Arran 2006 KWM Bourbon Cask #13
$129.99
Our 14th Kensington Wine Market exclusive single cask of Arran was distilled in 2006 and matured 13 years in an ex-Bourbon Barrel, cask #2006/13, before bottling at 52.6%! Only 204 bottles are coming from one of the youngest Arran casks we've bottled in years.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: doughy and buttery with a fresh bakery character; candied citrus, honeydew melon and damp malted barley; vanilla icing on white cupcakes and Rogers granulated sugar; dehydrated apple chunks, banana chips and dried apricots.
Palate: creamy, honeyed and very decadent with bags of fruit; lush with loads of vanilla icing and more decadent bakery tones; French butter croissants and warm shortbread right out of the oven dusted in more Rogers sugar; silky, creamed honey and decadent spices; still fruity, banana split, more dehydrated apple chunks and quince paste; if you are patient it becomes tropical; a subtle oily peat at the end.
Finish: long, decadent and toasty; more creamed honey, vanilla and bakery goods; shortbread dusted in sugar and buttery French crossants; warming, coating and toasty.
Comment: this is a big shift away from our other recent Arran casks; not even a trace of sherry; creamy, decadent and very fruity; so buttery, elegant and fruity; this one is a stunner; this reminds me of Dr. Jane's homemade shortbread right from the oven with her famous whisky icing; I didn’t catch it at first, might have had blinders on, but there is a subtle touch of peat at the back of the palate; was the barrel previously used for peated whisky, or were the stills not thoroughly cleaned after switching off peat? Maybe the distillery was accidentally sent a shipment of lightly peated malt; we will likely never know; regardless, this is a dynamite single cask!
Blackadder Shizuoka Single Malt Spirit
$101.99
This is a tri pack of Japanese new make and spirit from the new Shizuoka distillery, bottled by independent bottler Blackadder. This particular set has been bottled exclusively for the Fountana Group, Canada.
In The Tri-Pack
- Unpeated New Make from the Karuizawa Still @63.5%.
- Unpeated New Make from the Wood Fired Still @63.3%.
- 25 Month Peated Spirit Matured in Manzanilla Sherry @61.4%.
About Shizuoka
Japan has seen a boom in new distillery openings over the last few years, and among them, Shizuoka is creating a lot of buzz. The distillery was founded by the Japanese importer for Blackadder, Gaia Flow in 2016, incorporating the used stills of the famous closed Karuizawa Distillery.
Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2010
$105.99
This Laddie was produced from Bere Barley, matured 8 years in ex-Bourbon and has been bottled at 50%. 90pts from Angus for Whisky Fun!
About the Bottling: “Bere Barley is a six-row heritage variety that has long since been forgotten from the modern world of standardised whisky making. Its revival into present day has taken effort and resilience from an entire network of millers, growers and agronomists. Our Bere project is dedicated to those like-minded souls, who have preserved a legacy and found modern applications in flavourful food and drinks, whatever the odds. This Bruichladdich Bere Barley was distilled in 2010 from a 2009 harvest, brought home by Peter, John, Magnus, Sydney and Duncan on the Orkney Islands.”
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: At first the nose is dominated by cereal, porridge oats, malty notes but quickly followed by intense fruit, ripe pear and peaches in syrup, lemon meringue pie. There is a fresh breezy quality like fresh linen. The oak brings honey, vanilla, coconut and hints of cinder toffee and fudge. As time opens this unique dram up, the peach notes become all enveloping and anything else is hard to find.
Taste: Back to the malted barley on the palate, the texture is like honey, rich and incredibly viscous. A range of sweet fruit and oak notes jostle for position, peaches in syrup again, honey, chocolate, cinder toffee and apricot jam, there is an amazing sweetness from the oak and malt that is unlike any other spirit we make, the Bere barley gives so much intensity of flavour and the spirit has drawn deep from the wood in the last eight years.
Finish: On the finish there is an air of gentle grace as the softness of the fruit continues, pear and apple come through with the peach notes and offer another dimension. The oak and malt fade away slowly and leave you to contemplate an incredible experience.
Character: An absolute delight to behold, from the outstanding texture to the intensity of the fruit, this ancient grain yet again confirms our barley exploration is based on distillation for flavour not yield. This particular vintage has an intensity and range of flavour I have seldom seen before but inspires us yet again to continue our journey.
90pts Angus @WhiskyFun
"Distilled entirely from a 2009 batch of Bere barley grown on Orkney. Bere is an ancient, six-row varietal of barley that has been cultivated in Scotland since at least the 8th century. It’s notoriously difficult to work with in distilleries compared to more contemporary varietals, generally leading to porridge-like mashes and far lower yields. However, results at Arran and Bruichladdich so far suggest it makes a pretty characterful whisky... Colour: straw. Nose: quite a profound divergence from the previous two. This is going up another level again in terms of texture and fattiness. There’s also more green fruits - gooseberry, apple, green banana - and more sweetness in the form of honey and golden syrup. Wee touches of camphor, mint tea, eucalyptus, hessian, dusty malt bins and yellow flowers. I really love this profile - big, generous, complex and sinewy. With water: oily, sooty, esters, citrus pith, lightly carbolic, sheep wool, earth and increasingly coastal with things like sandalwood and seashells. Mouth: that’s the thing about Bere - it’s just so different. There are aspects here which nod towards world whiskies such as this really punchy, bready spiciness like pumpernickel. But there’s other aspects too. Coal dust, hessian, olive oil, grass, nutmeg, lime pith, waxed canvas and various scattered mineral qualities. I find it both highly entertaining and pleasurable. With water: pah! Superb complexity. Oily, estery fruits, autolytic, spicy, camphor and farmhouse cider with some more canvas, gorse and saline minerals. Finish: long, lemony, salty, slightly waxy and mineral. Comments: Who was it that said barley varieties don’t make a difference...? SGP: 662 - 90 points!"
XOP Caol Ila 35 Year
$1,189.99
This 35 year old Caol Ila was distilled in 1984, filled in to a Refill Hogshead and bottled at 48.6%. Only 9 bottles are coming to KWM! 90pts Whisky Base.
Producer Tasting Note
"The nose opens with a littoral, beachy, maritime, fresh character. The palate opens rather subtly, distinctly sweet and develops to a menthol cough drop style, showing also a peated backdrop amongst tar and chimney soot. The finish is spiced, ashy and coal dusted."
Cadenhead Small Batch Glenburgie 27 Year
$251.24
This Gold Label Cadenhead Small Batch bottling was distilled at Glenburgie in 1992. After being filled into one single ex-Bourbon Hogshead, it aged for 27 years before being bottled in 2019 at 48.9% ABV.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Oily and herbal, fennel, fried sage and a hint of coriander - mix with olive oil, lemongrass, and chorizo.
Palate: Some dry smoke mixed with ripe fruits, kiwi, mango, peaches, and dried apricots.
Finish: Long lingering syrupy fruits with a hint of dry smoke.
Cadenhead Small Batch Bowmore 17 Year
$234.99
Gone baby, gone.
Cadenhead Small Batch Benrinnes 21 Year
$229.99
We have had some very interesting Benrinnes indie bottlings recently, especially from Cadenhead. The newest is this Gold Label single cask which was distilled in 1997 and filled into one single ex-Bourbon Barrel. It was bottled in 2019 at 21 years of age and 58.7% ABV.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: White crab meat, black olives, overripe fruits and pork pies.
Palate: Olive oil, cream cheese, pineapple, a hint of paprika.
Finish: Long and chewy a little dusty, some popping candy and orange bitters.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 72.67
$100.49
DAFFODILS CAPTURED IN HONEY
This 9 year old Speysider was matured in a 1st fill barrel and comes in at 56.3%.
Flavour profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow.
Outturn: 226 bottles.
Panel's tasting note: "A gentle nose, slowly opening from grassy meadows and hay fields to vanilla ice-cream, pears or apple strudel in custard and marshmallow tea-cakes; also wicker baskets and pencil boxes. The smooth, silky palate combines mellow fruitiness (orange, tutti-frutti, strawberries) with sweet things (glazed donuts, candy floss, chocolate-coated raisins) and flickering twinkles of liquorice, pepper and wood on the finish.
The reduced nose – elegant and easy-going – a polished wooden counter in an ice-cream parlour; honey with a memory of sun on daffodils. The palate now much more balanced and integrated – still syrupy, but with hints of citrus and warming spice to complicate it."
Scotch Malt Whisky Society 89.10
$92.99
GLOVE BOX SONATA IN B MINOR
This 7 year old Speysider comes in at 64.1% after maturing in a refill butt.
Flavour profile: Young & spritely.
Outturn: 556 bottles.
Panel's tasting note: "An elegant and supple aroma of white port, stone fruits, pear skins, orange travel sweets, candy floss and a warm barley steep. There’s also grape must, lychee, horse box, white chocolate dipped marzipan, almond puree and sultanas soaked in mead. With dilution the aroma opens onto cough syrup, hand lotion, sun cream, olive oil cake, malt bins, lemon peel, sunflower seeds, brown bread and warm grist.
The palate begins with tinned peaches, ripe pears, green apple, sweet wort, aged grappa, cider brandy, raisins stewed in young Calvados, chopped chives and clover. Water reveals cocoa nibs, shea butter, putty, sweet wines, waxed canvas, cooking oils, flints, tart gooseberry and graphite oil."