Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,
There are just two days to go until the Isle of Arran 15th Anniversary celebration. This is a festival style event, so we have lots of room to accommodate anyone hoping to attend. So far about 30 of the initial 50 tickets have sold. The event is the Canadian launch of a special 15th Anniversary bottling. Andrew Hogan of Isle of Arran will be on hand to talk about his distillery, samples those present on a range of whiskies from the Arran distillery and sign any purchased bottles including the 15th Anniversary bottling. Kensington Wine Market has committed to 96 of the 180 bottles coming into the province, of which more than half have been pre-sold. More information on both the event and the special bottling can be found below.
I have decided to hold off on the next full Malt Messenger until after Labour Day, as I’m sure much of its readership is away on vacation. However there are a couple of tidbits which can’t wait until then. First and foremost, our Fall Tasting Schedule is now online. All of our whisky, beer and wine tastings for September through December are now online. All the beer and whisky tastings are listed below.
Secondly, some whiskies from BenRiach which have long been out of stock—the 15 Year Old Cask Finishes—are back. All three are excellent whiskies, and exclusive to KWM. Historically the most popular was the 15 Year Old Madeira Finish, which was the impetus for us to bottle our own cask of the same.
Finally, we have single malts from all over the world at KWM, Scotland, Ireland, Japan, Canada, the United States, Wales, England, Australia and now Sweden. Sweden’s first single malt distillery, Macmyra is now available in Canada. Two different expressions are available: Mackmyra Special ’03 and Mackmyra First Edition – $66.49. I’ll include my tasting notes below.
I hope you enjoy this little Malt Messenger Bulletin, and Happy Labour Day!
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
PS-Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/scotch_guy
Isle of Arran 15th Anniversary Celebration – Thursday September 2nd 7PM – $40
Special guest Andrew Hogan of the Isle of Arran Distillery will be in town for one night only to celebrate the distillery’s 15th Anniversary and formally launch the 15th Anniversary bottling here in Alberta. Join us at the Kensington Wine for a fun and informal evening celebrating 15 years of distillation at one of Scotland’s finest distilleries. We will formally sample 4 whiskies from the Arran portfolio (10 Year, Bourbon Cask, Moscatel Cask and 15th Anniversary) under the guidance of Andrew Hogan whilst he sheds some light on the Isle of Arran’s only distillery. After the formal tasting you will have an opportunity to get Andrew to sign a bottle of Arran for you or try a few other of the distilleries whiskies. This tasting will be a great way to start off the fall tasting season and the perfect transition into the Labour Day long weekend.
Call the store 403-283-8000, drop by or visit our website www.kensingtonwinemarket.com to register.
Isle of Arran 15th Anniversary Amontillado 1999 – $82.99
Who could believe the Isle of Arran distillery is now 15 years old. I remember the lead up to its 10th Anniversary like it was yesterday, and the launch a year later of its first regularily available 10 year old. How the time flies! The Isle of Arran distillery has now been distilling for 15 years, and they decided to release a special edition 11 year old bottling to commemorate the event. The whisky is from refill hogsheads finished for more than a year in eight Amontialldo Sherry Butts from Spain.
“Offical Tasting Notes: Nose: The aroma is complex with hints of dark chocolate, cherries and ginger. Mint-toffee and hazelnut emerge with water. Palate: Rich and creamy on the palate with classic sherry wood notes of dried fruit and spice. A confectionery sweetness mingles beautifully with the intrinsic citrus character of the Arran Malt. Finish: Much drier on the long finish with an intriguing peppery note developing.”
The whisky will go on sale at the Kensington Wine Market first on Thursday September 2nd at the launch party with the distillery’s Andrew Hogan (for more information please see above). Only 180 bottles are coming in to the province, and at the reasonable price of $82.99 there will be a lot of demand for this dram. For the time being we are limiting pre-orders to 3 bottles per customer. Andrew Hogan will be signing bottles the night of the event. Please e-mail me if you would like to reserve some bottles.
BenRiach 15 Year Old Cask Finishes Back in Stock – $82.49/each
1. BenRiach 15 Year Old Henrique’s Madeira Finish – Matured 14 years in Bourbon casks and finished for a full year in a Henrique’s Madeira cask, this is an excellent summer or breakfast whisky. Jim Murray said: “This is an essay in subtlety… we have one of the truly great Speysiders on our hands!” Nose: Vanilla and spices with watermelon and peaches, with a rich backdrop of Madeira and oak wood. Palate: An avalanche of butterscotch, hazelnuts, peaches and spices, with and rich Madeira. Finish: dry with concentrated barley and grape. – Exclusive to KWM
2. BenRiach 15 Year Old Jamaican Dark Rum Finish – Matured in the traditional style in American bourbon barrels, this whisky is then ‘finished’ in Dark Rum barrels, sourced from the Caribbean island of Jamaica. During this second period of maturation the whisky derives many interesting characteristics specific to the Dark Rum barrel. Nose: toffee, spices, cinnamon & sultana w/ a backbone of rum. Palate: toffee, cinnamon, apricots & chocolate. Finish: rum & sultanas dominate the finish. – Exclusive to KWM
3. BenRiach 15 Year Old Tawny Port Finish – Matured 14 years in Bourbon casks and finished for one full year in Tawny Port pipes. Nose: crème brulée, honey, cinnamon and coconut in harmony with rich port notes and oak wood. Palate: Butterscotch, herbs, cinnamon, peaches and sultanas, infused with rich port and oak wood notes. – Exclusive to KWM
Tasting Notes Mackmyra Single Malt
1. Mackmyra First Edition – Nose: fresh, light, sweet and fruity with some grassy malt; Palate: light, soft and floral, apples and clean malt; Finish: light and clean with soft dry oak. – $66.49
2. Mackmyra Special ’03 – Nose: dry smoke, creamy vanilla, faint berry fruits with grassy-herbal notes; Palate: clean and buttery with some crisp smoke, a few bitter herbs and melons; Finish: dry, sweet and lightly bitter with woody smoke. – $91.49
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If you have any whisky questions or comments concerning The Malt Messenger please contact me by e-mail, phone, or drop by the store. Feel free to forward me any whisky news you feel should be included in a future issue of The Malt Messenger; it might just get included.
All of the products mentioned in THE MALT MESSENGER can be purchased in store, over the phone or from our website at www.kensingtonwinemarket.com. All prices quoted in the Malt Messenger are subject to change!
You can follow me online on Twitter at www.twitter.com/scotch_guy..
Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger!
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
KWM Scotchguy
403-283-8000
888-283-9004
1257 Kensington Rd. NW
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2N 3P8
scotchguy@kensingtonwinemarket.com
