Kensington Calgary “Malt Messenger Bulletin – MS Calgary Whisky Festival, Port Ellen & Glendronach” – Scotch Whisky News
Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,
Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas break. I’ve just spent the last week tearing my house apart and putting it back together again. It’s my first stay-cation in years, and I find myself now in need of a proper vacation. But no such luck, it is straight into the breach… where there will be more than a few drams!
There are some incredible new whiskies available like the 12th Edition Port Ellen, Bowmore 1985 Vintage, Adelphi Lochside 1965 46 Year (which is awesome), Lagavulin 21 Year (which is stunning), Springbank Calvados, Arran Orkney Bere (flying off the shelf) and a slew of new Bruichladdichs: Port Charlotte 10 Year, Octomore 10 Year (sadly sold out), Bruichladdich Bere Barley, Peat Project and more. PC10 was greedily gobbled up by one store, but don’t fret we’ll be getting some shortly, and selling it for $5 less a bottle! I’ve made mention of these and some other whiskies below. On to the upcoming whisky events…
The next couple of weeks are rife with opportunities for sampling premium whisky in Western Canada. First up is Thursday’s 2nd Annual MS Calgary Whisky Festival www.calgarywhiskyfestival.com with proceeds going towards the MS Society of Calgary. There will be more than 32 stations pouring whiskies from some 60 distilleries and independent bottlers. The event will be held from 6-9PM in the Jack Singer Concert Hall Lobby of the EPCOR Center. Tickets are still available for the event at HERE which will feature more than 160 whiskies. There are also 3 Master Classes available which will offer sit down tastings with nearly half of the dozen Brand Ambassadors attending HERE .
Friday morning I am off to Victoria where hords of whisky lovers will be converging for the 8th Annual Victoria Whisky Festival www.victoriawhiskyfestival.com The Victoria Whisky Festival is one of North America’s premiere whisky events, with a festival tasting, grand tastings, dinners and around 50 master classes. I’ll be giving one of the Master Classes for Compass Box, but will otherwise be soaking up the atmosphere, diligently writing tasting notes, and catching up with whisky friends I may only see once a year.
Monday morning after a weekend of dramming I am off to Vancouver where I will be giving a private whisky tasting. The event, which includes a dinner and some rare whiskies (two of them nearly 40 years of age) will run a very reasonable $150. If you’re interested in attending let me know, there are but 2-4 spots left as I write!
Then it is back to Alberta for you guessed it… more whisky events. On Tuesday Jan 22nd we are hosting a Glendronach Vintages vertical tasting which will feature 6 vintage bottlings of Glendronach up to 41 years of age. This will include an advanced sample of the as yet unreleased Glendronach 1989 Cask 5475(PX Sherry Puncheon) from Batch 7. Simultaneously there is a Scotch Malt Whisky Society Tasting with Georgie Bell being held in Edmonton at The Bothy South. Georgie is then coming down to Calgary the following night for a special tasting at the Brasserie in Kensington. Details on both of these tastings can be found at http://www.smws.ca/whisky-tastings/ where you can also register for them.
Finally next week will be capped off with our 8th annual Scots Wha Hae Robbie Burns Supper at Fort Calgary. This year’s guest of honour is Michael Urquhart of Gordon & MacPhail/Benromach. As a special treat participants will have an opportunity to help us select a private bottling of Benromach to be bottled for KWM. As always our Burns Supper includes a tasting of 6 whiskies, Highland dancing, poetry, song, haggis, and the most fun you can have with your sporran on! I’ve included more details on some of these fine events below. Truly a lot going on this month, and more to come in February.
I hope you enjoy this Malt Messenger Bulletin.
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
In This Bulletin
- MS Calgary Whisky Festival
- Glendronach Vintages Tasting
- Scotch Malt Whisky Society Special Tastings in Calgary & Edmonton
- Scots Wha Hae – Our 8th Annual Burns Supper
- New Whiskies
MS Calgary Whisky Festival– Thursday January 17th 6-9PM
The second annual MS Calgary Whisky Festival is just days away, and there are still some tickets available. This year’s event has attracted the whiskies of more than 58 distilleries and independent bottlers, as well as more than a dozen Brand Ambassadors. More than 160 whiskies will be available for sampling during the 3 hour festival including some very old and rare. All of the proceeds from the event will be going to the MS Society of Calgary http://mssociety.ca/chapters/calgary/default.htm .
Tickets for the event can be purchased through the EPCOR Center Box Office by following this link: HERE.
The three Master Classes on offer will feature whiskies not offered in the festival tasting. The Master Classes are $39 and can be booked by calling the EPCOR box office at 403-294-9494 . Please note you need to have a festival ticket to attend a Master Class. Some tickets for the Master Classes may be available at the door. The Master Classes:
1) Benromach vs. Tullibardine vs. Springbank vs. Kilchoman – The first Master Class features four brand ambassadors (Michael Urquhart, Ranald Watson, James Robertson and Peter Wills) going head to head in a game of oneupsmanship, featurings whiskies from their firms: Gordon & MacPhail, Springbank, Tullibardine, and Kilchoman!
2) Scotch Malt Whisky Society w/ Andrew Ferguson – The second Master Class is an initiation into the world of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, the world’s largest whisky club, and will feature a range of their whiskies, some never before sampled in Canada!
3) Morrison Bowmore with Ian MacCallum Last but not least Ian MacCallum of Morrison Bowmore will lead a tasting including the new 1985 vintage (of which fewer than 40 bottles have come to Alberta!).
Info on the Master Classes can be found here: http://www.calgarywhiskyfestival.com/master-classes/
I will be posting the full whisky list for the event and the Master Classes on the KWM Blog tomorrow, Wednesday January 16th: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/blog/
Glendronach Vintages Tasting – Tuesday January 22nd 7PM – $80
This tastings and the whiskies for it were decided upon in mid-November. Since then, all but one bottle of these five Batch 6 vintage Glendronachs have sold out: 1971, 1978, 1989, 1990 and 1993. To be fair, we did only receive 6 bottles of each, and the demand for Glendronach is soaring. To make the tasting just a little bit more interesting, Glendronach has kindly sent me an advanced bottle of the 1989 Cask 5475. Released as part of Batch 7 which is still many months away.
Since a change of ownership in 2008 Glendronach has been releasing some of the finest sherried whiskies in Scotland. Once a year we receive just one 6 bottle case of each of 5 different single cask, vintage bottlings of Glendronach. These single cask bottling usually disappear the moment they land. This vertical tasting is an excellent opportunity to see why Glendronach is rapidly becoming one of Scotland’s most respected distilleries.
https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php
Scotch Malt Whisky Society Special Tastings in Calgary & Edmonton
Georgie Bell, Scotch Malt Whisky Society Ambassador will be making her way through Alberta next week to put on special tastings in both Edmonton and Calgary.
The Edmonton Tasting will be taking place at The Bothy Wine and Whisky Bar on Calgary Trail, Tuesday January 22nd at 6:30PM. Tickets are $65/members and $75/guests. Tickets can be bought by clicking onto this link: http://www.smws.ca/whisky-tastings/scotch-malt-whisky-society-edmonton-tasting-at-the-bothy-south/
- The Calgary Tasting will be at the Brasserie Kensington, in… Kensington. The Calgary tasting is an Islay theme (Taste of Islay), also starting at 6:30 on Wednesday January 23rd. Tickets are $65/members and $75/guests. They can be purchased by following this link: http://www.smws.ca/whisky-tastings/scotch-malt-whisky-society-taste-of-islay-at-the-brasserie-kensington/
Scots Wha Hae: Our 8th Annual Robbie Burns Supper – Friday January 25th 7PM – Fort Calgary Officer’s Mess – $99
What can I say, except that our Burns Supper has become a January institution in Calgary. Usually held on the 25th (Burns Day proper) our event hybridizes a traditional Burns Supper with a whisky tasting. This is our 8th year hosting the event and our 5th partnering with Fort Calgary. The event is held in the stately Officer’s Mess, which has always put on an excellent meal for us. Every year we invite a special guest, in this case Mr. Michael Urquhart of Benromach Distillery and Gordon & MacPhail (the world’s most respected independent bottler). Over the course of the evening Michael will tell us a little about his firm and its distillery while guiding us through a tasting of six single malt whiskies. There will also be a bagpipes, haggis, poetry, Highland dancing and song. A feast for your eyes, ears, nose, palate and soul. This event is usually capped at 120 participants, and is more than half sold!
https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php
New Whiskies
- Lagavulin 21 Year– We managed to get our hands on a few more of these than planned. Only 60 bottles came into Alberta (probably Canada), we managed to get our hands on 24 of them, and we have just 6 left! – $841.99
- Port Ellen 12the Release 32 Year – After two years of getting the shaft, Diageo has seen fit to send some to Alberta. Am not sure how much came in, but I only have access to 18 bottles, 8 of which are already spoken for. This will likely be the last distillery bottling we see in this province. Even the most reasonably priced independent bottling of Port Ellen now sells for $500 or more! – $1424.99 (yes, sadly that is the price, and it doesn’t include GST)
- Adelphi Lochside 1965 46 Year – Tried this one with Alex Bruce in Edinburgh this fall and it is even better than the last. Some good reviews online. Alcohol is 52.3%. Gold Medal from the Malt Maniacs. This is a single blend (grain and malt blended before going into the cask), matured in a single sherry cask, and a great buy for 46 years… Only 12 available! – $399.99
- Bruichladdich Octomore 10 Year – Apparently only a very small amount coming into Alberta. 50% 80.5PPM. Total of 6,000 bottles produced. Not even sure how much we are getting! – $245.99 Coming in tomorrow and all spoken for!
- Bruichladdich Bere Barley – One of two Bere Barley whiskies released this month, see the Arran below! – $66.49
- PC10 – Final bottling in the PC Series. Also somewhat limited, and not to be confused with the Port Charlotte 10 Year($65.99) which is also coming in this week and will be a regular release!We were expecting some last week but one store felt they should buy every bottle in Alberta. But no problem, we’ll be getting some in 6 weeks, and selling it for $5 less! – $119.99
- Port Charlotte 10 Year – Not to be confused with PC10. – $66.99
- Arran Orkney Bere – Only 5,800 bottles of this collaboration between Arran distillery and the Orkney Agriculture Institute. Has been getting a fair bit of press in the whisky industry. This has been flying off the shelf, I’m surprised anyone knew it was here. $80.49
- BenRiach 1994 Companions of the Quaich Peated Virgin Oak Finish – About 20 bottles were left over after club members had their fill, and we are making these available to the general public. It is a sister cask and a more heavily peated version of the KWM BenRiach! – $117.49
- Glenglassaugh Rare Cask Series: This leather bound pack is a steal, containing 3 200ml Glenglassaughs: 26 Year, 37 Year and 43 Year. A 200ml of the 43 Year alone should be $714, based on the price of the full bottles (when it was available), meaning you are effectively getting this charming little set at 35% discount, and they are throwing in the 26 and 37 years olds as a bonus! You are basically getting $1000 worth of whisky for => $499.99
* And this is just a taste more to come in next week’s Malt Messenger!
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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 don’t include GST. In the event of discrepancies, the point of sale will be taken as correct.
Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger.
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
Manager & Scotchguy
Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Owner & Operator
Ferguson’s Whisky Tours
