Glengoyne 15 Year 50ml
$10.99
Bottled at 43%, this whisky is a staff favourite. Matured in a mix of 30% 1st Fill American Oak Bourbon. 20% 1st Fill European Oak Sherry, 50% Hand-selected quality Oak Refill casks. 43%
Andrew's Tasting Notes
Nose: some earthy tones, wet leaves and malt with vanilla and some dried dark fruits; cinnamon infused chocolates and candied orange with some floral notes.
Palate: very creamy, soft and floral with loads of spices, some tobacco and chocolates; leathery with soft malt and candied orange.
Finish: long and leathery with fading vanilla, orange and clove.
Shelter Point Single Malt 50ml
$11.99
A 50ml of the second release of Shelter Point Single Malt (Spring 2017) has been bottled at 46% after maturing in Jack Daniels barrels. The whisky is made from two row barley, grown on the distillery's farm, doubled distilled in copper pot stills, matured and bottled on site. Rumour has it the whisky was matured exclusively in ex-Jack Daniels casks. Featured on Day 11 of the KWM Whisky Advent Calendar, 2017 edition.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: fresh, toasty and honeyed; a touch of sour orange opens into oatmeal-raisin cookies right out of the over and corn syrup; a touch vegetal and quite malty with aloe-like oils.
Palate: still fresh, malty and honeyed; the corn syrup is still there with some simple syrup and melons; the orange note is drying with some Demerara sugar and Russian coffee dregs; still vegetal and floral with loads of toasty oak; the oatmeal-raisin cookies are still there, right out of the oven... not enough raisins though!
Finish: clean, crisp and toasty; more malty tones, sugars and honey with a floral finale.
Comment: more mature by a hair than the first release; further proof that they are on the right track!
Super Nikka 50mL
$6.99
Super Nikka is an entry-level premium blend from the Nikka Whisky Co. The whisky is a Blended Japanese whisky composed of malt from Yoichi and Miyagikyo, as well as Coffey Malt and Coffey Grain whiskies from their “Coffey Still” (column still) at Miyagikyo. It is also possible that there is some Scottish malt in the blend, as the rules around 'Japanese whisky' are quite flexible. Not to mention, Nikka owns a Scottish distillery, Ben Nevis, in the Western Highlands!
Featured on Day 1 of KWM's 2018 Whisky Advent Calendar! The full-sized version can be found here.
Nose: silky, honeyed and soft; gentle peat tickles the nose with decadent spices and Russian caramel; floral with apricots, apples and stone fruits.
Palate: still soft and silky on the palate with building gentle peat, ashy smoke, chewy malt and bags of honey; more white fruits: ripe pear, cooked apples and apricots; late emerging darker fruits; the spices start light and decadent and darken; a touch of leather and chocolate.
Finish: long, elegant and coating with fading fruits, spices, and more ashy peat.
Comment: this is a classic example of the overriding Nikka house style, which is elegance; whether heavily peated, sherried or other, Nikkas whiskies are always elegant; I forgot how good this is!
GlenAllachie 10yr Cask Strength B2 50mL
$11.99
We currently have bottles of GlenAllachie 10 Year Cask Strength Batch 1 on the shelves, which is bottled at 57.1%. As this mini bottle is 54.8% ABV, it must be from a different batch. It does not have a batch number on the mini bottle, but Batch 2 was bottled at 54.8% ABV, so we will assume the mini is of Batch 2 as well.
Both batches have been created from a combination of carefully selected ex-Bourbon, virgin oak, Oloroso Puncheon and PX Sherry Puncheon Casks containing whisky at least ten years of age then bottled at cask strength.
Evan's Tasting Note
Nose: big cereal and grain, newly sanded lumber, peaches and cream, pickled ginger, sliced pears, sesame seeds, cake fondant and white chocolate.
Palate: juicy and creamy with lots of fruit and big spice notes at the front along with beer nuts, cashews, toasty and also green oak, honeydew melon, pineapples, sweet Thai chili sauce and spicy ginger.
Finish: spicy but sweet with a nutty note thrown in. It creates a warming sensation with a pleasant creaminess on the fade.
Comment: the spice is big but the sweetness and helps tame it. It tingles the tongue but stays deliciously approachable.
Old Malt Cask Mortlach 11Y KWM Cask 50ml
$11.99
Our first ever exclusive single cask of Mortlach was bottled for us by Hunter Laing, and it is a steal. Bottled at 50% after 11 years maturing in a Refill Hogshead, Ref: HL14889, it is a steal for just $95! Featured on Day 4 of KWM's 2018 Whisky Advent Calendar.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: apple-cinnamon pastries, dried pineapple chunks, vanilla extract and white chocolate bars with cocoa nibbs; silky malty, soft citrus and decadent honey.
Palate: soft, malty, honeyed and sweet; loads of white fruit, sliced pear and more warm apple-cinnamon pastries; fruity, a touch of melon, more tart pineapple and crisp citrus tones; floral vanilla and white chocolate with cocoa nibbs; warming and toasty.
Finish: fresh, malty and honeyed; white and citrus fruits fade slowly along with some spices, warm pastry and raw cocoa.
Comment: I remember when we selected the cask, I had very low expectations, they were shattered; for $95 a bottle it is a gem.
Producer's Tasting Note
Nose: vanilla, chocolate fudge and lime juice.
Palate: chocolate mousse, citrus and soft fruit.
Finish: long and lingering with caramel and oak.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society Advent 100ml
$29.99
SMWS 72.65 - Winter Comforts 100ml
$27.99
This 100mL SMWS bottle was Day 25 in our 2018 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar. We have 100ml bottles for sale in-store and online. No 700ml bottles were produced.
WINTER COMFORTS
This 10 year old Speysider is 59.8% and was matured in a refill barrel.
Flavour profile: Juicy, oak & vanilla.
Panel's tasting note: "Aromas combined in an alluring cloud reminiscent of dried flowers and scented candles illuminating the dark corners of a dunnage warehouse. Sweet balsa wood and the subtle spice of sandalwood moved towards the vegetal tones of carrots and parsnips before turning distinctly herbal with the introduction of tarragon and thyme. The palate exploded with a sweet and spicy detonation that splintered off into cinnamon and ginger with dried chili flakes. Sweet desserts swirled as crème brûlée joined mince pies lavishly coated with brandy cream. The viscous and creamy texture continued long onto the finish but became progressively drier as it was joined by lemon pith and fine wood tannins."
Cadenhead Linkwood 2006 KWM Cask 50ml
$9.99
This is the 50mL / Mini Bottle version of our Cadenhead Linkwood 2006 KWM Cask. If you are looking for the full bottle it can be found here.
This KWM exclusive single cask is an 11 Year old Linkwood from an ex-Bourbon Hogshead bottled at a natural cask strength of 58.7%. It was bottled for our store by Cadenhead which the oldest independent bottler in Scotland, having been founded in 1842. It takes a lot to get our owner excited about Linkwood, but this one got Andrew, Evan and Curt excited. 288 bottles are available of this dangerously drinkable whisky.
The Cadenhead Linkwood 2006 KWM Cask was featured on Day 2 of our 2018 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: lemon and pear drops, tapioca and white chocolate Hershey's Kisses; shortbread dusted in coarse sugar with a touch of lemon; jammy dodgers and other cream filled cookies; freshly baked donuts, chocolate éclairs and tarte tatin.
Palate: sweet, honeyed and fruity; oily and toasty; white fruity and glossy citrus tones; lemon cream cookies, jammy dodgers and more sugar dusted shortbread; decadent and doughy, like an old-fashioned donut shop: carrot cake with creme cheese icing, custard creme and apple curler donuts, and also more chocolate éclairs; lots of lemon and white fruits, creamsicles and building decadent spices.
Finish: long and elegant beyond its years; creamy with doughy tones and lots of honey; soft spices and minty floral tones and bright fruits.
Comment: this is a sessionable and dangerously drinkable whisky; tasted blind, you would never know this Whisky is 11 years old or nearly 60%.
Cadenhead Ord 13yr Quaich Cask 50mL
$9.99
This is the mini bottle version of The Companions of the Quaich Cadenhead Ord Single Cask. Distilled in 2005, 13 years old. Bottled at 55.1%.
This bottle was featured on Day 18 of our 2018 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: malty, honeyed and sweet; raspberry and kirsch eau de vie; red shoelaces, vanilla pods and hibiscus syrup; a building spicy backboned with candied ginger and wood spices.
Palate: still sweet, honeyed and malty with a toasty-creamy mouthfeel; chunky barley with a flinty minerality and creamed honey; more red shoelaces, subtle floral tones, vanilla and hibiscus syrup; crisp citrus fruits and a coating oily body; the spices build with each sip: more candied ginger and wood spice.
Finish: coating, creamy, malty and oily with more ginger and wood spice; fresh and honeyed with orange and white fruits.
Comment: this bright, honeyed and spicy malt is a very well balanced dram, and a sessionable whisky; independent bottlings of this whisky are hard to come by making this a rare find.
Evan's Tasting Note
Nose: floral and spicy notes along with lots of toasty, malted grain. Sunflower seeds pistachios, a touch of canola oil, grapefruit rind, baked apples, cinnamon, yeast and bread, and dried grass clippings.
Palate: spicy ginger and black pepper meet creamy honey in a burst of flavour and sensation up front, pineapple, golden delicious apple and yellow plums, vanilla and light oak and wood notes.
Finish: The spice sticks around eventually makes more room for the sweet notes to linger. A touch nutty and dry on the very end.
Comment: The battle between spice and sweet is a lot of fun. It might take your palate a few sips to acclimate, but once it does there is no looking back.