It’s been a busy couple of weeks since the last Malt Messenger Bulletin. The Ardbeg Day events were a great success, and the first tasting of the Ardbeg Auriverdes was very well received. Nearly 100 bottles have been pre-ordered, and it’s not too late to reserve one for yourself! They are expected to be in store later in the month.

Speaking of Ardbeg, I was very surprised to learn that a small amount of the Ardbeg Galileo was re-released in Alberta. We managed to get our hands on a few cases and don’t expect it to last long. The Galileo was released to celebrate the first whisky in space, sent up on a rocket to the International Space Station. You can read more on the Ardbeg Galileo below!

We also received some exciting news! The Kensington Wine Market was named the Best Wine Store and 3rd Best Liquor Store in FFWD’s 2014 Best of Calgary. Thank you to all our wonderful friends, partners and customers for your patronage and votes! You can find the full list of winners here!

(This note arrived after the event commenced- WI) The store is going to be a busy place tonight with our Spring Single Malt Festival. 115 whiskies and 100 guests! We’re showcasing some old favourites and a number of new whiskies. Most of our new Japanese whiskies and those from Cadenhead have come in just in time for the event. If you missed out on tickets for the Festival (it sold out 2 months in advance) you can pop in to the store on Friday or Saturday for an opportunity to sample many of the whiskies that were poured!

We have two more great events coming up in the days ahead. Tomorrow night (Now tonight!) we have the Glendronach Batch 9 Dinner at Buchanan’s Chop House ($160). The dinner will feature nine rare single cask vintage Glendronachs from 1971-1995 paired with a 3 course meal. And then on Tuesday there is our Ancient Malts 4 Decades tasting ($200), an opportunity to sample 7 very special whiskies from 30 to 70 years of age. More details on both of these great events can be found below!

We have a number of really hot whiskies in our store right now, including our new Berry’s Own Aberlour 1994 single cask which is already 1/4 sold, and we’ve only had it for 2 weeks! As a matter of fact it is sold out in store right now, but don’t fret, there’s more on the way! Our Duncan Taylor Octaves are also doing nicely. We sold 8 bottles of the Deanston 1994 KWM Octave after last night’s tasting alone! Only 24 bottles left… Another one which is selling briskly is the Brora 35 Year. It is a stunning dram, and flying off our shelves.

I hope you enjoy this Malt Messenger Bulletin, and I hope we’ll see you in store soon to share a dram and check out some of our exciting new offerings.

Slainte!

Andrew Ferguson
Kensington Wine Market

PS- PS – Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/scotch_guy and Facebook: facebook.com/scotch.guy.1 www.fergusonwhiskytours.com

Thank You Calgary

For voting us Calgary’s Best Wine Store and 3rd Best Liquor Store!

Glendronach Batch 9 Dinner Tonight

9 Vintage Glendronachs from 1995 – 1972 @ Buchanan’s Chop House – $160

Glendronach’s reputation has been soaring since it was bought by BenRiach Distillery Co. in 2008. They revitalized the product line, invested in casks and started a tradition of releasing batches of vintage single cask whiskies. These batches have been very successful since they first began trickling into KWM 4-5 years ago. In some cases as few as one or two cases of each vintage find their way to Canada, and KWM is the only store to always get at least one case of each one. A case in the whisky world is just six bottles and that doesn’t go very far, so we try to set aside one of each for a tasting, and that’s what this dinner is all about. We’ll be sampling whiskies from 19 to 41 years of age, carefully paired with a 3 course meal at Buchanans.

Click Here for more details or to register. Alternatively call 403-283-8000.

Ancient Malts 4 Decades Edition

A very special tasting featuring 7 whiskies, four of them more than 40 years of age…and one of them is 60 years old!

Our very special Ancient Malts tasting will feature seven whiskies ranging from 30 to 60 years of age. The 60 year old is part of a trilogy of whiskies, 40, 50 and 60 years of age from a “Secret Distillery” (see photo in the right column), the bottler can’t tell you where they were produced, but we are under no such constraints… You’ll just have to come to the tasting to find out more! We will feature 4 whiskies from the same distillery at 30, 40, 50 and 60 years of age. We will also be featuring a very special and very tropical 41 year old Glenfiddich bottled by Cadenhead, and exclusive to KWM in Canada. Only 6 spaces are left!

Click Here for more details or to register. Alternatively call 403-283-8000.

 

Finally, Some New Whiskies from Bruichladdich

Bruichladdich Scottish Barley, Port Charlotte Scottish Barley, Bruichladdich Black Art 4 & Octomore 6.1

In the last year and a half Bruichladdich was bought by Remy Martin, and in Canada representation was taken over by Remy’s Canadian importer. It is not surprising that there was a hiccup in getting the new products here. Well after 9 months of waiting I can confirm that 4 new Bruichladdichs are due in to KWM next week! Here are the details:

1. Bruichladdich Scottish Barley – 50% – From the Distillery:Made from 100% Scottish barley, trickle distilled, then matured for its entire life by the shores of Lochindaal in premium American oak, it is a testament to the quality our ingredients. – $60.99
2. Port Charlotte Scottish Barley – 50% – From the Distillery: “This whisky is testament to our belief that raw ingredients matter. Trickle distilled from 100% Scottish Barley the spirit gently matures in the lochside village of Port Charlotte before being bottled here at the distillery using Islay spring water.” – $60.99
3. Bruichladdich Black Art IV – 49.2% – From the Distillery:”
Working with the very finest American and French oak to explore that most esoteric relationship between spirit and wood, Black Art is Master Distiller Jim McEwan’s personal voyage into the heart of Bruichladdich.” – $174.99
4. Octomore 6.1 – 57% – From the Distillery:”The world’s most heavily peated whisky, this is the sixth edition of the uber-experimental cult Octomore. Titanic amounts of peat but with a light, delicate complexity and a beguiling finesse. Young, yet eminently mature, it defies us. It remains an enigma. We embrace that. Here, we pay tribute to its pedigree, to the land from which it came and the raw materials that gave it life: Octomore Scottish Barley. We believe challenging convention matters.” – $131.99

We are taking pre-orders on all these bottles, the Black Art and Octomore likely won’t last long!

 

Another Chance at Some Rare Old Macallans

25 Year Sherry Oak & 30 Year Fine Oak

We haven’t seen either of these in a while, and we have just a couple of both! First come first serve on these two iconic drams. Shudder to think at the price on them the next time we see them!
1. Macallan 25 Year Sherry Oak – 43% – From the Distiller: “Nose: Citrus, balanced with cinnamon, sherry and wood smoke. Palate: Full and rich with dried fruits and wood smoke. Finish: Long with dried fruits, wood smoke and spice. – $949.99
2. Macallan 30 Year Fine Oak – 43% – From the Distiller: “Nose: Rich, exotic, heady and aromatic, orange. Palate: Intense, macadamia nut and vanilla with a hint of sandalwood and black cherry. Finish: Soft, silky and extremely elegant. – $1249.99

Only 2 of each available at this time. Send me an email or call 403-283-8000 to order!

 

Ardbeg Galileo is Back!

But only for a very limited time…

A limited Ardbeg 11 Year old distilled in 1999, and released to celebrate the first whisky sent into space! Bottled in 2012 after maturing in Bourbon and Marsala cask, it is 49%. This whisky sold out very quickly in the Fall of 2012, and we were thrilled to get some back. Only 30 bottles left, they won’t last long!

Ardbeg Galileo – 49% – 11 Year – 1999 – My Tasting Note: Nose: surprisingly mellow for Ardbeg (but not Blasda mellow), lots of barley sugar, biscuitty peat, chocolate orange and candied coated fennel; very fruity with raisins and figs, ripe oranges and grape fruits, and mixed berries; Palate: creamy, earthy, peaty, sweet and spicy all at once; the citrus fruits, creamy vanilla and chocolate are all there but loosely buried under the surging peat and barley; more candied fennel along with oily-heathery-peat; Finish: drying, peaty and still sweet showing more chocolate, fennel and orange and lime peels; Comments: this whisky will take off like a rocket! – $119.99

Please send me an email or call the store 403-283-8000 to order!

Lots of Great New Whiskies in Store.

It’s time you dropped in again!

More than 30 new whiskies have come in to the store in the last couple of weeks, most of them exclusive. We have 13 new exclusive whiskies from Cadenhead, 10 of which will be sampled at our Spring Single Malt Festival tonight. We have also received the first of more than a dozen Japanese whiskies, most of them exclusive, with a few more to trickle in over the next couple of weeks. There are also new single casks from Berry’s Own Selection, and Aberlour 1994, bottled exclusively for KWM ($139.99) and a Linkwood 1993 bottled for the Companions of the Quaich ($124.99). Many of these whiskies will feature in the next Malt Messenger. In the meantime, you may want to pop in and have a look around!

Ferguson Whisky Tours

Islay September 7-13 2014 or Kentucky October 5-10 2014

Only 2 spots left for Islay in September!
Interested in joining me on one of my fantastic whisky adventures? It’s too late to join me in Speyside this May, but not too late to take part in my Islay and Kentucky Tours, departing in September and October respectively. More details on these tours will be available on my website in the coming weeks. www.fergusonwhiskytours.com

Thank You for Reading the Malt Messenger!

Contact & Disclaimers

If you have any whisky questions or comments concerning The Malt Messenger please contact me by e-mail, phone, or drop by the store.

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, don’t include GST. In the case of discrepancies in pricing, the price in our in store 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
www.kensingtonwinemarket.com

Owner & Opperator
Ferguson’s Whisky Tours
www.fergusonwhiskytours.com
scotchguide@fergusonwhiskytours.com

Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000