Glenfiddich’s ‘New’ Releases
The folks at Glenfiddich have been busy recently. Since Christmas we’ve had a couple of new and interesting bottles pop through our warehouse doors, and just this week another new whisky has appeared on our shelves. To celebrate this fact, … Continue reading >>
Come enjoy an afternoon with Curtis McMillan of the McMillan Distillery & Corey Bunnewith (on the bar) while they take the prohibition recipe of Moonshine and turn it into a cocktail you wont be able to live without. From the success of the last class involving moonshine, we’ve decided to do a second class on the white spirits and infusions. We’re looking to push the boundaries of what’s thought to be possible with white spirits and help the customer try new and exciting taste that they’ve never had before. We’ll be sampling eight different infusions and will also be talk about how the consumer can make these infusions themselves at home. Bottoms Up!
Friday, March 30th at Silicon Valley Capital Club, San Jose
ImpEx Beverages will conduct a tasting seminar featuring the following brands (please see the link below for the information)…
Saturday, March 31st ImpEx Beverages, Inc. will be participating in the Whiskies of the World Expo
Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,
As many of you may have seen in last week’s Malt Messenger, Kensington Wine Market has some epic tastings coming up next week. On Thursday March 29th and Friday the 30th we will be holding two identical Ancient Malts Tastings. These are the first Ancient Malts Tastings we’ve offered in more than a year. Generally we will open one exceptionally rare and expensive whisky at the tasting, but this year I have decided to take a different approach; we’re going to open seven… seven 40 year old whiskies.
The idea came to me late last year when it occurred to me that for the first time ever we had enough whiskies to do a vertical of seven 40 Year Old whiskies, six of them distillery bottled by their distillery. Begining in December I started setting aside many of these whiskies, some of which have since sold out. This is without doubt the first vertical tasting of 40 year old whiskies in Canada and Alberta, and surely one of the first in the world.
We will be sampling 40 year old whiskies from Glendronach, Glenfarclas, BenRiach, HighlandPark, Bowmore, Fettercairn and Glenfiddich. Most of these whiskies have received very high scores, and a couple of them have come into Canada in such small quantities (less than 6 bottles) that they will never be tasted by more than a few. To add icing to this already decadent cake all participants will be receiving a bespoke whisky glass and will have a taste of the Gordon & MacPhail Gernerations Glenlivet 70 Year ($21,999.99). The tasting costs$275 + GST, which is a pretty good deal considering all 8 bottles of these whiskies would set you back more than $30,000.00 if you could even find them all!
There will be other epic tastings over the years to come but this one is a one off, which will never be duplicated. There are still tickets for both nights, though only 4-5 for the Friday seating. See below for more details on the tasting.
Slainté!
AndrewFerguson
THE ANCIENT MALTS TASTNGS – Thursday March 29th and Friday March 30th – $275.00+GST
Once or twice a year the Kensington Wine Market puts on an epic tasting of whiskies most of us can only dream about buying. Over the years we’ve opened the Black Bowmore 1964, Gold Bowmore 1964, Macallan 50 Year Lalique, Auchentoshan 1957 50 Year (both incarnations) and other rare whiskies just to name a few. These tastings are an opportunity for a community of people to come together and share an experience that most of us could never have on our own. Late last year it occurred to me that I had access to a number of distillery bottled 40 year old whiskies and I thought to myself, why not hold a 40 year olds tasting? On Thursday and Friday March 29th and 30th we will be conducting two back to back tastings featuring seven 40 year old whiskies. Six of the seven whiskies are distillery bottled, all of them are exceptionally rare and many of them rank among the most highly scored whiskies in the world. To sweeten the deal everyone will receive a commemorative Glencairn glass and as a special bonus will get a taste of the Gordon & MacPhail Generations Glenlivet 70 Year.
This will be an unparalleled tasting event, and a night(s) to remember. The whisky list is as follows:
This tasting event is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Not counting the Gordon & MacPhail Generations Glenlivet 70 Year old, a bottle of each of these 7 whiskies would set you back more than $10,000.00 if you could even find them all. You’d need more than treble that to buy a full bottle of everything including the Glenlivet 70 Year.
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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.
Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger.
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
Manager & Scotchguy
Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Owner & Opperator
Ferguson’s Whisky Tours
Royal Wedding Whisky
We only have 31 bottles left of our whisky which was bottled to commemorate the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. This is literally our last ever stock so if you wish to add this to your collection then you must hurry.
Price: £54.95
Diamond Jubilee Whisky
You’ll be excited to know that our Diamond Jubilee Whisky is almost ready and we have given you the chance to pre-order a bottle or two. This is limited edition with the distillery only having 1140 bottles to sell.
Price: £59.99
Royal Wedding & Diamond Jubilee Gift Pack
Why not celebrate all things Royal with this Wedding & Jubilee gift pack. Very limited stock (only 25 available) and is presented in a hessian jute bag. Perfect for a present.
Price: £117.34 £110.00
Come and visit us…
The sun is shining, spring is here. If you find yourself in the East of the country why not come and visit us and see how whisky’s made and also our extraordinary range of English whisky and whisky from around the world.
The English Whisky Company
St.George’s Distillery Harling Road Norwich Norfolk NR16 2QW
NEW – Glenglassaugh Revival – £35.99
The first single malt scotch whisky distilled from the re-furbished Glenglassaugh distillery which is available for pre-order and despatched early April. Non-chill filtered, no colour added and bottled on site at Glenglassaugh distillery.
Colour: Copper.
Palate: Sweet, rounded and creamy. Oranges, plums, cherry and walnuts, chocolate, honey-mead, sherry and soft, spiced oak.
The Relaxed Whisky Weekend
7 – 9 September 2012
Fellow whiskyenthusiasts,
Less than 6 months untill the fourth edition of Maltstock. Have you bought your tickets yet? We’ve already sold over one third of all available tickets.
Whiskyshop Dufftown discount
The Whiskyshop Dufftown is offering a very relaxed 5% discount to everybody with a Maltstock ticket. So go to their website and choose from their amazing collection. “We have great staff who are both knowledgeable and passionate about whisky and we all love what we do. And we all chose to do it because of that! That is why we are so genuinely passionate about whisky”
BBQGuru returns!
We are very pelased to announce that the briliant team of BBQGuru.nl will return to Maltstock this year. Everybody attending last year will remember the excellent BBQ they prepared for us. They already have some nice ideas for this years BBQ. Not to be missed.
Club Bottle Battle
So many whisky clubs. So many club bottles. Enter your bottle in the club bottle battle and see how it compares to those of other clubs. Please contact us if you wil be entering your club bottle.
Meet the Maltstock team
This weekend the Maltstock promo team will be at the Whiskyfestival Noord-Nederland in Groningen, the Netherlands. Of course we will also be at the whiskyfair in Germany in April. And we will also return to the Spirit of Speyside festival in May. Hope to see you at one of these events.
Arthur, Bob, Eline, Rogier & Teun.
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How to survive Whisky Live London I go to many many whisky shows all over the world and now, as Whisky Live London kicks off, I would like to share with you my trips on how to survive the weekend and make the most out of your time during any Whisky Festival… Plan Your Day
Dress Code It’s likely there won’t be a dress code in operation at the event but it’s worth considering the following:
Water, Water Everywhere When sampling the fine whiskies on offer, have a quick nose and sip to assess the initial quality and then add just a splash of water and watch the whisky open up fully. Once you have the water in then it’s time to say ‘Hello, how are you?’… And it’s best to remember the 3 R’s. Use the water available to clean out your glass between each whisky. There are a lot of different and competing flavours between each whisky you sample so make sure you Rinse and Repeat before you Re-fill with whisky. It’s Not a Race Make sure you enjoy yourself at the event but remember there is no prize for the person who samples the most whiskies – it’s better to sip and savour what you are drinking, rather than knocking it back like a cowboy. Stay safe, make sure you keep hydrated with the free water throughout the day and as most tickets now include food, make sure you visit the restaurant during the day to refresh and recharge. For more info visit www.drinkaware.co.uk Tasting Whisky You can check out one of the many whisky tastings video’s I’ve done but here is a quick summary for you
But what about you Whisky Live veterans? Any other tips you would share? |
| The A-Z of the World’s Best Bars: K and L
So, another week and two more letters showcasing some of the best bars in the globe. As always, let us know what you think of these and if there’s any others you would add…
KThis Polynesian restaurant has been a fixture in unique dinning in Tucson since 1963. Known for their extensive cocktail list and vibrant atmosphere, it’s a great place to try a dram of Dalmore when you are next in town. Killarney Restaurant and Irish Pub, California, USA This pub was designed and built in Ireland before being shipped to California for assembly, so it really does have Irish roots! We recommend you visit Riverside California to enjoy a dram of Dalmore 12 year old in this traditional Irish pub. Kelvin Arms, Houston, Texas, USA Decked out in traditional Scottish tartan and proudly waving the Scottish flag, this bar has a great selection of the amber nectar. With Scottish tunes blasting on the jukebox and a shrine to the legend that is Sean Connery, Houston’s Scottish pub is really a home away from home for us Scots. LBrasseri Lipp, Gothenburg, Sweden One of the oldest running restaurants in Gothenburg. Great whisky selection and has been awarded membership status to The Dalmore King Alexander III Society. Liquid, ISTA Hotel, Bangalore, India An alfresco Lounge Bar experience with a delectable selection of signature drinks and snacks. The ambience of a rooftop garden, views of the city heights, and a live band set the mood. Latter, Aker Brygge, Oslo, Norway Great entertainment venue with on-site restaurant, bar, club and theatre area which has live bands and artists throughout the year. One of Our hometown’s best whisky bars. A traditional friendly pub that serves up a great selection of whiskies. |
Elijah Craig 18yo Single Barrel (45%, OB, C#3961, +/-2010)
The nose is delicate fruit and spice, vey vibrant with an explosion of dusty grains. The aromas present as quite dry but very active and seductive with hints of black pepper, chilies and some nice sweetness. An astonishingly good set of aromas that work very well together. The taste is quite gentle at first presenting the dry dusting grains and then the flavour simply grows and grows revealing the black pepper and chilies as well as some dusty cocoa powder and lashing of really good oak spice. Sensational! The finish is much as before and everything holds together very well with a little fruit coming to the fore (perhaps some fruit leather). The finish is quite long but not dramatic but in keeping with the nose and taste.
A significant steal at $50…
Score 91 points
Day FIVE of American Whiskey Week.
Hello Fellow WhiskeyLovers –
As most of you know, last week we sent out the Call for Nominations for 15 different categories for the 2012 Drammie Awards. The mission of the Drammie Awards is to put the power of “recognition” in the hands of the whiskey consumer. Nominations are being accepted until midnight on Friday, March 30th…so make haste, and have your voice heard now, or forever hold your peace…until next year at least.
Speaking of awards, I’m sure many of you have been following the Whisky Advocate Awards put forth by my friend John Hansell and the team at the Whisky Advocate magazine. There have been some surprise winners this year, including the winner of “Artisan Whiskey of the Year, North America”, and this weeks Whiskey Wednesday featured whiskey: Craft Distillers’ Low Gap Whiskey.
Oh…and if you didn’t know, Low Gap is a clear (read: unaged) whiskey. But this isn’t your typical moonshine, “bottled” in a Ball Jar, and given a fancy name.
Not even close.
Low Gap Whiskey is made by hand by Crispin Cain, who apprenticed with Hubert Germain-Robin, and has been distilling for 20 years. It is made from malted Bavarian wheat, fermented slowly, distilled using rigorous and painstaking craft methods, and brought to bottling proof with unfiltered rainwater.
The whisky is “brewed” 100% from malted Bavarian hard wheat and controlled dry fermented similarly to beer at +/- 8.8% double distillation, and is brought to proof with rainwater captured at the distillery.
The Germain-Robin 16-hectoliter cognac still used to produce the whiskey comes from the old Surrenne distillery attached to Crispin’s family chateau in Triac, France. It is an antique, operated entirely by hand, and was initially used for small lots of varietal apples and grape spirits. But it wasn’t until Crispin began to distill whiskey on it that they realized how special the still is. It produces beautifully round, soft, elegant and complex distillates.
And so, its’ with great excitement that we’re able to offer you a bottle of Craft Distiller’s Low Gap Whiskey for $39.95/ bottle. But act fast of you want a bottle. This is a very limited production whiskey, and once it’s gone…it’s gone.
And remember, if you’re in the San Francisco next week, you must join me at the Whiskies of the World Expo 2012 on the SF Belle, Hornblower Yacht at Pier 3 on Saturday March 31st. We have a $10 discount on your ticket in, by simply entering the code “FWL10D” in the coupon/promo code field when you’re checking out.
And until next week…have fun!
Doug Stone
Founder
ForWhiskeyLovers.com
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CRAFT DISTILLERS’ LOW GAP WHISKEY
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TASTING NOTES – Lew Bryson, Whisky Advocate
“…2011 was the Year of White Whiskey….Of all the white whiskeys that came across my tasting table in 2011, Low Gap was the solid winner, and this is recognition that there are some white whiskeys out there that are worth drinking on their own for more than the once-or-twice novelty of it.
Low Gap…is a round, fruity spirit that smells like fresh flour and crisp crackers, but drinks like brandy – aromatic and vaporous – with a real grain-laced finish, not just an alcohol wick-up. That’s hardly a surprise coming from Craft Distillers, who make Germain-Robin brandy
There were aged whiskeys from small distillers this year that I liked better, but this was exceptional in its niche…”
