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Pre-Order Pricing for Glenfarclas Family Casks! - July 2016 Delivery

Posted on March 4, 2016

Pre-order pricing for the Glenfarclas Family Casks is attached in a PDF, it does not include GST. The Family Cask prices have been going up dramatically over the last few years. Demand has been so great that a few years back they stopped issuing tasting notes for the casks. The prices reflect the global demand for these whiskies, especially in markets like Taiwan. The exchange rate hasn’t helped much either. And it also reflects the fact that some of them are increasingly rare even in the distillery’s warehouses and may represent their final casks from certain years. I know that some of the prices like the 1984 and 1974 look like typos, they are not as I asked the importer to confirm the pricing. Prices do not include GST!



Glenfarclas 2000 Cask 4075 – Winter 2015 – Refill Sherry Butt – 58.5% - 15 Year - $403.99
Glenfarclas 1999 Cask 6321 – Autumn 2014 – Sherry Butt – 59.5% - 14 Year - $411.99
Glenfarclas 1998 Cask 7376 – Autumn 2014 – Sherry Butt – 59.2% - 15 Year - $419.99
Glenfarclas 1997 Cask 1 – Autumn 2014 – Sherry Butt – 57.8% - 17 Year - $454.99
Glenfarclas 1996 Cask 1493 – Spring 2015 – Sherry Butt – 55.6% - 18 Year - $487.99
Glenfarclas 1995 Cask 6640 – Winter 2015 – Sherry Butt – 52.1% - 19 Year - $506.99
Glenfarclas 1994 Cask 2957 – Winter 2015 – Sherry Butt – 55.4% - 20 Year - $507.99
Glenfarclas 1994 Cask 1574 – Spring 2014 – Refill Sherry Butt – 58.1% - 20 Year - $508.99
Glenfarclas 1994 Cask 4319 – Spring 2015 – 4th Fill Butt – 56.0% - 20 Year - $508.99
Glenfarclas 1993 Cask 1614 – Autumn 2014 – Refill Sherry Butt – 59.1% - 21 Year - $509.99
Glenfarclas 1992 Cask 5850 – Spring 2015 – 4th Fill Butt – 50.9% - 21 Year - $514.99
Glenfarclas 1991 Cask 162 – Winter 2015 – Sherry Butt – 58.0% - 24 Year - $516.99
Glenfarclas 1990 Cask 1276 – Spring 2015 – Refill Sherry Butt – 48.6% - 24 Year - $525.99
Glenfarclas 1989 Cask 13004 – Winter 2015 – Sherry Butt – 52.4% - 25 Year - $544.99
Glenfarclas 1988 Cask 1512 – Winter 2015 – Refill Sherry Butt – 52.7% - 27 Year - $545.99
Glenfarclas 1988 Cask 1993 – Spring 2015 – Refill Sherry Hogshead – 56.4% - 26 Year - $583.99
Glenfarclas 1987 Cask 1477 – Spring 2015 – Refill Butt – 51.1% - 27 Year - $660.99
Glenfarclas 1986 Cask 4334 – Winter 2015 – Refill Sherry Butt – 54.8% - 28 Year - $704.99
Glenfarclas 1985 Cask 2593 – Spring 2015 – Refill Sherry Hoghead – 49.0% - 29 Year - $813.99
Glenfarclas 1984 Cask 6029 â...

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MASI Vintage Amarone Tasting - March 1st, 2016

Posted on March 3, 2016

MASI Vintage Tasting
March 1st, 2016
Gino Furano
With its deep roots in one of Italy's best wine regions, Valpolicella, Masi makes quality wines that are an expression of the values of their territory of origin.  Principally using native grapes and indigenous methods for the Venetian territories, Masi makes what Sandro Boscaini, the guiding light in the company, likes to call "modern wines with an ancient heart", using constant technological updates. Today, Masi is a leader in the production of Amarone and has acknowledged expertise in the Appassimento technique.

We have been quite lucky to be able to showcase some of the vintage wines from several of MASI's vineyards all the way back to 1996.

The favourites were the 1996 Serego Alighieri and the 1999 Mazzano with the 1997 Aligieri very close behind.  The integration of fruit to tannins was flawless.  My personal favourite was the 1996.

The wine tasting was great and the wines tasted great after decanting for about an hour and evolved throughout the tasting!



Masi Vaio Amarone Vintage Mix (1996, 1997, 2000)
"An important Amarone with extraordinary power and complexity: a classic in the Italian winemaking portfolio.

This is the icon wine of the historic Serego Alighieri estate and comes from the eponymous vineyard, the source it seems of the very name Amarone itself," - according to the Masi winemaking team.

 "This noble wine is produced using time-honoured practices in the vineyard, in the ancient drying lofts and in the cellars." $179.99/btl

Masi Costasera Amarone Mixed Vintage 6-pack (1997, 1999, 2001)
Proud, majestic, complex and exuberant: this is Masi's gentle giant. A benchmark for the Amarone category, which, together with Barolo and Brunello, makes up the aristocracy of the Italian wine world.  The product of Masi's unrivalled expertise in the appassimento technique, whereby traditional grapes for the Valpolicella Classica area - Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara - are laid out on bamboo racks to concentrate their aromas during the winter months. $99.99/btl

Masi Mazzano Amarone Vintage 1999
A very famous Italian red wine, from one of the legendary producers! "I wouldn't assign a terribly long drinking window to these wines (five years or maybe more) but there is no doubt that they are drinking beautifully right now," according to Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. "The Boscanini family has recently been aggressively promoting Amarone as a cellar-worthy wine. Critics contend that wines made thanks to the appassimento process do not boast a long cellar life because the air-drying process (in which grapes lose about 30% of their water weight) erodes and desiccates the chemical substances inside the grape skins that help a wine evolve over extended periods of cellar aging. Sandro Boscaini argues this is no...

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Rare Malts with Andrew Ferguson

Posted on March 2, 2016



Rare Malts is one of my favourite tastings, it is an opportunity to focus old and rare whiskies, some of them from distilleries that are no longer with us. This edition was no exception, with only one of he whiskies less than 20 years, and 4 of them 25 to 27 years. All of the whiskies in this tasting were bottled at cask strength, and from either a single cask or very small batch. The tasting notes are my own!



Creative Whisky Company Tobermory 1994 - 53.8% - 20 Year - Exclusive to KWM - Nose: powdered sugar and lemon juice on French crepes and Belgian waffles and whipped topping; honeydew melons, polished church pews and cramel apples. Palate: soft creamy and very decadent with bags of honey, toasted oak and loads of licorice; as it settles down the waffle and crepe notes reemerge with more whipped topping, powdered sugar and crisp citrus: lemon peel, lemon juice and lemon drops; the melons and other fruits are there but hiding under the polished church pews. Finish: long, creamy and coating with fading toasty oak, fruits and spices. - $145

Berry's Miltonduff 1995 KWM Cask - 55% - 19 Year - Refill Bourbon Barrel - Nose: beeswax and pineapple wedges, hintes of cedar and pine; Madagascar vanilla, canteloupes and not quite fully ripened mangos; decadent, fruity and floral with a hint of white pepper. Palate: frim but delicate and layered, very fruity and creamy; floral and sweet with loads of Madagascar vanilla and floral malt; more hot white pepper, oily oaky tones and fruits, loads of fruits: more mangos, canteloupes, mushy banana with juicy malt. Finish: decadent, layered and complex, lots of sugars, fading fruits and spices. - $170

Wilson & Morgan Glenrothes 1990 - 53.3% - 25 Year - Oloroso Sherry Finish - Nose: minty, assorted jujubes and spearmint chew candies, become nuttier; cooked bacon wrapped dates filled with blue cheese, and Manuka honey; oak shavings from in a wood shop, Italian espresso, strawberry jam and Panda brand licorice; Moroccan marmalade and candied ginger and fennel seeds. Palate: big, chewy, nutty and fruity; there is firm leather, loose leaf tobacco and dried dark fruits; more cooked bacon wrapped dates with blue chase; still jammy, more strawberry jam and marmalade with espresso and dark spices; the base of Manuka honey is still there with oak shavings and earthy dunnage warehouse notes. Finish: spicy and leathery the finish is long with tobacco, dark fruits and spices. - $500

Wilson & Morgan Bunnahabhain 1989 - 45.5% - 25 Year - Pedro Ximenez Finish - Nose: pineapples, mango and papayas, leather, tobacco and spices; very honeyed and earthy, Dutch licorice and Christmas cake; there is a sliver of silky vanilla and butterscotch with a hint of dunnage warehouses and classic good old whisky. Palate: big candied fruit, a modest amount of smoke, more Dutch licorice and classic sherry cask Chr...

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5th Annual MS Calgary Whisky Festival Raised Nearly $40,000.00!

Posted on February 28, 2016

It has been a busy few months, since the 5th annual MS Calgary Whisky Festival which took place on January 14, 2016 in the Lobby of the Jack Singer Concert Hall.  I've been meaning to pull all the photos together, but late last week I received new motivation to finish the task... That was when I heard that this year's event raised nearly $40,000.00 for the MS Society's Calgary & Area Chapter. Funds raised go towards research into a cure, as well as programs that assist those afflicted with the condition.



This year's MS Calgary Whisky Festival featured 4 Master Classes: Highland Park with Dan Volway, Glenmorangie with Jordon Cameron, Amrut with Ashok Chockalingham and Tomatin with Scott Adamson. The total whisky list included more than 250 whiskies (listed below).

Kensington Wine Market has been the presenting sponsor since the beginning, and we are very proud to be their partner. We coordinate all the whisky presenters and assist in promoting the event and selling tickets. We also set up a few booths of our own to share our passion for the world's finest spirit! But we are not alone, the event has manysponsors. Nearly 30 different importers representing close to 80 different brands also donate their time, passion and product to what has quickly become one of Canada's best whisky festivals. Volunteers from the MS Society also donate their time to assist with all the setup, event management and the supervisory roles that an event like this requires. It is truly a team effort and we couldn't be more proud of our role in helping make it a success!

Below you will find a gallery of the photos from this year's event. Further down you'll find the whisky list. Hopefully we'll see you at the 6th Annual MS Calgary Whisky Festival in mid-January 2017!

[gallery link="file" order="DESC" orderby="rand"]

Here is the Whisky List, in no particular order:



Arran 1996 KWM Cask 200


Arran 1996 KWM Cask 201


Berry's Miltonduff 1995 KWM Cask


Glendronach 2003 KWM Virgin Oak Cask 1750


Creative Whisky Company Bowmore 2002


Creative Whisky Company Glen Garioch 1994


BenRiach 1996 KWM Cask 189


Benromach Chateau Cissac


G&M Connoisseurs Choice Auchroisk 1996


G&M Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila 2003


G&M Connoisseurs Choice Inchgower 2000


G&M Connoisseurs Choice Ledaig 1999


G&M Glenrothes 1997 Quaich Cask 8720


Springbank Society Longrow 13 Year


Bernheim Kentucky Wheat KWM Cask


Cadenhead Small Batch Auchroisk 1992


Cadenhead Small Batch Cragganm...

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More Than Malbec - Thursday, February 11, 2016

Posted on February 16, 2016






More Than Malbec
Thursday, February 11, 2016




Well,  Argentina is definitely more than just about Malbec!  Last night we tried different varietals and only one was a product with some Malbec in it.  Diversity is the name of the game for any wine growing region and winemakers can produce stunning results with time.  The favourite of the evening by a large margin was the Petit Verdot by Vina Alicia.   The lineup was as indicated below:











Catena Zapata White Bones Chardonnay 2012
Mendoza Adrianna Vineyard
Grape varieties: Chardonnay
White Bones Chardonnay comes from a select 27 rows within Block 1 of the Adrianna Vineyard first planted in 1992. This vineyard is high altitude at 4,575 feet. The wine is then fermented in French oak barrels at low temperatures to preserve the aromatics. A little over two-thirds of the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation. The name refers to the gravelly ground beneath the vines, which is covered with oval, white stones. The wine has a bright lemon yellow color with gold highlights. Aromas of pears and apples are underscored by notes of vanilla and white flowers and a stony minerality. On the palate, the wine has flavors of baked red apples, Bosc pears, and quince along with notes of creamy vanilla and baking spices. $140.99



Durigutti Bonarda 2014
Mendoza
Grape varieties: Bonarda
Brought to Argentina in the 19th century by Italian immigrants, Bonarda is one of the most widely planted red grape variety in Argentina. Also known as Bonarda di Chieri and Bonarda del Monferrato, it is grown in northwestern Italy around Turin. The wine is light bodied and fruity, full of cherry and plum flavours, with light tannins and moderate acidity. $19.99

Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir 'Cincuenta' 2013
Rio Negro Province, Patagonia
Grape varieties: Pinot Noir
A whopping 94 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate! The review: "They went for a slightly more reductive style in 2013, which shows as austere and backward in the 2013 Cincuenta y Cinco. That, combined with a cooler growing season resulted in a very elegant, subtle wine that is light-colored and has floral (roses, lilies) notes alongside wild strawberries and raspberries. It feels light but has very good concentration of flavors and enough clout, while keeping the poise. The tannins feel very refined, there is good freshness and acidity. It should have a very nice evolution in bottle. This would be the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. Bravo! 16,000 bottles." $85.99



Clos de los Siete 2012
Uco Valley, Mendoza
Grape varieties: 56% Malbec, 14% Merlot, 12% Cabernet-sauvignon, 12% Syrah, 4% Cabernet-franc, 2% Petit Ve...

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