Day 19 of the 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar - Rock Island Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Posted on July 15, 2025
by EvanWe did it, everybody! We made it back to Scotland. Does it feel like it has been a while since we have been here for a mini bottle? We have just spent four days travelling through other parts of the world for whisky. Hopefully, you aren't feeling jet-lagged by our whisky travels or burnt out by the pre-holiday rush. Even if you are, lets, sit back, relax, and delve into the Rock Island Blended Malt for day nineteen of our 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar.
Rock Island is a Blended Malt Scotch produced by Douglas Laing, who you may remember from day six's The Epicurean. Like the Epicurean, Rock Island is also part of the company's Remarkable Regional Malts line. There are two older siblings to Rock Island currently available as well: the limited Rock Island 10 Year Old, and the, even more, limited Rock Island 21 Year Old of which only 4200 bottles were produced for the world.
Rock Island was originally introduced in 2015, albeit under a different name. Originally called Rock Oyster, the name was changed to Rock Island just this past April, as the name was considered unappetizing in some markets. To each their own I guess. While the Epicurean focuses on the Lowlands region, Rock Island is meant to carry some (you guessed it) Island character. What exactly does that mean?
Well, for starters, Douglas Laing sourced single malt from distilleries that reside on different islands of Scotland to put this blend together. The islands in question are Arran, Islay, Jura, and the Orkneys. For three of these islands, it is fairly easy to guess the source of the single malt distillery-wise:
Arran has two distilleries - both owned by the Isle of Arran Distillers -Â but only their Lochranza distillery has been around long enough to make whisky. We saw some of what this distillery is capable of with the Robert Burns Single Malt from day eight. The other distillery on Arran, called Lagg Distillery, only started production this year. Lagg is still two and a half years away from having their first whisky legally.
The Isle of Jura only has one distillery operating on it, that being the aptly named Jura Distillery. Jura has produced both peated and unpeated single malt in recent history, so either style could be in the mix on Rock Island.
The Orkneys are a group of Islands just north of the Scottish mainland, with its only two distilleries operating within a town called Kirkwall. While Scapa Distillery is in production, it is not typically found in independent bottlings other than a few Gordon & MacPhail releases. The other distillery is Highland Park, and that would be my guess for which of the two makes its way into Rock Island.
As for Islay, that is a tough one. Caol Ila seems to be the source for a lot of indie bottles and blends out there, so it would be a good guess. It also could ...
Day 18 of the 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar - Millstone Peated PX Cask
Posted on December 16, 2022
by EvanIn the past two days, we have visited the United States and Canada for our whisky adventures. Today, for door number eighteen, out continuing excursion brings us to the Netherlands. Pull that bottle from its hidey-hole and you will find it to be the Millstone Peated PX Sherry Cask.
The Zuidam Distillery was founded in 1975 in Baarle Nassau , which lies in the southern Netherlands near the border it shares with Belgium The Founder, Fred van Zuidam, had accumulated two decades of previous experience in spirits production before deciding to make a go of it on his own. Under his care, the distillery started by making a line of premium liqueurs using natural ingredients, from grain to fruit to herbs and spices used. This methodology continues to this day, as Zuidam spirits are made with no artificial colouring or flavouring. This goes for all of their products, be it their Cassis Liqueur (which is delicious by the way), Apple Flavoured Gin, Dutch Courage Old Tom Gin, Premium Genever, or Single Malt Whiskies.
Speaking of whisky, the first experiments in whisky-making did not start right away. The first experiments were made starting in 1994, and proper whisky production commenced in 1998. Even then, the Zuidam family showed patience, not releasing their first single malt whisky commercially until 2007. The first bottling was a 5 year old. It was also the first release to use the Millstone name, which was a reference to the use of Dutch Windmills to stone-mill the malted barley. Nowadays, the use of windmills is no longer enough to supply all of the grist needed.
Fred's son Patrick van Zuidam is now in charge of whisky and spirit production at the family distillery, and under his influence, the distillery's line of whisky has stretched into a variety of different styles and grains, including Rye and three and five-grain blends. Further experiments in growing their own barley are ongoing with the goal of being self-sustainable when it comes to grain in the near future.
The mini bottle from Zuidam in our 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar is one of Millstone's peated bottlings, and also has a healthy sherry influence to it. Shall we crack it open and try it out? Yes, let's!
Millstone PX Peated Single Malt
Produced by the Zuidam family distillery in Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands, this peated Millstone single malt whisky was aged entirely in PX Solera Sherry Casks. Bottled in small batches at 46% ABV.
Evan's Tasting Note
Nose: Rich Sherry notes along with wood and spice notes. Cloves, juniper, star anise, gingerbread, trail mix with raisins and walnuts, maple syrup, and an underlying potpourri and wood smoke.
Palate: The peat comes out more on the palate, with sweet notes from the PX Sherry and a lot of nuttiness. Toasted almonds, walnuts, dates, maple syrup again...
Day 17 of the 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar - Shelter Point Smoke Point Single Malt Whisky
Posted on December 1, 2021
by EvanWe are travelling north for Day Seventeen of the 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar, leaving yesterday's Bourbon and the United States behind and heading to Canada. Specifically, today's whisky takes us to Shelter Point Distillery.
Located on a farm halfway between Comox and Campbell River on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Shelter point has been laying down spirit in casks to eventually become whisky since June of 2011. They source much of the barley used from their own farm…
Shelter Point is first and foremost a farm. At the moment the berry sales to jam makers like Smuckers are really what’s paying the bills. The farm also grows barley and has a small menagerie of farm animals. Most of the animals aren't really there for the farm as much as they are to delight owner Patrick Evan's Grandchildren. And to perhaps one day populate an ark.
Patrick Evans is a third-generation farmer whose family has been farming in the Comox Valley of British Columbia since the turn of the 20th Century. He is now joined in the business by at least one of his three daughters and his son-in-law Jacob. Patrick purchased the land that is now Shelter Point Farm and Distillery in 2005. Situated along the coast of Vancouver Island where the Oyster River meets the sea, it was formerly a University of British Columbia research farm with a large dairy barn. That dairy barn now serves as cask warehousing and barley storage.
Shelter point started releasing Single Malt Whisky a few years ago now and has slowly expanded its range of releases. It all began with an unpeated single malt, which was eventually joined by a Malt and Rye small batch. Then small releases of French Oak/wine cask finished single malts were added as well as the superb Montfort Lot 141, which combines some unmalted barley grown on the Shelter Point farm as well as malted barley.
Back in September of 2017, Andrew, Curt and myself made the trek to visit the distillery, and with that visit selected a few Shelter Point casks for Kensington Wine Market. This includes our own Shelter Point Single Malt KWM Cask and the Shelter Point Rye KWM Cask.
In a somewhat backwards move compared to other craft distilleries that have popped up in the time since Shelter Point began making whisky, the distillery just started releasing their own Shelter Point Gin this past summer.
A little while after the selection, we heard from Patrick Evan's son in law Jacob Wiebe that they had managed to get their hands on some Laphroaig Quarter Casks. I think we at KWM were as excited as the Shelter Point crew was at the idea of finishing a batch of their single malt in these peated whisky casks from Islay.
When Shelter Point bottled the results of this experiment, they called it Shelter Point Smo...
Day 16 of the 2019 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar - Knob Creek Small Batch Bourbon
Posted on November 7, 2021
by EvanWot's this now? Another Bourbon in our 2019 Whiskey Advent Calendar? This is beyond the pale! My influence has gone too far! Or has it not gone far enough? Lets take a look at this cute mini bottle of Knob Creek Small Batch Bourbon and find out.
Knob Creek is brought to us by Jim Beam Distillery of Clermont, Kentucky. Jim Beam is probably the most famous and recognized brand when it comes to Bourbon. Well, other than Jack Daniel's. Okay, let go with this: Jim Beam is probably the most famous and recognized brand when it comes to Kentucky Bourbon. The Jim Beam Distillery traces its history back to 1795, with a hiccup in the early 20th century caused by prohibition. The surname Beam plays a major role not only in this distillery but also in a few other distilleries around Kentucky, including Heaven Hill. Jim Beam was actually James B. Beam, and he was the person that got the business going again after prohibition ended.
The Knob Creek brand was originally introduced with this bottle: the 100 Proof Small Batch back in 1992. The 120 Proof Knob Creek Single Barrel joined the ranks in 2010, and the Knob Creek Rye joined the duo to make it a trio in 2012. In the past two years, we have seen a few special releases hit the shelves at our shop as well, mostly focusing on the Rye side of things. But this one is a Bourbon, so let's stick to talking about that.
Jim Beam as a distillery and as a company (now part of Beam Suntory) makes many different brands of Bourbon. Knob Creek is one of its four Premium Small Batch Brands, the others being Booker's, Baker's, and Basil Hayden's.
What separates Knob Creek from the rest is an oakier, fuller flavoured, bolder and more spice-driven style than its compatriots. It also is the only one of the four that has bottlings at 50 and 60% ABV, though Baker's is typically bottled at higher than 50% ABV and Booker's is usually above 60% ABV and varies from batch to batch.
As with all Bourbon, Knob Creek is made from a mash bill of at least 51% Corn and aged in heavily charred virgin oak barrels. Once upon a time, Knob Creek Small Batch carried a 9-Year-Old age statement on its label. In 2016, Beam Suntory announced that the age statement would be removed due to the current Bourbon Boom and a shortage of older stock to use. However, on June 13th of this year (2019), it was announced that the 9-year-old age statement would return to Knob Creek Small Batch sometime during the next year.
As for the mash bill used for Knob Creek Bourbon - there are a few conflicting numbers to be found when trying to find this out. The good news all the different ratios I could find come within 3-4% of each other. For the sake of argument (or perhaps agreement? let's just go with what seems to be the most widely referred to ratio and say this: Knob Creeks Mash Bill is somewhere around ...
Day 15 of the 2019 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar - Loch Lomond 18 Year
Posted on November 7, 2021
by EvanWow, time flies! We are now into our third week of the 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar! Let's open door number fifteen to celebrate by tasting the Loch Lomond 18 Year Old. We have already tasted two bottlings from this distillery with Day One's Inchmurrin 18 and Day Seven's Inchmoan 12.
With any other distillery, having a third bottle in 15 days would be boring and repetitive, but this is Loch Lomond we are talking about. This is a distillery that creates so many styles of whisky it might be bipolar, has multiple personality disorder, or perhaps even a combination of both. Loch Lomond as a label is the third official style of whisky that the distillery currently puts out. It is purported to be rich and peaty in nature, but not quite as peaty as releases under the Inchmoan label.
Even with the company that owns Loch Lomond breaking things down into a minuscule three releases, this is all befuddling. This is likely what has recently drawn me to this distillery so much recently. I enjoy the weirdness of it all and trying to make sense of the madness. I definitely don't have a perfect understanding of the different profiles they create, but that is part of the charm.
Unlike many other distilleries that play with cask finishes or a lot of sherry maturation, Loch Lomond ages most of the whisky they make in ex-Bourbon casks. In order to have more control over the casks that are used for their whisky, Loch Lomond also has an on-site cooperage for recharring casks and also cask repair. They are one of only a handful of distilleries that has this capability on hand.
I have not yet had this bottling of Loch Lomond - in fact, I have not tried most of their new bottlings beyond the two we have already had in the calendar. Given how much I have talked and written about Loch Lomond recently, I am looking forward to trying the 18-Year-Old out. How will this guy stack up against it's two brethren and the rest of what we have tasted in this year's KWM Whisky Calendar thus far? It is time to crack that bottle and find out!
Loch Lomond 18 Year Old
Bottled at 46% and unchill-filtered, the Loch Lomond 18 Year was matured in ex-Bourbon Barrels.
Evan's Tasting Note
Nose: Oily and phenolic in style. Orange Marmalade spread on burnt toast, beer nuts, sesame brittle, maple and brown sugar roasted bacon, crème brûlée, banana split, red rose tea, polished leather and bee's wax.
Palate: Smokey and tangy with an underlying oiliness. Amaro-like it its bitter and sweet notes - this really coats the tongue nicely. Fuzzy peaches and sour orange sliced candy. candied ginger, chai tea latte with honey, apple cider, Christmas cake.
Finish: Rich, oily and tingly on the fade with a touch of salt and fruit. The Amaro-like bitter-sweetness sticks around....
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