Jack Wiebers Islay Malt
$219.99
Bottled at 53.7%, the Jack Wiebers Islay malt is a bit of a beast, heavily peated and massively sherried. Only 30 bottles have come in to Alberta, KWM has bought 24 of them and more than half of those have sold.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: muddy, musty, leathery, earthy and sherried; very nutty, Amaretto, dark fruits, Christmas cake, treacle sauce, tobacco and old engine oil; ristretto, chocolate covered espresso beans and new polished Italian loafers.
Palate: very leathery--more new Italian loafers, chcolate covered espresso beans, ristretto, Dominican cigars and muddy peat; still enormously nutty, drip coffee with Amaretto and dry Christmas cake; there are salty-smoky notes, but it is the sherry notes which dominate.
Finish: long and medium bodied with gentle smoke, more nutty sherry and drying leather.
Comment: this wee no age statement mystery Ileach single malt is a big of a beast... perfect Christmas whisky or with a Dominican cigar.
Jack Wiebers Invergordon 1972
$349.99
Only 30 bottles of a total of 126 produced, are coming to Canada from this quirky independent bottler. Bottled by Jack Wiebers, a boutique independent bottler from Germany, under their locomotive breath line! Bottled at 49.4%
Jack Wiebers Glen Moray 1988
$369.99
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 Year 2nd
$95.99
Only the second release of Port Charlotte 10 Year, with just 18,000 bottles released World wide. Matured in both American and French oak, more details to come. 50%abv
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: creme brule, panna cotta, salted caramel, clean smoke and dried citrus chunks; woody with grassy hay and sea bass pan seared in butter.
Palate: creamy, buttery and honeyed; silky smoke, smooth creamed honey, soft panna cotta and salted caramel creme brule; more citrus and white fruits with building firm but gently malt; juicy barley sugars, Demerara and decadent spice.
Finish: long, creamy and smooth; layers of honey, malt, white fruits, citrus, spices and sugar.
Comment: not as heavily peated as expected, 10 years in oak has softened the edges of what can be a beast of a whisky.
Distiller's Description: "The smouldering heat of peat and dark fruit is finessed by floral top notes, a twist of citrus and mellow oak. Full term in first-fill bourbon, sherry, tempranillo and French wine casks. Bottled at 50% alc. vol. using Islay Spring water. Heavily peated Islay Single malt – 40ppm. 18,000 individually numbered bottles only."
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Initially there is such a clean open ozone character as the smoke is hidden. Gingerbread, raspberry vanilla, then the smoke creeps in with notes of clove, rubber and polish, but it does not over- power the gentle aromas of tinned peaches in syrup sweet red apples and brambles. Caramel and cinder toffee, digestive biscuits and lemon drops all sit under a halo of crisp peat smoke.
Palate: The oak sweetness of vanilla and toasted malty bread are wrapped in heather smoke giving medicinal type notes of bog myrtle and bracken reminiscent of a summer’s day on the peat moss. There are layers in this whisky that take time to reveal themselves. To begin, cinder toffee and salted caramel with a lovely balance of honeysuckle and lily. Next comes treacle and soft fruit, apricot and pineapple with a dusting of icing sugar. The texture is luxurious yet with a little more bite than the Laddie 10.
Finish: Long and smoky, this whisky was a delight to assemble. The complexity in the different types of oak and the way they come together in harmony to create a flawless spirit is a beauty to behold. A sophisticated, smouldering heat in the true Port Charlotte style.
Mood: Enjoy the first sip to the last and then wait in the moment as the smoke lingers on and revel in the passion pride skill and history that inspired and created this fine whisky. Enjoy the first sip to the last and then wait in the moment as the smoke lingers on.
Ardnamurchan Spirit 2016 AD
$94.99
The first release from Ardnamurchan Distillery! Only 2500 bottles were released world-wide, far outstripping the distillery's supply. 36 of these are coming to KWM. 29 First Fill Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez Sherry octaves (80L casks) filled in June 2015 and October 2014 containing both peated and unpeated spirit were married and further matured for 3 months in Ex-Pedro Ximenez Butts before bottling at 53%. It is not quite whisky yet, but it looks and sounds tasty!
Alex Bruce:"Our Ardnamurchan Spirit 2016 AD has a remarkable nose, taste and deep colour for its age. The quality of it is superb,”
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: It has a dense, sweet nose of Acacia honey and salted caramel
Palate: A mouth filling texture of minty toffee and a maritime, smoky richness with a kick of chili pepper.
Finish: Licorice and eucalyptus combine with vivid peat smoke, from a working malt kiln, on the finish
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 41.78 100ml
$21.99
*This is a mini 100mL bottle of SMWS 41.78
POKER NIGHT WHISKY - 100ml bottle
Matured in a 1st fill barrel, this 11 year old Speysider is 60.4%
Flavour profile: Young & spritely
Outturn: 114 bottles
Panel's tasting note: "It starts with fresh and prickly aromas of pear drops, beeswax polish, cereals and tonic water. The taste is hot, sweet, spicy and dry – bubble-gum, fragrant honey and tart kiwi fruit. Water really helps to open up and now there’s much more for the nose to enjoy. Pralines, milk chocolate, pine cones, coconut, icing sugar and a hint of lime. The mouthfeel is thicker (creamy) too and the sweet flavours are of Sauternes wine, peach, mango, coconut and light spices. It’s a dram that’s best shared with others."
Drinking tip: "With friends around the poker table"
Kilchoman Sauternes Finish
$134.99
This is a limited edition 2012 vintage Sauternes cask finished single malt bottled at 50%. Little more than 120 bottles are coming to Alberta, we are limiting it to 2 per customer. I had a chance to sample it at the distillery the day before it was released, and it is lovely. I wasn't a huge fan of the previous release, but this one is lovely!
Producer Description: "Sauternes Cask Finish, a limited edition release of just 30 casks, is on its way around the world, hitting shelves any time from Monday 1st October. The Sauternes Cask Finish follows a range of wine cask releases we've bottled over the previous five years. This latest offering differs in that it was initially matured in ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred into fresh Sauternes hogsheads for five months prior to bottling. This finishing period allows the caramel and vanilla influence of bourbon barrels to be accentuated by the buttery sweetness of the desert wine casks. Meanwhile the classic peat smoke and citrus character of the Kilchoman spirit brings a distinct depth and punch to the whisky, emphasised at the increased strength of 50%."
"We have previously favoured full-term maturation for our wine cask releases, bottling fully matured Port, Madeira, Red Wine and Sauternes editions every other year since 2013. The Sauternes Cask Finish approach has arguably provided a more balanced character, combining both the maritime peat smoke and tropical fruit typical of Kilchoman with the softer buttery floral notes characteristic of the Sauternes casks. As with all recent limited editions, a neck tag details the number of bottles (10,000), casks, ages and cask types used in the vatting; in this case, the Sauternes Cask Finish is a combination of thirty 2012 bourbon barrels married in Sauternes wine casks for five months before bottling."
Kilchoman Original Cask Strength 56.9%
$124.99
COMING SOON - January 18 2017
The second edition of the Kilchoman Original Cask Strength has been matured in Quarter Casks, making it one of the most mature tasting Kilchoman's yet. But at 6 years of age, it was also one of the oldest Kilchoman's ever bottled.
From the Distillery: "95 quarter casks were vatted to produce just over 12,000 bottles of this limited edition at natural cask strength of 56.9%abv. "
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: creamy, very honeyed and floral (heather and broom); very maritime, scallops cooked in butter and a dash of honey; medicinal with creamy toasty oak; loads of citrus, mostly lemon with a touch of orange; freshly coopered oak and a touch of cedar.
Palate: creamy, very honeyed, medicinal with big smoke and juicy malt; tones more citrus, lemon, lime and orange; maple syrup, limoncello, vanilla creme brule, detol, massively salted caramel and loads of spice; leather, enormous amounts of fennel and clove; Earl Grey tea infused chocolate and more scallops cooked in butter with a dash of honey.
Finish: long, coating, honeyed and very malty; big salted caramel and loads of vanilla cream; the medicinal-smoky notes linger longest.
Comment: this is Kilchoman at the next level, very mature in brimming with character; its brash Islay DNA is intact but mellowing!
Ardbeg Dark Cove Committee
$179.99
Strictly limited to 1 per customer, open only to Ardbeg Committee Members in Alberta.
This is the Ardbeg Committee edition of the Ardbeg Dark Cove, bottled at 55%. To purchase a bottle you must be a member of the Ardbeg Committee. If you are not all ready a member, you can join here: https://www.ardbeg.com/join .
91pts Whisky Advocate: "This is the bigger, spicier, and more complex of the pair (see below). A prickly start leads to heavy peat smoke, pink and Szechuan peppercorns, vanilla, dark chocolate, angelica, then seaweed. The palate is oily, with a detonation of gunpowdery peat, licorice, smoked eel, and a feral edge that adds grunt. Layered and complex." (Summer 2016) Reviewed by: Dave Broom
88pts Serge Valentin @ Whisky Fun: "Ardbeg ‘Dark cove’ (55%, OB, Committee release, 2016) The label tells us that ‘its heart has been matured in dark sherry casks’. Which doesn’t mean much, really, or only that a part of it was matured (proportions? for how long?) in sherry that probably wasn’t fino or manzanilla. It’s also said, on the label, that it’s the darkest Ardbeg ever. Highly unlikely if you ask me, given the various fantastic dark-oloroso-ed Ardbegs the owners have had in the past. So, the label being partly wrong, doesn’t that make this wee bottle kind of collectable? Despite the fact that it’s yet another NAS? Ach… Colour: gold. Nothing dark, really, we’ve known hundreds of Ardbegs that were darker, both officials and indies."
Nose: hold on, cancel any derision or affectionate mockeries, there’s something clearly ‘old Ardbeg’ to this. Really. This very particular creosote-y thing, these soy-saucy touches, this fattish, tar-like medicinal side that’s so different from Laphroaig’s, this natural rubber diluted in brine, the turpentine, the walnuts (the sherry)… Plus, above all, very little of the dullish new-oakiness that’s polluting so many modern malts. Perhaps a little caraway, ginger, and juniper, but that’s all. So far, so perfect. With water: some kind of salted lapsang souchong into which you would have thrown cloves. Mouth (neat): phew, there was a little ‘obvious’ oak in the beginning of the arrival (varnish plus ginger and caraway), and I may like the nose better, but this is frankly very fine, appropriately thickish, cough-syrupy (oh my), with some acidic lemon as well, some smoked ham, perhaps a wee bit of bresaola to please our Italian friends, some salt, and some bitter oranges. Salty soy sauce with some tar liqueur. With water: it takes water well, becoming even peatier, even if more oils from the wood tend to come out as well. A tannicity. Finish: extremely long, and spicier. More cloves, ginger, cumin… Comments: it’s maybe more the oak than the wine that’s been playing the largest part here. I find this Dark cove more to my liking than last year’s… ach, what was the name again? - but I do prefer Uigeadail in this ‘direction’. But it’s excellent indeed. SGP:468 - 88 points."