1997 Hebridean Mulligan (Ledaig) 23 Year Old “Old Malt Cask” K&L Exclusive Single Hogshead Cask Strength Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $119.99 View

The Isle of Mull’s only distillery was originally founded as Ledaig back in 1798. It has had a rocky history ever since with many repeated closures, sometimes decades long. But in 1993, Burn Stewart Distillers saved the day and the distillery. They rechristened it Tobermory and established today’s practice of distilling unpeated malt for half of the year and heavily peated malt for the other half. In its modern incarnation, the Tobermory name applies to the smoke free spirit and the Ledaig name for the peated variety. Here we have a gorgeous expression of the Ledaig at 21 years old aged in a hogshead that allowed all that peat to mature without being overpowered by the wood. While we had hoped to teaspoon all of the years blended malt casks with a nearby distillery, there aren’t any. Using Tobermory spirit wouldn’t technically declassify Ledaig because it’s the same distillery and therefore still a single malt. We had to look to the other Hebridiean Isles for mature spirit that could sustain this 21 year old age statement. In the end, our second shot landed on the Isle of Skye and we were able to eye-dropper a tiny amount of 23 year old Talisker into the barrel before bottling and save everyone a huge chunk of change.

Doc Swinson’s 15 Year Old “Rare Release Batch #9” K&L Exclusive Exploratory Cask Series Nonchillfiltered Small Batch Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) (Pre-Arrival) $149.99 View

Doc Swinson’s has become an absolute sensation in the bourbon world. The skeptics have been silenced and countless bourbon lovers have fallen in love with their exceptional exploratory cask 15 year. It would be negligent not to mention that for those paying attention the first batch of 15 year old (batch #6) has now become a serious collectors item. It’s successors, batch #7 & #8, sold at record speeds and have been received with equal gusto by aficionados and amateurs alike. Amazingly, our friends at Doc’s have secured this new batch of 15 year. It’s the same exact bourbon as the first three batches. As the supplier for this bourbon is extremely concerned with the preventing its source from being disclosed, the 29 barrels that went into this excellent small batch bourbon were dumped in KY before being truck in inert containers to Washington for bottling. This batch was slightly larger than the last three at 4200 bottles, an increase of 240 bottles/two barrels. The gorgeous truth about these awesome bourbons is that each batch has its own amazing character built around an amazing core of classic bourbon flavors. Except a richly textured mature bourbon character with aromas of leather, baking spice, brandied cherries, chocolate and fresh wintergreen. Perfect balance between sweet and savory on the palate with a long warming finish. Sadly, according to the bottler, this is the last of these 15 years, although they assure us they’re pushing for more. We’re prayin’ they succeed.

1993 The Road to Elgin (Linkwood) 27 Year Old “Old Malt Cask” K&L Exclusive Single Hogshead Cask Strength Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $149.99 View

Teaspooning this exceptional whisky was a very nerve-wracking endeavor. While we inherently believe that the innocuous act of adding the tiniest possible quantity of another malt to a single barrel of Scotch does nothing to diminish the quality of a particular whisky, there is an intellectual argument to be made for keeping the sanctity and purity of a single cask intact. In the end, we’ve made the decision that in almost every case the more important factor for our customers is value over image. So while we had wanted desperately to be able to name this excellent distillery and could have likely sold every bottle for much more than the 25% premium that avoiding tariffs would have afforded us, we believe that it is in the best interest of our customers to offer them the very best whiskies at the best possible prices regardless of perception. That is indeed what this special cask represents. Even years ago, when whisky was plentiful and comparatively cheap, we would have been lucky to find a deal as sweet as this one. At this advanced aged, this famous old Speyside exhibits all the finesse and elegance you’d expect. A nose of creamy malt, Seville orange peel and honey candies. Sweet rich malt and stewed fruit on the palate with kisses of toasted vanilla, caramel tuiles and touches of warming wood spice on the finish. While some would’ve paid an extra $50 to show off the famous Linkwood name, we prefer mystery and affordability. We think most of our customers do too.