Cadenhead Small Batch Craigellachie 2009
$89.99
So cool to see an independent release from one of Speyside's brashest old school distilleries. Craigellachie generally falls into that 'meaty' and 'monstrous' camp in terms of style, but the producer tasting notes from this young malt read like a patisserie menu board. A couple of ex-Bourbon Hogsheads were paired up to yield a healthy 570 bottles. Of course, that doesn't go far on a world stage, and we're just happy to have a received a wee allocation. This one won't last long, especially with a sticker price that barely breaches the three figure mark. 55.1% abv.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Juicy fruits, pineapple sweets, mangoes and butterscotch. Sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream.
Palate: Soft ashy notes, quite earthy with vanilla, whipped cream and maple syrup.
Finish: Dry spices, cinnamon, cassia bark mixed in with lemon icing and coconut flakes.
Cadenhead Small Batch Glenrothes 2009
$124.99
65.3% abv?! Wow. A take-no-prisoners malt if ever there was one. But the coolest thing about this malt is not the high abv; it's the wood choice. Glenrothes is almost exclusively racked into first fill sherry casks, so to have a bourbon-matured example is a real treat. It's also the kind of dram that really fires up the whisky geeks. In a way, it's kinda like peeking behind the curtain and seeing the gears turning. This is the distillate presented on center stage, without the heavy curtain of sherry to hide the distillery character.
858 bottles from three Hogsheads.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Vanilla, golden syrup and hints of nougat and chocolate sprinkles. Faint green tea notes with butterscotch.
Palate: Lemon drizzle cake, touches of white pepper, freshly mown grass, autumnal forests with blackberries and raisin butter.
Finish: Tingling spices give way to warm toffee sauce and cranberries.
Kavalan Virgin Oak Cask Chapter 1
$299.99
The 3rd release in the Truth Malters Chapters Series is Chapter 1, a 13 year (and 1 week) old Virgin Oak matured single cask, bottled at 59.4%. The importer claims this is the oldest Kavalan ever bottled.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Right out of the bottle you are hit with a Honeycomb, Beeswax Sweetness followed by Vanilla, Apricot, hints of floral, Dark Red Fruit, Raisins, Raspberries, Plums, all as if they were covered with honey on toast.
Palate: Think Fruits covered in sweet thick honey or syrup, slight notes of chestnuts and cinnamon jump out and then are quickly swallowed up with peach and more fruits. Honey, chestnut, peach skin, dark sweet spice, cinnamon,
Finish: A complete full flavored complex yet sweet Virgin Oak bomb. Tons of exotic fruits, guava, with a dark sweet warm spicy finish, that covers your mouth with a honey cocoa and then out of the blue came raspberries which I didn’t catch on the nose at all but were there at the finish. The finish is long and something to be savored – an amazing all around drink.
Summary: All I can say is that from the start with the color through the nose, palate and finally the finish I did not believe it was a Virgin Oak. It absorbed and interacted with the wood grabbing all colors and tastes and mixed perfectly together with Kavalan’s New Make. I suggest sipping on this one slowly letting it really sit in your mouth, and warm up for a moment at the front of your mouth before swallowing. The extra heat really smoothens it out and brings out a ton of sweet flavors. It is easy to feel the texture change and feel all the complexity it has to offer. At 59.4% it is as sweet and smooth as they will come, and for being just over 13 years old – the oldest Kavalan to date, I had a fear of it having a sulphur taste or too woody but that was not the case at all, it could not have been aged better.
Producer Description
This is the 3rd release of the Truth Malters Chapter Series, yet it is Chapter #1, why? Truth Malters wanted to release something that really captured the beginning, where it all began and to do that what better way to start than with a VIRIGIN OAK from Kavalan from their very first year of distillation (2006). This was chosen prior to Chapter #2 & #3 but we waited on bottling this one specific cask until we were confident that it had all the flavors it could possibly have and had a taste that we could proudly use to represent our Chapter Series #1. It just so happened that this extra time maturing pushed the Virgin Oak to over 13 years old, which is the oldest Kavalan bottled. The color for this or any Virgin Oak is incredible, so dark and rich and the flavors are astounding without any of those “unwanted” notes. This Single Malt Whisky Single Cask Virgin Oak Cask Strength came it at 59.4%, which is the highest Kavalan will bottle. With having tasted and sampled hundreds of Kavalan Single Malt whiskies over the years, we are proud to have this bottle be what begins our Chapter Series, it is a true testament to our slogan, “Purveyors of Exceptional Spirits”, as this is definitely worthy of an EXCEPTIONAL SPIRIT title. It is also the smallest yield of a Virgin Oak at only 77 bottles from the entire cask.
Tullibardine The Murray 2007 56.6%
$93.99
Adelphi Miltonduff 2007 61.2%
$104.99
Distilled in 2007, this 11 year old Speysider was bottled at 61.2% after maturing in a cask, No. 3800735. Only 12 bottles are coming to KWM.
Producer Tasting Note
"A lovely colour of copper gold with a reasonably short bead. On the nose there is fresh orchard fruit with coconut and milk chocolate biscuits. Opening up with crumble and raspberry ripple ice cream. The palate is initially sweet with summer cooked fruits 'drying to red currants. Spices appear with the addition of a little water: star anise and Cardamom. A well-balanced dram with Oloroso sherry notes on the finish.
Adelphi Benrinnes 2006
$139.99
Distilled in 2006 this 13 year old Benrinnes was matured in a 1st fill Oloroso sherry hogshead befor bottling at 55.5%. Only 12 bottles are coming to KWM, and roughly half are pre-sold.
Producer Tasting Note
"On the nose chocolate fudge cake, Ribena and Murray Mints. With water added it becomes more like mint choc – chip Ice Magic. The palate has strong flavours of blackcurrants followed by venison carpaccio and lingering lingonberries. Great texture. Finishing After Eight. Character and style of Benrinnes: Dark Chocolate, sulphur, meat and dried fruit."
Adelphi Blair Athol 1997 57.2%
$379.99
Only 8 bottles of this 21 year old Blair Athol is coming to KWM. Matured in a Sherry cask, no. 5773, and bottled at 57.2%. Has a very good Whisky Base score of 89.86.
Producer Tasting Note
"An intense colour of polished mahogany with a good bead. The nose brings big aromas of Sticky medjool date pudding with toffee sauce, hazelnuts and eucalyptus oil. There is also a savoury note - lamb tagine in a riad. How Baazar. The palate is mouth-coating with cold brew coffee, beef jerky, figs and Turkish Delight. The finish borders on Borders dark chocolate ginger biscuits."
Adelphi Glenrothes 1980 - 38 Year 40.2%
$749.99
Of the 176 bottles filled, only 4 are coming to Canada from this 1980 vintage 38 year old Glenrothes single cask. Bottled at 40.2% from Refill Shery cask No. 7202.
Producer Tasting Note
"This 38-year-old single malt was made in 1980 at Glenrothes distillery and matured in a single cask until being bottled by indie bottler Adelphi. Drawn from a ref-ex Sherry hogshead, this is 24 carat gold in color with bright copper lights and no beading due to its natural low strength. Apple crumble, slightly burnt on top, shortbread, unripe bananas and red apple skins with pineapple chunks and tropical fruit salad in the development. Both incredibly delicate and complex to taste with flamed orange peel over toffee apples and a soft, persistent tangy aftertaste. Old school distillate taken to full maturation."
Celebration of the Cask Glen Keith 1992
$314.99
Bottled by Morrison Mackay under their Carn Mor range, the Celebration of the Cask Glen Keith 1992 was distilled in 1992, filled into a Bourbon Barrel, and bottled after 26 years at 55.1%. 89pts Whisky Base.
Producer Tasting Note
“Heaps of vanilla and caramel with hints of fall apples and BC peaches.”