Scotch Malt Whisky Society 33.143
$188.99
"THANK YOU AND GOOD NIGHT"
DUE TO LIMITED SUPPLY THIS IS A LOTTERY BOTTLE. A RANDOM DRAW WILL TAKE PLACE ON MONDAY, SEPT. 12TH. YOU MAY INDICATE YOUR INTEREST BY PLACING AN ORDER AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ADDED TO THE DRAW, BUT YOU WILL NOT BE BILLED UNLESS YOUR NAME IS DRAWN ON THE 12TH. YOUR NAME WILL ONLY BE ENTERED ONCE.
This 8 year old from Islay comes in at 59.9% and is from a 2nd fill butt
Flavour profile: Peated
Outturn: 582 bottles
Panel's tasting note: "Big licks of maple bacon, sticky pulled pork over hickory smoke morphing into gooey treacle toffee, liquorice and violet. Crispy skinned fish with barbecue sauce and tropical fruit kebabs roasted over white hot coals. ‘Properly good smoke!’ one declared, he was right. Char-grilled pepper and sweet potato muddled gracefully with sun-dried tomatoes and garden canes. Water brought out a delicious feast of charred pork crackling served with a Bloody Mary. The morning after cure theme continued with more bacon, blood orange, BBQ sauce and red pesto all served in a smoky greenhouse. Wicked but very good."
Drinking tip: "After dark"
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 9.88
$202.49
A HEART STARTER
From a refill butt, this 25 year old Speysider is 55.3%
Flavour profile: Spicy & dry
Outturn: 542 bottles
Panel's tasting note: "Little aroma beyond ‘dry’ to start with: very dried fruits, dried out leather, ash, soot, but soon opens to present fruitcake mix, ‘over-steeped jasmine tea’, toasted Brazil nuts, warehouses, mushrooms. Nice texture; sweet overall but very tannic, even ascorbic; some burnt jam in the aftertaste and bitter coffee dregs and dark chocolate in the finish. Surprisingly, water introduces a meaty note - fresh tuna - with buttered croissant, high strength cocoa powder, then treacle toffee, fig pigs and salted caramel. Not so tannic now, with dry liquorice, coffee, dark chocolate and burnt toast. Very unlike the familiar light-bodied proprietary bottling."
Drinking tip: "In place of espresso"
Arran Quarter Cask - The Bothy Batch 2
$98.99
This limited edition Arran (12,000 bottles world-wide), was created and released to pay homage to the Isle of Arran's past as a center for illicit whisky production.
This is the 2nd Batch release of The Bothy - this time bottled at 55.2% ABV.
From the Producer: "The Arran Single Malt selected for The Bothy was initially matured in first-fill ex-Bourbon barrels before being transferred for secondary maturation into smaller casks also made of the finest American oak for a minimum of 18 months.
"This process produces far greater contact between the whisky & oak and a faster, more intense maturation. The end result is a full-bodied expression of The Arran Malt combining power and finesse full of rich vanilla sweetness and bold peppery spice. Bottling at natural Cask Strength without chill-filtration or artificial colouring of any sort presents this whisky in its purest form. Small casks would have been a common feature of the Arran whisky trade in the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries as they were easier to handle and transport around the island. With The Bothy we proudly bring this tradition back to life."
Distiller Tasting Note
Nose: The citrus hallmarks of Arran welcome you, and the sweet spice of cinnamon and vanilla promises a memorable dram.
Palate: Sweetness, Honey, Pineapple.
Glen Breton Jardine Reserve 25 Year
$824.99
Berry's Own Blue Hanger 11th Release
$89.99
IT'S BACK - WAS $165 - NOW $120 - More bottles arriving August 19.
Whisky Advocate Magazine gives this Blue Hanger Release a rating of 92 and titled it their 2015 Blended/Blended Malt Whisky of the Year. Exclusive to KWM, only 60 bottles for Canada.
This 11th release is a vatting of 8 total casks: 4 hogsheads, 3 sherry butts and 1 puncheon. Amongst these is purportedly both peated and unpeated malt from Bunnahabhain distillery but the rest of the makeup is not known.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: honey and marzipan mingle with clean smoke and chocolate salted caramel tarts; crisp lemon and orange with loads of creamy vanilla and dried fruits: raisins and apricots.
Palate: round and immediately smoky, earthy and chocolaty all laid over a base of silky vanilla and decadent honey; firm spices develop including bright ginger, black licorice and candied fennel; there are dried fruits hinting at a sherry influence balanced out by muddier tones of sweet peaty malt.
Finish: big, bold and malty with lovely vanillans, leather, dried fruits and spices; delicate clean salty smoke and gentle earthy peat underneath!
Comment: lots going on here though it is not as peaty as some past releases, very layered and complex; a gateway whisky to more heavily peated malts?
Whisky Advocate Tasting Note: "It’s the intensity of flavor that just grabbed me by the lapels and spun me round. It harbors intense tangelo juiciness; that unparalleled concentration of deep citrus skillfully mingled with dark vanilla, dried apricots, and gentle smoke. This goes the distance, delivering wave after delicious wave: peach juice, mandarin, pineapple cubes, and lemon zest. A firm, unctuous finish shows a little charred wood and dark sugar cloaked in fine smoke. Tongue pleasing and very special indeed. £90" (Spring 2015) 92pts Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick"
Berry's Own Glengoyne 2000
$149.99
Exclusive to KWM, only 90 bottles have come into the market. Distilled in 2000 bottled in 2014 at 46% after maturing in a first fill sherry cask #1074. Non-chill filtered, no added colouring.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: big chocolate, rich dark fruits and treacle sauce; soft leather, snuffed wax candles and a freshly opened bag of assorted jujubes.
Palate: big, rich, nutty and creamy with loads of spices, dark fruits and treacle; the waxy tones and jujubes are still there coming in the wake of the darker sherry notes; very, musty and a trace of struck matches, Dutch licorice with brandy filled dark chocolates.
Finish: long, rich, spicy and fruity with leather, treacle, dark fruits and spices hanging on tightly.
Comment: more robust than your trypical distillery bottled Glengoyne, big sherry notes more reminiscent of the 25, though not quite as elegant... but how can you fault it for that, it is half the age?!
Berry's Own Glen Grant 1995
$134.99
Exclusive to KWM in Canada, this 1995 vintage Glen Grant has been bottled at 46%, non-chill filtered with no added colouring. Matured in 19 years in a presumably Refill Ex-Bourbon barrel.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: delicate, zesty and creamy, it is very floral, fruity and aromatic; doughy with fruit flan and tropical fruit punch; butterscotch and almond past.
Palate: light, fruity and very creamy with building buttery-doughy notes of baked goods, delicate sugars and zesty citrus tones; also apple, pear and tropical fruit punch; the floral tones are still there with more almond paste and butterscotch ice cream.
Finish: lush, fruity, elegant and very smooth the layers of fruit, sugars and baked goods keep coming.
Comment: this is a beautiful delicate malt with loads of character; a perfect patio malt, or paired with more delicate dishes.
Bruichladdich Private Cask
$60.29
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 7.163
$122.39
THE INDIAN SPICE TRAIN
From a 1st fill barrel, this 12 year old Speysider comes in at 60.7%
Flavour profile: Spicy & sweet
Outturn: 180 bottles
Panel's tasting note: "The train was hot and spicy, assisted predominantly by our delicious bloody marys with celery sticks, pickled ginger and sweet chili sauce. As the driver shovelled mounds of black pepper into the engine’s furnace we chugged our way through the Indian countryside passing trees of lemons, limes and sweet blood oranges. With a shrill “toot toot” of the engine’s whistle we entered a tunnel cut deep through a blueberry muffin mountain. We could smell the peppery smoke from the engine that also had the sweet aroma of honey roast nuts. Then to our delight the afternoon tea trolley came around carrying pancakes with lemon juice, nutella and vanilla ice cream."
Drinking tip: "With spicy food and/or a fruity dessert"