New Whiskies From K&L California – Whisky News
We’re back from Kentucky this week, refreshed and rested after three days of serious Bourbon sampling. We’ve got some great casks lined up for late Fall and mid-Winter, plus you can read about our additional adventures on the Spirits Blog. For those of you who don’t check the blog regularly, I would recommend either checking it more frequently or adding your email to the RSS feed because moving forward we’ll usually feature new whiskey releases there before sending an email. If you want to get the jump on what’s next, checking in with the blog will give you the best possible chance of being first in line. For example, we featured these new releases this past Friday:
NEW RARITIES FROM CAMPBELTOWN
We just snagged our annual single cask allocation from the distillery’s 18+ year old rarities, as well as from the company’s independent bottling arm Cadenhead. Those who went gaga for that 26 year old sherry cask of Highland Park a while back can now rejoice in the arrival of its sister barrel: a 28 year butt of magnificence with two additional years of maturation! We’ve got multiple Springbanks to show you, as well has a rare single cask of Hazelburn: Springbank’s triple-distilled delight. There’s not much available (surprise, surprise), but the quality is there and fans of Campeltown should be pleased. Springbank is also one of the only distilleries whose official single casks are always cheaper than the independent ones. Our 18 year old sherry butt cask of Springbank 18 year from Hunter Laing was $300 retail last year. Many of these less expensive by comparison and they come straight from the source, out of some of the oldest warehouses in the country.
Springbank 21 Year “Single Cask” Oloroso Sherry Butt Single Malt Scotch Whisky $449.99 – Bottled at 49.8% Hazelburn
18 Year Old “#987” Cask Strength Single Cask Single Malt Whisky $229.99 – Bottled at 55.1%
AN ADDITIONAL ULTRA MATURE GRAIN WHISKY
Another example of where it pays to check the blog is in discovering our latest arrivals from Whisky Season 2016. You may have noticed we sent out an email and newsletter about our recent single cask expressions, but there was one particular cask of ultra-mature grain whisky that we only featured on the blog due to the fact the barrel only yielded around a hundred bottles. We wanted to make sure we still had inventory when the larger and more substantial PDF version was sent out. Blog readers definitely had the heads up on this little gem: a whisky that many of us thought was even better than the 50 year old Invergordon that sold out so quickly. From a lost distillery, no less! We think this might be one of the best from this year’s haul.
1974 Garnheath 42 Year Old K&L Exclusive “Old Particular” Single Barrel Cask Strength Grain Whisky $249.99 In yet another of our lost whisky collection (meaning distilleries that have since closed and/or been demolished), we bring you an absolutely stunning cask of 42 year old Garnheath, a grain whisky from the once-active distillery site inside of Inver House’s Moffat site located just east of Glasgow on the road to Edinburgh. The distillery was located next to another closed malt producing site: Glenflagler. Closed in the mid-eighties, now just a memory and a story to share amongst friends, the spirit of Garnheath lives on (literally) in this single barrel, cask strength edition bottled just for K&L. Not only is the Garnheath a lost legend, this 42 year old edition is one of the smoothest, roundest, most luxurious whiskies we’ve ever had the pleasure of selling. It rolls across the tongue effortlessly, coating the palate with rich waves of caramel, honey, and maple syrup. In classic grain whisky style, there’s no maltiness or smoke here. It’s just four glorious decades of barrel maturation at work: orange zest, candied sugar, and apricot. A true whisky classic in the making and a piece of history, to boot.
WATHEN’S SINGLE BARREL #300
While the proliferation of “new” bourbon brands continues, prescious few of these can actually claim a history in Kentucky distillation. The Medley Family is a real exception to the rule for a “non-distiller producer.” With centuries of family history in the business and Charles Medley’s decades of hands on experience at the Owensboro Distillery in northwestern Kentucky, Medley brands stand as a unique example of an old school contract distillery starkly different from the bulk brands on the market today.
Wathen’s Private Barrel K&L Wine/Chestnut Club Single Barrel Straight Kentucky Bourbon – $39.99 The Medleys are distilling royalty in Daviess County much like the Beam’s to the east, but despite ultimately purchasing the Owensboro facility that he’d worked at for years, Charles was unable to reopen it due to the heavy financial burden of refurbishment. What they have done for the last 15+ years is contract distill to the exacting specifications and build stocks of aged whiskies at extremely reasonable prices. This single cask was selected in collaboration with the exceptional Chestnut Club in Los Angeles where you can taste it before you buy, but don’t wait too long because they took half the cask which means we received just over 100 bottles of the delicious nectar. This cask of Wathen’s is on the slightly drier side of bourbon, showing incredible depth of spice and complexity. This is easily one of the best values in bourbon right now so grab it while you can.
UPCOMING WHISKY EVENTS
Coming soon for you Bay Area customers, a special whisky dinner event at Donato in Redwood City featuring up and coming Speyside distillery Benromach. I’ve been so impressed with the improvements made in the past few years to these whiskies that I think it’s worth inviting you to sit down, have some food, listen to their experts, and taste some of their amazing malts. You’ll get the full range—both peated and unpeated—and a three course meal for a mere fifty bucks! Where else can you eat and drink like this for that price? If you’re a Springbank fan, I think you’ll find a lot of similarities in the whiskies. Reserve your spot here for the October date:
Benromach Single Malt Tasting & Dinner @ Donato – Oct 5th, 7 PM – $50 As usual, send any questions our way! Until next time…
David Driscoll
K&L Spirits Buyer daviddriscoll@klwines.com 650.556.2736 http://spiritsjournal.klwines.com
