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1257 Kensington Road NW
1 (403) 283-8000 / [email protected]
This bottle was featured on Day 14 of our 2022 KWM Whisky Calendar. You can read the blog post here
Also available in 50ml / Mini bottles
This is our first-ever KWM-selected single cask from Benrinnes Distillery. Only 199 total bottles, from an ex-Bourbon Barrel filled in 2010, and bottled after 11 years at a natural cask strength of 56%!
700ml mlAndrew's Tasting Note
Nose: soft, decadent, creamy, and floral; spiced crab apple jelly, quince paste and marzipan; dusty malt, a touch of musty oak and woody spices; rooibos tea dregs and fennel seeds.
Palate: still creamy, decadent, and floral with a soft approach and a firm malty base; shelled peanuts, fennel seeds, and more woody spices: licorice root, dried ginger, and cedar saunas; on the fruit side of things, baked apple, orange Starbursts, and zesty lime; creamy vanilla throughout.
Finish: medium long, warm, and coating with more juicy malt, gentle spice, creamy vanilla, and a tinge of citrus.
Comment: you don't see a lot of cask-strength single casks, even young ones, at this price point anymore, and that was half of the attraction; the other half was the whisky itself... this is a beautiful example of a young Benrinnes without a trace of any rough edges!
Evan’s Tasting Note
Nose: Marcona Almonds, sunflower seeds, milk chocolate, strawberry compote, and vanilla-flavoured Greek yogurt with slices of honeydew melon and Golden Delicious Apples.
Palate: Creamy and spicy with more apple and milk chocolate notes as well as Five Alive, peach and ginger tea, crème caramel, Kit Kat bar, and more oily and salty Marcona almonds.
Finish: Vanilla, milk chocolate and orchard fruits all the way down.
Comment: As this is one of our single casks, I have had the opportunity to taste it a few times. I suggest taking your time with this in the glass because it opens up beautifully and gets even better after breathing.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: chocolate orange, marzipan, caramel with a hint of menthol.
Palate: oily and full-bodied, toffee and orange liqueur.
Finish: long, warming with more lingering milk chocolate.
$219.99
It is finally here... we have been teasing and talking about this whisky for months, and it was worth the wait. We are thrilled to introduce you to our first ever KWM exlcusive single cask from That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Although the bottle doesn't explicitly tell you which "Highland" distillery the whisky is from, there are clues on the label... 578 bottles have been filled exclusively for Kensington Wine Market at 51%. But we have nothing holding us back from telling you that Boutique-y Highland #2 is Clynelish... That's right, this is 20 year old Clynelish!
Andrew's Note on the Whisky & Label
Could that be a cat in the clouds, a Wild Highland Cat perhaps? Is it not strange to see a waxy candle-powered balloon? Incidentally, it is lifting the KWM whisky team aloft. And what of the monument? If we told you it was a controversial monument near the town of Golspie dedicated to the infamous Duke of Sutherland, would that give you all the information you need to know? What Highland Distillery has a Wild Highland Cat as its symbol, a waxy profile, and an infamous Duke as its founder?
This label is a cheeky take on a shared memory, with embellishments, embedded details, and Easter eggs, in the tradition of the best Boutique-y Whisky Company Labels. More importantly, it tells a story, which is personally important to my family. My mother was born into the Clann Gunn in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Her ancestors roamed swaths of what is now Caithness and Sutherland in northern Scotland. That is until they were compelled to leave Scotland in the late 18th century, cruelly and rudely displaced to make way for sheep during the early days of the Highland Clearances.
On the label there is a ship at sea, heading to Canada presumably, as hinted at by the flags (the Canadian flag as it is today was only introduced in 1965). On the flat coastal plain at the base of the mountains sheep can be seen grazing. In front of the monument stand a pair of Canadians stand in hockey jerseys. Sam Simmons, Head of Whisky at Atom Brands, and a native Torontonian, stands closest to the monument in what appears to be a hockey jersey. Further back, a native Calgarian, yours truly can be seen waving a white hat, an iconic symbol of "Cowtown", whilst sporting a local hockey team jersey of his own. In the balloon Keith, Evan, Shawn & Curt can be seen waving at Andrew & Sam below. Speaking of those two, what are they doing atop Ben Bhraggie? Funny story that.
When TBWC offered us this cask of Highland Malt, they asked us what we wanted on the label, and I had a cheeky idea. In 2006 I made my first trip to Scotland, and on that trip, I hiked up Ben Bhraggie, a small mountain (really a foothill by Canadian standards) to see the monument of the infamous Duke. Someone had spraypainted the word "Monster" in neon green at the base. When I was sure no one was looking I dropped trow and relieved myself on it. I sent Sam an email of this tale, my connection to the area and my idea for the label. I was sure it was just a little too edgy...
Minutes later my phone was ringing... it was 3 AM in the UK, but Sam wanted to make sure I had seen his reply. He too had hiked Ben Bhraggie in 2005, and he had also paid his own respects to the infamous Duke of Sutherland...
One last little nugget, Keith, who is a personal trainer and headed to Beijing as a Team Canada Skeleton coach, felt his arm didn't look appropriately burly, in an early draft of the label. So we had the artist, Emily Chappell, 'bugs bunny' his arm... In case it isn't already apparent, nothing is sacred (especially when it comes to The Duke of Sutherland and Keith's pipes)!
And the rest as they say is history. On the back of every bottle, That Boutique-y Whisky Company includes the following text: "We are passionate about great whisky, we don't take ourselves too seriously and we LOVE a good story." No wonder these chaps are such a great fit to work with!
$12.99
This bottle was featured on Day 14 of our 2022 KWM Whisky Calendar. You can read the blog post here
Also available in full-size bottles
This is our first-ever KWM-selected single cask from Benrinnes Distillery. Only 199 total bottles, from an ex-Bourbon Barrel filled in 2010, and bottled after 11 years at a natural cask strength of 56%!
$119.993
Gilles Dumangin doesn't make things easy on himself when he wraps his whiskies in wine. He has a habit of stacking the deck against himself by picking distilleries that boast some of the most challenging profiles in all of Scotch Whisky: Benrinnes, Ardmore, Fettercairn, Craigellachie. These aren't exactly the most mild-mannered of malts. It's a testament to the man's craft. I love the whole 'if you're going to swing, swing for the fences' mentality.
This Benrinnes spent 10 years in a Refill Hogshead before 23 months in Ratafia Champenois.
347 bottles. Natural colour and non-chill-filtered. 48%
$379.99
This 29 year old Miltonduff is a lovely single malt, filled into a Refill Hogshead cask in 1990 and bottled at 57.2%. Exclusive to KWM. 90pts Whiskybase
