Port Askaig 34 Year Old Islay
$859.99
SOLD OUT - SORRY WE CANT GET ANY MORE!
Only 9 bottles of this mature Islay malt are coming to Canada, exclusively to KWM. Bottled at 49.7%, this whisky was distilled at the Caol Ila Distillery.
Producer's Description: "Distilled in 1983, this single cask of 34-year old whisky was produced by Islay’s largest distillery, situated just north of the village of Port Askaig. This particular cask was selected for its nuanced take on the distillery’s character."
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: Juicy Fruit gum, tallow wax candles and bright citrus: oranges and tangerines; oily and buttery with loads of tropical fruits; a touch of diesel, creosote and buttery peat; silky bright and expressive; I want to climb in to the glass and be enveloped by the aromas.
Palate: bigger and smokier than expected on the first sip, it settles down thereafter; creamy and waxy: loads of creamed honey, vanilla and creme caramel; the smoke settles down with a touch more diesel and creosote making way for buttery peat oils; savoury salted caramel with more bright citrus and tropical fruits: ripe mango, guava and cantaloupe; lot of layers, there is even a touch of Caol Ila's classic bacon wrapped scallop note, poached in butter of course.
Finish: long, silky, honeyed and very fruity; the gentle peat and salt are balanced by the creamy vanilla tones and fruits; quite simply heavenly!
Comment: time has nicely rounded the edges, but not entirely tamed the beast; this is one of the oldest Caol Ilas we've ever seen, and it has held its peaty maritime edge while at the same time making room for stunning creamy notes and fruits; phenomenol!
Producer Tasting Notes
Nose: Honey and brine – beehives on the beach. Floral notes develop, accompanied by sherbet lemons, delicate waxiness, sweet oatcakes and hints of candied fruit. Underneath lies a layer of dirty smoke: oily engines, coal stoves and beach bonfires.
Palate: Charcoal and leaves flood the palate, with coal smoke and menthol following in their wake. Sweeter flavours emerge, with chocolate and barley sugar balanced against stony minerality and touches of bitter barrel char. Leathery notes build and provide a backdrop for salted caramel, sweet liquorice, delicate honeysuckle and leafy mint.
Finish: Mint and menthol lead to smouldering peat and oak. As the smoke fades, sweet meadow grass and candied flowers linger.
Comment: A nuanced style displaying strong smoke hidden behind layers of juicy citrus and delicate floral notes.
About the Port Askaig Range: "Port Askaig is a range of Islay single malt whiskies that embodies the unique spirit of Islay and its people. Nestled into the north coast of the island, Port Askaig has been the gateway to Islay for hundreds of years. It seemed right to name our whisky after this magical place. While there is no distillery at Port Askaig, it gives us the opportunity to specially select casks from the distilleries around Islay and create a variety of expressions."
Adelphi Ardnamurchan 2018 AD
$99.99
Not yet legally whisky, though much for the spirit used in its creation was. This is the 3rd, and likely 2nd last realease in the spirit range as the distillery's whisky is now over 5 years of age.
Producer Tasting Note
"Deep copper gold, with amber lights. Good beading. Earthy mango and waxy orange peel with post-Manhattan glacé cherries; Hobnobs, black pepper and distant Clyde Puffer smoke."
Block Chain Traceability
"Continuing from last year’s world-first, by scanning the QR code on the back label, consumers will be able to trace each aspect of the production from field to the name of the bottler. Each bottle has a unique identifying code and digital certificate attached, which enhances security to both producer and consumer. In addition, this year’s outer bottle wrap will include a label inviting consumers to unwrap the bottle and scan the QR code. "
Producer Specifics
- 20 American oak ex Oloroso and PX octaves, unpeated Ardnamurchan (55 litre original fill)
- 4 American oak ex Oloroso and PX octaves, peated Ardnamurchan (55 litre original fill)
- 1 Spanish oak ex PX hogshead, peated Ardnamurchan (250 litre original fill)
- 1 Spanish oak ex Oloroso hogshead, peated Ardnamurchan (250 litre original fill)
- 1 Spanish oak ex Oloroso butt, unpeated Ardnamurchan (500 litre original fill)
- 1 Spanish oak ex PX butt, peated Ardnamurchan (500 litre original fill)
- 1 Spanish oak ex Oloroso butt, peated Ardnamurchan (500 litre original fill)
- Warehouse location: Ardnamurchan warehouse no. 1 lower and upper floors
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Packaging: Bespoke bottle and tissue wrap. The innovative bottle design won The Packaging Award in the 2017 Scottish Design Awards
Millstone Single Malt 5 Year Old Peated
$83.99
Glenglassaugh Port Wood Finish
$109.99
After a twenty-one year closure, Glenglassaugh finally cranked up the machine and started producing whisky again in late 2008/early 2009. At the time, less than 400 barrels of single malt remained in the warehouses. Granted, that old whisky was well-aged and beautiful, but as you can imagine...it wasn't going to last long. Fast forward a decade and we're finally seeing Glenglassaugh reclaiming its market share. Early releases like Revival, Evolution and Torfa were rough-and-tumble young'uns, but this Port Wood Finish is starting to show the hallmarks of longer maturation. The future is bright for a distillery that no so long ago looked to have run its course.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Delightful aromas of brittle toffee, blueberries and a touch of garden mint. Gentle allspice adds a delicate warmth to the nose.
Palate: Vibrant pink grapefruit and blood orange give a fantastic fresh, zest character. A slight herbal oak background leads to stewed barley in the long, crisp finish.
GlenAllachie 10 Year Cask Strength Bt 2
$104.99
The second batch of cask strength 10 year old from Billy Walker's new baby, GlenAllachie. This one is just as rich and rewarding as the first. For those of you who were fans of Billy's work with BenRiach and GlenDronach, imagine a smashing together of those two styles and you'll come somewhat close to what has been accomplished with the core range from this exciting new brand from the Speyside region. Firm, spicy cask influence slams head on into deep fruit tones and the whole thing is served up at a natural cask strength of 54.8% abv. Brilliant stuff.
Evan's Tasting Note
Nose: big cereal and grain, newly sanded lumber, peaches and cream, pickled ginger, sliced pears, sesame seeds, cake fondant and white chocolate.
Palate: juicy and creamy with lots of fruit and big spice notes at the front along with beer nuts, cashews, toasty and also green oak, honeydew melon, pineapples, sweet Thai chili sauce and spicy ginger.
Finish: spicy but sweet with a nutty note thrown in. It creates a warming sensation with a pleasant creaminess on the fade.
Comment: the spice is big but the sweetness and helps tame it. It tingles the tongue but stays deliciously approachable.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Heather honey, toffee apples and sweet spice, followed by layers of orange peel.
Palate: Oodles of heather honey, vanilla and toffee, with wonderful notes of eucalyptus, orange peel and Caribbean spices.
Berry's Orkney Islands 1999 18 Year KWM
$127.99
SOLD OUT
This might be the most exciting single cask we've brought in, in a wee while. Although it can't be stated so on the label, this is a cask of Highland Park Single Malt Whisky. Selected by and bottled exclusively for KWM from a single Refill Hogshead at 53.5%. So wrap your head around that fact, 18 year old cask strength Highland Park for less than $130!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: honey pots and marmalade; candied fruits and nuts; beeswax candles and honeycomb; hints of clean smoke in maritime air; oak shavings and smooth old leather; Jelly bellies and orange peels in Old Fashioneds.
Palate: honeyed and creamy with ethereal elegant smoke and a silky-coating-waxy mouthfeel; more beeswax and honeycomb; bright Moroccan marmalade, orange peels and Old Fashioned cocktails; clean earthy peat smoke and soft leather with melons and papaya; becomes increasingly savoury with leather and spices; late tobacco and chocolate.
Finish: long, waxy, honeyed and smooth with more gentle peat smoke, fruits and a touch of maritime air.
Comment: this is not the distillery bottled Highland Park 18 year, but frankly that one hasn't been itself either for some time now; this is a soft, no silky, middle-aged single malt with clean elegant smoke and bags of honey and fruits; this is Highland Park!
Single Malt Rainbow Pack
$401.99
G&M PC1 Inverleven 1985
$1,537.49
Price Dropped $200 - 1 Bottle left!
A rare Lowland single malt from the Dumbarton Grain Distillery, which also ran pot stills until 2002. It was demolished in 2003. The Grain distillery is still operating. Matured in a Refill Bourbon Barrel, the whisky was distilled January 22 1985 and bottled after 33 years on July 6 2018. Only 130 total bottles!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: soft, creamy and floral with double vanilla cupcakes; marzipan and almond paste; lemon oil furniture polish, waxy with pork broth udon; minty with Demerara and spruce tips; citrus Jujubes and delicate spice.
Palate: sweet, spicy and creamy; brandy soaked cherries, more citrus Jujubes, marzipan and almond paste; bright lemon with under-ripe tropical fruits; powdered sugar on rose Christmas cookies; beeswax, Turkish delight, strawberry Twizzlers; toasted oak, cedar and more spruce tips; still a touch of pork broth udon.
Finish: floral, waxy and fruity; delicate with more soft oak, beeswax and subtle spices; medium long in length ending with floral spruce tips.
Comment: elegant, floral and fruit; one of the best Inverlevens I've had, though those have been few in number; agree with Whisky Fun, this is a little on the Littlemill side of things.
Distiller's Tasting Note
"Aroma Intense tropical fruit aromas to begin – cooked pineapple, honeydew melon, coconut cream, and little burst of sharp yet sweet lime. A sweet creaminess continues with notes of vanilla ice-cream, sugared red apples, apricot jam, and white chocolate. Hints of overripe cherry and almond marzipan develop into flowering gorse. Taste Creamy and mouth-coating; warming white pepper notes transform into sweet flambéed banana, madagascan vanilla pod, and salted toffee. subtle spicy undertones remain as toasted malt comes to the fore; a drying cocoa and charred oak edge develops. Finish A long and lingering charred oak finish with a subtle floral edge."
88pts WhiskyFun.org
"This is the brand new art-déco livery for G&M's Private Collection. Very dapper, very premium, just hope they are not, and will never discontinue the Book of Kells label. No one will ever draw a better label, not in Glasgow, not in London, not in New York, perhaps in Paris (I am joking...) BTW, remember Inverleven was a distillery that was embedded in Ballantine's huge Dumbarton complex and was closed in 1991. The stills are now at Mark Reynier's Waterford Distillery in Ireland. Colour: straw. Nose: balms, hand creams, marzipan, ointments, citrons, verbena, a drop of miso soup, smoked salmon and dill, then more tropical fruits, rather guavas and papayas than mangos. A few drops of yellow Chartreuse this time (the easier one). With water: cumin bread, poppy seeds, fermenting plums (have some in the garage, will distil before this month is over). Mouth (neat): but this was distilled last year! Intense lemony arrival, with a few fermentary touches (yoghurt, sourdough), then a grassy hotchpotch that would include agave, grass, and green tea. Fresh banana bread. With water: opens up like a flower, getting exactly tropical, with a style that is close to that of the fruitiest Littlemills indeed. Melon skin, mangos, tangerines, maracujas... Finish: medium, with the same tropical/citrusy notes. Comments: loves water. I think many are really starting to regret these fruity Lowlanders these days, Rosebank, Littlemill, Inverleven... No, St. Magdalene is a whole different story - and style. SGP:561 - 88 points."
About the Distillery (Courtesy Gordon Macphail)
"An unusual – now sadly demolished – distillery, Inverleven was built very close to the Lowland and Highland boundary line on the banks of the River Leven in the town of Dumbarton. Inverleven is atypical. It was originally built as a sister distillery to the Dumbarton grain distillery. The largest grain distillery of its time, Dumbarton was built in 1938 to supply spirit for the Hiram Walker & Sons popular Ballantine’s blend. The smaller Inverleven malt distillery, built inside the larger grain complex, had a pair of traditional pot stills. This set-up was augmented in 1956 to include an unconventional Lomond still. Sadly, the distillery was closed in 1991; the entire complex was decommissioned in 2002 and eventually demolished. The Lomond still found a new home on Islay, the Bruichladdich team now use it to distil The Botanist gin. The unique distillation process at Inverleven produced an aromatic and fruity Lowland dram. Fortunately, stocks of this are increasingly hard to find whisky are still bottled by us as part of our ‘Rare Old’ range."
G&M PC1 Glenrothes 1974
$2,599.99
Available by request!
Part of Gordon Macphail's rebranded Private Collection range, in a sexy new box! Distilled in 1974, filled in to a PX Sherry Puncheon and bottled in 2018 after 44 years at 49.5%.
Producer's Tasting Note
"Aroma Complex; aromas of sherry soaked fruitcake filled with stewed sultanas mingle with sticky medjool dates. Dark chocolate and citrus peel notes develop; a gentle woodiness with a delicate herbal edge comes to the fore. Taste Elegant, smooth, and sweet; subtle cinnamon and nutmeg flavours balance the mature oak and sherry influences. Notes of fruit and nut chocolate, toasted walnut, and hints of raisin emerge and evolve into zesty citrus. Salted toffee develops towards the end. Finish A modest, medium sweet finish fades; hints of charred oak and chocolate remain."
