Scotch Malt Whisky Society 4.160
$119.69
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to retrun to KWM.
IN A GENTLEMEN'S CLUB
One of two casks from the same Orcadian distillery for released the same month. 14 years in a Refill Ex-Sherry Gorda, and 56.1%:
Panel's Tasting Note: "The nose had polished wood, cigars and leather chairs 'like a gentleman's club', lots of cinder toffee, chocolate fingers, pastrami and various fruits (orange jelly, cherries in syrup, plums, figs). The initial palate was somewhat fierce but surprisingly enjoyable – moist ginger cake, Caramac, orange, smoked ham and burnt sticks in birch syrup. The reduced nose had incense, struck match, Trail Mix (dates, raisins, etc.) Horlicks, cinnamon and slightly over-done Christmas cake. The palate now found flambéed bananas, sweet dark toffee and abundant spice (musk, myrrh, cinnamon) at the end. The distillery is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Magnus Eunson."
Drinking Tip: "Perfect dram for the ferry to Orkney – otherwise after dinner."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 29.113
$104.39
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to return to KWM!
A CHANGELING
Not an Angelina Jolie movie, but a powerful Ileach matured in Ex-Bourbon for 10 years and bottled at 57.7%.
Panel's Tasting Note: "All malts change in the glass - this one more than most! It begins clean, fresh and mineralic, with a soapy edge, then gains soft toffee and charcoal, with heather pollen, then moves towards treacle toffee, dentists' mouthwash and... prawn cocktail crisps! The taste, at this stage, is sweet, salty and tarry (toasted barley; a hot kiln), with smoky bacon crisps. Water raises exhaust fumes, railway engines, Hippie Afghan coats, goats, a smoking Bakelite plug, Plasticine, melting vinyl records, bonfire ash; the taste now soft, sweet, salty, clay-like, with malt in the ashy finish. From the Prince of Wales' favourite distillery."
Drinking Tip: "Contemplating the sunset."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 29.114
$104.39
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to return to KWM!
AFTER DINNER DRAM
This 10 year old Ileach has spent 10 years maturing in an ex-Bourbon hoggy; bottled at 56.1%.
Panel's Tasting Note: "First impressions are meaty and herbal, roasted lamb with thyme and rosemary, followed by a maritime freshness of a salty sea breeze and the sweetness of mint toffee. Undiluted on the palate surprisingly sweet, slightly bitter, like a good Turkish coffee whilst grilling succulent pork fillets. With water, more sweetness on the nose is added, vanilla pods and black currants as well as a flinty, chalky aroma reminding us of Edinburgh rock. The taste develops into a sweet hot chocolate with a freshness of eucalyptus leaves and the lingering ashy aftertaste from the bbq last night at ‘the beautiful hollow by the broad bay’."
Drinking Tip: "Instead of coffee after a bbq on the beach."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 39.85
$179.09
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to return to KWM!
A WHISKY TO DREAM ABOUT
A 29 Year Old Refill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead matured and still 57.4%, wow!
Panel's Tasting Note: "We were drawn into this whisky, a dreamlike state descending on the panel. Our nostrils remembered bananas, toffee and custard in a rose garden. The blades of grass were red laces. Adding water saw us reading old leather books, while bananas, pineapples and lemons grew all around. Meanwhile our tongues recalled oak and spice with liquorice and plum skins before water introduced mangoes, kiwi fruits and a big box of apples made out of sandalwood. A dream so real, we could taste and smell every second of it. Wonderful!"
Drinking Tip: "Perfect for an afternoon of daydreaming in the rose garden."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 76.88
$159.29
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to return to KWM!
COMPLEX AND MANLY
This Ex-Bourbon matured 23 year old Speysider was bottled at 51.7%.
Panel's Tasting Note: "Rich, complex and delicious: fruity rum-toft, unripe plums and mellow fruits, nuts and chocolate, unlit cigars, hard toffee, shoe polish... developing to waxy cake tin. A big texture at full strength: sweet, waxy and meaty, with surprise chilli chocolate and 'cherries soaked in sweet vermouth'. With water the waxiness increases; now shredded and glazed roast duck, gingerbread, stewed strawberries, a trace of dusty wood behind, indicating age. Smooth and sweet to taste; slightly waxy with tobacco traces and chocolate-covered biscuits. From Dufftown's first distillery."
Drinking Tip: "In the library, with coffee and cigar."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 27.97
$115.19
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to return to KWM!
GLAZED CASHEW AND LEMON LOLLIES
A 13 year old Campbeltonian from a Refill Ex-Sherry Gorda at 57.6%
Panel's Tasting Note: "Stunning for its age! Creamy fudge, condensed milk, Golden Syrup on hot buttered toast; Caramac toffee/chocolate; 'Dolcé de Leché' (Argentinian pastries). A very sweet taste, then mouth drying, with a thread of smoke in the finish; caramelised cashew nuts and fresh kindling wood. A drop of water musters crushed rosemary, beurre noir, 'lemon lollies in warm sand', sea-salt and a trace of struck matches; the taste smooth and viscous, with a light sweetness balanced by dry tannins; allspice, leather and tobacco in the finish. A classic old-fashioned example of the make from Campbeltown's leading distillery."
Drinking Tip: "In a beach hut."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 105.18
$170.99
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to return to KWM!
A DRAM FOR SANTA
This 28 year old Speysider is from a Refill Sherry Hogshead and bottled at 55.5%.
Panel's Tasting Note: "Chocolate-coated nougat on the hands. Rich and mellow: dark chocolate with orange zest; German ginger cake with cinnamon, nutmeg and Macademia nuts; traces of stem ginger and chocolate-covered cherries and baked bananas. A thick mouthfeel, voluptuous and rich; sweet with crème brulée and an aftertaste of burnt sugar and lingering ginger. We added water reluctantly (be careful), and it raised waxy oranges, sandalwood, currants and walnuts on the nose and a spicy, gingery taste, with burnt marzipan and Macademia nuts. From the first distillery built on Speyside in the 20th Century, designed by the President of the Royal Academy."
Drinking TIp: "On Christmas morning, before church."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 125.62
$101.69
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to return to KWM!
CREPES SUZETTE & COFFEE DREGS
This 10 year old from Tain, in the northern Highlands, is a potent 61.2% after 10 years in ex-Bourbon.
Panel's Tasting Note: "Reminiscent of Calvados and Grand Marnier, the nose delivered toffee apples, pineapple, Crêpes Suzettes, Werthers originals, Edinburgh rock, custard slices and Moffat toffees. The unreduced palate exploded with warm ginger and orange flavours (if ever a whisky lived up to its colour!) then superior tequila and Madeira wine in the finish. The reduced nose offered dried fruits, ginger wine, lots of citrus (lemon meringue pie, oranges in syrup, pineapple) and caramel gradually emerging. The reduced palate, still big, chewy and beautifully sweet, had sugary dregs of coffee, chocolate gingers, then a dry sherry aftertaste rounding off this fine Tain dram."
Drinking Tip: "With crepes, or any other dessert."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 64.35
$144.89
SOLD OUT! - Not expected to return to KWM!
NICEY, NICEY, SWEET 'N SPICY
A Speysider 21 Years in a Refill Ex-Bourbon barrel, and 55.2%.
Panel's Tasting Note: "The nose was finely layered – old-fashioned, expensive, floral perfume on top; apple sauce, gooseberry purée and a tin of fruity boiled sweets below that; the olfactory sub-strata inhabited by patent leather and old books. The taste was sweet and hot – opinions included tom yam soup, mango chutney, HP Sauce, chilli, crystallised ginger and leather. The reduced nose added floral pot-pourri, plum chutney, polished sandalwood and Indian food (ginger, paprika, etc.). The palate improved but the sweet and savoury profile remained steady – toffee, honey, sugar-coated fennel seeds, liquorice and salty lime pickle. This distillery does not draw water from Loch Dhu!"
Drinking Tip: "A bit of a talking point whisky - could accompany an Asian or Indian takeaway."