Cooper's Choice Caol Ila 2009 52% Muscat

MacNair`s Lum Reek 12 Year

$99.99

The brand has been built on the backbone of the GlenAllachie whiskies Billy Walker & Co. acquired as part of the purchase of the distillery, married with Caol Ila. The whiskies in this blended malt were aged in first fill ex-Bourbon, ex-Red Wine and ex-PX Sherry casks. The 12 Year old is bottled at 46% without colouring or chill-filtering.

About The Range

"Our multi-award-winning Lum Reek Blended Malt Scotch Whiskies combine Single Malts from Islay and Speyside – two of the most sought-after whisky regions in Scotland – marrying both peated and unpeated spirit to create perfectly balanced and satisfyingly complex malts. Taking inspiration from MacNair’s discovery of the delights of a dram beside a smoky peat fireplace, Billy Walker has drawn upon his half century’s experience in blending to develop a recipe fit for a traditional Scottish toast to long life;  “Lang may yer lum reek”."

The MacNair's Story: "Ne'er happier than when exploring the globe or the spirit from the golden still, Harvey McNair was - in the parlance of his native Glasgow - a man or 'lad o'pairts': a true Victorian entrepreneur. A trader, thereby a traveller, an inventor of all sorts of mechanical contraptions, his genius lay in the blending of fine whiskies. He loved and championed the natural, unadulterated colour of whisky. "Pure gold' he said with a wink. Bon viveur and raconteur, he cut a dash about town and had a bursting social calendar. His best stories were always 'agin hisself', like how his neighbours thought him an alchemist or, indeed, how he discovered Lum Reek. But he knew a good dram when he blended it, or indeed stumbled across it. Just like our own 21st Century Whisky legend Billy Walker, who has recreated and refined the Lum Reek blend for the modern palate.

"One autumn evening in the 1860s, after a day's fishing, our man was quaffing a dram in the old stone bothy near GlenAllachie. Due to a blocked chimney (or lum) the room filled with smoke. It had "a marvellous effect on the whisky in my glass," confided McNair later to his merchant cronies. "Indeed, perfection!" Ne'er a truer word was spoken. Today's Lum Reek is the creation of our Master Blender Billy Walker, raising his hat to the top hatted Victorian. It's a heavily peated malt, marrying Islay & Speyside whiskies with rich GlenAllachie, to extend the flavour profile. Lum Reek is matured in GlenAllachie's warehouses, then bottled at 46% (and above), unchilfiltered, allowing its natural colour to shine like those golden autumns Harvey MacNair enjoyed, decked out in his waders."

Port Askaig 8 Year

$79.99

Peatheads, rejoice! For those searching for a fix of sharp, young peat and bucketloads of billowy smoke, look no further. Port Askaig is a wee ferry port off the east coast of the isle of Islay. Its proximity to two of the island's most unfairly overlooked distilleries should give some sort of clue as to the pedigree of this neat little treat of a dram. Your choices are either Caol Ila or Bunnahabhain, and let's just say the answer rhymes with Caol Ila (Do you know how hard it is to rhyme in Gaelic?!).  

If you know the distillery's character you'll immediately be able to see it all over this one. A true value whisky too. 45.8% abv, uncolored and non-chill-filtered.