Ballechin 19 Year Manzanilla Small Batch
$339.99
This peated Edradour, Ballechin, was created by marrying 3 First Fill Manzanilla Sherry Butts originally filled in 2004. It was bottled after 19 years at 55%.
Edradour 11 Year Sauternes Cask SmBatch
$174.99
This 11 year old Edradour was created by marrying a very small batch of First Fill ex-Sauternes casks originally filled in 2012. The whisky has been bottled at 48.2%. 87.82pts Whiskybase
Boutique-y Speyside #4 24 Year KWM Cask
$174.99
This whisky was featured on Day 6 of our 2024 KWM Not An Advent Calendar Tastings! You can read more about the whisky here.
Our second KWM exclusive cask from That Boutique-y Whisky Company is an undisclosed Speyside Single Malt likely saved from being blended into oblivion in a bottling of Chivas Royal Salute. It is 24 years old, and but 220 (500ml) bottles were filled at a strength of 47.8% exclusively for your not-so-humble whisky friends here at KWM. Boutique-y isn't supposed to tell you this is Glenlivet... but we know you are going to Glen-Love-it!
As for the whisky, it is lush, tropical, and floral... dangerously easy drinking... and 35% cheaper than The Glenlivet Archive 21 Year OB at 43%!
We aren’t told where this Speysider hails from, but That Boutique-y Whisky Company has done what they do best - beyond bottling great whisky that is - and offered up a few hints. Here is the first one:
"There are 46 Speyside distilleries so are you feeling lucky? Punk? Oops wrong movie reference. Seriously though, we really can’t tell you where this comes from, or indeed give you too many clues… But don’t let that stop you from discovering this spectacular Speysider - we bet you’ll glen-love-it!"
Just in case that sounds like a red herring, here is the second hint:
"Our label is a riff on ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ where a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins - a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer H.A.L. 9000.
Our spacecraft is this very modern (with the joint largest capacity) secret Speyside distillery, that can be run by just two men, and a computer."
Based on that, it has to be Glenlivet or Glenfiddich, right? And Glenfiddich single malt is never independently bottled as far as we can tell - only casks of Blended Malt that have been teaspooned with Balvenie or Kininvie are sold or traded off... Hmm...
Fable Chapter 8 Fairies Teaninich 12 Yea
$129.99
Whisky Sponge Ben Nevis 1996 Sample
$9.99
25ml Sample/Drample
1996 Ben Nevis has a legendary reputation, and it is becoming increasingly scarce. This 25 year old, from a Refill Butt, has been bottled at 53%. It is described as being very distillate driven.
Producer Note
"This is a hyper-distillate driven, almost ideologically 'refill' profile Ben Nevis 1996. You have been warned! However, for those of you who also enjoy this extremely pure, naked and invigorating style of highland malt whisky - you shall find yourself contorted with satisfaction. For this edition, the Sponge interviews his older self about his successes, failures and unrequited vengeances. You'll have to wait until next year, when we bottle the other half of this cask, to find out what his answers are... The first half of this stark-naked refill butt has been bottled reduced to 53% to bring out a slightly fruitier style on the palate. Next year we will likely do the rest at cask strength. If civilisation remains moderately intact. Stay tuned..."
Whiskybase Ben Nevis 1996 Sample
$11.49
25ml Sample/Drample
Two Brewers Yukon Single Malt Release 41
$107.99
Release 41 is a "Special Finishes" bottling, a marriage of 32% 7-year, 53% 8-year and 15% 9-year-old whisky, matured in some ex-Bourbon barrels and a few brand new #2 char barrels. The whisky spent the final 2 years of its maturation in fresh ex-PX Sherry casks. About 6% of the barley used in making this whisky was peated. Bottled at 43%.
About Two Brewers
Yukon Brewery resides in Whitehorse, where it was originally founded under the name Chilkoot Brewing. In 2009, a still was installed. Whisky under the name Two Brewers was first released back 2016. Since then, Two Brewers has kept to a small batch release ethos, where no release is exactly the same as the last.
Arran 2011 Companions OT Quaich Cask 515
$110.49
This 2011 vintage Arran was bottled for The Companions of the Quaich, a Canadian whisky club. There are a couple of dozen bottles left now that the club has had their fill, and they are available on a first come first serve basis. The cask was identified by Andrew & Shawn when they were in Scotland in 2022. It was selected at the same time as the Arran 2013 KWM Cask. Matured in First Fill ex-Bourbon before bottling after 11 years at 57.7%.
Daftmill 2007 Winter Batch Release
$199.99
So this is exciting... we are going to be the first store in Canada to get whiskies from the mysterious Lowland Daftmill distillery. The 2007 Winter Batch Release was bottled in 2020 after 12 years at 46%. The release is limited to just 1690 bottles with but a tiny fraction of that coming to Canada. Matured in First Fill ex-Bourbon Barrels. 88.73pts Whisky Base.
If you've never heard of Daftmill, then you are in good company. This Lowland Distillery is tiny, filling at most just 100 casks per year, and it has long flown under the radar. Founded in 2005, the distillery is just as old as Kilchoman, but farmer Francis Cuthbert (the owner) was not in a rush to sell any of his whisky. The first release only came out in 2018. The distillery grows its own barley, more than it needs, selling the surplus to maltsters. Production takes place only 1/3 of the year, over just two months in both the summer and winter. The distillery is tiny, crammed into some old farm buildings. When Andrew visited about 5 years ago, the small warehouses were full to bursting with casks. The distillery is aiming for a light, fruity, traditional Lowland style.
Producer Bottling Notes
"Daftmill is a farm distillery. Owned and operated by the Cuthbert family, it only runs in the farm’s quiet periods; mid-summer and winter, sometimes producing as few as 100 casks per year. When not distilling, Francis Cuthbert looks after the estate, growing the malting barley used to make this Lowland whisky.
"The barley variety Optic was grown in the South fields and harvested in the last week of August 2006. It was then stored on the farm to be malted in Alloa during the summer of 2007.
"This seven first fill ex bourbon barrels that make up this bottling, casks 047/2007, 048/2007, 049/2007, 050/2007, 051/2007, 052/2007 and 053/2007 were distilled and filled by Hogmanay, the 31st of December 2007."