Whisky Agency H&T Orkney 1998

$284.99

Could this be 19 Year Old HIghland Park? Who knows for certain - all we can say is you don't see much in the way of indie Scapa bottles floating around... Regardless, this possible HP Sauce was distilled at one of the two Orkney Distillerie in 1998 and then bottled by The Whisky Agency for Canadian importer Heads & Tails in 2019. It was matured in a Hoggy and bottled at 51.7%.

Whisky Agency H&T Ledaig 2001

$228.74

Ledaig is a heavily peated malt distilled at Toberymory on the Isle of Mull. This Ledaig was distilled back in 2001, then matured in a Hogshead for 19 years before being bottled by the Whisky Agency for Canadian importer Heads & Tails in 2020 at a cask strength of 52.7%.

Whisky Agency H&T Blair Athol 1988

$494.99

Bottled for Heads & Tails Canada by indie bottler The Whisky Agency. Distilled in 1988, bottled at a cask strength of 47.7% after spending 31 years in a Hogshead in 2019.

The Whisky Agency Littlemill 1992 '20

$779.99

Only 4 bottles of this 27 year old Littlemill came to KWM. Bottled at 52.3% from a single hogshead cask. 90.24pts Whisky Base and 91pts Whisky Fun.

91pts Whisky Fun

“Colour: light gold. Nose: grass, olive oil and ripe garden fruits. Pitch perfect and very enchanting. Indeed, it really seems to double down on this extremely elegant and slick olive oil profile. Blind you could also be forgiven for saying an early 90s Bushmills or Cooley. These vintages of Littlemill often speak with an Irish accent I find. Some further hints of nettles, aloe vera and New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Great stuff! With water: now we are really getting towards a pretty punchy and vivid grassiness. Nettles, vine leaves, salad dressing, wine must, putty and white stone fruits. Mouth: superb arrival on punchy white pepper, cut grass, chopped green herbs, lime zest, lemon barley water, vapour rubs, chalk and lemongrass. The fruits are in there but they are restrained, nicely bitter and with a sharpness and clarity that once again would suggest some kind of nicely acidic sauvignon blanc. A scattering of crisp cereals too. With water: wonderfully thick and oily now, big juicy fruits, cereals, cooking oils, bitter herbs, expensive tonic water, juniper, mirabelle eau de vie, tarragon - really becomes quite complex. Finish: good length, getting more herbal, waxed lemon peel, perfectly bitter. Comments: Yet another terrific Littlemill from these latter day vintages. Really has something akin to these Irish malts of the same era. There’s a knife-edge balance between grassiness, bitterness and fruitiness going on here which is wonderfully compelling. SGP: 651 - 91 points.”  

The Whisky Agency Ben Nevis 1996 '20

$354.99

Only 4 bottles of this sought after whisky came to KWM, and they were sold before they even arrived. Matured 23 years in a Hogshead and bottled at 47.6%. 90pts Whisky Base and 91pts Whisky Fun.

91pts Whisky Fun

“Colour: straw. Nose: a beautiful kind of creamy waxiness mixed with ripe white and green fruits which now feels so particular to these vintages of Ben Nevis. Lemon jelly, white marshmallow, juicy fruit chewing gum, chalk, freshly laundered fabrics and pineapple syrup. Rather straight, pure, exuberant with these fruity notes and perfectly balancing these mineral, oily and fruity qualities. Mouth: wonderful concentration on arrival. You really feel like you’re getting pure fruit salad juices from the bottom of the bowl. There’s also this beautifully textural honeyed waxiness that’s laced with salinity. Then mineral salts, dried herbs, wee hints of medicine and more, rather complex, waxiness. Finish: long, lemon balm, cough sweets, fruit pastilles, mead, herbal liqueurs and a little mint tea. Comments: Yet another magical 96 Ben Nevis. It was the concentration on the palate here that impressed the most. SGP: 762 - 91 points.” 

The Whisky Agency Arran 2002 '20

$289.99

A 17 year Arran from an ex-Bourbon Barrel bottled at 49.2% as a part of The Whisky Agency's Spring 2020 releases. Only 4 bottles are coming to KWM! 89.65pts Whisky Base.

The Whisky Agency Irish 2003 '20

$339.99

The whiskey is either from Bushmills or Cooley, but the distillery is undisclosed. A sinlge 16 year ex-Bourbon Barrel bottled at 51.9% with a Whisky Base Score of 85.83pts and 82pts on Whisky Fun.

Whisky Fun Tasting Note

“Colour: pale straw. Nose: pure grass! Very much one of these light and gently austere profiles which is all about cut grass, chopped herbs, lemon peel, wet plaster, fabrics, sunflower seeds and the faintest wee buttery note. Super-fresh and very pleasantly summery - if a tad simplistic. With water: even leaner, drier and more austere now. Notes of fur, cream crackers, chalk, white flowers and talcum powder. Mouth: there’s a surprising richness on arrival that wasn’t at all betrayed by the nose. There’s a more assertive texture of cooking oils, some buttery flavours, cookie dough, vanilla cream, cactus flesh and white chocolate. Very appealing. With water: again it becomes drier and leaner with water. More cereal driven, buttered toast, more sunflower seeds, cooking oils and lemon rind. Finish: a tad short but clean, crisp and dry with notes of sunflower oil and oatcakes. Comments: It’s funny how these youngsters are ridden with this very specific grassiness, while the older ones reek of exotic fruits. I wonder at what point and by what alchemy the former evolves into the latter? SGP: 441 - 82 points."

The Whisky Agency Irish 1998 '20

$499.99

This 21 year old Irish "Single Malt" Whiskey was matured in an ex-Bourbon Barrel and bottled at 51.9%. If it is a single malt, then it must either be from Cooley or Bushmills Distilleries. Curiously Serge at Whisky Fun Scored it 89pts and said it came across as "Kildalton" to hime, while Angus scored it 87pts and speculated that it was "old school Irish" and vaguely "pure pot still" esque. 89.38pts Whisky Base.

89pts Whisky Fun - Serge

"Colour: gold. Nose: typical hops, wisteria, gorse, then mangos, passion fruits, green bananas, and then wee whiffs of engine oil, garden bonfire and balsa wood. Impeccable this time. With water: metal polish and fruit peel, plus a smart assortment of oily and resinous aromas, around putty. Like. Mouth (neat): it’s utterly great that a 1998 would be as fantastic as the famous 1988-1992s (and thereabouts). Tangerines grapefruits, passion fruits, lemon, etcetera. Touch of lavender honey. With water: and it takes water extremely well. I’d swear it could swim to the Kildalton shore, which isn’t that far away after all. Remember what they say, ‘if you can’t see it, it's raining; if you can, it’s going to rain.’ Finish: medium, and this time again, a tad grassier and leafier. Comments: around ten further years will make it reach 90-91, piece of cake. But would that be worth it? I guess the answer would be ‘no’. SGP:651 - 89 points."

87pts Whisky Fun - Angus

"Colour: gold. Nose: a fascinating kind of halfway house between those two styles. All on runny honeys, glazed pastries, heather flowers, gentle notes of hessian, duster cloth and canvass. There’s also these quite rich characters of putty, rapeseed oil and pollen. A style unto its own and quite distinct from many of these other Irish doing the rounds these days. I find it impressively complex and compelling - almost old highlands style in some ways. With water: a tad more whacky, gloopy and oily. Some hints of cheese curd, farmyard, oily sheep wool, mineral oils and shoe polish. Really quite an industrial / mechanical style. Mouth: Here the Irish accent really sings! Much more towards light sootiness, old metal polish, oily rags, old toolboxes, copper coins, steel wood, sunflower oil, pot pourri and lighter notes of waxed canvass. You can really spot some shared DNA with these very old pure pot still bottlings of things like Redbreast and Green Spot from the 60s and 50s. In the background you also get wee glimmers of dried mango which nods to these more recent exotic stylings. With water: drier but still retaining this oiliness of texture and weight in the mouth, along with this rather mechanical profile. More metal polish, camphor, green herbs, light menthol tobacco notes and chamois leather. Finish: good length and featuring some impressively funky overripe exotic fruits, olive oil, aniseed and a little plain fresh white bread. Comments: Very unusual, really harks back to quite a specific old school Irish style I would say. Is this pure pot still? You certainly get that impression from all these mechanical, oily and weirdly flabby fruit qualities. Anyway, worth trying if it crosses your path, it’s quite the entertainer. SGP: 651"

Whisky Agency Secret Highland 1985 '20

$499.99

A mysterious 34 year old Highland Single Malt, which might be from the distillery located near the Royal Burgh of Tain, along the Dornoch Firth. Bottled at 47%. 89.57pts Whisky Base, 90pts Whisky Fun.

90pts Whisky Fun

“No one, absolutely no one, is saying that this is Glenmorangie, but between us, I believe the gentleman on the label looks a bit like Dr Bill, no? Colour: gold. Nose: more oak influence, obviously, so rather less of Glenmo’s usual tense purity (when no one’s murdered it). We’re rather reminded of a softer old Speysider, such as an early-to-mid 1970s Glen Grant or something like that. Overripe apples, acacia honey, then anything from a beehive, especially wax, a little grated coconut, various herbal teas (chamomile first), while it would then rather display tiny waxy spices, sunflower oil, camphor, shoe polish, old embrocations, old cigarettes (forgotten old pack in a drawer)… I find it really complex, with no aroma really standing out. Mouth: excellent, with a tiny smokiness at first sips (re-racking in an ex-peater cask at some point?) but that would fade away, leaving room for an ‘English five O’clock tea’ (with heartfelt apologies to all our friends in Scotland), scones, earl grey, biscuits, marmalade, milk chocolate, citron jelly, Cointreau, Mandarine Impériale, touch of mint once again, touch of earth… Finish: medium, soft, pretty much on ‘a tea in the Sahara’. With roasted pine nuts inside! Jammy citrus back in the aftertaste. Comments: excellent, complex, very elegant. SGP:551 - 90 points.”