Signatory Imperial 1995

$148.49

This 18 year old Imperial is the product of two Hogsheads 50143 and 50144 distilled 21/08/1995 and bottled 07/01/2014 at 51.9%. Only 573 bottles came from the cask, of which only 18 came to Canada, exclusively to KWM.

The Imperial distillery was mothballed in the latter part of the last decade. Largely dismantled much of the equipment which was due to be sold as scrap (worth over $200,000CAD) was stolen in 2009. While the owners had a various times in the last decade come up with plans to covert the distillery buildings to flats, an upswing in demand has prompted them to demolish the old buildings with plans to open a new distillery on the site in 2015. The new distillery is expected to carry the name of the original Imperial distillery which opened in 1897.

Andrew's Tasting Note: 

Nose: creamy, floral, tropical and decadent; a very seductive nose, the American oak elements are very dominant with loads of soft white chocolate, silky vanilla and ripe melons, canned pineapple and fresh cut peaches.

Palate: very creamy, toasty, floral and sweet; the honey, cream, vanilla and white chocolate notes are again dominant, in their wake we find more melons, pineapple and other exotic fruits with some tingling decadent spice and sugars; some candied nuts and firm-coating-oaky-oils, a little grippier than the nose implied but still seductive.

Finish: long, rich, elegant and toasty the fruits fade first followed by the oak influenced vanillas, honey and cream."

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 2.87

$230.39

SATISFYING AS A BUTCHER'S BLADE

This 21 year old Speysider is 51.7% after maturing in a refill hogshead

Flavour profile:  Sweet, fruity & mellow 

Outturn: 194 bottles

Panel's tasting note: "The nose was something of a contradiction – ‘old’ impressions of polished floorboards in antique bookshops, old paint cupboards and mentholated snuff – yet with fresher elements of stewed apple, mandarins, toffee, carnations and peppermint. Water brought out honey and lemon toddy notes and freshly baked Eve’s pudding. The palate was fascinating and very tasty – mouth-coating sweetness of toffee apples and caramel apple granny cake with a dry finish of flowers, humbugs and tiger balm. Panellists were yakking away – fair enjoying the mellow easiness of it – as sweet as a Scotsman’s Snickers; satisfying as a butcher’s blade. From George Smith’s 1824 distillery."

Drinking tip: "For anyone who might appreciate the dignity of age and the freshness of youth in the same body"

Old Particular Macallan 16 Year

$161.99

This product is not expected to return to KWM!

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 36.62

$161.99

THE ITALIAN JOB

This 21 year old Speysider from a 2nd fill hogshead has been bottled at 51.3%

Flavour profile:  Sweet, fruity & mellow

Outturn:  229 bottles 

Panel's tasting note: "We were greeted by a fresh, chalky and slightly mineralic aroma; laundry drying in a sea breeze, fresh cut wood and a hint of grappaesque eau de vie. A light sweetness is lingering in the background, Refreshers candy and Campino fruit bonbons. Fizzy on the tongue to start, then turning sweeter into grape juice and Rowntree’s Randoms. Herbal flavours follow; ciabatta bread, Parma ham and hard parmesan cheese grated on top. With water becoming even more mineralic, almost flinty, like an austere white Lombardian wine enjoyed on a terrace overlooking Lake Como late in the afternoon. The taste has an intriguing balance of sour cream chips and a honey yogurt ice cream – Salute!"

Drinking tip: "Whilst on holiday in Italy"

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 94.4

$179.99

ODE TO AUTUMN: 24 year old Highlander from refill hogshead cask at 52.3%. Only 201 bottles in the outturn!

Panel's Tasting Note: "We were greeted by a dusty, warm and malty aroma - like a hayfield at harvest time on a sunny afternoon, or sanding a wooden floor, or dusting off a Scalextric set not used for a long time and having a first go. In the taste sweet and rich with a herbal and fruity note; Italian biscotti biscuits with hazelnuts and dark cherries as well as aniseed, lemon and orange rind. Adding water, roasted red peppers stuffed with herb couscous accompanied by a salty/tangy ginger and lime dressing and the taste salty and sweet like an olive oil and balsamic bread dip. A unique example from the distillery with a unique cooling system for its spirit still - simply running cold water along the sides."

Drinking Tip: "After enjoying a lovely autumn day."

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 7.97

$161.99

CEDAR, SANDALWOOD AND CINNAMON

This Speysider is 20 years old and 53.9% after maturing in a refill hogshead

Flavour profile:  Juicy, oak & vanilla

Outturn:  201 bottles 

Panel's tasting note: "We found rich aromas of dark honey, vanilla, coconut, chocolate, menthol, abundant leather and the deep woodiness of a cooperage, but somehow the nose also drifted towards tropical fruits and garden impressions with fresh flowers and herbs. The neat palate tingled the tongue nicely with leather, orange zest, wood, green herbs and aniseed and ginger spice – sweet tobacco and floral perfumes kicked in to create a wonderfully balanced and rather sexy experience. Water brought cedar, sandalwood, cinnamon and candy floss to the nose and pleasant pot-pourri perfumes to the palate. An attractive offering from this Chivas distillery south of Elgin."

Drinking tip: "Set up a card game with some attractive dames and serve this - you can’t lose"

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 17.35

$112.49

VERY FRUITY, VERY TASTY: This 11 year old Orcadian is from that island's other distillery, 56.1% after maturing in a Refill Barrel. 

Panel's Tasting Note: "We found lots of good stuff on the nose – honey, toffee, vanilla, Battenberg cake, vanilla and a variety of fruits (pear, apple, tinned pineapple, strawberry, three-fruit marmalade). We also found tarragon, straw, putty, menthol, brass and a stationery cupboard. The palate was tasty – majoring on fruit (star-fruit, rhubarb, peach, pineapple) – but also with gummy bears, ‘soor plooms’ candies, some interesting ginger spice and a salty note. The nose shifted with water – oatcakes, tea caddies and pepper – the centerpiece still a bowl of fruit, but now sharper (gooseberry, lime). The palate became even tastier – Moffat toffees and coke with lime. Orkney’s smaller distillery."

Drinking Tip: "To serve before lunch in summer."

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 127.38

$110.69

ENTICING FUME OF A PEAT REEK: A 10 year old Ileach at a whopping 66.3% after maturing in a Refill Sherry Butt.

Panel's Tasting Note: "This nose is big and with so many facets that it will be difficult to describe with the limitations of a tasting note. Sweet smoke, bacon crisps, pork cracklings, honey and soy sauce, slightly burnt corn on the cob, oily mackerels, Germolene and tarry drift wood. The taste was absolutely huge, stunning, WOW! Sweet, smoky, ashy, briny; like a peat fire blazing in a croft house by the edge of the Atlantic grilling mackerels and honey smoked bacon. With water less intense sweet peat smoke with earthy (compost), herbal aromas like that of a good fish stock. The taste now Mediterranean pork with sage plums and oven-roasted tomatoes rolled in herbs."

Drinking Tip: "Just drink it!"

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 33.130

$128.69

THE FARMYARD AND THE CHIP SHOP: An 11 year old Ileach from the Kildalton Coast bottled at 56.1% from a 2nd fill barrel.

Panel's Tasting Note: "This presented two distinct scenarios which had the panel scratching collective heads. Malt in burlap sacks, sillage, tomatoes and compost in one camp. Fish and chips, in paper, oyster shells and lobster pots in the other. Vanilla pods andapple chutney and some tropical fruits popped up. Then the Islay personality roared into action with coal buckets, Germolene and barbecue smoke. With water it reminded one of a cedar wood chest of blankets with mothballs and another of laundry day at the beach. A curious creamy mouth feel of peach yogurt left the panel scratching their heads to the last drop."

Drinking Tip: "While eating fish and chips on the pier."