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A Port in Any Storm - Tuesday January 26, 2016

Posted on January 27, 2016


A Port in Any Storm
Tuesday January 26, 2016
Grant Graves


January 26, 2016 was the night to warm up with a few port samples at our “Port in Any Storm” tasting event, even though the winter evening was very mild.  But this is Alberta and the weather can change anytime so better be prepared by knowing which port you might like to call on.  It was a good group with some thoughtful questions along with some fine cheeses and meats from Peasant Cheese.  I know the audience left with a better understanding of the various types of ports and why this is such a classic drink.
Selections for the evening included the following:

Taylor Fladgate White Port
The team behind the Taylor's Port house are pioneers of this exciting style, having introduced it in 1934. It is made in exactly the same way as conventional Port, but with white grapes rather than red. As the name suggests, it has a drier, fruity taste, and is best served chilled. $22.49
Bottle Aged
Messias LBV 2009
Founded in 1926 by Messiah Baptist, Caves Messiah have produced and marketed wines from the main regions of Portugal including the Douro. Deep garnet in the glass with a concentration of dried fruit, prunes, figs, vanilla, spice and blackberry jam.  Very nice depth of fruit, fullness and length. $29.99
Quinta Nova Vintage Port 2008
Quinta do Nova Vintage Port is characterised by its purity of fruit and a fine and delicate quality that is typical of the wines of the property. The 2008 exhibits a deep, ink-like colour with an intense bouquet of wild flower and dark fruit. This Vintage port is rich and potent, elegant and suave with multiple layers of concentrated aromas of fruit, firm, succulent tannins and a very long finish. $94.99
Fonseca Quinta do Panascal 2001
91 points from Wine Enthusiast! The review: "A strong candidate for Port of the vintage. Fonseca's 2001 Quinta do Panascal boasts a nose filled with rich dense, brooding fruit. Blackberries and plums rush the palate; it's lush and fruity, yet given on the finish." Purchased by Fonseca in 1978, "Quinta do Panascal is now Fonseca's flagship estate," according to the renowned Port house's website. $78.99
Barrel Aged
Taylor Fladgate 20 Year Tawny Port
93 points from Wine Spectator! The review: "Rich, with a spicy nose, this offers flavors of fig, dried apricot, mango and ginger. Complex and elegant, delivering concentrated crème brûlée and tropical fruit notes that linger on the vibrant and buttery finish. Drink now." Taylor's is now over 300 years old. It remains a family firm, 100% independent. $68.99
Caves Messias Colheita 2005
The date of the colheita was the year the tawny port was harvested.  This product was taken from the barrels and bottled in 2014. Blondish red in colour this offers maturing notes of dried red fruit, prunes and spice. S...

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Silky Sultry Stouts - Thursday, January 21

Posted on January 26, 2016

Shawn Young
Silky Sultry Stouts
Thursday January 21
This is the second year I've been fortunate enough to host this amazing stout tasting, and it's definitely become one of my very favourites! Aside from the fact that I love stouts, this also provides opportunity to open the really good stuff! So I chose a line up that highlights the different styles and brewing additions including coffee, lactose, and oak! From the feedback I received from my guests, they were as pleased with the selection as I was.

As usual, a plethora of delicious cheeses and meats were provided by the Peasant Cheese Company, and cold, stout-worthy night was provided by Mother Nature. Things were not cold for long however, once the hearty brews started flowing, we were all feeling comfortable.  Here's a glimpse of what was poured.



Kelp Stout by Tofino Brewing
This is one of the more recent arrivals to Alberta from BC. Tofino uses locally harvested kelp to add savoury and umame notes to their dry, chocolaty stout. Testament to this is when I spilled a little on my hand and rubbed it around, it smelled like rich dark soy sauce and teriyaki. An incredibly easy to drink stout, and -apparently- highly under rated! ($7.99 for a 650mL bottle)

La Vache Folle Imperial Milk Stout by Microbrasserie Charlevoix
I couldn't help but put this one in the tasting (again). It's one of the very best Canadian stouts(in my opinion), and I was curious on its staying power against some of these American power houses. It's big body, along with generous sweetness(though not overwhelming) and chocolaty, boozy highlights achieve an impeccable balance that is not easily matched! ($8.19 for a 500mL bottle)

Winter Beard by Muskoka Brewing
This one was a surprise as I figured we wouldn't see this year's version before Muskoka -sadly- pulled out of the province. Cranberries and chocolate add a hint of acidity and richness to this semi-light bodied stout. ($11.79 for a 750mL bottle)

Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room by Evil Twin Brewing
Strange name, great stout. Evil Twin is the clever referencing the fact that the brewer is the brother of (my favourite) gypsy brewer Mikkeller. Big and chocolaty with generous, but balanced roasty qualities, this stout drinks surprisingly easy for 10%abv. ($6.19 for a 330mL bottle)

W00t Stout by Stone Brewing
A lot of work goes into this one! Part of the beer is made with rye and pecans, while the other portion is actually the 2014 batch that has been aging in bourbon barrels for a year. The partial aging give the perfect amount of barrel character, and it plays just lovely with the nuttiness from the pecans. ($22.49 for a 650mL bottle)

Flight of the Angry Beast by Clown Shoes Brewing
This was my first time trying this beer, and I was very excited to do so! This is an intense blend o...

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Amrut with Ashok Chokalingham - Words by Hunter Sullivan

Posted on January 25, 2016

Tuesday January 12, 2016


To have such a prestigious guest, Ashok Chokalingam from Amrut, visit our store is always an honour. And, despite such a long journey, we were not able to detect travel fatigue with Ashok at the helm. With great exuberance, he took the stage and the crowd in a flurry of hilarious and blunt comments about his whiskies, and make no mistake, these are Ashok's whiskies. A fierce amount of pride goes into each of the bottlings and Ashok was very clear in telling the crowd "NO BULLSHIT!" and so instilling a breath of raw honesty when it came to talking about the whiskies we were about to try. Nothing was held back as Ashok provided heaps of in depth knowledge about the distillery, from operations, techniques and sources of materials. If you had a question, before you could breathe, he had a response. With such lively commentary, each whisky was a rollercoaster of passion and information

Here are a few tasting notes to accompany each one we tried.



Amrut Fusion

To nose brings orchard fruits in yoghurt, delicate smoke peach bits and mango, papaya and pineapple. The palate totes a similar nature with a neat twist, producing something akin to smoky mango chutney finishing on red liquorice shoelaces and peach penguin candies. $76.99

Amrut Naarangi

With the addition of actual oranges to the barrels of maturing whisky one can imagine a unique character for this spirit. Starting with huge candied orange and ginger on the nose, it implies a density through scent bringing about a Christmas cake character but with only gelatinous citrus bits. An oily mouthfeel brings about a rich marmalade with lemon zest and floral nectar mixed in. $129.99

Amrut Bangalore Tiger Pedro Ximinez Cask Canadian Release

According to Ashok, there is no peat barley in this release, understandably so as there wouldn't be much to speak of initial approach yet I couldn't help but feel that there was a little sooty character in the background. From there a combination of walking through a weedy herb garden, apricot and a classic prelude to sweetness on the nose coming from the PX barrel. To taste brought cedar milk chocolate, nutty fudge, aloe vera and layers of baking spices the filling out any gaps. $115.99

Amrut Intermediate Sherry

A gorgeous sherry cask bourbon barrel combo bringing out the essentials of Spanish oak with raisins, dates, fig cakes all in a rich fruit sauce. Candied nuts follow, brown sauce soaked cigars, clove and an interesting character of freshly laundered linen sheets (a reminder of the first night at an upscale resort). Demerara notes come to mind from the palate coating the salty/sweet combo of the nuttiness with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar. $109.99

Amrut Cask Strength

Toffee and custard, white chocolate, yoghurt chips, bright ba...

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Classic Single Malts - Friday January 15

Posted on January 30, 2016

Classic Single Malts
Hunter Sullivan
Friday January 15
In current whisky culture, the classic malts as defined by big corporations, are disappearing and a new guard is stepping in to take their vacant positions. With these new "Classic" candidates continuing to crop up on the market, the line up is constantly changing and the term classic needs to be redefined. Though there is a fair amount of new material to work with, the premise of the class stays the same with a few expressions of American oak, different regions, some unique and special casks and so on. The most exciting part of these classes though is the medium of how these aspects are conveyed. Without further commentary, here is what we enjoyed that evening.



Carn Mor Strictly Limited "Westport" 17
Originally from the distillery of Glenmorangie, this "blended malt" is made up of two or more distilleries. The speculation here is that before Glenmo parted with the barrel they teaspooned in a dash of something else for precaution, preventing any hasty independent bottlers from declaring the barrels true origin.

A quick nose brings out honey, vanilla sweets and a generally rich nose. The characters of citrus infused dessert comes about, drizzled in toffee.Tasting is even more truculent with its oily constitution and crème brulee nature. Following is that sweet honeysuckle accompanied by tangerine candies. An American Oak bombshell if I've ever seen one. $119.99

First Edition Auchentoshan 1998
16 years in barrel for any Auchentoshan is enough to bring about a grace unseen in almost any other distillery bottling and this one is no exception. A fine lowland whisky from one of the few stills operating triple distillation brings about quicksilver flavors, sharp and ephemeral in the finest of ways.

It was my favourite. A nose of spring time, floral elegance floats around an underlying sweetness of the bakery. Confectioner and barley sugars poof in the face continuing the illusion of being in an artisan workshop, procuring fine baked goods.

Tasting refreshes an image of lemon glaze and angel food cake. An intricate palate dashes the cumbersome sweetness with a refreshing blast of cooling herbs. Exquisite.  -  $149.99

Creative Whisky Company Irish Single Malt 2002
Now, the class is called Classic Malts implying that the unifying theme is single malt whisky. That is definitely what this is, though with a slight twist. To be fair to the Irish, they have been doing it longer so they should receive due credit. This specific bottling is from an undisclosed distillery making this liquid all the more mysterious. With 13 years in barrel and completely unfiltered there was a lot going on in this unique spirit. Here's what we found.

A nose of fruit laden bread and spices abound. Apricots and dried bits of pear come ...

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!!!Happy New Year from Kensington Wine Market!!!

Posted on January 1, 2016



2015 has been an exciting year full of big changes for the Kensington Wine Market. We would like to thank our customers, suppliers, agents and friends for all of their support and patronage this past year.

Our year started with a bang when Whisky Magazine ranked us Second in the Icons of Whisky Rest of the World, Whisky Retailer of the Year Single Outlet. We were surprised and very honoured by the recognition. We launched a revamped www.kensingtonwinemarket.com website in March which we are very proud of. We are continuing to improve and build on it moving forward. On April 1, Andrew Ferguson, our world renowned whisky expert and employee of 13 years, purchased the Kensington Wine Market. Andrew is hoping to build on the sterling legacy of Nancy Carten who founded the business in 1992. Nancy continues to remain involved at KWM during this period of transition. Later in the year Kensington Wine Market was awarded Calgary Area Retailer of the Year by the Alberta Liquor Store Association. The best recognition comes when given by your peers – making this a very humbling honour. We also were thrilled to add two talented new members to our sales team, Evan Eckersley and Bryan Childs. Both bring an expertise in wine to our shop, with Evan also specialized in whisky and Bryan coming from a bartending background.

2015 was not without its challenges, but it was also full of rewards and successes. We have an excellent team as we look towards 2016, and everyone is excited about the year ahead. We look forward to working with all our partners, agents, friends and customers to continue offering the best service in Calgary.

We wish everyone a Safe, Prosperous and Very Happy New Year.

Slainté! (Cheers)
Andrew Ferguson and the Team at Kensington Wine Market...

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