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Scotch Malt Whisky Society of Canada August 2019 Outturn

Posted on August 6, 2019

by Evan

Summer is in full force and August is here.
Half-n-Half is this month's theme - pairing whisky with beer.
Matching suds with bottles of green glass
Is it a Society lover's dream, or will it just kick their ass?

'Hauf & Hauf' is the theme for August with changed up the way we typically run an SMWS tasting. The SMWS Canada consulted Calgary SMWS member and beer writer Don Tse to help create the pairings, based on the style of whisky and the beer itself.



Here is what the SMWS has to say on the Hauf & Hauf concept:
"This month, we're all about the joys of pairing a Society whisky with a beer, and celebrating the enhanced enjoyment that we can get by matching one with the other; there's a huge satisfaction to be discovered from savouring the big, robust flavours of a single cask dram alongside a thirst-quenching and complimentary beer.

The term half-and-half (sounding more like hauf-n-hauf in Scotland) refers to the half pint measure of beer taken alongside a measure of whisky. The appreciation of a beer and spirits chaser is common around the world, as you can see with the popularity of beer and schnapps in Germany, or the boilermaker in the United States, with a shot of Bourbon alongside, or even dropped into, your beer glass."
That covers the theme, but what about the whisky itself? Here is a rundown of what is in the Outturn for August:

Distillery 12 makes another appearance, only the second time we have gotten a bottle from this Speysider from the SMWS Canada. Spoilers: it is a darn fine young whisky.
The Willy Wonka-est of all Scottish Distillery's is showcased yet again, for possibly the fifth month in a row? 112.33 is about as straight-forward as bottles from this Highland distillery get. That isn't to say it should be overlooked...
Distillery 24 makes it's return to Canada after three years or so? I cannot remember running an Outturn with a Macallan in the lineup in my time hosting the tastings.
Also in the lineup is distillery 13. Seeing Dalmore and Macallan in one Outturn? Crazy. This was one of my personal faves for the Outturn - it shows a good amount of dimension on the palate.
Distillery number 4 has been showcased often this year, but this is the first bottle in a while to be from a Sherry Butt, which tweaks the style into interesting directions.
Rounding out the tasting was a 53 from Islay - and one of the best 53s we have seen recently in my opinion.

Curious about the seven new bottles? Read on below – but first I would like to thank the always wonderful Peasant Cheese for providing the small bites to go along with our monthly pilgrimage up cask strength whisky mountain. A big thank you and shoutout to Shawn, KWM's own Beerguy for jumping in on the tastings and giving us a rundown on the beer pairings. Also, don’t forget we h...

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Rosé! It's not white. It's not red. It's just delicious!

Posted on July 28, 2019

by Dave

If I have to pick one type of wine that would be the only wine that I would be able to drink. I think it would be rosé. Ok, I guess it would actually be bubbles first and then rosé. That being said there are some amazing sparkling rosés as well so I might actually be safe just sticking to rosé. I love rosé and if you haven't given it a try or you have a misconception that it is solely a sweet wine, you are missing out on a whole other world of joy! Rose's can be amazing. They can be dry, off-dry, high acid, low acid, round and voluptuous, or laser-sharp.

Rosé may just be the most approachable wine style around. It pairs well with food, it can be unbelievably good on their own, they can make a sunny day feel even that much more special, or they can just share some desk time with you as you decide the best ways to romance their beauty with words.

Summer is upon us, which makes it the right time to drink rosé. Of course, I would say the same thing for any of the other three seasons as well... If you want to try some rosé I am going to go over the ones that we tried at our tasting, however, if none of these draw your attention, do not fret. We have lots of others in store as well so there is always something new and delightful to taste!



Andreola Bolle Prosecco Rosé Extra Dry $23.99
A Kensington Wine Market exclusive! This delicious Prosecco is made from a blend of 80% Cabernet and 20% Merlot grapes. We have been representing Andreola for many years and are excited to welcome their first rosé to our family of sparkling wines! Prosecco is an excellent wine to serve as an aperitif as it cleanses the palate and gets it ready for the main course. Rich and robust, with broad shoulders and plenty of hearty earth tones, this cherry and currant-infused sparkler finishes with gorgeous notes of natural musk and chalky minerals.

Laherte Champagne Rosé Nature $74.99
A Kensington Wine Market exclusive! Pink bubbles for a special occasion, or any time you just want to celebrate a day in style. This one comes from the Laherte family; they both grow the grapes and make the Champagne, which means this one is a "grower Champagne" -- rare, in these days of big Champagne houses.

This Rosé de Saignee is produced with the Pinot Meunier grape variety which comes from plots situated in "Les Beaudiers." A beautiful aperitif! Aurélien Laherte is one of the hottest growers in Champagne today. This sparkler has a light, soft, creamy bubble. It is quite dry but with well-balanced acidity, not to tart but delicious. There are lots of fresh red fruit flavours as well as hints of biscuit, cheese, and cream. Made organically and also non-dosage this Champagne rings all the bells. Not to mention how beautiful the bottle and label are. This is a knockout wine definitely worth expanding your Champagne horizon...

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Old Malt Cask 20th Anniversary Tasting

Posted on July 15, 2025

by Evan

Old Malt Cask turned 20 this year. The brand, owned by Hunter Laing, has an interesting history because it is linked to the history of the Hunter Laing Company itself. In fact - the OMC brand actually predates the birth of the Hunter Laing Company itself as it was originally started by Douglas Laing.

Douglas Laing is an independent bottler that was founded in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing after he acquired the rights to the King Of Scots Blend. Fred and his wife had two sons. Fred Jr. was born in 1950. Stewart Hunter Laing was born in 1947 or 1948. Both brothers eventually joined their father, working at Douglas Laing. Before that though, they both had apprenticeships at other Scotch Whisky companies, something that seems to be a hallmark of families who make Scotch Whisky their trade.

Fred Douglas Laing passed away in 1984 and it was then up to his sons to run the company.

Old Malt Cask was first introduced in 1999. It separated itself from other indie labels by not typically releasing bottles at cask strength, or watering things down to oblivion at 40 or 43% either. Instead, most OMC bottlings are cut to 50% ABV - in a sweet spot that is approachable but robust and typically less expensive than other single casks around.

Hunter Laing is the result of a split of the Douglas Laing Company and its assets between brothers Fred and Stewart in 2013. Apparently, the brothers had a long history of not getting along with each other. In the dividing of the company, The new Hunter Laing, which was set up by Stewart and joined by his two sons Andrew and Scott, retained Old Malt Cask. Douglas Laing continued on with a few less brands, but has created some new labels since, focusing more on the Blends and Blended Malt side of things than Hunter Laing typically does. Fred Laing was joined by his daughter Cara at about the same time as the split. But I digress!

We are here to take a look at those retro-style OMC green bottles with emblazoned with the title in gold foil. There are two other OMC offerings added in, just for fun. Let's see how they all stack up:

THE LINEUP

Mortlach 2007 KWM - 11 Year $11.99 (50mL mini bottles available only)
Our first ever exclusive single cask of Mortlach was bottled for us by Hunter Laing, and it is a steal. Bottled at 50% after 11 years maturing in a Refill Hogshead, Ref: HL14889, it was a steal for just $95! Featured on Day 4 of KWM's 2018 Whisky Advent Calendar.

Mortlach 2007 - 11 Year $105
We bottled a sister cask to this whisky, it was so popular, that we jumped at the opportunity to grab just under 100 bottles of this Old Malt Cask 20th Anniversary bottling. Bottled at 50%, the whisky was filled into a Refill Butt Sherry Butt in 2007, where it matured 11 years. One of 442 bottles released worldwide, exclusive to KWM for Canada.

Mortlach i...

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Wine Workshop: Rosé

Posted on July 15, 2019

by Abigail

So it’s finally feeling like summer to most. Stampede is underway, we have not experienced any torrential downpours in the last couple of days, and the temperature is consistently above 20 degrees. With the incline in temperature, people tend to pick more pink or white wines, so this the perfect time to talk about some Rosé!

What is Rosé?
Well, I'm glad you asked. Rosé is that ‘grey area’ between white and red wine. Rosé has some contact with the skin, so it doesn't fit into the white category anymore. But it doesn't have as much time macerating as red wine does (red wine can macerate with the skins of the grape up to a few weeks, rosé typically only has contact for a couple of hours), so it’s not as dark are red, so it kind of has to hang out on its own.

Because there's not as much of a defining factor as to what makes a wine rosé, people can interpret it differently. So, for this tasting, I decided to showcase a rainbow of rosé, from the most delicate hint of pink to the darkest, richest Rosé. This also helps to showcase the different styles of Rosé, from light, crisp, refreshing, to other Rosés that have more structure that you can enjoy all year.

Let’s get started!
Rimarts Martinez Rosé NV
Rimarts owes its name to the winemaker’s father Ricard Martínez de Simón who decided to start producing high-quality cavas using the handcrafted method.
From 1987 to the present day, the family has continued with the same philosophy of work to satisfy the most demanding palates around the world.
Produced organically and biodynamically.

A blend of Pinot Noir and Garnacha. A pale rose colour with tints of blue and light silver. Small, persistent bubbles with an elegant release. A very sweet bouquet with notes of red fruits and candied redcurrant. It is sweet, refreshing and smooth upon entry, with a subtle creamy sensation. The finish is long and delicate. Best with aperitifs, tapas, and light meals.
$38.99

Terra Vecchia Une Ile Rosé 2018
Set in Corsica, known as "lle de Beaute", the domaine stretches between the sea and the mountains, on land filled with history. The combination of terroir and ancient Corsican grape varietals has given Domaine Terra Vecchia worldwide recognition.
This Rosé is a very expressive and complex, combining notes of red fruit, candy and citrus. Fresh and full on the palate with aromas of grapefruit and red currants. The long and delicious finish is the expression of a stylish, well-made wine. 100% Niellucciu.

This wine can be enjoyed on all drinking occasions. Its freshness makes it perfect as an aperitif and its elegance allows it to accompany the finest Mediterranean or exotic dishes.
$25.99

Edoardo Miroglio Bio Rosé 2017
“Grape-growing and...

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Making Bourbon Great Again, Again, Again

Posted on July 14, 2019

by Evan

We recently hosted another sold-out Bourbon/American Whiskey tasting here at KWM. Despite having to put up with me talking about the bottles at these Bourbon tastings, people still seem to be excited about tasting them.

This is for good reason: it doesn't matter how boring my talks are, the bottles poured are typically represent very good value. Unless they happen to be a 15-year-old single cask Tennessee Whiskey like the last one in this lineup. That expensive exception aside, the other six bottles in the lineup were $115 bucks or less. Four of the bottles can be had for 75 bucks or less. In Canadian Dollars even!

I am very happy for two things: One, that these American Whiskey tastings are popular enough that we (I) can host at least one each season. The second is  that there is enough new American Rye and Bourbon hitting shelves for me to put an entirely new lineup together for pretty much every single tasting. Except when I want to revisit some old favourites...

What did I choose to feature in this round of our Making Bourbon Great Again tasting? Read on below!



Bondi 4 Year Old Bourbon $58
Pronounced "Bond-EYE", this Bourbon is made from a 100% Corn mash at Panther Distillery, which resides in Osakis, Minnesota and was established in 2011. Bondi Bourbon is aged for at least 4 years before being bottled at 40% ABV. Don't let the full-corn mash or the 40% ABV turn you off - this is a solid Bourbon for the price.

Redemption Bourbon $50
Sourced from MGP (Midwest Grain Products) of Lawrenceburg, Indiana from a mash bill of 75% Corn, 21% Rye and 4% Malted Barley. According to the company’s own website, the Redemption Bourbon is aged for an average of two and a half years and then bottled at Bardstown, Kentucky at 42% ABV.

Legent Bourbon $60
Legent (pronounced ‘lee-jent’) is comprised of three lots of Bourbon matured in different manners. A large portion is 5 year old Straight Bourbon. This was blended with Bourbon that was finished California red wine casks for one year and another batch of Bourbon finished in Sherry casks for two years. Legent is bottled at 47% ABV.

This new Bourbon from Beam Suntory was a collaboration between their American and Japanese arms of whisky making. Suntory’s master blender, Shinji Fukuyo, partnered with Jim Beam’s Master Distiller Fred Noe to create Legent, which underwent several years of development before the final product was released. Fred Noe’s part in everything was the distillation itself - as Master Distiller at Jim Beam. Shinji Fukuyo was in charge of the blending.

Knob Creek Twice Barrelled Rye $90
814020
Beam Suntory has been putting out quite a few special releases American Whiskey-wise recently, including the Knob Creek Twice Barreled Rye. Similar to the Jim Beam Double...

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