Adelphi The Winter Queen 19 Year
$399.99
The second release in Adelphi's "The Winter Queen Series", is a mariage of 19 year old ex-Sherry matured Mortlach, Bowmore and a mystery Speyside Distillery, combined with two ex-Bourbon hoggies of Teaninich and part of a PX Sherry Butt of Millstone whisky from the Netherlands. Bottled at 54%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: butter tarts, bread & butter pudding, creme caramel and tres leches; Demerara sugars, vanilla and Strawberry Twizzlers; a touch waxy, buttery blueberry pie and a tuch of floral, salty-maritime smoke.
Palate: more blueberry pie right out of the oven, met quickly with floral lavendar and soft maritime smoke; more butter tarts, bread & butter pudding, creme caramle and more delicacies; creamy vanilla and waxy Strawberry Twizzlers; underneath layers of fruits, apricots, melon and even more exotic ones.
FInish: long, coating, creamy and floral; rich blueberry and buttery pastry notes; late licorice, coffee beans, clean floral smoke and tres leches.
Comment: this is a lovely, layered and rich malt with a prominent but subtle smokiness at the back end; elegant and layered.
Producer's Tasting Note
"Colour: mahogany in colour, with amber lights. Nose: slightly nose drying, with blueberry compote, saddle soap and a dusting of coffee powder. Maritime notes also start to become apparent (moss and driftwood). Palate: to taste, Parma Violets with highland toffee and touch of smoke creeping through. Finish: a long finish with hints of dark chocolate and freshly ground coffee in abundance."
More Abiut the Winter Queen Series
"Elizabeth Stuart was born in Falkland Palace in Fife in 1596, the eldest Daughter of King James VI of Scotland. After a brief reign as Queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth spent most of her life in The Hague. In the face of war and exile, her shrewd diplomacy, tenacity and humour saw her political and cultural influence extend across Europe.
"A unique fusion of Scotch from Mortlach, Bowmore and Teaninich distilleries and malt whisky from Zuidam Distillery in the Netherlands, The Winter Queen is a majestic tribute to a remarkable Scot."
Cadenhead Creations 1991 Batch 3
$224.99
A Cadenhead Creations Blend created from a blend of single malts distilled in 1991 and bottled after 26 years. 43.8% abv.
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: heather, brown sugar, banana loaf, mint, cocktail cherries, tropical fruiits.
Palate: peach, raisins, pan fried pineapple, tinned pears, dark chocolate.
Finish: custard cream, plums, parma ham.
90pts ScotchWhisky.com:
Nose: Round and gentle with ripe pear, flaky pastry, cold butter, old-fashioned lemonade, and light ginger accompanied by a touch of discreet oak. It’s all brioche, white chocolate, and orange Starburst which then gives way to light oak. There are subtle complexities at work here. With water, there’s pastéis de nata, and frangipane tart, while the pear and melon reappear. Just lovely.
Palate: A sweet start with Danish pastry glazed with honey, then dusted with cinnamon and allspice, with an added herbal element and some pineapple kicking in on the back palate.
Finish: Fading into nutmeg and dry spices.
Conclusion: Mellow and hugely drinkable. There ain’t a lot, so get cracking."
Adelphi The Winter Queen
$149.99
The first release in the Winter Queen series is a marrige of an ex-American oak Bourbon barrel from Longmorn, part of a Sherry Butt from Glenrothes and 2 ex-Sherry casks from the Millstone Distillery in the Netherlands. 52.7%
Producer's Tasting Note
"Nose drying; polished floor boards; chocolate and desiccated coconut; Scotch pancakes topped with bacon and coated in maple syrup; manilla envelopes; crème caramel; maraschino cherry; rhubarb crumble, dark toffee and molasses; soft and creamy mouthfeel; Sunday lunch, with quince jelly and jus."
About the Winter Queen Series
"Elizabeth Stuart was born in Falkland Palace in Fife in 1596, the eldest Daughter of King James VI of Scotland. After a brief reign as Queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth spent most of her life in The Hague. In the face of war and exile, her shrewd diplomacy, tenacity and humour saw her political and cultural influence extend across Europe.
"A unique fusion of Scotch from Mortlach, Bowmore and Teaninich distilleries and malt whisky from Zuidam Distillery in the Netherlands, The Winter Queen is a majestic tribute to a remarkable Scot."
MacNair's Lum Reek Blended Malt
$81.99
The brand has been built on the backbone of the GlenAllachie whiskies Billy Walker & Co. acquired as part of the purchase of the distillery, married with Caol Ila. This NAS bottling is bottled at 46%.
Producer Description: "This is the perfect introduction into the Lum Reek range - a peated blended malt Scotch whisky, Master Distiller Billy Walker has combined whiskies matured in first fill Bourbon, Oloroso, Virgin Oak and Red Wine casks to produce this rich golden spirit. Bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered and natural colour, the spirit was first matured at GlenAllachie distillery before the final cask vatting was blended by Billy."
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Crisp peat notes with barley sugar and dark chocolate.
Taste: Full bodied peat reek, vanilla, barley sugar and tannins, followed by bog myrtle and sweet spices.
The MacNair's Story: "Ne'er happier than when exploring the globe or the spirit from the golden still, Harvey McNair was - in the parlance of his native Glasgow - a man or 'lad o'pairts': a true Victorian entrepreneur. A trader, thereby a traveller, an inventor of all sorts of mechanical contraptions, his genius lay in the blending of fine whiskies. He loved and championed the natural, unadulterated colour of whisky. "Pure gold' he said with a wink. Bon viveur and raconteur, he cut a dash about town and had a bursting social calendar. His best stories were always 'agin hisself', like how his neighbours thought him an alchemist or, indeed, how he discovered Lum Reek. But he knew a good dram when he blended it, or indeed stumbled across it. Just like our own 21st Century Whisky legend Billy Walker, who has recreated and refined the Lum Reek blend for the modern palate.
"One autumn evening in the 1860s, after a day's fishing, our man was quaffing a dram in the old stone bothy near GlenAllachie. Due to a blocked chimney (or lum) the room filled with smoke. It had "a marvellous effect on the whisky in my glass," confided McNair later to his merchant cronies. "Indeed, perfection!" Ne'er a truer word was spoken. Today's Lum Reek is the creation of our Master Blender Billy Walker, raising his hat to the top hatted Victorian. It's a heavily peated malt, marrying Islay & Speyside whiskies with rich GlenAllachie, to extend the flavour profile. Lum Reek is matured in GlenAllachie's warehouses, then bottled at 46% (and above), unchilfiltered, allowing its natural colour to shine like those golden autumns Harvey MacNair enjoyed, decked out in his waders."
Compass Box Flaming Heart 15th Annv
$134.99
This edition of Compass Box's legendary Flaming Heart Release is the oldest yet, botled to mark the Boutique Blending firm's 15th Anniversary. Bottled at 48.9% with just a smidge over 12,000 bottles having been released world-wide.
From the Distillery: "Our fifteenth anniversary release is a huge, layered, long-lasting mouthful of a whisky to enjoy late into the night. Brooding, indulgent and older than ever before, this is a whisky born of oak, smoke and fire – with a big heart all of its own.
"First released in 2006, Flaming Heart was the first whisky to combine the rich, complex spice of Scotch aged in new French oak with the evocative peat-fired smoke of Islay malt. It created a genre-defying style that was smouldering, spicy, complex – and so popular that we’ve re-released it four more times in the years that followed."
Producer Description
A unique interplay between spice, sweet and smoke characteristics. Sweet fruits and wood-smoke on the nose. Fat and full-bodied on the palate with a spicy sweetness and a brooding complexity that is rich, sweet and addictively decadent.”
Compass Box Flaming Heart 2018 Magnums
$379.99
The 6th edition of Compass Box's legendary Flaming Heart Release is here, and it is available in 1.5L Magnums as well as 700ml standard bottles!. The 2018 Edition has introduced a subtle sherry cask influence to compliment the bold new French oak and medium-Peaty tones of the classic recipe. Bottled at 48.9% with just a smidge over 15,000 bottles have been released world-wide, as have 800 Magnums.Â
From the Producer:"This is our sixth edition of Flaming Heart, a whisky born of oak, smoke and fire. In this 2018 edition, we have reintroduced a subtle sherry-cask influence that adds an additional layer of complexity and richness. A medium smoky-peaty base is enriched by a sweet maltiness and notes of baking spices and dried fruit. It’s a whisky to enjoy late into the night, perfect served neat or paired with rich cheeses.
"Bottled at 48.9% / Not chill-filtered / Natural colour / First released in 2006, Flaming Heart was the first whisky to combine the rich, complex spice of Scotch aged in new French oak with the evocative peat-fired smoke of Islay malt. It created a genre-defying style that was smouldering, spicy, complex and so popular that we've re-released it five more times in the years that followed."
Celebration of the Cask Wardhead 1997
$219.99
Alright. Hopefully this isn't a case of telling you the tooth fairy isn't real, but at some point we all have to grow up and learn the truth, aye? There is no Wardhead distillery. There are also no Wardhead Single Malts. Any whisky you find with the Wardhead appellation associated will be a) a blended malt and b) 99.999% distillate from a distillery that rhymes with Fengliddich. Yup. Wardhead is nothing more than 'teaspooned' Glenfiddich. In fact, it's almost certainly Glenfiddich with a few drops of Balvenie added, just to prevent the independent bottlers from being able to use the distillery's name itself. For all intents and purposes...you're drinking an independently bottled expression from the biggest selling Single Malt brand in the world. As if the high abv wasn't enough to differentiate this one, it was sourced from a single Hogshead. Only 354 bottles. Unique, of course, but more importantly...delicious.
54.6% abv
Maltbarn Epitome Blended Malt 1993
$264.99
If rumours are to be believed, this may just be pre-blended Edrington malt. And you know what that means, aye? Almost certainly Macallan and Highland Park. We've had a few stunners like this over the last year. Remember that Old Perth 14? Or our own KWM Berry Bros 40 year old? If those sherried beauties lit you up, then this bottling from Maltbarn will almost certainly do the same. And I do have to say, I honestly can't think of two distilleries that marry together as beautifully as Macallan and Highland Park. They seem to have been destined to be together.
Only 170 bottles were made available of this 24 year old sleeper. Bottled at 53.1% and served up au natural.
700 ml
Compass Box The Story of the Spaniard
$77.99
The Story of the Spaniard was featured on Day 22 of our 2018 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar.
The Story of the Spaniard is first new core range release from Compass Box in more than five years. The whisky is a blend of malt whisky matured in ex-Sherry casks, virgin French oak and Spanish red wine barriques. The whisky was inspired by a chance meeting between John Glaser and a local in Spain, his first proper introduction to sherry. The whisky is also inspired by a bespoke bottling done previously for a Greenich Village bar in New York. Bottled at 43% ABV
.Mini / 50mL bottles of this can be found here (while supplies last!)
Andrew’s Tasting Note:
Nose: honeyed, nutty and leathery; soft chocolate tones, honeyed granola with dried apple chunks and bright citrus and gentle oak tannins.
Palate: meaty and leathery with firm spices at first and gentle oak; it becomes more honeyed and fruity as the palate develops with a fresh elegant cool mint flourish; more bright citrus and dried apple chunks; a touch of chewy malt with dried berry fruits.
Finish: bright, fruity and coating with tingling delicate spices and more dried fruits: citrus, apple and berries.
Comment: as ever, Compass Box has created another balanced, elegant expression; the sherry and wine cask notes are prominent but far from over the top; a great addition to the range!
Proudcer Tasting Note: "Full, soft and sumptuous on the palate with notes of citrus peel, red wine and spices. The finish is long, with hints of rich vanilla panna cotta, ripe berries and cherries. "
Producer Description: "Inspired by an eponymously named bespoke whisky we recently created for a bar in New York City called The Spaniard, we decided to explore the sherried style further to create a new whisky for our permanent range. The name is a nod to our founder’s chance encounter with a man in the South of Spain, where he was introduced to Sherry for the first time."
"In this, our first release, 48% of the whiskies have been aged in ex-Sherry casks and 25% in ex-Spanish red wine casks. You will find a whisky that is full, soft and sumptuous on the palate with flavours of citrus peel and pears poached in red wine and spices. It’s a whisky ideal for late evening sipping or stirring into a cocktail."
