied orange, and feta; subtle clean peat smoke.
Palate: soft, fresh, floral, and malty with more clean peat smoke; the body is thick and lush with a lovely balance of sweet, peat, and fruits; the silty and salty with a faint cheesy funk; the fruits are fresh and vibrant; more dried apple chunks, candied orange, and some waxy Starburst fruit candied too; toasted oak, spices, and earthy leather emerge later.
Finish: warming, malty, and spicy with fading fruit, salt and smoke.
Comment: I am impressed, another young malt punching above expectations... looking forward to seeing this spirit evolve as it matures!
Producer Tasting Note Batch 004
"I get sweet, florals straight away. And, caramel like the ‘Highland Toffee’ bars I bought from a wee shop at Duthie park as a boy in Aberdeen. It always had flowers outside, I couldn’t tell you exactly which flowers, but that sweet and floral smell seems to go hand in hand when I remember it. The peat is very faint, a bit like the smell in a village when one house has peat fire burning and you can just catch it from a distance. I taste Battenberg cake, and pudding like apple strudel, maybe with a bit of cinnamon. The taste lingers for a long time after, the mouthfeel is lovely, and it’s very smooth. I think the whisky embodies Harris very well, it’s unique just like the island and the people here." - Billy Fraser, Isle of Harris Distillery
Producer Tasting Note Batch 005
"I’m taken back to the local Harris pubs of my younger years. I loved the ‘yarns’ (stories) and the craic from the older guys, all the bodachs (old men) and different characters. I have a really sweet tooth so I get a lot of sweet notes, and can recall the scents and sounds of the old mobile shop vans which used to go around the villages here. Adding a wee drop of water really opens it up and I can get more of the peat. There’s a bit of tobacco in there reminding me of an old man we inherited our croft from who had a hard kind of tobacco he’d shave with a knife for his pipe. There’s a long finish, and a buttery sort of creaminess. It’s a fantastic dram." - Donny MacLeod, Isle of Harris Distillery
86pts Whisky Fun
"Already a star on social media, apparently, thanks to a very carefully chosen bottle that'll be very successful on the shelves of the most exclusive department stores in London, Paris, or New York. Okay, and in Tokyo, Berlin, Milan, Madrid, Montreal… … and John o' Groats. Perhaps not John o'Groats. Right, and they are 'social', and they make gin. The whisky is lightly peated (15ppm) and aged in bourbon, oloroso and fino. Colour: pale white wine. Young distilleries no longer seem to use any caramel. Nose: classic bready start, some porridge, sourdough, rennet, garden peat, then green olives, which I just always love. It's almost as if they had let some olives swim in the casks, or macerate in the wash. Mouth: it's peatier on the palate and it's got a very distinct style. You'd say 30ppm rather than just 15, really. This one too is pretty ashy, in fact, but there's a fermentary depth (see what I mean) that's adding, well, some depth. Notes of pickled lemons, more olives, small gherkins… Finish: rather long, with lemons chiming in, which always works. Oh and a little gin, haha. Comments: singular style. It must be increasingly challenging to find one's own style with all these new distilleries around. Thumb up; and the bottle's reaaaaally lovely. SGP:555 - 86 points."
$124.99
The only differences between the regular Torabhaig Allt Gleann and the Batch Strength, are the ABV (61.1% v. 46%), the effective phenols in the whisky (22.8ppm v. 17ppm as a result of less water), and the availability... less than a 1/3 as much Batch Strength is coming compared to the 46% bottling!
Allt Gleann is the second release from Torabhaig Distillery on the Isle of Skye, and the first whisky from this distillery to find its way to Canada. The Batch Strength is made the same as the 46% bottling, produced from peated Laureate and Concerto Barly, fermented with Saspirit M-1 & Pinnacle MG+ yeasts, and matured in a mix of 80% first fill and 20% refill casks before bottling at 61.1%. The barley was peated to 77ppm with highland peat, with just 22.8ppm in the resulting spirit. The distillery's tag line is that their whiskies exhibit "well-tempered peat!" The 46% version scored an impressive 89pts from Whisky Fun!
Producer Description
"Our second release in The Legacy Series, Allt Gleann is named after one of two burns that feed the distillery. An evolution on the 2017 inaugural release, Allt Gleann introduces Laureate malted barley alongside Concerto, Safspirit M-1 yeast alongside Pinnacle MG+, and re-fill whisky barrels in maturation alongside first-fill bourbon barrels. There is a little more peat and added complexity compared to the 2017 inaugural release, elegantly showcasing the evolution of our spirit."
"This release has all the typicity of Torabhaig that you would expect – bonfire smoke, salinity, maltiness, and sweet, vanilla-led oaky spice. The Allt Gleann Batch Strength is bottled at 61.1% without chill filtration or colouring, and with a residual phenols level of 22.8ppm."
$108.99
The second release of Holyrood whisky to come to Canada is Embra, a peated single malt created from spirit matured primarily in First Fill ex-Bourbon, but also peated quarter casks, and new American oak. Embra is slang for Edinburgh, also a nod to the peated nature of the spirit. 43.6%, un-chillfiltered. ETA July/August 2024
Producer Description
"Edinburgh is the gateway to Scotland for many people and this is the idea at the heart of this spirit. The aim was to find that perfect balance between capturing the classic bold smoky flavours and textures of peated whisky while still being accessible to a new whisky drinker. When someone says they don’t like peated whisky, give them this. That doesn’t mean there isn’t something for the seasoned peated drinkers as we have all of the hallmark flavours and textures of a great peated whisky."
$104.99
Allt Gleann is the second release from Torabhaig Distillery on the Isle of Skye, and the first whisky from this distillery to find its way to Canada. It was produced from peated Laureate and Concerto Barly, fermented with Saspirit M-1 & Pinnacle MG+ yeasts, and matured in a mix of 80% first fill and 20% refill casks before bottling at 46%. The barley was peated to 77ppm with highland peat, with just 17ppm in the resulting spirit. The distillery's tag line is that their whiskies exhibit "well-tempered peat!" 89pts Whisky Fun!
Producer Description
"Our second release in The Legacy Series, Allt Gleann is named after one of two burns that feed the distillery. An evolution on the 2017 inaugural release, Allt Gleann introduces Laureate malted barley alongside Concerto, Safspirit M-1 yeast alongside Pinnacle MG+, and re-fill whisky barrels in maturation alongside first-fill bourbon barrels. There is a little more peat and added complexity compared to the 2017 inaugural release, elegantly showcasing the evolution of our spirit."
$189.99
This 2010 vintage Daftmill was bottled at 46% in the Winter of 2023, after maturing 12 years in ex-Bourbon Barrels. 87.68pts Whiskybase Exclusive to KWM in Canada.
Producer Description
"The barley variety Publican was grown in the 43ac field and was harvested by John and Sandy on the 28th & 29th August 2009. It was then dried and stored on the farm to be malted in Alloa during the summer of 2010. The whisky that went into this bottling came from twenty-five first fill ex bourbon barrels, which were filled in November and December 2010. Then stored in our dunnage warehouse until bottling in 2023."
