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1257 Kensington Road NW
1 (403) 283-8000 / atyourservice@kensingtonwinemarket.com
$499.99
This whisky was featured on Day 5 of our 2023 KWM UBER Whisky Calendar. You can read Evan's blog post on it here.
Bottled at 45.8%, after maturing in Refill American Oak Hogsheads, this 28 year old Mystery Islay Single Malt scored 90pts with @WhiskyFun. While the blogosphere seems to think this is Caol Ila, we were told by the bottler they strongly believed it to be Laphroaig. Curious, but either way it is an amazingly good old Islay Single Malt Scotch at a stellar price!
700 ml Low Stock
Evan's Tasting Note
Nose: Briny tide pools and smoky embers from a campfire, malty grains, Weetabix cereal, a touch of chalky Parma Violet candies, prawns grilled with lemon slices and capers, and a touch of seaweed and iodine.
Palate: Soft, coastal, and smoky with smores fresh from the campfire, pink grapefruit juice, lemonade, dried seaweed snacks, salty cashews, and Parma Violet candy once more.
Finish: Ashy, salty, and slightly sweet with the lemonade note sticking around.
Comment: I have tried this whisky a few times now and I love it so much. I don’t care if it is Laphroaig, Caol Ila, or somehow Glenlivet. That doesn’t really matter – this is just a damn good dram.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: dried apricots, candied lemon and melons; crème brule, creamed honey and Earl Grey tea ice cream; candied salmon and seared scallops with a balsamic reduction; surprisingly malty with clean smoke.
Palate: thick, coating and creamy; loads of vanilla, more creamed honey and velvety oak; tarry with soft earthy peat and clean peat smoke; rather spicy, fennel and clove; still fruit, more apricots, lemon and melon but also a touch of tropical fruits; still seafood-y.
Finish: long, coating, creamy and very fruity; tarry with more soft peat smoke and briny seafood-y tones.
Comment: lovely old stuff; I absolutely love the way that brash young peated whiskies mellow over time in the cask, developing in soft, round, fruity and elegant whiskies.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: A complex mix of medicine cabinets, fresh mint, pine resin, smoked tea leaves and hospital laundry drying on the breeze. Almond flakes, kirschwasser, lychee, guava and pineapple rings in syrup follow. With water, there’s a background of vanilla pods and burnt caramel.
Palate: Oily, generous and meaty with pancetta-wrapped chicken legs, cured speck with bay leaves and salted Padrón peppers. Rich coconut butter, orange peel and Portuguese custard tarts dusted with cinnamon aren’t far behind. Distant wildflower fields of violet, lavender and camphor trees bring a freshness to the table.
Finish: There’s plenty of lingering woodsmoke here, as well as rosemary, menthol and liquorice. It leaves you immediately ready for another sip.
Comment: Even after plenty of time to mellow, the peat takes centre stage alongside a fresh herbal bouquet. A dram that brings constant surprises.
90pts Whisky Fun
"Will this one be softer? What’s 3 years anyway? Colour: white wine. Nose: well, it is a little more camphory and mentholy, so probably a little more tertiary, with some pine nuts, greengages, these notes of smoked salmon and other fatter fish, smoked hake, touches of pickled onions and capers perhaps, then a fruitier side with pink grapefruits, then whiffs of rainwater… Mouth: ah yes, transmuting peat, with already more tropical fruits (mangos, maracujas) while the rawer, straighter smokiness is still there. Other than that, it’s all wonderful, perfectly balanced, with touches of caraway and star anise leading to a rising gingerbready feeling. This one’s really very interesting, it’s not a 25 anymore, while it’s not a 30 yet. In short, somewhere in between, and that is pretty lovely. Finish: medium, rather soft, with a saltier, brinier ending. Oyster juice! Comments: the 25 and the 28 are actually very different, but please don’t ask me to choose. SGP:555 - 90 points."
$1069.99
PEAT IN PARTS PER THOUSAND
From Islay, this 23 year old spent 20 years in an oloroso sherry butt before being tranferred to a refill PX sherry butt for the remainder of its maturation, and has an abv of 58.2%.
Flavour profile: Heavily peated
Distilled on: 14 February 2001
Outturn: 581 bottles
$2449.99
Bottled at 43.8% this limited edition Laphroaig, the first in the Strong Characters Series, was matured in ex-Bourbon and sherry seasoned European oak hogsheads.
Producer Description
"Introducing STRONG CHARACTERS, a series of limited-edition bottlings, each telling the story of the bold men and women who have shaped the Laphroaig’s inimitable whisky.
"Laphroaig has always believed in doing things the right way, not the easy way, and this collectable series documents the bold path that those before us have tread to make Laphroaig what it is today.
"Volume 1 tells the story of Donald Johnston, the older of two brothers who founded the Laphroaig distillery in 1815. Their bold venture is expertly brought to life through illustrations by award-winning British artist Bill Bragg, which adorn the packaging and accompanying booklet."
$499.99
This 29 year old mystery Islay single malt, believed to be from Laphroaig, was finished in Oloroso Sherry Octaves before bottling at a natural cask strength of 52.1%.
PRoducer Description
"A glorious 29 Year Old unnamed Islay malt that was distilled in 1993 and and some of it has been finished in Oloroso Octaves by ourselves. There’s a long held belief that when an Islay single malt is unnamed, it’s always Caol Ila! This is simply because Caol Ila is the largest distillery on the island…"
About The Label
"Sometimes we are allowed to say what distillery our whiskies come from, often happens when we’ve bought casks directly from the distillery. Sometimes we don’t even know! This occasionally happens when we’ve bought casks through a broker. To be honest, it’s not important to us… Another single malt from an unidentified Islay distillery, but wait a minute… Haven't we seen this label before? It’s the Living Room Whisky chaps on it doing a pose from a movie, and remarkably like our Laphroaig label - a clue perhaps? That’s the Boutique-y of of our labels - we can give the game away without naming the distillery as per the seller's request!"
$186.99
The Port Askaig 17, and Cask Strength, are the first new whiskies we have seen in this range in a couple of years. Bottled at 50.5% from a parcel of undisclosed Islay single malt matured in ex-Bourbon casks. Very good chance this is Caol Ila... but we'll have to taste it to be sure! 87.55pts Whiskybase
