Scotch Malt Whisky Society 53.227
$169.19
SWEET, SALTY AND SMOKY
This 18 year old from Islay spent its life in a refill hogshead and is 56.8%.
Flavour profile: Peated
Outturn: 248 bottles
Panel's tasting note: "On the nose neat a lot of foodie aromas made us all very hungry indeed; spicy sausage casserole, honeyed pork loin with plum and lavender relish but also simple old fashioned mincemeat pie and chips wrapped in newspaper served with salt and vinegar. It tasted as it smelled – fabulous! Sweet, salty, smoky like a broiled tuna steak (centre has remained pink) with a zingy herb sauce. Water turned it into a grilled pork cutlet with a maple chipotle glaze as well as dried seaweed and Japanese sweet omelette. The never-ending finish was peat smoke entwined with fresh salty sea air."
Drinking tip: "Whenever, wherever"
Adelphi Fascadale Batch 9
$98.99
Batch 9 of Adelphi's Fascadale is the first in the series from the Ardmore distillery. Matured 14 years in three Ex-Bourbon and three Ex-Shery casks, with 1342 bottles produced. This batch of the product is nearly sold out in Alberta!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: honeyed, woody and a touch earthy; walking through a damp Aspen forest on an early fall morning; almond paste and clean wood smoke.
Palate: very honeyed, malty and lightly earthy with building smoke and wet leaf litter; creamy and coating with soft leather, raisins and a touch of musty American oak.
Finish: honeyed, clean smoke and more earthy tones; leathery and spicy with more toasty, but juicy oak.
Comment: A touch spicier and smokier than past releases.
Adelphi Liddesdale Batch 9
$133.19
Bottled at 46% this Batch 9 bottling of Adelphi's Liddesdale is like the others from the Bunnahabhain distillery. Only 42 bottles of this batch found their way to Alberta. Liddesdale is named for a feature on the Ardnamurcan peninsula where Adelphi has built its first distillery of the same name.
Andrew’s Tasting Note
Nose: newly polished leather shoes, dried dark fruits and fresh apricots; creamy with honeyed toasty oak and marmalade; very pretty, decadent Demerara sugars and loose leaf tobacco.
Palate: very candied, lots of Christmas cake notes, still pretty, dried dark fruits, licorice and chocolate infused with cayenne spice; licorice root, dried ginger candies and soft new leather.
Finish: long, big, smooth and leathery with decadent spices with late tobacco.
Comment: very pretty, elegant and rich; a fine example of this label.
"Liddesdale rising gently from the southern shore of Loch Sunart, Liddesdale Brae is steeped in folklore. Some speak of the 'Devil's Acre' where the old widow 'sell'd her coo to the De'il'; nothing grows there. Others whisper of the "Fairie Knoll', protected for all time by the 'Deaf Shepherd' looking down from the skyline."
Adelphi Caol Ila 2003
$129.59
A single cask of Caol Ila bottled at 581% from a Refill Sherry Hogshead. Cask No. 301266. Only 12 bottles came to Alberta, and only 6 of them to Calgary, exclusively to KWM.
Andrew’s Tasting Note
Nose: thick, honeyed, firm smoke and smoked fish; creamy with white fruits and fresh scallops cooked in butter; white pepper and chewy malt.
Palate: big chewy malt, thick honey and big smoked fish notes; salty maritime smoke, apple sauce, and poached pears with a touch of orange peels.
Finish: creamy, malty and cleanly smoked with fading fishy tones.
Comment: a big, bold and pleasant Caol Ila; not overly complex but an excellent malt.
Adelphi Clynelish 1997
$152.99
Adelphi Limerick Slaney 1991
$233.99
Adelphi The Glover 14 Year
$157.49
Glendronach 19 Year Madeira Finish
$141.29
This 19 year old Madeira finished Glendronach bottled at 46% without colouring or chill-filtering is the oldest whisky released to date in the Wood Finish line. Initially matured in European oak casks, the whisky was finished in Madeira hogsheads before bottling.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: fresh, fruity and decadent with warming spices; lots of white fruits, dried pineapple and apricot jam; creamy, sugary and floral top notes.
Palate: very honeyed, creamy and fruity, frankly a stunner; the palate shows more white fruits, baked apple, poached pear and exotic tropical ones too: mangos, pineapples and peaches; still creamy, it is sinfully decadent with sweet warming spices, soft floral tones and gentle toasted oak.
Finish: long and lovely, stays very honeyed as the fruits, spices and toasted oak slowly fade out.
Comment: wow, this is very far off of Glendronach's beaten path in terms of style; very sweet and the sherry tones are third or fourth fiddle to the Madeira notes; very elegant fruity and complex; wow.
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Crisp apple and pear sweeten to apricot syrup and ripe gooseberry. A citrus twist and a touch of black pepper add a warm, contrasting depth to the ever-evolving nose.
Palate: Cinnamon-dusted tarte Tatin and notes of green apple skin balanced with the clean, crisp warmth of stem ginger and candied peel. Rich stewed barley lingers on the palate, adding a traditional character to the long succulent finish.
Finish: A delightful contrast of ripe summer fruits and vibrant warm spices perfectly complements the robust depth of the traditional Highland style.
Adelphi Glen Garioch 1993
$221.39
New Alberta exclusive for KWM, a 22 year old single cask of Glen Garioch from Adelphi, distilled in 1993 and bottled in 2015. Only 20 bottles have come in to the market. Matured in a First Fill Ex-Sherry Hogshead Cask, # 775, 285 total bottles.
Andrew;s Tasting Note
Nose: rich old Oloroso sherry, old leather library chairs, dusty books and nutty tones with prunes and dark chocolate; rich Christmas cake and plum pudding; Big Turk and honey drizzled figs.
Palate: big Christmas cake, massive licorice and treacle sauce drizzled on plum pudding with bakers chocolate and chocolate covered espresso beans; leather and nutty, classic Oloroso sherry tones, it softens with each sip, mangoes, prunes and figs emerge; a faint tinge of smoke perhaps?
Finish: big, long, rich and coating with Demerara sugars, leather, tobacco and dark fruits; late clean smoke.
Comment: this is a big, heavily sherried Glen Garioch, a faint tinge of smoke? This is around the time the distillery closed its floor maltings!
Producer's Tasting Note
Nose: Old desks, cigar boxes and worn leather initially, and then the fruits begin to surface: mango, sticky date pudding, Turkish Delight are all there.
Palate: On the palate, plenty of figs and plums, gingery with sherbet and cocoa powder. It becomes quite tangy and then minty, leather and wood notes return with lingering caramac bitter coffee on the long finish.