Black Gold Macallan 1987
$863.99
Cadenhead Small Bt. 12 Linkwood 1987
$339.99
This 1987 Small Batch bottling has been bottled at 58.4% after maturing in two Sherry Butts for 28 years. Exclusive to KWM in Canada, only 30 bottles are coming into the market. Serge Valentin scored it 89pts on whiskyfun.org .
Cadenhead Small Batch whiskies are bottled either as single casks or from very small batches of no more than 4 or 5 casks. Cadenhead established in 1842, is Scotland's oldest independent bottler. Headquartered in Campbeltown, it is today owned by J.A. Mitchell & Co., Springbank Distillery's parrent company. The Cadenhead Small Batch range is exclusive to KWM in Canada.
Producer's Tasting Note
Nose: Salted Caramel, multi seed bread. Salted butter with faint medicinal notes.
Palate: Heavier than the nose suggests. Baked apples, dried apricots with walnuts and sightly earthy.
Finish: Initially fruit cocktail in syrup before drying out with coal dust and toasted brown bread.
Distillery Fact: This whisky was produced on the newer stills at the distillery, known as ‘Linkwood B’ as the original stills ‘Linkwood A’ were closed in 1985.
Tasting Note by Serge at www.whiskyfun.org:
"Gasp, Cadenhead again. Colour: gold. Nose: hold on, this is austere, tight, narrow, and really earthy/leafy, even leathery. Eh? Fino? Manzanilla? With water: perfect pu-her from the best trees on the best mountains. Stunning mossy smokiness. Mouth (neat): a blade, and in that sense, an anti-Speyside. Lime and lemon, green apples, green walnuts, and yeah, manzanilla. Careful now… With water: gentler, mature, fruitier, but certainly not dull. Green apples, cider, walnuts, greengages… Finish: long, sharp, narrow, green, getting zestier by the second. Comments: okay, I’ll give it away. Do you know how Cadenhead’s are managing to have the best single malts these days? Because yeah, they have a secret, which they revealed to me after a few glasses of retsina too many, in a remote pub in Tarbert, on a cold winter night. In fact, they’re adding one bucket of Springbank to each and every cask they bottle, from Auchentoshan to Tullibardine. Serious, that’s how they do it, but shhh… that’s our little secret… SGP:461 - 89 points."
Black Gold Glen Garioch 1998
$256.49
VSMC GG Cask 51
$52.66
VSMC GG Cask 57
$54.16
VSMC GG Cask 80
$55.11
Brora 37 Year
$2,024.99
The 14th annual release of Brora is one of the oldest, not a surprising fact given the distillery has now been closed for 33 years and counting. Distilled in 1977 an bottled at 50.4% the whisky was matured in American Oak, with just 2976 bottles released World Wide. KWM is getting just 6 bottles and at the tim of writing 4 of them are spoken for.
Tasting Note by Dave Broom
Nose: A clean and, on first meeting, a low-peat Brora. There’s a background note of sweet new leather, waxed paper and a lightly briny/halibut oil element. It has the pleasant, slightly faded quality of very old whiskies. With a drop of water, some spent bonfire, sweet cicely and a sharp fruit vinegar note moving inexorably towards waxiness.
Palate: Slightly more smoky than the nose, with that sharp note now coming across as whitecurrant. When reduced, there are touches of melon, pear, a little grassiness and a gentle, oxidised cask influence.
Finish: Gently fading. Conclusion: Elegant and graceful. You know it’s limited, you know it’s finite, you know there is huge demand. The price is therefore set accordingly. Different rules are now applying to these sorts of whiskies.”
Tasting Note by Serge at Whisky Fun: !!!95pts!!!High expectations, high expectations… Especially since the 35 yo bottled in 2013 was a 1977 as well, and fetched a well-deserved 95 points mark in my little book. Colour: gold. Nose: Brora seems to be indestructible. I can well imagine in 2037, on Whiskyfun, a 65 years old 1972 Special Release being tasted. Stocks are said to be low, but they always said that, and they still managed to vat around ten casks this year. The result is amazing, curiously softer than the G&M and more herbal, more coastal as well, and perhaps a little smokier too. Less sherry for sure, so less tobacco and chocolate. There are the trademark farmy touches (hay), then oysters and chartreuse, then more resinous notes, between pinesap and artisan absinth. Astounding complexity, as expected. With water: superb sappy oil extracts. Old candle, linoleum, bandages, embrocations, verbena, wormwood… and mud. Mouth (neat): huge, ashy, almost drying, in a good way. This one reminds us that 1977 was still a peaty year at Brora. More absinth, tarry smoke, liquorice, salted fish, with a mouth feel that’s becoming oilier and creamier. Touches of salted chestnut honey, which gives it a Chinese side, in a way. Huge whisky. With water: exceptional. Dry, coastal, liquoricy, herbal, both fat and chiselled. The best cough syrup ever. Finish: perhaps not extremely long, but all these herbs, liquorice and cough drops just work in sync. It’s the freshness that’s most impressive. Comments: one of 2015’s grands crus, no doubt, together with some of the Karuizawas. Hey, next time, could someone sell a blend of Karuizawa and Brora? You could call it either Karuibrora or Brorazawa. I’m sure that would make it to 97 points if it’s well made, serious. Hint, hint, John Glaser… In any case, this one beats last year’s in my book."
BenRiach Cask Strength Batch 1
$117.99
Launched in March of 2016, BenRiach's first batch of Cask Strength. Bottled at 57.2% in the classic unpeated BenRiach style. Cask type(s) not specified, but given the tasting notes it is likely mainly American oak.
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Sweet toasted oak spices are interwoven with roasted orchard fruits and dusted with cracked barley. Black vanilla pods, desiccated coconut and a gentle floral note add complexity to the ripe, fruit-laden nose.
Palate: An excellent example of the delicious BenRiach character. Creamy heather honey pours over a medley of apples, pears and apricots. Subtle notes of candied peel and fresh ginger give a delicate warmth and lead to a classic combination of vanilla, toasted coconut and sweet barley in the luscious, velvety finish.
From the Distillery: “Cask Strength Batch 1 is another momentous and exciting “first” for the BenRiach distillery.
“This stunning Speyside whisky, with all its classic BenRiach characteristics, is the first Cask Strength expression to be added to our core range, allowing us to showcase the true BenRiach style in its most natural state – straight from the cask to the bottle, non-chill filtered and at its natural colour, allowing the distillery’s unique spirit to shine through.
“It is an incredibly fine dram and I am confident it will prove as successful as our wonderful GlenDronach batches.”
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 33.137
$234.99
CAMPFIRE MARSHMALLOWS ON SINGED STICKS
A rare 1998 vintage single cask of Ardbeg bottled at 59.9% after maturing 10 years in a First Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel.