Nikka From the Barrel 51.4%

$61.19

This whisky was featured on Day 21 of our 2024 KWM Not An Advent Calendar Tastings! You can read more about the whisky here.

Note: Nikka's own website notes that this bottle does not meet the criteria to be called a Japanese Whisky. The good news is that might mean it also contain Ben Nevis Single Malt, as Scotland's Ben Nevis Distillery is also owned by Nikka.

Nikka's venerated from the Barrel has been a staple of our whisky shelves for years and will hopefully remain so. This creation from Nikka is a blend of grain and malt from multiple distilleries owned by the company. It is always bottled at 51.4% ABV after the components are married in refill casks for up to half a year to marry together and become a cohesive whole.

500mL bottle.

From the Producer: “Produced from a blend of Miyagikyo and Yoichi single malts and a single grain whisky, NIKKA FROM THE BARREL embodies the expertise of the distillery’s master blenders. Intense, round, and generous, this ambitious, powerful, controlled, high-alcohol blend is acknowledged for its originality. This is a bold whisky. It seizes you and seduces you. It asserts its own style.

Boutique-y Willowbank Batch 2 18 Year

$137.50

This Blended New Zealand whisky is from a closed distillery, matured 18 years before finishing in ex-Red Wine Casks. 50.5%

Producer Description

"This is our second batch of Blended Whisky from this long closed New Zealand distillery. It’s an 18 Year Old, bottled at 50.5% abv."

Burnt Ends Rye & Peated Single Malt 45%

$43.19

If you visit Hayden Block - the great barbecue joint not too far from Kensington Wine Market - it is always a good idea to order the burnt ends. This just might be the perfect whiskey to pair with it! Burnt Ends is an intriguing blend of Rye Whiskey from Tennessee and peated single malt scotch that was finished in sherry casks. The result may just have to be shared with the meat in your smoker. 45% ABV.

From The Producer

"Inspired by the tasty goods served at the barbecue joints of the USA, this rich, meaty expression brings together Tennessee rye whiskey and sherry cask-finished peated single malt Scotch whisky, all within a bottle that looks like it should hold barbecue sauce. It's meaty, smoky, rich and satisfying stuff."

Turntable Bittersweet Symphony

$74.69

This Blended Scotch Whisky from Turntable Blending House takes its name from a song by The Verve that you either absolutely love or can't stand because it was seemingly all that was played on the radio during the late 1990s/early 2000s.

Producer Description

• 22% Craigellachie PX Puncheon
• 17% Blair Athol Virgin Oak Barrel
• 21% Craigellachie Oloroso Butt
• 21% Balmenach PX Puncheon
• 19% North British Virgin Oak Barrel

Turntable Limited Ed.01 Starward Collab

$107.99

This is the first direct collaboration that Turntable Blending House has undertaken with a distillery. Turntable X Starward is a blend of Starward's Australian Single Malt Whisky with Single Malt Scotch and Single Grain Scotch, resulting in something unique and international.

Producer Description

• 39% Starward ex-Australian Red Wine Casks
• 10% Caol Ila 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel
• 29% Inchgower Virgin Oak Barrel
• 22% North British Virgin Oak Barrel

Turntable Track 04 One Way or Another

$71.24

Named after the 1978 song by Blondie, One Way or Another is an intriguing, grain-forward Blended Scotch bottled at 46%. It is made of:

• 30% Strathclyde Single Grain matured in 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrels
• 21% Invergordon Single Grain matured in ex-Red Wine Barrels
• 15% Cameronbridge Single Grain from ex-Marsala Barrels
• 12% Cameronbridge from Single Grain ex-Madeira Barrels
• 22% Linkwood Single Malt matured in 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrels

Nikka From the Barrel 40th Annv 3pk

$341.99

To mark the 40th Anniversary of Nikka From the Barrel, the Japanese firm has released a boxed set of 3 whiskies. The set includes the From The Barrel Extra Marriage (created to mark the 40th Anniversary) as well as the individual Malt and Grain components of the Blend.

Producer Description

"This special 3-bottle set celebrates 40 years of Nikka From the Barrel by featuring the two non-chill-filtered cask-strength components, the Grain Pieces of the Barrel and Malt Pieces of the Barrel, alongside the final "Extra Marriage" blend. The Malt offers a rich, structured character with notes of ripe apricot, sweet vanilla, and mellow peat, while the Grain is sweet and smooth, with hints of banana and bitter-sweet marmalade. The Extra Marriage is a rich and full-bodied whisky with complex layers of chocolate, orange peel, and mellow oak tannins, culminating in a long, gently bitter finish."

Rock Island 10 Year Blended Malt

$63.69

A limited edition Blended Malt created from the islands of Arran, Jura, Islay and Orkney. 46%.

Producer Description: "Rock Island 10 Years Old is a beautifully aged, Island “Vatted” Malt, that is proudly offered without colouring or chill-filtration. Bottled at 46% alcohol strength, Rock Island 10 Years Old marries together Single Malts from Islay, Arran, Orkney & Jura, resulting in a Whisky entailing wave after wave of sea salt, wood embers, gentle smoke and orange peel."

Producer Tasting Note

"The nose is initially barley-rich and buttery, developing to wave-soaked rocks with gentle peat smoke and citrus fruits. The palate bursts with a beachy quality - sea spray, black pepper and damp ash. The finish goes on and on, with wave after wave of wood embers, orange peel and gentle spice." 

Compass Box Orchard House

$80.09

This whisky was featured on Day 6 of our 2024 KWM Whisky Calendar. You can read Evan's blog post on it here.

This is a game-changing whisky from Compass Box, built not from acquired aged components, but rather new make spirit acquired and filled into Compass Box own casks. Orchard House is composed of primarily Linkwood (39%), Clynelish (29%), Benrinnes (20%) and Caol Ila (2%), all from First Fill ex-Boubon Barrels, along with Highland Blended Malt (2%) from custom French oak casks and a secret Speyside single malt (8%) from Revatted Oloroso Sherry-Seasoned Butts. Hmmm, a "Distillery near the town of Aberlour" sounds a lot like Benfarclas... 46%.

Producer Description

"What is more universally delicious than ripe fruit? Even the greatest chefs have been known to serve a simple dish of strawberries or a single, perfect peach as a dessert.

"Orchard House gathers together some of the fruitiest malts Scotland has to offer, including whiskies from the Linkwood and Clynelish distilleries; what’s more, we have sourced many of these whiskies as new spirit and laid them down in our own oak casks. This, our monument to fresh fruitiness in Scotch whisky, has been many years in the making."