• Johnnie Walker Green Label 15 year old Blended Malt Whisky 750ml ($54.99) 94 points Wine Enthusiast: “This maple syrup-toned spirit is a blend of Islay and Speyside malts, with no grain whisky added. The result is an effortless mix of lightly smoky and oaky caramel notes, and a smooth, velvety feel. A splash of branchwater amps up the peat quotient.” (09/2011) 89 points Whisky Advocate: “Just as complex as Johnnie Walker Gold, but fuller and more richly textured. (Not surprising, given that there are no grain whiskies in Johnnie Walker Green.) This is one of the finer vatted malts on the market. Its flavors are well-integrated. You’ll find creamy toffee and nougat at its core, which is then layered with notes of vanilla, mint, fresh brine, and even a hint of mustard seed. Excitingly fresh and vibrant on the finish. A whisky for both the blend and single malt drinker. (Vol. 14, #2) ” K&L Notes: Top Blended Whisk(e)y – 2006 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The preliminary aromas are an interesting mix of paraffin, toasted cereal and dried tobacco leaf; more minutes resting in the copita stimulate fragrances of summer grass, vegetable oil, light toffee and oak. Palate entry is off-dry and a touch toffee/nougat-like; at midpalate the oiliness/oakiness noted in the latter stages of nosing come to the fore as tastes of sweet butter, oleo margarine and black pepper vie for flavor dominance. Finishes chewy and a tad honeyed.

• Faultline Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750ml ($39.99) We’ve been doing gin and single malt for years, and now rum, so why not throw our hat in the bourbon pool? One of the obstacles that kept us from making a Faultline bourbon earlier was availability: the current demand has made the extra barrel a thing of the past. One of the only distilleries that would sell us a cask for a private label was the old LDI distillery in Indiana, but with the already overcrowded LDI market (Bulleit Rye, Templeton Rye, High West, etc) we didn’t think our product would be different enough, or of the quality we desired, for the Faultline name. That’s when John Little from Smooth Ambler stepped in and said he’d be happy to help us do something special. If we were going to work with LDI casks, then we needed the capability to blend something special to taste – the specs wouldn’t sell this baby. John had some incredible 10-year-old low rye formula that we used in conjunction with some 7-year high rye. We kept tastin g and tasting until we found the sweet spot at 100 proof. It’s FAR better than I ever thought it would be. I hoped we could provide something fun and different, but the final whiskey is phenomenal. It’s rich, with sweet fruit right on the entry, a full-bodied mid-palate, and a long, rich, spicy finish. It tastes like it came from Four Roses or somewhere fancy and at 50% it pops in all the right places. I hope we can make another batch like this because this bourbon is the new king of K&L. Taste it if you don’t believe me. (David Driscoll)

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA