Berry's Orkney Islands 1999 18 Year KWM
$127.99
SOLD OUT
This might be the most exciting single cask we've brought in, in a wee while. Although it can't be stated so on the label, this is a cask of Highland Park Single Malt Whisky. Selected by and bottled exclusively for KWM from a single Refill Hogshead at 53.5%. So wrap your head around that fact, 18 year old cask strength Highland Park for less than $130!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: honey pots and marmalade; candied fruits and nuts; beeswax candles and honeycomb; hints of clean smoke in maritime air; oak shavings and smooth old leather; Jelly bellies and orange peels in Old Fashioneds.
Palate: honeyed and creamy with ethereal elegant smoke and a silky-coating-waxy mouthfeel; more beeswax and honeycomb; bright Moroccan marmalade, orange peels and Old Fashioned cocktails; clean earthy peat smoke and soft leather with melons and papaya; becomes increasingly savoury with leather and spices; late tobacco and chocolate.
Finish: long, waxy, honeyed and smooth with more gentle peat smoke, fruits and a touch of maritime air.
Comment: this is not the distillery bottled Highland Park 18 year, but frankly that one hasn't been itself either for some time now; this is a soft, no silky, middle-aged single malt with clean elegant smoke and bags of honey and fruits; this is Highland Park!
Single Malt Rainbow Pack
$401.99
G&M PC1 Inverleven 1985
$1,537.49
Price Dropped $200 - 1 Bottle left!
A rare Lowland single malt from the Dumbarton Grain Distillery, which also ran pot stills until 2002. It was demolished in 2003. The Grain distillery is still operating. Matured in a Refill Bourbon Barrel, the whisky was distilled January 22 1985 and bottled after 33 years on July 6 2018. Only 130 total bottles!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: soft, creamy and floral with double vanilla cupcakes; marzipan and almond paste; lemon oil furniture polish, waxy with pork broth udon; minty with Demerara and spruce tips; citrus Jujubes and delicate spice.
Palate: sweet, spicy and creamy; brandy soaked cherries, more citrus Jujubes, marzipan and almond paste; bright lemon with under-ripe tropical fruits; powdered sugar on rose Christmas cookies; beeswax, Turkish delight, strawberry Twizzlers; toasted oak, cedar and more spruce tips; still a touch of pork broth udon.
Finish: floral, waxy and fruity; delicate with more soft oak, beeswax and subtle spices; medium long in length ending with floral spruce tips.
Comment: elegant, floral and fruit; one of the best Inverlevens I've had, though those have been few in number; agree with Whisky Fun, this is a little on the Littlemill side of things.
Distiller's Tasting Note
"Aroma Intense tropical fruit aromas to begin – cooked pineapple, honeydew melon, coconut cream, and little burst of sharp yet sweet lime. A sweet creaminess continues with notes of vanilla ice-cream, sugared red apples, apricot jam, and white chocolate. Hints of overripe cherry and almond marzipan develop into flowering gorse. Taste Creamy and mouth-coating; warming white pepper notes transform into sweet flambéed banana, madagascan vanilla pod, and salted toffee. subtle spicy undertones remain as toasted malt comes to the fore; a drying cocoa and charred oak edge develops. Finish A long and lingering charred oak finish with a subtle floral edge."
88pts WhiskyFun.org
"This is the brand new art-déco livery for G&M's Private Collection. Very dapper, very premium, just hope they are not, and will never discontinue the Book of Kells label. No one will ever draw a better label, not in Glasgow, not in London, not in New York, perhaps in Paris (I am joking...) BTW, remember Inverleven was a distillery that was embedded in Ballantine's huge Dumbarton complex and was closed in 1991. The stills are now at Mark Reynier's Waterford Distillery in Ireland. Colour: straw. Nose: balms, hand creams, marzipan, ointments, citrons, verbena, a drop of miso soup, smoked salmon and dill, then more tropical fruits, rather guavas and papayas than mangos. A few drops of yellow Chartreuse this time (the easier one). With water: cumin bread, poppy seeds, fermenting plums (have some in the garage, will distil before this month is over). Mouth (neat): but this was distilled last year! Intense lemony arrival, with a few fermentary touches (yoghurt, sourdough), then a grassy hotchpotch that would include agave, grass, and green tea. Fresh banana bread. With water: opens up like a flower, getting exactly tropical, with a style that is close to that of the fruitiest Littlemills indeed. Melon skin, mangos, tangerines, maracujas... Finish: medium, with the same tropical/citrusy notes. Comments: loves water. I think many are really starting to regret these fruity Lowlanders these days, Rosebank, Littlemill, Inverleven... No, St. Magdalene is a whole different story - and style. SGP:561 - 88 points."
About the Distillery (Courtesy Gordon Macphail)
"An unusual – now sadly demolished – distillery, Inverleven was built very close to the Lowland and Highland boundary line on the banks of the River Leven in the town of Dumbarton. Inverleven is atypical. It was originally built as a sister distillery to the Dumbarton grain distillery. The largest grain distillery of its time, Dumbarton was built in 1938 to supply spirit for the Hiram Walker & Sons popular Ballantine’s blend. The smaller Inverleven malt distillery, built inside the larger grain complex, had a pair of traditional pot stills. This set-up was augmented in 1956 to include an unconventional Lomond still. Sadly, the distillery was closed in 1991; the entire complex was decommissioned in 2002 and eventually demolished. The Lomond still found a new home on Islay, the Bruichladdich team now use it to distil The Botanist gin. The unique distillation process at Inverleven produced an aromatic and fruity Lowland dram. Fortunately, stocks of this are increasingly hard to find whisky are still bottled by us as part of our ‘Rare Old’ range."
G&M PC1 Glenrothes 1974
$2,599.99
Available by request!
Part of Gordon Macphail's rebranded Private Collection range, in a sexy new box! Distilled in 1974, filled in to a PX Sherry Puncheon and bottled in 2018 after 44 years at 49.5%.
Producer's Tasting Note
"Aroma Complex; aromas of sherry soaked fruitcake filled with stewed sultanas mingle with sticky medjool dates. Dark chocolate and citrus peel notes develop; a gentle woodiness with a delicate herbal edge comes to the fore. Taste Elegant, smooth, and sweet; subtle cinnamon and nutmeg flavours balance the mature oak and sherry influences. Notes of fruit and nut chocolate, toasted walnut, and hints of raisin emerge and evolve into zesty citrus. Salted toffee develops towards the end. Finish A modest, medium sweet finish fades; hints of charred oak and chocolate remain."
Cadenhead Small Batch Deanston 2008
$117.99
With the fortunes of Bunnahabhain and Tobermory (or at least their peated variant, Ledaig) on the rise, Deanston often seems to be the black sheep of the family. Lately, however, we're seeing a growing number of customers asking for this distillery by name. Deanston tends to be both a little...uh...dumpy (in a good way, trust me!) and kinda nutty. It looks like this may be changing though. Watch this space for future releases to confirm! But this dumpier style can be a little challenging for a generation of whisky drinkers used to getting smacked upside the head with gargantuan peat or drizzled in syrupy sherry. If you want to expand your horizons...this bottle is a 'must'. Ex-Bourbon Hogshead.
56.2% abv
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Cocoa leaves, wood spice, roasted pine nuts.
Palate: Almonds, dry roasted nuts, kiwi fruit.
Finish: Hints of ginger. Quite herbal with thyme coming through.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 35.208
$175.99
THICK AND JUICY
This 15 year old Speysider was matured in a 1st fill hogshead and comes in at 58.1%.
Flavour profile: Juicy, oak & vanilla.
Outturn: 261 bottles.
Panel's tasting note: "A well matured dram that started with an array of aromas of vanilla fudge, glazed ham, burnt wood, coconut, fruit salad, ash, pepper and malt. A sip at full strength showed it to be thick and juicy. Honey, oak, chocolate, spiced vanilla, tropical fruits, tobacco and a winey taste all packing a punch.
Adding water took us to summer days in a conservatory, all heady floral and spicy. But it was also creamy with vanilla custard and porridge then becoming nutty. The taste was creamy too with gentle tannins and tobacco, rich honey, light spices, chocolate, cherries and coconut. A satisfying finish."
Duncan Taylor Rare Auld Cambus 25 Year
$259.99
Bottled under Duncan Taylor's Rare Auld label, this single cask of 1991 distilled Cambus was bottled after 25 years at 55.1%. Scored a silver medal from Whisky Magazine. The cask type is not declared, but it looks and tastes sherried.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: butterscotch pudding and butter tarts; banana bread with walnuts and a side of treacle and silky molasses; a touch earthy and musty with Glosset Raisins; marmalade and mixed berry jams.
Palate: silky and nutty; firm but smooth leather and loads of exotic fruits; still jammy: mixed red berries, blueberry and blackcurrant; chocolate covered espresso beans and Glosset Raisins; Dominican cigars and grilled blue cheese stuffed figs wrapped in prosciutto; Demerara sugars and a touch of salty Dutch licorice; late spices.
Finish: long, drying and leathery, loads of sugar, fruit, chocolate and gentle spice.
Comment: no ifs, ands or buts, this is a beautiful, elegant and tasty single grain.
Duncan Taylor Octave Craigellachie 2008
$114.99
A 9 year old Craigellachie finished for 3 months in a bespoke sherry Octave cask before bottling at 52.1%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: earthy, meaty and leathery with wet leaf litter; nutty with peppery spices, burnt orange peel and black licorice Jujubes; a touch of latex.
Palate: sweet, meaty and fruity with some earthy-leathery tones; a base of sweet vanilla, salty Dutch licorice, peppery spices, latex tubing and musty oak.
Finish: fruity, meaty and leathery with licorice and spices.
Comment: firm tannins on this one; Craigellachie often has a meaty-slightly sulphury spirit due to the way it is made; this cask is even meatier than most!
Duncan Taylor Octave Glentauchers 2008
$114.99
A 9 year old Glentauchers distilled in 2008 finished for 5 months in a bespoke Duncan Taylor Octave cask. 55.0%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: bright, honeyed and fruity; melons and assorted Starburst fruit candies; juicy orange, dried cranberries and brandy soaked cherries; and Strawberry Twizzlers.
Palate: waxy and leathery with more Strawberry Twizzlers; more Starburst fruit candies too and brandy soaked cherries; candied nuts and earthy sherry tones; Eatmore candy bars and a touch of dark bakers chocolate; sweet tobacco, wet leaves and musty oak.
Finish: smooth, leathery and fruity; still waxy with lots of fruit, chocolate and dry nutty tones.
Comment: this is a lovely young Glentauchers; sherried but not over the top; nutty and chocolatey with loads of fruit and a touch of tobacco.