Malt Messenger Bulletin – Spring Tasting Schedule & a Few New Gems

It’s hard to believe a month has passed since the last Malt Messenger. I was in Vegas for the Nth 2015 whisky show, and we’ve had some excellent tastings at KWM including, The Dalmore with David Robertson, a very well received Rare Malts tasting and last week’s epic Master Malts which is written up on our blog.

April and May are going to be exciting months for whisky in Alberta with a lot of exciting new releases on the way. Some of them have already begun trickling into KWM, with more due in the weeks and months ahead. The next full Malt Messenger will be a preview of what’s coming! In this bulletin I’m going to highlight a few gems you won’t want to miss out on, like a 38 year old Glenallachie for $235 and a 33 year old Fettercairn for $215, both from Old Malt Cask.

The main impetus of this Malt Messenger Bulletin is to alert you to the new Spring Tasting Schedule which is now online and open for registration. We have some new additions to the lineup such as the two Cadenheads tastings featuring new releases, Ardbeg Day Master Classes and a Canada Day Canadian whisky tasting. I’m most excited about the Last Samurai Supper at Buchanan’s Chop House which will feature the Taketsuru 25 Year and a bottling of Karuizawa. There is a Spring Single Malt Festival too, don’t wait too long getting your tickets to that one, last year’s sold out in just days!

I hope you enjoy this edition of the Malt Messenger, a full edition of the Malt Messenger will be shortly on its heels!

In This Edition

1. SPRING 2015 TASTING SCHEDULE
2. ARDBEG DAY 2015: Join us in the Future
3. NEW WHISKIES FROM: Old Malt Cask
4. NEW WHISKIES FROM: Adelphi
5. THIS JUST IN: Kilchoman Original Cask Strength
6. NEW FROM CARN MOR CELBRATION OF THE CASK
7. DOUBLING IN PRICE: Black Bull 40 Year

Sláinte!

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

Cadenhead Whiskies Pt. 1 – Rare Old Malts

We’ll sample an amazing range of single cask and small batch whiskies from Cadenhead, ranging up to 38 years of age. Also from Benromach, Imperial, Old Pulteney, Longmorn, Tormore and more!

Thursday April 23

$85

More Information

 Cadenhead Whiskies Pt. 2 – All Around Scotland

From the Lowlands, to the Highlands, Speyside and Islay we’ve got a great range of Small Batch Cadenhead bottlings from 12 to 21 years of age!

Thursday April 30

$40

More Information

Spring 2015 Tasting Schedule 

American, Canadian, Irish, Japanese & Scotch Tastings…

We pride ourselves on the unique whisky tastings we put on at Kensington Wine Market. Most of them are of our own design with the products were most excited about. One things for sure, you’ll never experience the same tasting twice! Here is a our Spring Whisky and Liquor Tasting Schedule:

1. Whisky, Women and Chocolate – Thursday April 16 –

Gather your girlfriends for a pairing of everyone’s two favorite food groups, whisky and chocolate! – $50

1. Cadenhead Whiskies Pt.1 – Rare Old Malts – Thursday April 23 –

We’ll sample an amazing range of single cask and small batch whiskies from Cadenhead, ranging up to 38 years of age. Also from Benromach, Imperial, Old Pulteney, Longmorn, Tormore and more! – $85

1. Cadenhead Whiskies Pt. 2 – All Around Scotland – Thursday April 30 – From the Lowlands, to the Highlands, Speyside and Islay we’ve got a great range of Small Batch Cadenhead bottlings from 12 to 21 years of age! – $40
2. Cinco de Mayo – Tuesday May 5 – Join us for a fête celebrating Mexican independence and the national drink, tequila! We’ll sample a range of Blanco, Reposado and Anejo tequilas. – $50
3.  Jameson Whiskey & Friends – Thursday May 7 – Join Jameson Brand Ambassador Claire Gavin for a tasting of some of Ireland’s finest whiskies. We’ll sample the Jameson range up to and including Rarest Vintage Reserve, Red Breast, Green Spot and Midleton Very Rare! – $40
4. Classic Single Malts – Tuesday May 12 – This is our classic introduction to the world of single malt Scotch whisky. You’ll discover a little history, learn how it’s made, and sample six distinct styles. – $35
5. Blockbuster Single Malts – Thursday May 28 – Join us for a tasting of some of KWM’s bestselling single malts with our own Hunter Sullivan. Like these whiskies, this tasting is sure to sell out in a flash! – $50
6. Ardbeg Day Master Class 1 – Saturday May 30 1PM – We’ll be holding two back to back Master Classes to celebrate Ardbeg Day. Both will feature a range of at least 5 whiskies including the new Ardbeg Day release. – $20
7. Ardbeg Day Master Class 2 – Saturday May 30

3PM – We’ll be holding two back to back Master Classes to celebrate Ardbeg Day. Both will feature a range of at least 5 whiskies including the new Ardbeg Day release. – $20

1. Ardbeg Day Join Us in the Future – At Gerry Thomas Gallery: 602 11 Ave SW – Saturday May 30 5PM – Join Brand Ambassador Jordan Cameron for a festive and quirky party event celebrating all things Ardbeg with great whisky, cocktails, games, prizes, food and perhaps a surprise or two. – $20
2. Bourbon Bonanza – Thursday June 4 –

Fancy a feast (no cats) of Bourbon and BBQ? We’ll be teaming up with Holy Smokes to put on a Kentucky-style BBQ featuring a wide range of American whiskies! – $40

1. Spring Single Malt Festival – Thursday June 11 – Our biannual single malt festivals sell out very quickly, and there’s a reason why. There is only room for 100 guests to sample over 100 of the finest whiskies in Alberta. Includes your own Glencairn whisky glass! – $60
2. The Last Samurai Supper – Buchanan’s Chop House (738 3 Ave SW) will be putting on a Japanese dinner to pair with a range of 7 incredible Japanese whiskies, including the Taketsuru 25 Year ($1100) and Karuizawa 1981 Cask 136 (sold out $885). – $160
3. Heaven Hill Bourbons & American Whiskey – Tuesday June 23 – Join us as we host Bernie Lubbers (“The Whiskey Professor), Heaven Hill’s American Whiskey Brand Ambassador for a tasting of Bourbon, Wheat, Rye and other American whiskies! – $30
4. Canada Day Whisky – Thursday June 25 – Come on, show some pride in Canadian whisky! We’ll be highlighting the best our country has to offer from coast to shinning coast! As a fun bonus, there’ll be delicious prizes for the most patriotic outfits! – $35

You can register for these tastings in store, by phone 403-283-8000 and online! 

ARDBEG DAY 2015: Join us in the Future 

Two Master Classes & One Big Party

From the Distillery: “Ardbeg Day 2015 marks our 200th anniversary. That’s no mean feat. For 200 years, Islay craftsmen have used skills handed down through generations to distil our beloved whisky. A whisky that today is worshipped around the world, yet is still made by hand, in a handful of buildings perched on Islay’s rocky coast.”

In fact, if our founder John McDougall were to see the Distillery today, he might be surprised to see that not much has changed in 200 years.”

Which got us thinking – what will Ardbeg look like 200 years from now?”

We’ll be hosting two Master Classes at KWM featuring a range of five Ardbeg single malts, and are helping to promote and sell tickets to the Ardbeg Day Party at 5PM the same day.

1. Ardbeg Day Master Class 1 – Saturday May 30 1PM – We’ll be holding two back to back Master Classes to celebrate Ardbeg Day. Both will feature a range of at least 5 whiskies including the new Ardbeg Day release. – $20
2. Ardbeg Day Master Class 2 – Saturday May 30 3PM – We’ll be holding two back to back Master Classes to celebrate Ardbeg Day. Both will feature a range of at least 5 whiskies including the new Ardbeg Day release. – $20
3. Ardbeg Day Join Us in the Future – At Gerry Thomas Gallery: 602 11 Ave SW – Saturday May 30 5PM – Join Brand Ambassador Jordan Cameron for a festive and quirky party event celebrating all things Ardbeg with great whisky, cocktails, games, prizes, food and perhaps a surprise or two. – $20

You can register for these tastings in store, by phone 403-283-8000 and online! 

NEW WHISKIES FROM OLD MALT CASK 

Fettercairn 33 Year $215 & Glenallachie 38 Year $235

These two little gems have been in the market for years, quite literally. The Fettercairn was bottled in 2008 and the Glenallachie in 2011. That’s not to say that stores weren’t buying them, maybe they were, though I doubt there was ever very much of either brought in. I never had the opportunity to sample, so I passed them over when they came in and forgot about them. I decided to take a risk last week while looking for a couple of whiskies to round out my Master Malts tasting. The pricing on both was fantastic, and they were both from fairly obscure distilleries. Well, they were a hit, and I scooped up some more, but even

that won’t last! Here are my tasting notes on both:

1. OMC Fettercairn 33 Year – 50% – 1975 – Refill Hogshead DL Ref 4439 – 209 Bottles – My Tasting Note: “Nose: sweet and sour at the same time, unctuous and unami; creamy and floral with tropical fruits and melon; hard candies and powdered sugar; Palate: very creamy, floral and minty with melon and tropical fruits; the unami and unctuous notes are still there with lots of white chocolate some crisp spice; Finish: long, floral and coating fading tropical fruits and spice; Comment: this is unusual, but very interesting and layered. – $214.99 – Only 6 left!
2. OMC Glenallachie 38 Year – 50% – 1972 – Sherry Butt DL Ref 6880 – 302 Bottles – Andrew’s Tasting Note: Nose: old and antiquey, like an old library filled with dusty leather bound books; dried and dark fruits with treacle sauce and stick toffee pudding; Palate: dark fruits and spices, more antique notes with dusty old leather bound books, and tobacco; melons, mangoes and other tropical fruits underneath dark chocolate and licorice; Finish: long, sherried. elegant and smooth; Comments: this is a classic older sherried whisky.” – $234.99 – Only 6 left!

NEW WHISKIES FROM ADELPHI 

Some intriguing new single malts! 

I’ve long been a fan of Adelphi’s single cask bottlings, have yet to have a bag whisky from them yet. I also really enjoy their Fascadale and Liddesdale releases, which like the single cask, are excellent value for money!

1. Adelphi Bladnoch 1989 – 59.3% – 24 Year – Bourbon Barrel – My Tasting Note: “Nose: intensely floral, citic and toasty with pineapple and citric sugars; long, toasty and dusty with milk chocolate and white fruits; Palate: big, floral and toasty, more crisp citrus and pineapple; lots of honey and barley sugars with some licorice and white fruits; Finish: long, oily and coating with dark spices and light fruits.” – $169.99 – Only one bottle left! 
2. Adelphi BenRiach 1990 – 52.9% – Matured in a South African Wine Cask Approximately 300 L – Producer’s Description: “The nose is very creamy and quite unusual:  Caboc cheese, with buttered scones and tea roses, strawberries in the development and a definite hint of Angels Delight. Remarkably sweet and lively for a 23 year old whisky, best tasted at natural strength. The addition of a little water introduces a pleasant herbal note in the finish.” – $189.99 – Only 6 bottles!
3. Adelphi Fascadale Batch 7 – 46% – 14 Year – More info to come! -“Fascadale ‘ships haven’, lies on the north west point of the rugged, and timeless Ardnamurchin peninsula. Its hidden, pebbled beach looks West and North towards the islands of Eigg, Rum, Muck and Skye. Whispered tales of smuggling abound…” Producer’s Tasting Note: “A breather on the hill with lemon drizzle cake., Red Pippin apples, creamy highland fudge and peat bogs. A little smoke to taste with lingering fresh apple skin.” – $89.99
4. Adelphi Fascadale Batch 8 – 46% – 14 Year – More info to come! – Producer’s Tasting Note: “A walk through damp moorland flowers, in a wax jacket with a pocket full of boiled sweets and salted toffee. Asprinkling of chimney soot and a sweet, syrupy finish.” – $89.99
5. Adelphi Glen Garioch 1993 – 59.0% – 21 Year – Sherry Butt – Producer’s Description: “A dry nose, almost meaty (pork crackling), becoming more Marsala like. Jaffacakes, Black Forest Gâteau, chocolate ice cream and coffee grounds – all synonymous with long, sherried maturation. It starts relatively closed then develops huge complexity, now with Brazil nuts coated in dark chocolate, molasses, saddle soap and old leather bags. Incredibly viscous to taste, with a spicy mouth feel, gently drying over a palate of chocolate bonbons, toffee sauce (possibly slightly burnt), and a hint of brandy snaps.

A very rare and unique single cask whisky ideal for after dinner contemplation.” – $199.99

1. Adelphi Glenturret 1988 – 51.8% – 25 Year – Ex-Bourbon Barrel –  Producer’s Description: “Vivid butterscotch to start, fading through mild cheese, possibly cheese cloth or an old dairy, then eucalyptus and sandalwood.  Very old fashioned.  Dampness in a traditional dunnage maturation warehouse (full of old sherry butts).  Hessian coal sacks. Very sweet to start, drying with more hessian and a mouth cooling eucalyptus.  Water emphasises cream cheese and old warehouses – an increasingly old fashioned style of whisky.  The hessian is now soaked in old whisky, more like bung cloth. Sweet to start, then distinctly savoury – the elusive Umami? A remarkable rare old whisky.” – $209.99
2. Adelphi Liddesdale Batch 8 – 46% – 21 Year – Sherry Cask Matured – Distilled at Bunnahabhain – “Liddesdale rising gently from the southern shore of Loch Sunart, Liddesdale Brae is steeped in folklore. Some speak of the ‘Devil’s Acre’ where the old widow ‘sell’d her coo to the De’il’; nothing grows there. Others whisper of the “Fairie Knoll’, protected for all time by the ‘Deaf Shepherd’ looking down from the skyline.” Producer’s Tastiing Note: “A festive feast – Christmas cake with brandy butter, cloves, sticky toffee pudding and rumtopf. A sweet cafe creme cigar and a morsel of dark geranium chocolate to finish.” – $134.99

THIS JUST IN: Kilchoman Original Cask Strength 

The Distillery’s First Refill Bourbon Matured Release

We had a chance to sample this with Anthony Wills at a KWM tasting in the fall. Well this tasty new Kilchoman has finally arrived.

Kilchoman Original Cask Strength Batch 1 – 59.2% – Refill Bourbon – My Tasting Note: “Nose: wow, butterscotch, honey and Werthers caramels with clean maritime smoke bringing up the rear; soft citrus notes, green Jolly Ranchers wet leaves and floral top notes with soft oak; Palate: soft honeyed oak, more wet leaves, crisp citrus, more green Jolly Ranchers and buildiing peaty smoke with fragrant smoke and juicy malt; become more medicinal and smoky with some tarry oak and salty licorice; Finish: classic Islay big, brooding and moody with earthy smoke, more juicy malt and maritime notes. – $124.99

NEW FROM CARN MOR CELEBRATION OF THE CASK  

Clynelish 1989 24 Year – $259.99 

You don’t often see older bottling of Clynelish such as this, and certainly not from the distillery’s owner Diageo. This 24 year old bottling was distilled in 1989 and matured in a Hogshead cask 5890, bottled at 52%. KWM is only getting 12 bottles.

CofC Clynelish 24 Year  – 52% – Hogshead Cask 5890 – My Tasting Note: “Nose: very floral and honeyed, lots of beeswax and dried diced light fruits with building spice; becomes toastier with almond brittle, orange peel, ginger and cardamom; Palate: big, coating, waxy, creamy and spicy with loads of toasty oak; creamed honey, Manukah honey, floral rosehips and loads of spice, lots of ginger, cinnamon and cardamom with even a touch of clove and anise; Finish: very long and coating, it is honeyed, toasty and spicy. – $259.99

DOUBLING IN PRICE: Duncan Taylor Black Bull 40 Year 

Get em while you can! – Only 12 bottles available…

A brilliant blend at an amazing price for its age. Set to double in price! Batch #3 has been bottled at 41.6% and consists of whiskies from Ben Nevis, Bunnahabhain, Caperdonich, Glen Grant, Glenlivet, Highland Park and Invergordon. 85.6% malt and 14.4% Grain.

Duncan Taylor Black Bull 40 Year 3rd Ed. – 41.6% – My Tasting Note: Nose: faint smoke, white chocolate, chewy malt, thin filaments of grain whisky, caramel sauce and topical fruit; very soft and delicate, hints of lemon custard, big floral notes, raspberry compote and tangerines; Palate: clean, toasty, floral and fruity; very delicate , though it is showing some brittle oak age; subtly decadent: chocolate, white chocolat, vanilla, some faint floral smoke, chewy oaky oils and then some light tropical fruit, more raspberry puree and caramel sauce; Finish: the early smoke fades leaving room for the caramel sauce, raspberry compote and tropical fruits to loiter; Comment: a beautiful whisky and incredible value for its age and price. – $299.99

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.

Sláinte!

Andrew Ferguson

Manager & Scotchguy

Kensington Wine Market

403-283-8000

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

http://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com

Owner & Opperator

Ferguson’s Whisky Tours

www.fergusonwhiskytours.com

scotchguide@fergusonwhiskytours.com

Kensington Wine Market

403-283-8000