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Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada - April 2015 Outturn

Posted on April 11, 2015

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has been growing steadily since it was first launched in Canada in 2011. The world's largest whisky club has been very well received in Canada and we hit a milestone in the last few days. The 1000th Membership in Canada was sold at KWM on Thursday, the night of the first of three April Outturn tastings. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has branches in more than 17 countries with close to 30,000 members around the world. The Society bottles around 400 single casks of single malt whisky, single grain whisky and other spirits a year mostly from Scotland. The Society's whiskies are always bottled at cask strength, with a uniue numbering system. For more info on the Society and its unique bottlings visit: www.smws.ca.

We've had a lot of great whiskies, and amazing monthly tastings over the last 3 1/2 years, and this month's release was right up there. We had strong demand for all 7 whiskies. One of them, a very rare Japanese single malt, from a closed distillery is being raffled off to interested members as the demand far exceeds the supply of available bottles. Here are April 2015's Outturn of Society whiskies:



48.43: Pepper crop-dusted over orchards - 55.5% - 12 Year - 1st Fill Barrel - Speyside - Profile: "Spicy & Sweet" - Outturn:  115 Bottles - Panel's Tasting Note: "Our noses were tickled by pepper, mustard, straw mats and sawdust, but it settled to jellied fruits, blackcurrant chews, orange jelly, fruity toffee, tinned pineapple and syrup sponge with custard. With water, those black pepper clouds parted and the sun shone on ripened orchard fruits (apple, pear, peach, apricot, cherry). The palate offered a warm peppery tingle, hinting at nutmeg and chili; we also found honey, toffee, fruit pastilles, blackcurrant, lemon, ice lolly sticks and some biscuit-y dryness. In reduction, fruits of the forest were balanced nicely by hints of humbug, pepper, liquorice, leather and tea." Drinking Tip: "A holiday dram - but not abroad and not fourstar - more like camping or RVing (unmatchablejoys and interesting challenges)." - $133.99
26.100: Galactic root canal treatment - 56.5% - 9 Year - 1st Fill Barrel - Highland - Profile: "Young & spritely" - Outturn: 224 Bottles - Panel's Tasting Note: "The nose started off spirity – white pepper, new pine and varnish; then lemon candles, lemon sherbet, liquorice, wood ash and old-fashioned rucksacks (canvas and leather) on a parquet floor – perhaps the start of a spring-time excursion? Water calmed it down – laundry, white chocolate, vanilla, milk bottle sweets and pretzels. The neat palate was definitely fierce – somewhere between dental anaesthetic and Fireball XL5! – Scotch bonnet chili, lemon zest, glue and Haribo gums. It became much sweeter in reduction – lemon barley water, sweet and sal...

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New beers April 8, 2015

Posted on April 10, 2015

Greetings fellow beer geeks!

First and foremost, I sorry for the delay in blogging, but you haven’t missed anything!  I have included  old and new information on our recent arrivals  including a few things from new breweries I mentioned in the last post. So here we go.

On the topic of new brewery arrivals, the latest ones to come in are Heretic Brewing out of Fairfield California, and Boulevard Brewingout of Kansas City Missouri. Both breweries have some incredible beers and we're truly excited to see them in the province. As well, there will be a few old favorites from Lagunitas coming back to the shop soon along with possible new Baird beers and another couple of BC breweries (*ahem... Driftwood, Dageraad) that will be new to the province.



Enough of that though; let's get down to business here. There's like a dozen or more things here to talk about!

New from last couple weeks:

Evil Twin red IPA from Heretic Brewing.
More accurately described as an American strong ale, this hoppy rich red ale shows off some impressive malt character with bread pudding and toffee notes coming behind a crisp malt bitterness with fruity undertones. $7.99 for a 650mL bottle.

Gramarye pale ale from Heretic Brewing.
Just in time for spring, this session pale ale has a generous portion of rye added, giving a pleasant spicy character to an otherwise mild, and crisp session ale. Moderate hops balance the malt perfectly in this easy drinking spring sipper. $7.99 for a 650mL bottle.

Torment dark Belgian strong ale by Heretic Brewing.
Rich, bready malts give a dense and dried fruit character, just as you'd expect in this style. The alcohol content is driven higher with the traditional use of candi sugar, but is still hidden awfully well in the full bodied malt profile. $10.29 for a 650mL bottle.

New this week:



Old Guardian barley wine by Stone Brewing.
A lot of American barley wines eng up being slightly lighter in color than their European ancestors, and this one is no different. The hugely rich malts in this monster give incredible caramel covered fruit flavors that change heavily as the beer warms up. The generous hops bring out a dryness in the end that clears your palate for another sip. $13.59 for a 650mL bottle.

Extra Hoppy Old Guardian by Stone Brewing.
Just like the standard Old Guardian, this one is just a powerhouse of malt. This special release is loaded with more hops, and is only released in odd numbered years. After these are gone, we won't see them for a couple more years! $13.59 for a 650mL bottle.

Imperial Russian Stout by Stone Brewing.
Such a thick, chocolaty and spicy beer like this is sure to have a perfect home in the dead of winter right? Well Stone took on a challeng...

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Kensington Wine Market Has a New Owner!

Posted on April 8, 2015



As of April 1, 2015, longtime employee Andrew Ferguson is the new owner of the Kensington Wine Market. Andrew has been with KWM for 13 years (starting as our delivery driver) and has, during this time, worked his way to becoming an internationally recognized scotch expert. As a result of his hard work,  Andrew has put KWM "on the map" as one of the most respected malt whisky stores in the world. Andrew is 100% dedicated to keeping KWM's reputation as one of the best wine stores in Canada and will work with our team, already in place, to achieve these goals. We all congratulate Andrew, and look forward to working with him.

Nancy Carten, founder of KWM, will be working with Andrew and his team over the next three years to ensure her legacy of 23 years continues.

We all look forward to continue welcoming you to the Kensington Wine Market!...

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Master Malt March 26th 2015

Posted on March 31, 2015



We had a full house for last night's Master Malts tasting at KWM. Those present were treated to a tour de force of fine Scotch whiskies ranging from 24 to 39 years of age. Six single malts, and a very curious and rare blend rounded out the lineup which included a couple of heavy hitters. When the dust settled, the results were surprising.



We run our whisky tastings blind whenever we can to remove the taint of bias. It is hard not to be influenced by age, price and brand so we like to remove those elements from the equation. All things being equal, we want our guests to pick their favourite whisky because it was their favourite whisky in the lineup. And price didn't have much of an influence on this occasion, with the least expensive whisky in the lineup trumping the rest.



Our lineup last evening:

Old Pulteney 35 Year - 42.5% - Bourbon & Sherry Casks - "Nose: honey, beeswax and clotted cream with salty caramel and clean smoke; melons, citrus and smooth leather with some dried fruits and spice; Palate: very honeyed, more beeswax and clotted cream with clean smoke and a prominent saltiness; there is more orange and a bit of melon with smooth leather, drying tobacco and dark spice; Finish: long, coating and spicy with more leather, tobacco and cream." - $999.99 - More bottles due this Spring!
Glenglassaugh 1972 39 Year KWM Cask - 42.6% - Sherry Cask - "Nose: heavenly; molten brown sugar, candied fruits, toffee cake, Demerara rum and candied orange; hints of melons, coffee and chocolate too; Palate: sweet, sugary and spicy with more Demerara rum, molten brown sugar and an assortment of festive spices: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon and fennel; there are elements of chocolate covered coffee beans, candied orange and treacle sauce too; Finish: exceptionally smooth, rich, spicy and sweet with soft fading oak, lingering spices and more Demerara rum; melons and tropical fruits come out with a flourish of Dolce Leche at the end." - $699.99 - Only 7 bottles left!
Samaroli Blended Malt 33 Year - 43% - Blended Malt - "Nose: canned string cheese, peanut butter and dulce lece; honey with very bright orange, lemon juice and powdered sugar on French crepes; Palate: vanilla cream, Demerara sugar, crisp spices: ginger and cinnamon, more lemon juice and French crepes with maple cream cookies; Finish: long, toasty, coating and spicy with creamy vanilla." - $364.99
Adelphi Bladnoch 1989 24 Year - 59.3% - Bourbon Barrel - "Nose: intensely floral, citic and toasty with pineapple and citric sugars; long, toasty and dusty with milk chocolate and white fruits; Palate: big, floral and toasty, more crisp citrus and pineapple; lots of honey and barley sugars with some licorice and white fruits; Finish: long, oily and coating with dark spices and light fruits." - $169.99
OMC Fettercairn 33 Year - 50% - Refill Hogs...

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Happy International Whisky Day 2015

Posted on March 27, 2015

Pop into Kensington Wine Market tonight or tomorrow for a dram of one of our finest whiskies! Raise a glass to the late great Michael Jackson, the King of whisky authors...

Slainte!

About International Whisky Day

International Whisk(e)y Day was first announced on March 27 2008 then officially launched in 2009 at the Whisky Festival Northern Netherlands, in the presence of various whisk(e)y writers, among whom Charles MacLean, Dave Broom, Martine Nouet and Helen Arthur. This was an initiative to honour their friend - and legendary whisk(e)y writer - the late Michael Jackson.

Not only is this day about enjoying, sharing and celebrating whisk(e)y but also doing some good for charity. Each year whisk(e)y fans donate money to charities of their choice, most commonly of all for Parkinson's Disease charities as Michael suffered with this for many years.
Parkinsons Society Canada...

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