Creative Whisky Co. Glen Garioch 1994
$143.99
This well priced cask strength 20 year old Glen Garioch is rare with just 18 bottles in Canada, all exclusive to KWM! Distilled in 1994 and bottled at 55.8%. This is one of the Creative Whisky Company's 10th Anniversary Releases, 299 total bottles from a Ex-Bourbon Hogshead Cask!
Andrew' Tasting Note
Nose: big candied lemon and freshly oiled chruch pews; freshly mowed dewy grasses and vanilla/coconut hand cream; white and citrus fruits.
Palate: big, chewy and very creamy, the fruits surge to the fore: blood orange and juicy graefruit, green apple and tangy mangoes; the oak is sugary and toasty with silky vanillans and toasted coconut.
Finish: the finish is lush, coating and sweet with barley sugars, white Hershey's Kisses and more juicy citrus fruits.
Comment: the is a fine older Glen Garioch with big American oak notes and mouthwatering juicy citrus tones.
Kilchoman 2008
$109.99
The 2008 vintage is the distillery's first 7 year old whisky. Only a very limited amount of this vintage has made it's way to Canada. Like the fantastic 2007, it will not last long!
From the Distillery: "The Limited Edition 2008 Vintage is a vatting of fresh ex American bourbon barrels filled in July 2008 and bottled in August 2015. This latest release is a continuation of our by-annually released Vintage range, having previously bottled 2006 and 2007 Vintages in 2011 and 2013.
"Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director; ‘The 2008 Vintage is a classic bourbon barrel aged Kilchoman however the additional maturation has added layers of soft fruit and sweetness not seen in previous releases. This latest vintage release makes me very excited about the future development of Kilchoman single malt.’"
Tomatin Contrast
$209.99
This is a very interesting two half bottle release from Tomatin Distillery which shows the contrast between ex-bourbon and ex-sherry barrels and their influence on Scotch. The disitllery vatted whiskies from 4 decades, and then further matured it in ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry before bottling at 46%.
Producer Description
Here is more information from Tomatin's website:
"This limited release presents a unique opportunity to directly compare the effect of Bourbon and Sherry casks on whisky distilled in specific years at Tomatin Distillery; 1973, 1977, 1988, 1991, 2002 & 2006. Having selected and vatted casks from the same six years in both types of casks, our Distillery Manager, Graham Eunson, has created two incredible whiskies and an exceptional tasting experience.
Cask Type:
1. Fully matured in Ex-Bourbon Casks
2. Fully matured in Ex-Sherry Casks
Strength: 46% alc./vol.
Released: July 2015
Sovereign Carsebridge 42 Year
$499.99
SOLD OUT
Glenglassaugh Chosen Few 33 Year
$391.49
Berry's Miltonduff 1995 KWM Cask
$152.99
SOLD OUT!
New for December 2015 an exceptional new cask from Miltonduff Distillery selected by and bottled exclusively for KWM. This cask was an accidental discovery, happened upon by our Scotch Guy while he was trying to help a corporate customer find a barrel. Bottled at a cask strength of 55% only 174 bottles were filled from a single Refill Bourbon Barrel. Beware it is dangerously drinkable!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: beeswax and pineapple wedges, hintes of cedar and pine; Madagascar vanilla, canteloupes and not quite fully ripened mangos; decadent, fruity and floral with a hint of white pepper.
Palate: frim but delicate and layered, very fruity and creamy; floral and sweet with loads of Madagascar vanilla and floral malt; more hot white pepper, oily oaky tones and fruits, loads of fruits: more mangos, canteloupes, mushy banana with juicy malt.
Finish: decadent, layered and complex, lots of sugars, fading fruits and spices.
Comment: it has been 5-6 months since I requested this cask and I forgot how good it is... dangerously drinkable!
About Miltonduff Distiller (Courtesy of Berry Brothers & Rudd)
Miltonduff distillery was built to the south of Elgin in 1824 in the Glen of Pluscarden, a short distance from the eponymous Abbey ruins. In 1964 two Lomond stills were added producing a different of whisky which was known as Mostowie
MacKinlay's Shackleton The Journey
$224.99
This is the second batch of the Mackinlay's Rare Old, also known as the Shackleton Whisky. The original release was exclusive Kensington and one of our best ever selling whiskies. The whisky is a replica of the one Shackleton's 1907 expedition took to the Antarctic. The expedition abandoned some of their whisky under their hut, where it remained undiscovered until 2007.
Three crates of whisky had to be abandoned to the Antarctic winter in 1907. They were rediscovered a few short years ago, and two of the bottles were given to Whyte and MacKay, owners of the rights to the MacKinlays brand. Their master blender Richard Patterson, known as "nose" has painstakingly recreated the whiskies by blending together a number of Highland whiskies.
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Soft, elegant and refined. Delicate crushed apple, pear and fresh pineapple. Notes of oak shavings and smoke. Hints of vanilla, creamy caramel and nutmeg.
Palate: Plenty of impact on the palate; a tantalizing array of flavours, harmonious and exhilarating.
About the Packaging
Box: A unique, stand-out hexagonal "shipping case" with an open "see me" window on the front panel. The raffia-encasing of the product is reminiscent of the original straw-bound bottles discovered in the Antartic. A holographic badge issues authenticity.
Bottle: A painstaking process was followed to ensure all bubbles and imperfections in the original were replicated. In effect, the glass manufacturer turned off all the modern-day quality controls.
Label Set: All lettering was meticulously drawn by hand to ensure a perfect match to the original. Paper stocks were selected to perform as the original stocks of over a century ago.
More About Shackleton's Whisky - From the Producer
In June 1907, the Glen Mhor distillery in Inverness, Scotland, received an order from the famous explorer Ernest Shackleton for a total of 46 cases of Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt – one of the more indulgent items included among the provisions designed to sustain his British Antarctic Expedition of 1907.
In February 2007, after almost a century entombed in thick ice beneath Shackleton's expedition hut in Antarctica, three crates of this long lost whisky were discovered by a team from the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust. The team was carrying out a full programme of conservation work on the ageing expedition hut at Cape Royds when they made their stunning discovery.
However, in line with international protocols agreed by the Antarctic Treaty Nations, the crates could not be removed from Antarctica unless it was for conservation or scientific reasons.
In early 2010, one crate of the whisky was removed from the ice by the Antarctic Heritage Trust and flown directly back to Canterbury Museum for careful thawing and stabilization. Eventually, this crate was returned – and became one of over 14,000 expedition artifacts which the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust cares for across this frozen continent.
In Canterbury Museum, the temporarily liberated crate of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt was slowly de-frosted in a purpose-built cool room. Over a two-week period in mid-2010, while captured in the increasing glare of worldwide media interest, the temperature of the crate itself raised extremely slowly from around -20ºC to 0ºC.
The team of conservators were able to examine the contents and were eventually delighted to recover 11 bottles, 10 of which are perfectly intact, still wrapped in protective paper and straw.
With the whisky finally freed from the frozen crate, the museum conservators were able to complete their detailed analysis of the packaging, labels and bottles. However, the global spotlight was intensely focused on what these precious artifact bottles contain – a Highland malt whisky that was already well over 100 years old.
Indeed, never before in the history of whisky experts had access to a century old bottle of whisky that had been stored in a natural fridge well beyond human reach. So it was arguably only a slight exaggeration when this rare and valuable malt was described as ‘a gift from heaven for whisky lovers’ by Richard Paterson, Master Blender at Whyte & Mackay, the owners of the Mackinlay brand. And, with the bottles now ice-free, plans were made to undertake an analysis of the whisky so that it could be re-created in all its long-lost glory.
The analysis of the whisky first determines its strength at 47.3% alc./vol. The team described the whisky as light honey in colour, straw gold with shimmering highlights, and with an aroma that is soft, elegant and refined on the nose. Indeed, detailed nosing revealed delicate aromas of crushed apple, pear and fresh pineapple with notes of oak shavings, smoke and hints of buttery vanilla, creamy caramel and nutmeg. And, finally, the tasting revealed a spirit that has plenty of impact on the palate; a tantalizing array of flavours that is both harmonious and exhilarating.
Analysis of the cask extractives indicated that the spirit was matured in American white oak sherry casks, while testing of the phenol content, which was lighter than expected for a whisky of this period, revealed that the peat used for the malting originated in the Orkney Islands.
Indeed, documentary evidence supports this, recording the supply of peat to both Glen Mhor and Glen Albyn distilleries in Inverness from the Isle of Eday in Orkney during the early 1900s. Final examination of each bottle delivered almost identical spirit profiles, suggesting that these far-travelled bottles may be representative of all whisky made at Glen Mhor.
Kilchoman 10th Anniversary
$179.99
Only 30 bottles of this very limited edition 10th Anniversary bottling have come to Canada. Strictly 1 per customer!
From the Distillery: "As many of you know 2015 is our 10th Anniversary year, we in fact opened the visitor centre doors to the public at Feis Ile 2005 although we didn't produce any spirit until early December. To celebrate the 10th Anniversary year we have created a special 10th anniversary release to mark the occasion!
"The 10th anniversary release is a vatting of sherry and bourbon casks filled between 2005 and 2012 and includes whisky from Cask Number 01/2005, the first cask ever filled at Kilchoman. This limited edition is just 3,000 bottles at cask strength (58.2%abv). Bottles are all individually hand numbered and will be available from Saturday 23rd."
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: very creamy, fruity, honeyed and delicate; maritime, clean smoke, soft peat oils and citrus; grassy herbaceous tones, oak shavings, lemon and lime.
Palate: soft, elegant, smoky and honeyed with buidling clean maritime smoke; the peat oils are soft and briny with crisp green grasses and bright fruits; white fruits: green apple and ripe pear, more citrus tones and some building dark spices (clove and anise).
Finish: long, coating and honeyed with clean salty smoke.
Comment: another sign that the distillery is on the right track and it's brightest days ahead!
Kilchoman Madeira
$121.49
Only 120 bottles of the limited edition Islay single malt have made their way to Canada, and they won't last long. Limit 1 per customer!
From the Distillery: "Madeira Cask Matured follows the release of our Port Cask Matured bottling in late 2014, both are firsts for Kilchoman. In 2010 approximately 20 Port, Madeira and Sauterne casks were filled for a full maturation period of 3-5 years rather than the industry norm of finishing the whisky in wine casks for just a few months. The result is a rich, nutty influence from the Madeira wine casks combined beautifully with the peaty Kilchoman spirit to give a punchy yet refined Islay dram."