Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt
$95.99
*Limit 1 per customer!*
This whisky is a stunner both as an NAS, or No Age Statement whisky, and as a Blended Malt or Pure Malt as they still call them in Japan. Composed of whiskies from Nikka's Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries, the whisky is named for the company's legendary founder Masataka Taketsuru. The whisky is said to consist of malts that are on average 10 years of age with a high proportion of fruitier Miyagikyo whiskies. There is also likely some imported malt whisky in the mix, likely Ben Nevis.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society Old Fashioned
$127.99
OLD FASHIONED
This 11 year old blended malt whisky is the latest in the Society's series of blended malts. From a combination of 1st fill barrels and hogsheads, it comes in at 50%.
Outturn: 2122 bottles.
Panel's tasting note: "The Society’s first beer-matured blended malt came about after we sent Tempest Brewing Co in the Scottish Borders some 1st fill Kentucky bourbon casks, which they used to mature their powerfully hoppy Double IPA – known as Old Fashioned.
They returned the casks for us to mature an 11-year-old Speyside whisky in for another 14 months, before we blended that with selected malts from 1st fill sherry hogsheads. The result is our very own Old Fashioned, named in honour of the Double IPA that preceded it.
The nose possesses a welcoming warmth that combines chocolate, coconut, blood oranges and herbal barley sugar travel sweets. In time, cherry lozenges, candied orange and dusty sweet marshmallows are added to the mix. The palate is outrageously coconutty, with orange Muscat syrup poured on luxurious vanilla ice cream. Beautifully mouth-coating.
A touch of water lightens the experience and accentuates a hoppy grapefruit note, which is complemented by fruit salad with cream and over-ripe peaches. The palate is now fruity, thick and syrupy, with chocolate shavings, almonds, marzipan, stem ginger, buttered pancakes and scones."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society Beachcomber
$114.99
THE BEACHCOMBER
This 7 year old is the next release in the Society's "heresy" line of experimental blended malts. From a selection of 1st fill barrels from the Campbeltown and Highland regions, it's been bottled at 50%.
Flavour profile: Oily & coastal.
Outturn: 1999 bottles.
Panel's tasting note: "Looking to our flavour profiles for inspiration, we decided to experiment with malts that displayed classic coastal characteristics. Exploring our warehouse, we identified a selection of 1st fill bourbon barrels from both Campbeltown and Highland regions as our blending ingredients. After creating and assessing a number of different recipes, we settled on the 12th one, which sits at the lighter end of the flavour profile with just the slightest hint of peat behind a boatload of fruit and coastal evocations. The Panel favoured this for its balance and complexity. A blended malt of great intrigue, displaying remarkable texture and vibrancy. We give you The Beachcomber...
A beautiful and evocative nose! Freshness, sunlight, seashore, medical balms, sandalwood, petrichor and wild herb gardens all jostle together for attention. Greenery, waxes, old papers, distant seaweed and complex, fragrant mineral aspects. Dilution offers up bog myrtle, heather flowers, juniper and lemon peel. Superbly fresh! The arrival in the mouth is tart. Raw gooseberry with delicate acidity, cut grass, gorse bush prickle and red apple. Some sea buckthorn, grapefruit pith, Citra hops and buttery cereals. Beguiling stuff! With water there's a kiss of vanilla, some sweet cereals and pink sea salt. Hints of salty liquorice, wild mint leaf, children's medicines, lime zest and brine diluted with extra virgin olive oil. The finish drifts endlessly out to sea. Drink this one with your eyes closed..."
Timorous Beastie 25 Year Ltd. Ed.
$299.99
Limit 1 Per Customer!
Bottled at 46.8%, the Timorous Beastie 25 Year is a limite edition from Douglas Laing's "Remarkable Regional Malts" range. 1600 bottles have been release globally! 88pts Whisky Base
Producer Description
“Timorous Beastie 25 Years Old is a marriage of Highland Single Malts, aged to perfection and proudly offered without colouring or chill-filtration, with only 1,600 in existence. Bottled at 46.8% alcohol strength, Timorous Beastie 25 Years Old's tasting notes include sweet vanilla, home-baking, tangy marmalade and honeycomb. The seventh release under the brand to carry an age statement, following Timorous Beastie 18 Years Old, 40 Years Old, 21 Years Old, 24 Years Old, 10 Years Old and 12 Years Old bottlings.”
Producer Tasting Note
“A burst of vanilla on the nose with damp oak, tangy marmalade and barley. The palate is buttery and mouth-coating with ginger, brown sugar and creamy cereal. The finish is long with a home-baking quality, gentle spice, honeycomb and more vanilla sweetness.”
Big Peat 33 Year Cognac & Sherry Ed.
$499.99
This limited edition Big Peat was created from a parcel of stock distilled in 1985 and bottled in 2019 at 33 years of age and 47.2%. It was finished in Cognac and Sherry cask.
Producer Description
“This 33 Years Old Limited Edition is Big Peat's oldest expression to be released to date. Intended to showcase “his" the more mature side, the expression carries a sweet smokiness and a charred meaty, Malted character at its heart. Only 1,500 bottles exist of this marriage of Single Cask Single Malts from Islay, finished in a unique combination of French Cognac and Spanish Sherry casks.”
Producer Tasting Note
“On the nose, detect sweet smokiness alongside ripe plums, brown sugar and juicy peaches. The palate bursts with phenols, red apples, smoky bacon and a meaty, Malted character. The finish is long with toasted almonds, spices and orange marmalade on burnt buttered toast.”
Compass Box Peat Monster Arcana
$124.99
This limited edition bottling of Peat Monster is an exploration of peat and French oak. One of Compass Box's 20th Anniversary Releases, the whisky is composed of Talisker, Ardbeg and Miltonduff. Bottled at 46%.
Producer Tasting Note: “Chocolate, cinnamon and boat tar appear on the nose while the palate is fruity and compellingly waxy. A dry smoky presence steadily builds.”
Producer Description
“What is the Arcana of whiskymaking? We use the term to refer to the secrets and mysteries of cask maturation, as new questions regarding oak and the ageing process continually arise. 'Arcana' can imply information withheld but we don't believe in keeping secrets about the whiskies we make. Peat Monster Arcana investigates how smoky whisky interacts with French oak. We began with a cask strength version of The Peat Monster – our blend of smoky malt whiskies – which we then filled into three once-used casks fitted with heavily toasted French oak heads. Following extended ageing, we discovered that two of the casks imparted extra creaminess and toasty spice, while the contents of the third became fruitier and chocolatey. To build upon the curious influences of these refilled custom casks, we have used malt whiskies never seen in The Peat Monster before. The recipe comprises waxy and delicately smoky malt whisky from the Talisker Distillery, while malt whisky from the Ardbeg and Miltonduff Distilleries lend flavours of tarry peat and a charming fruitiness, respectively. Peat Monster Arcana has a more oaky frame than The Peat Monster, with a subtler smokiness. And though it may be inspired by the arcane, like all of our whiskies its intended purpose is perfectly straightforward: above all, share and enjoy.”
Scotch Malt Whisky Society Battle Axe
$129.99
BATTLE AXE
Another in the Society's heresy series of blended malts, this is a blend of heavily peated whiskies from Islay, all from refill hogsheads; the youngest whisky in the batch is 8 years old and was bottled at 50%.
Flavour profile: Peated.
Outturn: 1957 bottles.
Panel's tasting note: "This blended malt is a celebration of those heavily peated whiskies produced on the island of Islay. It is unapologetic in its intensity and spans across the earthy, floral, coastal and medicinal elements that can be found in this style.
The blacksmith clinked and clanked industriously at the anvil, bending black metal to his will. Axes, spears and lucky horseshoes were forged in stifling temperatures in preparation for battle. We travelled from our settlement at the bay, beyond the tar pit to the battleground, where peat bog goblins pelted us mercilessly with pears poached in petrol and flaming lemons studded with liquorice root. By the time the battle was won the sky was filled with purple plumes of heather fuelled smoke, the earth scorched, the surrounding flora ablaze.
Back home we found comfort around campfires and celebrated with oysters and mead. Retiring to bed, our stone huts exuded heavy aromas of damp earth and our peat fires were at their smouldering end as we drifted off into slumber. Someone stoked the flames with camphor, eucalyptus and dried heather. By morning our PPM levels were significant."
Elements of Islay Peat & Sherry KWM Cask
$74.99
One of our most exciting new exclusive bottlings is a peated and heavily sherried Blended Islay Malt Scotch whisky from the Elements of Islay. The whisky was blended at birth and matured 9 years in a single Sherry Hogsghead cask before bottling at 55.4%. 88pts Whiskybase
Scotch Malt Whisky Society Douro Cruise
$129.99
DOURO CRUISE
This 10 year old SINGLE MALT whisky is comprised of Speyside single malt from bourbon barrels and some additionally matured in ex-Ruby Port pipes for no less than two years, and comes in at 50% abv.
Flavour profile: Deep, rich & dried fruits
Distillation date: 10 February 2011
Outturn: 1900 bottles