Dalmore 10 Year Old “Hart Brothers Finest Collection” K&L Exclusive Cask Strength First Fill Sherry Butt Unchillfiltered Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $69.99 View

Dalmore is one of those malts that will forever be controversial. They’ve made a name for themselves selling old sherry barrels at astronomical prices, but we rarely see the malt bottled as single barrel or at cask strength. When we do come across the odd independent bottling, it’s almost always in 2nd or 3rd fill barrels destined otherwise for some big-name blend and while those can be lovely whiskies, they simply don’t capture the essence of The Dalmore like you might expect. That is, of course, because the brand has become synonymous with sherry aging. Now, for the very first time, we can offer a proper single cask of Dalmore aged entirely in sherry! It’s bottled at full cask strength and is fully nonchillfiltered, nor is there added coloring. The resulting whisky is exactly what all the whisky geeks hoped for: AMAZING. When you’re tasting those distillery bottlings, loving the flavors, but ultimately crying out for more character, intensity, and power — this is the barrel for you. If you’re a classic Dalmore lover, you’ll probably want to take one home, even if it falls out of the distillery’s typical soft and round character. That said, with a nice splash of water this gorgeous thing relents easily, reminding us that the Dalmore is really a gentle dram, given the right environment. There’s no question that sherry lovers of all stripes will appreciate this excellent and well-priced cask.

Aberlour 11 Year Old “Hart Brothers Finest Collection” K&L Exclusive Cask Strength First Fill Sherry Butt Unchillfiltered Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $89.99 View

A rare independently bottled Aberlour, made that much more unusual by its maturation in a first fill sherry butt. The Aberlour distillery sits on the edge of its namesake, a gorgeous little hamlet right at the center of the Speyside region. The distillery seems tiny from the outside, but the malt here packs a punch. Founded in 1879 by James Fleming, it’s become a pillar of the Chivas family in the last two decades since the French spirits giant Pernod Ricard purchased the distillery. Outfitted with 4 stills in the early 70s, it can produce nearly 4 million pure liters of alcohol per year running full out. Apparently, that’s simply not enough as the increased popularity of this special malt has seen stocks dwindle and prices soar. Their own heavily sherried cask strength offering, albeit higher proof and likely significantly younger, is selling for upwards of $110 in the market today. We felt pretty confident that this single cask sherry version for less than $100 represents an exceptional value. Hart Brothers has consistently afforded us access to exceptionally high quality and rare stocks at reasonable prices and this year’s batch is no exception. This Aberlour will likely be a favorite of the 2023 whisky season.

Caol Ila 10 Year Old “Hart Brothers” Single Hogshead Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $89.99 View

This perfect cask of Caol Ila from the excellent Glasgow blender and bottler Hart Brothers is the first Islay cask that they’ve yet to furnish K&L exclusively. Filled into a high-quality hogshead, this famously ocean-y peater is in full form here. Full bodied and intense, the weighty mouth feel is contrasted by the tangy seaside character. We rarely come across young Caol Ila that’s not excellent, but occasionally we are happy to encounter some that are truly superlative. This is obviously in the latter category.

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