Laphroaig 34 Year Ian Hunter
$2,799.99
Book 4 in Laphroaig's Ian Hunter series is a 34-year-old this time 'round. Don't expect your typical 'flaming shot of medicine' with this one. Three and a half decades does wonders for softening up peated malts. This should be a lightly smoky, beautifully fruity, and multi-layered dram from one of the greatest and most iconic distilleries in all of Scotland.
Producer Note
"Ian Hunter is the man who made Laphroaig what it is today. He was an uncommon soul, with his own distinct manners and moods, not too unlike the whisky he gave to the world. We honour his memory with this series of rare and collectable aged whiskies in his name. Book 4: Malt Master, the latest in our limited series, celebrates Ian Hunter’s establishing of our malting floors and his legacy as the Malt Master of Laphroaig.
Ian secured the distillery’s lease in 1922, broke into America in the time of Prohibition, was the catalyst for a revolution in the use of American White Oak and is the reason why we are still among a handful of distilleries to maintain our own malting floors today. He put his heart and soul into ensuring Laphroaig was a whisky like no other."
Aged in ex-Bourbon before being finished in first fill Oloroso Sherry casks. A wee run of only 300 bottles. 90.84 pts on Whiskybase
46.2% abv
Lochlea Fallow Edition 1st Crop
$84.99
Producer Note
"Our seasonal small batch releases showcase our whisky in four different ways each year. As a working farm, these expressions tie in with exactly what is happening here at Lochlea. In this Fallow Edition for 2022, we have used a 100% fresh 1st-fill Oloroso Sherry Butts direct from Jerez, Spain. Autumn on the farm is when our fields are given time to recover after harvest and the crisp gold and purple leaves cover the ground. Therefore, we developed a dark, rich whisky to warm us up as temperatures start to fall."
"We are also the only distillery in the world who can rightfully claim that Robert Burns himself lived and worked here. He spent his formative years from 1777-1784 at Lochlea, and we are proud to work those same fields today 240 years on."
Something tells us that Lochlea has a bright future. Any Burns Day celebration without a bottle of Lochlea being poured will now seem somehow...incomplete.
46% abv
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 24.163
$2,999.99
A WIZARD'S SPELL - VAULTS COLLECTION*
This 31 year old Speysider spent 28 years in an ex-Oloroso sherry butt before being transferred to a 1st fill Pedro Ximenex sherry butt for the remainder of its maturation, and has an abv of 50.8%.
Flavour profile: Deep, rich & dried fruits
Distilled on: 25 September 1989
Outturn: 595 bottles
Benromach Aged 40 Years 2022 Batch 1 57.
$3,599.99
The 2022 edition of Benromach 40 Year is bottled at an impressive 57.6% after maturing in the "finest sherry casks". For a lot of companies that would be marketing fluff, but Benromach is owned by G&M, so that statement carries a fair bit of weight... it also isn't surprising! 91.22pts Whiskybase & 92pts Whisky Fun!
Benromach Cask Strength 2012 Batch 2
$109.99
This is the second batch of Benromach Cask Strength 2012, to my knowledge, Batch 1 didn't come to Canada. Bottled at 59.9%, it is a marriage of First Fill Sherry & Bourbon Casks.
G&M CC Ardmore 1994
$315.99
Distilled in 1994, this 26 year old Ardmore matured in a Refill American Oak Hogshead before bottling at 53.1%.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 23.78
$464.99
SMOKED CHILLI-DOG
Limit one bottle per member
This 10 year old rarity from Islay was matured in a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel and has an abv of 52.2%.
Flavour profile: Peated
Distilled on: 2 December 2010
Outturn: 236 bottles
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 4.312
$189.99
OLD-SCHOOL WITH A TWIST
This 13 year old is from the Highland Islands and has an abv of 61.2%.
Flavour profile: Lightly peated
Distilled on: 28 January 2008
Outturn: 245 bottles
Millstone Peated PX Canada Cask
$101.99
A Canadian-exclusive bottling from our Dutch Friends at Zuidam Distillers. Patrick van Zuidam seems to have a bloodhound's nose for sussing out great sherry casks. Not coincidentally, they've developed a style of peated whisky that takes very well to said casks. I should also mention, Patrick is a smart man. He knows that if you're going to release young whisky, it helps to factor in peat and sherry. Putting the two together is almost like having a cheat code. This single cask release was fully matured in recoopered Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.
Only 174 bottles. Get 'em while they're hot!
48.02%