anCnoc 1999
$82.79
Old Pulteney Clipper
$89.99
Ths limited edition release from the Highland distillery of Old Pulteney has been bottled at 46%. Matured in a mix of Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Sherry casks about 16,200 bottles have been released world wide to mark the Clipper Round the World Race.
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Sweetness of dried fruits and crispiness of green apples is accompanied by notes of fresh vanilla and white chocolate.
Palate: Waves of honey and orange zest, a rounded oaky structure and an unmistakable coastal note which sets Old Pulteney apart. Smooth and long-lasting.
Old Pulteney Flotilla 2000
$74.99
Released in colaboration with Le Maison de Whisky, originally only through independent French retailers, this bottling was the first ever vintage release from the Highland distillery of Old Pulteney. The whisky has been bottled exclusively from American oak casks at 46.4%.
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Sweet and floral notes with hints of lemons, oranges and coconut.
Palate: Sweet and spicy with a full-bodied and warm long-lasting finish.
Glenmorangie Tusail
$98.99
The 6th release in Glenmorangie's Private Edition has been produced with Maris Otter barley, malted by hand on traditional floor maltings, this limited edition will only be available for a short time.
From the Distillery: "A rich winter variety of barley first introduced in 1965, Maris Otter was bred specifically to meet the demand for a high quality brewing malt and recognized for its ability to impart rich, rustic malty flavours. Now used only by a select few who continue, like Glenmorangie, to uphold an ethos of sacrificing yield for quality by using only the finest ingredients, the result is a whisky celebrating the variety’s renowned taste profile."
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: fresh, honeyed and malty with unripened citrus; the malt is the star of the show, you can almost sense the soil through the spirit; waxy with some melon and almond paste, a touch of soft new leather too.
Palate: still very malty, lovely soft earthy tones and toasted oak before slowly developing fruits and honey; there is an oilyness uncharacteristic of Glenmorangie, though it is still light and clean; the base is creamy with more melon, citrus, some delicate floral tones and a chalkyness (from the soil?).
Finish: soft and floral with citrus, cream, melons and lots of slowly fading oily malt.
Comments: this is a very curious malt, I don't think terroir with whisky often, but in this case the malt and its chalky overtones are so dominant; overall a lovely whisky and a really interesting addition to the Private Collection range.
Distillery's Tasting Note
Aroma: Deep earthy, robust aromas of malty, biscuity tones, with a backbone of nut toffee.
Taste: A rich, rustic profile of nut toffee, sweet barley malt, ginger, cinnamon, and dates in molasses complements more familiar Glenmorangie notes of peaches, oranges and smoked pears.
Finish: Tùsail lingers on with a mouth-coating finish.
Amrut Greedy Angels
$764.99
The Angel's Share at Amrut is punishingly high. Maturing whiskies past 4, 5 or 6 years is excedingly difficult. This is the second release of the Greedy Angels Chairman's Reserve, the first was a 8 year old, and this one is 10! The oldest Amrut ever bottled. Only 320 decanter sets were produced, making this an exceedingly rare whisky. The whisky is bottled in a 700ml decanter at 46%. It comes with a 50ml decanter bottled at the impressive cask strength of 71%.
Distiller’s Tasting Note
Nose: Tropical fruit cocktail in the vicinity and can be disintegrated to papaya, mango and pineapple trio with signature Amrut liquorice.
Taste: Malty and a do or die fight with the tropical fruit notes and amazingly balanced. Not so easy to stop there and an essay in chew ability.
Finish: Enough dryness just measured; neither too dry nor too low and sweet and citrus finish.
Kavalan Amontillado Manzanilla Set
$674.99
A truly magnificent twin decanter set from much talked about Taiwanese, Kavalan. The distillery was completed in December 2005. It produced its first spirit in March, 2006, and released its first bottling in December 2008.
This twin decanter set is comprised of two single cask expressions, one from an Amontillado cask and the other from a Manzanilla cask. Both bottled at cask strength in stylish twisted decanters alongside two matching glasses, all encased in a wooden presentation box.
Includes:
- 1 x Kavalan Amontillado Single Cask decanter – 500ml
- 1 x Kavalan Manzanilla Single Cask decanter – 500ml
- 2 x Crystal Stopper
- 2 x Crystal Glasses
First Editions Tormore 1988
$224.99
Exclusive to KWM in Calgary, only 30 bottles of this Tormore have come into the shop. "Filled from a sherry butt" and bottled at 57.1%, 182 total bottles released.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: rich, nutty and fruity, Christmas cake and black licorice Nibs; musty old wood, smooth old leather and juicy tobacco.
Palate: more candied fruits and Christmas cake, lovely dark chocolate and licorice notes; becomes more soft old leather and spice with damp juicy tobacco and musty old oak in dunnage warehouses; nutty-grapey-Oloroso sherry notes.
Finish: long, but smooth and elegant with hints of leather, tobacco, chocolate and memories of Christmas cake just eaten.
Comment: very sherried though this is, it has excellent balance; terrific value for its age!
Bruichladdich Octomore 7.1
$132.99
The first of two 2015 releases of Octomore is another 5 year old, produced of Islay Barley peated to 208ppm and matured 5 years in American Oak before bottling at 59.6%. This release is very limited in Alberta, KWM is only getting around 30 bottles!
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Initially the nose is sea spray and caramel, lemon balm and pipe tobacco. Slowly, the peat smoke rises from the glass, gentle but strong lifting vanilla, mint, toffee, golden syrup and almond. Peach follows with pear syrup and buttercup. A symphony, a delight to experience.
Palate: Wow! Smoothness, sweetness and then smoke. A texture like no other, satin soft and devilishly warming. The American oak influence is in perfect tune with the smoke and soft fruits delicately, skilfully coaxed from the still during exceptionally slow distillation. Vanilla, honey, citrus rise up to be met with sea spray and leather, smoked mussels mix with autumn bracken and creÌ€me brûlée.
Finish: As the sweetness from the oak fades the salt comes to the fore one last time while the gentle peat smoke steady and true grows and outlasts all else.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 39.98
$206.99
BUTTERFLIES, BATS AND SPIDERS
A 23 year old Speysider from a refill hogshead at 59.1%.
Flavour profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Outturn: 238 bottles
Panel's tasting note: "The early nose brought a shimmering butterfly host of fresh, floral, fruity pleasures (syrupy crumpets, pineapple, plum jam, beeswax) which gradually trans-mutated into darker flying creatures whose wings wafted newspaper print, dark tobacco, leather boots, antique oak, treacle tart and black-jack chews. Brief rays of sun would occasionally return us to exotic fruits, butterscotch, apple strudel and marmalade. The palate had plentiful orchard fruits, good tannic woodiness, toasted coconut, liquorice and blackcurrant; plus honey and raisins spilled and scattered in a spice cupboard – sweet, tasty and mouth-watering – cherry cake, jasmine and sandalwood sensuousness from the distillery that was kind to spiders."
Drinking tip: "This dram changes in a butterfly's wing-beat from floral, fruity and frivolous to dark and serious - one for contemplation and reflection"