Balblair 18 Year Old 50ml MINI
$20.99
This bottle was featured in mini form on Day 20 of our 2020 KWM Whisky Calendar.
Full-sized bottles can be found here.
Part of the new core range from Balblair Distillery, which focuses on age statements rather than vintages. Bottled at 46% after maturing in ex-Bourbon and finishing in First Fill ex-Sherry Seasoned Spanish Oak Butts. Bottled at 46%, unchill filtered with no colouring added.
Armorik Yeun Elez Breton Single Mlt 50ml
$11.99
This whisky was featured on Day 18 of our 2023 KWM Whisky Calendar. You can check out Evan's blog post on the whisky here.
From Warenghem Distillery in Brittany, France. The Armorik Yeun Elez Single Malt Breton Peated is a Peated Breton Single Malt Whisky (see how I changed the order of these words to make myself sound smart?), distilled from peated malted barley imported from Scotland with a spec of 50ppm. Sadly, we only managed to get 50ml bottles of this limited release, not the full size.
Producer Note
"Launched in September 2020, Yeun Elez is the result of the distillery’s foray into peated territories. We offer you a peated variation of our Armorik single malt : we use Scottish 50 ppm peated malted barley, water from our own source and our artisanal know-how. Breton Single Malt whisky, it has been distilled and matured to highlights its delicate, elegant, and fruity peat."
Boutique-y Clynelish 20 Year KWM Cask
$219.99
It is finally here... we have been teasing and talking about this whisky for months, and it was worth the wait. We are thrilled to introduce you to our first ever KWM exlcusive single cask from That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Although the bottle doesn't explicitly tell you which "Highland" distillery the whisky is from, there are clues on the label... 578 bottles have been filled exclusively for Kensington Wine Market at 51%. But we have nothing holding us back from telling you that Boutique-y Highland #2 is Clynelish... That's right, this is 20 year old Clynelish!
Andrew's Note on the Whisky & Label
Could that be a cat in the clouds, a Wild Highland Cat perhaps? Is it not strange to see a waxy candle-powered balloon? Incidentally, it is lifting the KWM whisky team aloft. And what of the monument? If we told you it was a controversial monument near the town of Golspie dedicated to the infamous Duke of Sutherland, would that give you all the information you need to know? What Highland Distillery has a Wild Highland Cat as its symbol, a waxy profile, and an infamous Duke as its founder?
This label is a cheeky take on a shared memory, with embellishments, embedded details, and Easter eggs, in the tradition of the best Boutique-y Whisky Company Labels. More importantly, it tells a story, which is personally important to my family. My mother was born into the Clann Gunn in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Her ancestors roamed swaths of what is now Caithness and Sutherland in northern Scotland. That is until they were compelled to leave Scotland in the late 18th century, cruelly and rudely displaced to make way for sheep during the early days of the Highland Clearances.
On the label there is a ship at sea, heading to Canada presumably, as hinted at by the flags (the Canadian flag as it is today was only introduced in 1965). On the flat coastal plain at the base of the mountains sheep can be seen grazing. In front of the monument stand a pair of Canadians stand in hockey jerseys. Sam Simmons, Head of Whisky at Atom Brands, and a native Torontonian, stands closest to the monument in what appears to be a hockey jersey. Further back, a native Calgarian, yours truly can be seen waving a white hat, an iconic symbol of "Cowtown", whilst sporting a local hockey team jersey of his own. In the balloon Keith, Evan, Shawn & Curt can be seen waving at Andrew & Sam below. Speaking of those two, what are they doing atop Ben Bhraggie? Funny story that.
When TBWC offered us this cask of Highland Malt, they asked us what we wanted on the label, and I had a cheeky idea. In 2006 I made my first trip to Scotland, and on that trip, I hiked up Ben Bhraggie, a small mountain (really a foothill by Canadian standards) to see the monument of the infamous Duke. Someone had spraypainted the word "Monster" in neon green at the base. When I was sure no one was looking I dropped trow and relieved myself on it. I sent Sam an email of this tale, my connection to the area and my idea for the label. I was sure it was just a little too edgy...
Minutes later my phone was ringing... it was 3 AM in the UK, but Sam wanted to make sure I had seen his reply. He too had hiked Ben Bhraggie in 2005, and he had also paid his own respects to the infamous Duke of Sutherland...
One last little nugget, Keith, who is a personal trainer and headed to Beijing as a Team Canada Skeleton coach, felt his arm didn't look appropriately burly, in an early draft of the label. So we had the artist, Emily Chappell, 'bugs bunny' his arm... In case it isn't already apparent, nothing is sacred (especially when it comes to The Duke of Sutherland and Keith's pipes)!
And the rest as they say is history. On the back of every bottle, That Boutique-y Whisky Company includes the following text: "We are passionate about great whisky, we don't take ourselves too seriously and we LOVE a good story." No wonder these chaps are such a great fit to work with!
Berry's Inchgower 2009 KWM Cask
$154.99
This 2009 Inchgower was matured in an ex-Oloroso sherry cask for 13 years, before bottling at 54.2% exclusively for Kensington Wine Market.
Compass Box GKS Glasgow KWM Cask 3
$94.99
Our 7th KWM exclusive Compass Box, and 5th "Marrying Cask," is a bottling of the Glasgow Blend, finished in an ex-Clynelish, ex-Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cask for roughly 1 year, bottled at 49%. Married: June 16, 2022, bottled: July 2023.
The Compass Box Glasgow Blend, is the firm sherried and peated blend, inspired by the type of whiskies Glasweigans used to prefer 100 years ago. This batch of this malt-heavy Blasgow Blend (before marrying) was 35.2% 10 year old Cameronbridge from First Fill exBourbon, 34.1% 10 year old Craigellachie from sherry casks, 18.2% 8 year old Laphroaig from Refill Bourbon, 9.9% 9 year old Clynelish from First Fill ex-Bourbon, and 2.6% Highland Blended Malt from French oak.
Millstone 2016 KWM Oloroso Cask
$111.99
Our 3rd KWM exclusive cask of Millstone is a single malt distilled in 2016, and matured in an Oloroso sherry hogshead. The whisky has been bottled after 7 years at 52.3%. We're big fans of Millstone and its impresario Patrick Van Zuidam. We've been looking for an opportunity to select and bottle a cask of sherry-matured Millstone single malt, and are thrilled that this one is finally here!
The artwork on the label is from a painting of the store Andrew's wife Jen had made for him several years ago... it is our old entrance, pre-"the infamous Dodge Ram incident!"
SMOS Res Casks No.11 Caol Ila 11 Year
$114.99
This 2012 vintage Caol Ila is from a Refill Sherry Butt, bottled after 11 years at 48%. Exclusive to KWM. 87.74pts Whiskybase
Kingsbarns Dream To Dram 50ml
$9.99
This 50ml / Mini bottle was featured on Day 6 of our 2022 KWM Whisky Calendar. Full-sized bottles can be found here.
The distillery's flagship single malt is matured in 1st Fill ex-Bourbon and STR casks before bottling at 46%. This Lowland single malt was made using Fife barley. The Kingsbarns Distillery was founded by the Wemyss family, who also own Wemyss Malts, an Independent Bottler!
Producer Description
"Under the supervision of the legendary whisky expert Jim Swan a carefully considered combination of 1st fill ex-Bourbon and 1st fill STR - that's Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred ex-Portuguese red wine casks- were used to mature our flagship whisky."
Berry's Dailuaine 2010 KWM Cask
$149.99
This bottle was featured on Day 22 of our 2023 KWM Whisky Calendar. You can read the post on it here.
This 2010 vintage, 12-year-old Dailuaine was finished in an ex-Vin Santo cask, before bottling at 54.9%, exclusively for Kensington Wine Market.