Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,
Since its inauguration on the 17th of October the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada has seen tremendous growth, numbering more than 150 individuals. We’ve launched more than 30 whiskies to date most of which have already sold out. Worldwide the Society counts more than 26,000 members and has branches in 15 countries. It bottles 300+ casks a year from a broader range of distilleries than any other company in Scotland. You have to be a member to buy Society bottlings, but membership does have its privileges including: the quarterly award-winning whisky magazine Unfiltered; monthly bottling list called Outturn’s which announce each month’s new whiskies; discounted prices on Society events including monthly “First Friday Tastings”; access to the Society venues in the UK and around the world; and access to the greatest range of independently bottled whiskies offered by any company. Lots more info on the Society can be found at www.smws.ca ..
It is in the spirit of these First Friday Society tastings that we announce: “The Last Friday Before Christmas Drop in Tasting!” Society members and any others who are “curious” about the Society and its whiskies are invited to drop by the Kensington Wine Market between 2 and 7 PM on Friday December 23rd for a casual drop in tasting. The tasting is free and is open to anyone! We will have bottles of many of the available Society whiskies open for sampling including our first special offering: 28.23 “Attention Grabbing Spicy Wood”, a 21 year old Tullibardine matured in a Refill Sherry Butt. It originally sold for $150.49 but is now on sale while supplies last at 10% off ($135.44) and as an added bonus we are throwing in a bespoke Society whisky glass with this bottle.
This also seems like the appropriate moment to announce the latest Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada Outturn which Society members will have seen a few weeks ago; you’ll find it copied below. We launched 8 new bottlings in December, of which 2 have already sold out and the others are in increasingly short supply. Like this Friday’s tasting, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is open to everyone. New Members get a New Member kit, which includes four 100ml bottles representing the breadth of whiskies the Society bottles as well as a pin, note book and Members Hand Book. Demand has been unexpectedly high, and while we may run short of Membership packs in the lead up to Christmas we have certificates which can be given away as gifts that we will be able to replace with SMWS New Member’s Kits early in January.
This is my last communicae for 2011. To those of you whom we don’t see over the next 6 days, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Best of the Season and I wish you all a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!
Slainté!
Andrew Ferguson
Kensington Wine Market
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY CANADA DECEMBER OUTTURN
1. 36.49: A Country Kitchen Garden – 52.4% – Refill Ex Bourbon – 21 Years – Outturn: 278 Bottles – Colour: Chapagne – Panel’s Tasting Note: “The first nose was delicate, floral and elusive, at first revealing an orchard of Braeburn apples, brambles and fresh grass, then becoming spicy (subtle) with fennel, tarragon and vanilla. Richer notes of raisins, orange and dark chocolate appeared with time. The unreduced palate was a contrasting fusion of hot and spicy cooked apple, powder minerals, savoury thyme and fennel. The reduced nose reminded us of late summer hedgerows; Braeburn apples, pine needles and wild mint, with blueberry bushes. The palate was now both fresh and oily with cooling mint and menthol; also apple skins and oiled wood. The distillery shares its name with a mountain in Moray.” Drinking Tip: “First taste of the evening.” – $149.99 – Only 7 left!
2. 9.63: Flower’s on the Breakfast Table – 60.9% – First Fill Barrel – 8 Years – Outturn: 234 Bottles – Colour: Pale Shallot – Panel’s Tasting Note: “The classic ex-bourbon nose gave sticky toffee pudding, sherbet lemons, flowers, pineapple, popcorn, coconut, pistachios, sultanas and bread and butter pudding. The palate was mouth-watering and well -rounded, with flavours of cedar, exotic fruits, mint sprigs and intense floral notes (‘like munching flowers from a vase’) – then peach stones and plum skins in the after-taste. The reduced nose had more cereal – Alpen with dried fruits and brown sugar, Weetabix with honey; waxed furniture, rose, mango, orange and peach. The reduced palate was complex and refreshing—juicy raisins, Turkish delight (rose and lemon), white pepper and Nuttal’s Mintoes. From Rothes’ oldest distillery.” Drinking Tip: “On a summer picnic with a sweetheart. – $103.99 – Only 4 Left!
3. 7.69: Attractive as Apple Pie – 61.6% – First Fill Barrel – 8 Years – Outturn: 239 Bottles – Colour: Bright Yellow Gold – Panel’s Tasting Note: Nose: “The enticing nose – ‘attractive as apple pie’ – offered maple syrup, toffee, vanilla, Danish pastries (with cinnamon and almonds) and hints of tobacco and hay. Even with water, it remained beautifully warm and inviting – ice-cream, toffee apples, fudge and jasmine perfume. The palate was hot but smooth – flavours of honey, apple, and butterscotch, spiked up by the zing of Fentimans Victorian lemonade with ginger; some tobacco and leather tannic dryness lengthened the finish. Water seemed to allow the toffee and syrup sweetness to come through, while retaining the chilli, peppercorn heat. The distillery has links to one Saint and many sinners.” Drinking Tip: Would suit early evening, but is very versatile. – $103.99 – Only 4 Left!
4. 125.54: Christmas in Jamaica – 61.4% – Refill Hogshead – 9 Years – Outturn: 280 Bottles – Colour: Seville Orange Marmalade – Panel’s Tasting Note: “Soft, rich and creamy, the nose displayed buttery toffee with Brazil nuts and Macadamias, plums, marmalade on toast, liquorice, treacle pudding and rum and raisin ice cream. The unreduced palate was massive, intense and vibrant with plentiful heat, treacle toffee, orange zest, dates, figs, raisins and plums – quite Christmassy. The reduced nose, conveying chocolate, rum, caramel and molasses (and a tiny trace of struck match) seemed almost Jamaican. It remained full on the palate – we identified dark chocolate truffles dusted in cocoa, candied oranges, treacle, liquorice, and a pleasant, long-lasting ginger and pepper heat. From Tain’s one and only distillery.” Drinking Tip: “A perfect winter warmer – or after dinner with coffee.” – $107.99 – !!SOLD OUT!!
5. 93.48: Immense, Manly, Meaty and Peaty – 62% – Refill Barrel – 12 Years – Outturn: 224 Bottles – Colour: Distilled Primrose – Panel’s Tasting Note: “The initial nose was interesting, not stunning; carbolic, soap flakes, mineral notes and cooked ham; eventually turning floral (lavender, par-ma violets, gorse). Water sweetened it, bringing heather flowers, honey, tobacco, leather and salt fish. The palate, on the other hand, was truly stunning – immense, manly, meaty and peaty – we got Victo-ry V’s, liquorice, mint imperials, oily rags, cloves, chewing tobacco and Deep Heat; one panellist mentioned ‘an explosion in a soap facto-ry’ someone else said ‘I’m blowing smoke rings!’ We thought the re-duced palate absolutely fabby – chalky pandrops, peppercorns, manu-ka honey and sweet heathery smoke. The distillery dates from 1832.” Drinking Tip: “As accompaniment to Para Handy (books or DVDs) or to celebrate a rugby victory.” – $121.99 – Only 7 Left!
6. 93.42: Explosion in a Honey Factory – 59.1% – Refill Ex-Bourbon – 7 Years – Outturn: 735 Bottles – Colour: Golden Syrup – Panel’s Tasting Note: “This starts as an afternoon tea dram – butter crumpets with honey, honey on burnt toast – then honey-roast almonds, butter toffee, salt toffee gradually becomes more of an evening beside a smoky fire. The taste explodes this comfortable image – dirty smoke and hessian after a sweet start; the crumpets still buttery, but now burnt – and water continues the grubby theme – this is after all from Campbeltown (and an excellent example of the town’s No. 2 distillery) – with a whiff of struck matches behind pancakes lathered in ma-ple syrup. Add only a little water. Now the texture is smooth, the sherry notes more apparent; sweet overall, with hessian in the finish.” Drinking Tip: “With a North American breakfast.” – $90.99 – Gold Medal Winner – !!SOLD OUT!!
7. 27.94: Enigmatic Big Floozy – 55.6% – First Fill Sherry Hogshead – 11 Years – Outturn: 351 Bottles – Colour: Polished Chestnut – Panel’s Tasting Note: “The nose was curious – an enigma – with roasted chestnuts, caramelized figs, slightly burnt raisins in a fruitcake, spit-roasted lamb and ‘smouldering compost.’ We also found ash, heather, marmite, grease guns and tar. The palate was described, ungenerously, as a ‘big floozy’ – tar, burnt raisins, over-cooked tajine, cinder toffee, dirty caramel, singed hair and barbecued sardines. The reduced nose put us in mind of the wrapping on a fish supper. The reduced palate, despite earlier hesitations, was surprisingly good and scored well – now quite creamy, with gentle sweetness – chocolate-coated toffee, Daim bars and Madeira wine. From Campbeltown’s oldest surviving distillery.” Drinking Tip: To accompany something from the chip shop. – $111.99 – Only 2 Left!
8. 33.115: Man, That’s Braw! – 55.4% – Refill Sherry Butt – 11 Year – Outturn: 578 Bottles – Colour: Toffee Gold – Panel’s Tasting Note: “The nose was beautifully balanced; varnish, paint, leather, light ash, coal, coarse bread, minty toffee, smoked sugar puffs and shell-fish bisque against barbecued pork ribs and char-sui pork fried rice. The first comment provoked by the palate was ‘Man, that’s braw!’ – sweet tar, ash, ham and pineapple pizza, leather and pipe tobacco smoke. The reduced nose was a brilliant combination of crispy seaweed, charred red peppers and meringues or sponge sugar with strawberry and lemon sorbet. The palate had salty caramel, limes squeezed over oysters and sweet prawns cooked on salt – amazingly rewarding. The last distillery along the Kildalton Road.” Drinking Tip: “While watching the sun go down near a lighthouse.” – $111.99 – !!SOLD OUT!!
OTHER SOCIETY BOTTLINGS STILL AVAILABLE:
1. 28.23: Attention Grabbing Spicy Wood – 10% Off + a Society Glass! – $150.49 (regular)
2. 39.76: Delish! – $180.49 – 5 Left
3. 35.58: A Caravanseri on the Silk Road – $178.99 – Just 3 Left…
4. 26.82: Soft Light at Sunset – $130.49 – 5 Left
5. 53.154: A Surfer’s Sundown Dram – $139.99 – Just 3 Left…
6. 3.175: On the Dunes – Watching a Puffer – $128.99 – Just 3 Left…
7. 127.14: Right Up My Street – $108.99 – But 2 Remaining…
8. 10.72: A Hawker Market in Singapore – $114.99 – But 2 Remaining…
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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 and in any discrepancy between this publication and our point of sale the later will be taken as correct.
Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger!
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
KWM Scotchguy
