The Whisky Agency H&T Speyside 1989
$384.99
This "mystery Speyside" single malt is a joint bottling between The Whisky Agency and Heads & Tails, Canada. The whisky is allegedly a lightly-peated Balvenie... Distilled in 1989 and bottled in 2018 at 29 years of age and 47.6%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: very honeyed, creamy and tropical; melons, guava and assorted freshly peeled citrus fruits; a touch nutty, shelled peanuts and pistachios; vanilla cream and a hint of faint smoke.
Palate: creamy, honeyed and surprisingly malty for its age; more tropical tones: loads of freshly peeled citrus fruits, guava, mango, kiwi and green melons; silky, soft vanilla and decadent sugars; becomes oily and a tad earthy, there is a faint hint of soft smoke and a touch of coffee bean.
Finish: toasty, silky, creamy and elegant; very fruity, decadent and layered; coating it comes in soft subtle waves fading out slowly.
Comment: Igor hit it out of the park with this one... this is an absolute gem; peated Balvenie eh!
Arran 1996 KWM Cask 559 21 Year
$149.99
One of a pair of new KWM Arran single casks, it was selected by and bottled exclusively for the shop. Distilled June 17th, 1996 and bottled on April 9 2018 at 55.3% after maturing in a Sherry Hogshead. Our first 21 year old single cask of Arran, this would be one of the oldest Arrans ever to come to Canada, save for the other cask we brought in which is 22 years of age!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: honeyed, fruity and floral; some candied citrus and soft Manuka honey; classic Arran so far; a touch of leather and building crisp decadent spices; faint musty oak, Demerara sugars and vanilla icing.
Palate: round, fruity, creamy and warming; the spirit has a wonderful mouthfeel; loads of honey, vanilla and caramel make way for crisp and candied citrus fruits; a touch of musty oak and smooth elegant leather before a touch of tobacco; crisp spices: real ginger, cardamom and hot cinnamon.
Finish: long, warm and spicy; still decadent and citrusy with loads of spice and coating creamy vanilla core.
Comment: this is an elegant Arran, hitting its stride at 21 years of age; where has the time gone?!
anCnoc 35 Year 2nd Edition
$1,099.99
The 2nd edition of anCnoc 35 Year from the Knockdhu Distillery is my kind of dram, old, delicate and complex with loads of tropical fruit.
Producer Description: "This dram gets its unique character in large part from Spanish and American oak casks. The casks were filled and laid to rest in one of the traditional dunnage warehouses at Knockdhu Distillery in 1975. anCnoc 35 Years Old shows a richer, more complex personality however the resemblance to the younger expressions is unmistakable. It has been bottled in its most natural state; cask strength, non-chill filtered and natural colour and is limited to only 1,495 bottles worldwide."
Producer's Tasting Note
Nose: Initial aromas of sweet wood, sticky toffee pudding and baked apples are followed quickly by ripe sultanas and honey. Fragrant orange oil and cinnamon gum come to the fore next with a hint of peppermint lingering in the background. A drop of water brings out honeysuckle, gooseberry and chocolate-covered papaya. Great complexity.
Taste: Spicy entry with cinnamon and white pepper. Rich Christmas cake and walnuts are followed by bitter orange chocolate, that really rich 70% cocoa stuff. Look for vanilla ice-cream and a zing of lime at the back. A palate and a half. The finish is intense and fizzy with flavours of spicy dried fruit, cocoa, citrus and nuts. Really long and very elegant.
Lagavulin 12 Year 2017 Edition 56.5%
$131.24
The 2017 edition of the Lagavulin 12 Year Cask Strength was bottled at 56.5%.
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Simple, natural and mild. Clean and fresh, with intense sweetness at the front, prickly smoke at the back and savoury, green and earthy notes at its core. The smoke builds, adding richer notes and in time the sweetness is lighter with fruitier tones.
Body: Light and smoothly oily.
Palate: Easily approached at natural strength. With a first burst of liquorice the sweetness grows in the mid-palate, as golden syrup suffused with the savoury smoke of burning leaves. The smoke becomes sweeter until finally the greenness returns as gently drying grass.
Finish: Sweet and of medium length.
Producer Description
"This is a natural cask strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky with great depth of taste from the essential Islay distillery, Lagavulin, on the island's rocky south coast. Beautifully diverse in nature yet direct in appeal, it’s both complex and rewarding and simply a delight to drink. With minerality bursting into fruit and layers of smoke, it perfectly expresses the distillery character."
90pts Serge @WhiskyFun: “We’re having these every year, and every year that’s a joy. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: Lagavulin’s sweeter peat at first, then the expected sooty smoke, Islay mud, crushed barley, then perhaps a drop of sunflower or sesame oils, whiffs of hand cream, and the usual ocean breeze. Drops of mercurochrome as well, just in case. It’s the purity that’s really perfect here. With water: that wet old tweed jacket, back from Dunivaig’s ruins while it was raining cats and dogs over the bay. Mouth (neat): lemony, peppery, ashy, and smoky perfection. I find it even more precise and concise than earlier batches. Doesn’t do a lot, but does it with utter perfection. With water: gets ashier and sootier. That feeling of having eaten some cigar ash, while the usual orange drops start to appear in the background. Finish: rather long, clean, rather on smoked oranges. We’ll have to try that one day. Comments: perhaps a slightly simpler and sweeter one, but we keep flying very high with these little 12s. SGP:457 - 90 points.”
Whisky Agency 10th Av Highland Park 1999
$354.99
Bottled to mark The Whisky Agency's 10th Anniversary, this 18 year old Highland Park was bottled at 51.7% after maturing in a Hogshead.
Andrew's Tasting Note Coming Soon!!
Whisky Agency 10th Annv Ben Nevis 1996
$289.99
!!!COMING SOON!!! - Only 6 bottles for KWM!
A 10th Anniversary bottling by The Whisky Agency, this 1996 Ben Nevis has been bottled at 50.3% after maturing in a Hogshead cask.
Whisky Agency 10th Annv Speyside 1979
$699.99
COMING SOON to KWM - Just 6 bottles!
A 38 year old mystery Speyside single malt bottled to mark the 10th Anniversary of The Whisky Agency. Matured in a single Ex-Bourbon Barrel and bottled at 43.4%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: honeyed, floral and toasty; juicy oranges and honeydew melon; beeswax and tallow candles; floral with lavender and sage; a touch of soft leather and sweet tobacco.
Palate: honeyed, creamy and fruity; silky delivery on the palate; more soft smooth leather and fruity tobacco; English marmalade and cantaloupe; honeydew melons and more juicy orange; floral and waxy; a touch of French roast coffee and dark bakers chocolate.
Finish: long, creamy, fruity and floral.
Comment: this is close to amazing; not quite there, but so close…; my style of malt, old, delicate, fruity and oxidized ever so slightly!”
Whisky Agency 10th Annv Speyside 1977
$739.99
This 40 Year old Speyside single malt has been bottled to markThe Whisky Agency's 10th Anniversary. Bottled at 43% after maturing in a Sherry Butt. Serge from Whisky Fun scored it at 90pts.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: sticky toffee pudding in treacle sauce; molten brown sugar and warm molasses; cooked raisins and grilled figs wrapped in prosciutto; candied cherries moving towards Christmas cake tones; some leather, tobacco and spices to round things out.
Palate: classic Old School sherried whisky; old port wine, leather straps and polished Italian leather shoes; some Dutch licorice and dark bakers chocolate; tropical fruits along with some Christmas cake tones and more sticky toffee pudding in treacle sauce; the raisins, figs and grilled prosciutto are still there accompanied by building spices: a hint of clove with some espresso beans.
Finish: long, sherried and complex; leather, dried dark fruits and chocolate.
Comment: a big but balanced sherry bomb; a little too approachable for a whisky of this price... it won't last long.
90pts Serge @WhiskyFun
"Colour: amber. Nose: a different, less ‘up front’ style of sherry. More leafy, soft tobacco notes, demerara, walnut oils, milk chocolate and fragrant wood spices. Hints of jasmine, bay leaf, mint tea and lemon peel. It’s certainly soft as you might imagine but the aromatic profile is fragrant, balanced and very beautiful. Mouth: a big, evolving spiciness with green and soft tropical fruits underneath. Notes of guava, melon and pineapple cubes. Tea tree oil, eucalyptus resins, putty, menthol, lychee and lemon oil. Another of these hyper-quaffable old malts where the wood is present but mercifully balanced with the fruits and waxes of the old distillate. Pretty terrific really. Hints of sandalwood, cinnamon bark, strawberry powder and darjeeling tea. Finish: Good length. All on light waxes, leafy earthiness, dried herbs, lemon oils, pine cones and wee chocolatey touches. Comments: quite simply, an excellent old sherried Speyside malt whisky. Danger juice, as they say in Turckheim - probably. SGP: 641 - 90 points."
Whisky Agency H&T Glenrothes 1996
$299.99