SCN Williamson 9 Year KWM Cask
$134.99
Our first KWM single cask of Laphroaig single malt, bottled as Williamson, is a 2015 vintage 9 year old finished for 3 years in a 2nd Fill PX Sherry Hogshead before bottling at 57.4%. We did bottle an A.D. Rattray Williamson cask roughly 8-10 years ago, but it was a tea-spooned Blended Malt. This is a sweet, dirty, sherried, and rather drinkable Laphroaig!
Decadent Drams Blair Athol 28 Year KWM
$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."
Boutique-y Clynelish 20 Year KWM Cask
$219.99
It is finally here... we have been teasing and talking about this whisky for months, and it was worth the wait. We are thrilled to introduce you to our first ever KWM exlcusive single cask from That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Although the bottle doesn't explicitly tell you which "Highland" distillery the whisky is from, there are clues on the label... 578 bottles have been filled exclusively for Kensington Wine Market at 51%. But we have nothing holding us back from telling you that Boutique-y Highland #2 is Clynelish... That's right, this is 20 year old Clynelish!
Andrew's Note on the Whisky & Label
Could that be a cat in the clouds, a Wild Highland Cat perhaps? Is it not strange to see a waxy candle-powered balloon? Incidentally, it is lifting the KWM whisky team aloft. And what of the monument? If we told you it was a controversial monument near the town of Golspie dedicated to the infamous Duke of Sutherland, would that give you all the information you need to know? What Highland Distillery has a Wild Highland Cat as its symbol, a waxy profile, and an infamous Duke as its founder?
This label is a cheeky take on a shared memory, with embellishments, embedded details, and Easter eggs, in the tradition of the best Boutique-y Whisky Company Labels. More importantly, it tells a story, which is personally important to my family. My mother was born into the Clann Gunn in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Her ancestors roamed swaths of what is now Caithness and Sutherland in northern Scotland. That is until they were compelled to leave Scotland in the late 18th century, cruelly and rudely displaced to make way for sheep during the early days of the Highland Clearances.
On the label there is a ship at sea, heading to Canada presumably, as hinted at by the flags (the Canadian flag as it is today was only introduced in 1965). On the flat coastal plain at the base of the mountains sheep can be seen grazing. In front of the monument stand a pair of Canadians stand in hockey jerseys. Sam Simmons, Head of Whisky at Atom Brands, and a native Torontonian, stands closest to the monument in what appears to be a hockey jersey. Further back, a native Calgarian, yours truly can be seen waving a white hat, an iconic symbol of "Cowtown", whilst sporting a local hockey team jersey of his own. In the balloon Keith, Evan, Shawn & Curt can be seen waving at Andrew & Sam below. Speaking of those two, what are they doing atop Ben Bhraggie? Funny story that.
When TBWC offered us this cask of Highland Malt, they asked us what we wanted on the label, and I had a cheeky idea. In 2006 I made my first trip to Scotland, and on that trip, I hiked up Ben Bhraggie, a small mountain (really a foothill by Canadian standards) to see the monument of the infamous Duke. Someone had spraypainted the word "Monster" in neon green at the base. When I was sure no one was looking I dropped trow and relieved myself on it. I sent Sam an email of this tale, my connection to the area and my idea for the label. I was sure it was just a little too edgy...
Minutes later my phone was ringing... it was 3 AM in the UK, but Sam wanted to make sure I had seen his reply. He too had hiked Ben Bhraggie in 2005, and he had also paid his own respects to the infamous Duke of Sutherland...
One last little nugget, Keith, who is a personal trainer and headed to Beijing as a Team Canada Skeleton coach, felt his arm didn't look appropriately burly, in an early draft of the label. So we had the artist, Emily Chappell, 'bugs bunny' his arm... In case it isn't already apparent, nothing is sacred (especially when it comes to The Duke of Sutherland and Keith's pipes)!
And the rest as they say is history. On the back of every bottle, That Boutique-y Whisky Company includes the following text: "We are passionate about great whisky, we don't take ourselves too seriously and we LOVE a good story." No wonder these chaps are such a great fit to work with!
May Clynelish's waxiness never wane!
Benromach 2002 KWM Cask 969
$334.99
This is our 6th KWM exclusive cask of Benromach, and the 4th since the move to the new packaging. More precisely, it is our 3rd from the early 2000s, and it is yet another Brora-esque twenty-something Benromach with creamy smoke and tropical fruits. Matured in a First Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel for 21 years before bottling at 57.9%. Only 179 bottles!
Decadent Drams Glenlitigious 12 Year KWM
$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!"
Glencairn Copita KWM 30th Annv. Logo
$13.99
This authentic, Copita-style Glencairn Whisky Glass may look similar to other whisky glasses out there, but do not be fooled! It is better. It has been improved vastly by having the Kensington Wine Market 30th Anniversary logo grace the glass with its presence. Don't believe us? Try one out for yourself.
Guaranteed to make even single-cask whisky not selected or sold by Kensington Wine Market taste better!*
*Not guaranteed.
Glencairn Glass Est. 1992 Logo
$12.99
This authentic Glencairn Whisky Glass may look similar to other whisky glasses out there, but do not be fooled! It is better. It has been improved vastly by having the Kensington Wine Market logo grace the glass with its presence. Don't believe us? Try one out for yourself.
Guaranteed to make even single-cask whisky not selected or sold by Kensington Wine Market taste better!*
*Not guaranteed.
Amrut 2013 9 Year KWM Port Pipe 4660
$214.99
Our 3rd KWM exclusive cask of Amrut was selected last fall when our friend Ashok paid us a visit to the store. Distilled in August of 2013, the whisky matured 9 years in an ex-Port Pipe No. 4660, before bottling in December of 2022, after 9 years at 60%.
When Ashok was going through the samples with us, he was astounded to learn that his Amrut would be our 145th KWM exclusive cask bottling... so he put that little tidbit on the label. Shipments from India don't happen overnight however, and in the 10 months since the cask was bottled, we've launched more than 10 other exclusive bottlings... But 10 months is an improvement, the last cask took nearly a year and a half to reach us.
It is worth noting, that at 9 years of age, this is a very mature bottling of Amrut. It is also almost certainly the first KWM-exclusive cask bottling from an ex-Port cask.
One final curiosity is the bottling strength of 60%. This is not cask strength, Amrut waters its bottlings down to 60%, if they are above, to save an enormous amount of Indian excise taxes...
G&M CC Glentauchers 2000 KWM 25ml Sample
$10.99
THIS IS A 25ML SAMPLE for the purpose of tasting the whisky, it is linked to an informative video on our YouTube page!
You can find the full-sized version of the KWM Cask here. The sample comes with a QR code, linked to a virtual tasting video on our YouTube page, for the whisky with Andrew.
Is it a coincidence we bottled two Gordon & MacPhail Glentauchers casks in a year? Yes, but it shouldn't be all that surprising... seeing as they are bottling some of the best whisky from the distillery. This 2000 vintage was matured 23 years in a First Fill Sherry Hogshead. We were blown away by this old-school dumpy, sherried single malt... its' a very cool dram!