BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY CONTINUES TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF WHISKEY EXPLORATION WITH LATEST EXPRESSION IN OLD CHARTER OAK SERIES, SPANISH OAK

Latest product in evolving whiskey collection introduces oak long used to make the finest sherries to the world of premium bourbon

FRANKFORT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, KY (April 18, 2023) – Buffalo Trace Distillery continues its exploration into oak tree varietals with the latest release in its Old Charter Oak collection, Spanish Oak Bourbon. Harvested from the forests of northern Spain, the trees used in this year’s experiment were made into staves that were seasoned outdoors before becoming the barrels that aged this unique whiskey. Spanish Oak Bourbon joins the four previous releases in the Old Charter Oak series, including Chinkapin Oak, Mongolian Oak, French Oak, and Canadian Oak.

Aged at Buffalo Trace Distillery, this innovative whiskey sits in stark contrast to its counterparts aged in traditional American Oak barrels. While American Oak gives a softer, sweeter taste with notes of vanilla and caramel, European Oak, including the Spanish Oak varietal, is drier, spicier and has stronger wood input. Long used for aging the world’s finest sherries, Spanish Oak imbues tasting notes of deep oak and dense caramel, followed by rich vanilla and an abundance of dark stone fruit, finishing with notes of toasted nuts and baking spice.

“The whiskey extracts from the charred oak barrel exciting elements like eugenol, vanillin and whiskey lactone,” said Buffalo Trace Distillery Master Distiller, Harlen Wheatley. “American Oak has higher proportions of vanillin and whiskey lactone, resulting in bourbon with a softer, sweeter taste and notes of vanilla and caramel. Our Spanish Oak, on the other hand, has more eugenol, meaning drier, spicier notes and flavors like clove are imparted onto the liquid. We specifically wanted to test Spanish Oak as part of this collection because of its connection to sherry, which is known to be a nuttier, fruitier spirit. We were curious how those flavors would impact the taste of whiskey, and we are very pleased with the result.”

The Old Charter Oak collection honors and celebrates the role of oak in making great whiskey by exploring the various possible taste profiles of whiskey resulting from barrels created from trees grown in different countries, climates, and soil. The oak trees used each year vary by country of origin, species, or U.S. state with some barrels made from century-old trees that grew between 100 to 300 years.

“A common misconception about the distilling process is that bourbon must be aged in new American Oak barrels,” Wheatley continued. “Though most bourbons mature in American White Oak barrels, federal regulations do not specify what type of oak the barrel must be, only that it must be a new, charred oak container. At Buffalo Trace Distillery, we are deeply committed to honoring the traditions of our category but also embracing change and pushing the limits of innovation to see where American whiskey can go in the future. Our Old Charter Oak collection is a superb example of trying new things and offering consumers and fans more ways to enjoy our award-winning portfolio of whiskeys.”

Packaging for Spanish Oak will remain consistent with the other releases, with an upscale look consisting of a glass bottle with a cork finish. Each bottle has an oak medallion on the front depicting the Charter Oak tree. Bottles are packaged in 750ml and available at a suggested retail pricing of $69.99. Spanish Oak will be available in select markets in the United States beginning Spring 2023. For more information, please visit www.buffalotracedistillery.com.

About Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich tradition dates back to 1775 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.  Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is a National Historic Landmark as well as is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won 40 distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Its George T. Stagg was named World Whiskey of the Year for 2022 and its Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye was named 2nd Finest Whiskey in the World for 2022.  Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 1,000 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies. To learn more about Buffalo Trace Distillery visit www.buffalotracedistillery.com.

Kensington Wine Market

Established 1992

Happy Birthday To Us!

The doors at Kensington Wine Market opened for the first time 31 years ago today… which is why we decided to run our birthday sale through to the end of today – Monday, May 15th, 2023.

We have had the great good fortune of being supported by wonderful customers, suppliers, and partners, as well as a vibrant community over the years. And we couldn’t have done it without all the talented wine, beer and whisky experts who worked with us over the years.

It’s gratifying and uplifting to look back and see how far we’ve come, but on this occasion, we raise our glasses to you, because without you, we simply wouldn’t be here!

Our next big sale is in August, so this is your last chance at store-wide savings until then. It runs until 8 PM in-store, and midnight tonight online!

Sale details and links to the best deals can be found below!

While we have your attention, we would also like to congratulate a member of our team, Valeriia Stepanenko!

Today is Valeria’s last full-time shift at KWM, although happily, she will still be doing some part-time work helping keep our social media posts popping.

Valeriia joined our team in August, having packed up her life in Ukraine and immigrated to Canada in hopes of a better life. Something most of us have a hard time fathoming. We took a chance and hired her despite her lack of wine or whisky knowledge. From her first shift, she immersed herself in wine books and asked questions, lots and lots of questions, and to say she absorbed a lot in a short amount of time would be an understatement.

Valerria’s family has now joined her in Calgary, she was recently engaged, and she has a new job that will not only allow her to put her Master’s Degree to better use (did we mention she speaks three languages?), but also give her a path to permanent residency in Canada.

While we will all miss not seeing as much of Valeria as we’ve gotten used to, we couldn’t be happier for her. We hope you’ll join us in extending heartfelt congratulations to her!

Sincerely,

Your friends at Kensington Wine Market

Sale Details!

The sale is online and in-store only. No phone orders, please.

You can save:10-40% on most in-stock Whisky

To make your browsing a little easier, we have linked PDF files below highlighting  Whiskies Discounted 15%-40%.

The CSPC in the left-hand column on both lists can be used in addition to the product name to search for and order products on our website.

Browse Whiskies Discounted 15% – 40%

Shop in-store or online at:  www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/

 In-store pickup will be available throughout the sale and we will also offer Free Delivery for orders over $100. Customers wanting to pay by cash or debit are encouraged to shop in-store. 

The Sale Fine Print

·     No additional discounts or promotions can be applied to the sale price.

·     Prices do not include GST.

·     In the event of a discrepancy in price, the point of sale at KWM will be taken as correct.

·     Sale pricing will not be applied retroactively or carried forward past the end of our Anniversary Sale at 8 PM in-store and midnight (11:59 PM) online, Monday, May 15, 2023.

·     The sale is in-store and online only.

·     Phone orders are ok, but will be written down, time-stamped and fulfilled in the same queue as our web orders.

·     Email orders are also welcome, we will follow up with you as we are able!

·     If you order online, please wait for confirmation that your order is ready before heading down to the shop.

FREE DELIVERY

We are proud to offer Free City Wide Delivery on all orders over $100 Monday-Friday!

Orders under $100 are subject to a flat rate $10 delivery fee.

We are expecting high demand for delivery after the sale so please be patient!

403-283-8000

Store Hours

Mon – Wed 10AM – 8PM

Thurs & Fri 10AM – 9PM

Sat 10AM – 8 PM

Sun 11PM to 6PM

*All Prices Quoted here are subject to change and do not include GST. In the case of pricing discrepancies, the price at our point of sale will be taken as correct.

The Kensington Wine Market | 1257 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 3P8 Canada

Laphroaig 34 Years

1987 vintage Ian Hunter Story 4. Oloroso sherry casks bottled at 46.2% for this limited release.  Laphroaig 24 Year Old 1987 vintage Islay single malt Scotch whisky. Double matured in first-fill European oak ex-oloroso sherry casks this is the 2022 edition of the Ian Hunter series book #4.

Buy Laphroaig 34yo »

£1,489.00

Nose: Smoky and rich dried fruit, with notes of leaf tobacco, eucalyptus, fresh straw, and sweet notes of golden syrup, cinder toffee, heather honey and crushed black pepper.
Palate: Peaty and sweet, barbecued pork with sweet honey marinade together with notes of peach and orange blossom, a touch of iodine and earthy floral notes.
Finish: Ashy with wood smoke lingering.

Laphroaig Distillery was established in 1815 on the rocky south coast of the Isle of Islay off the west coast of Scotland. This malt whisky distillery continues to malt barley using its traditional malting floors and malt kiln. In 1994 the distiiley was awarded the Royal Warrant. The core range is quite extensive and supplemented by limited releases including a 21 year old was issued in 2015 to celebrate 21 years of Friends of Laphroaig. Independent bottlings are also available from Signatory, Cooper’s Choice and Hunter Laing. Laphroaig distillery also participates in Feis Ile, the Islay Festival of Malt and Music

Barrell Craft Spirits “Gray Label Bourbon & Barrel Vantage” 2022 Release Cask Strength Straight Bourbon Buy One Get One Pack (2x750ml) $240.00 View

This unprecedente offer provides values as yet unseen in the modern bourbon era. The exceptionally well regarded Gray Label Bourbon 2022 Release paired with the highly awarded new Vantage bourbon sold together for $80 off our normal retail price. That’s right, one FREE bottle of Whisky Advocate’s 2022 Number 3 best whisky of the year for every Gray Label you buy. Scoring whopping 94 and 95 points scores from Whisky Advocate, this duo is hard to beat. The Gray Label highlights Barrell’s oldest stocks, which are carefully selected and married for months in once used ex-bourbon barrels constructed from 36 month air dried staves. It’s typically runs $240 on it’s own, but for every bottle of you buy you’ll get a Vantage at no additional charge. The Vantage is Barrell’s newest creation, a blend of bourbons aged in Mizunara, French and Toasted American oak. This incredible deal is a one time only opportunity to taste two of the excellent Barrell Craft Spirits Company’s most renowned products.

Barrell Craft Spirits “Gray Label Dovetail & Barrell Dovetail” Cask Strength Straight Whiskies Finished in Rum, Port, and Dunn Vineyard Cabernet Barrels Buy One Get One Pack (2x750ml) (Elsewhere $330)  $240.00 View

96 points Wine Enthusiast

 This is a blend of whiskeys distilled in Indiana, Tennessee and Canada, finished in barrels that previously held blackstrap rum, port and Dunn Vineyards cabernet. Predictably, this is a complex, flavorful whiskey, resounding with ginger, lemon peel, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and clove. Bottled above 130 proof, plan to add lots of water and/or ice to bring to a palatable proof. Note: Gray Label uses older and more rare barrels compared to the standard Dovetail. Limited edition. -Kara Newman 

K&L Notes

The outrageously delicious Dovetail bourbons are further proof that Barrell is the king of bourbon blending. They amassed stocks from high quality distillers in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee and use a huge variety of barrels to augment those stocks and create new drinking experiences unlike any other. The Dovetail is a cask strength bourbon aged in a mix of LBV Port Pipes, Dunn Napa cabernet barrels, and blackstrap molasses rum. Their standard release is always lovely, but the older Gray Label is truly one of Barrell’s finest achievements. 96 points from Wine Enthusiast and the distinction of “Best Bourbon to Buy”, it’s Barrels’ deft palates and blending prowess that make this bourbon one of the most exciting and unusual offerings to date. Using component whiskies up to 20 years old, with the vast majority of the blend not much younger than that, it’s a completely unique expression which must be tasted to understand. Now, if you purchase that excellent product, you get a bottle of the standard Dovetail to compare that’s an $80 value. This incredible deal is a one-time only opportunity to taste two of the excellent Barrell Craft Spirits Company’s most renowned products.

Barrell Craft Spirits “Gray Label Seagrass & Barrel Seagrass” Rye Whisky Finished in Martinique Rum, Apricot Brandy & Madeira Casks Buy One Get One Pack (2x750ml) $240.00 View

Barrell Craft Spirits has hit another home run with the excellent Seagrass rye whiskies. The wonderful bundle of two bottles is the most affordable way to experience the wonderful whiskies bottled under this revered label. The accolades for the unusual Seagrass expression of countless – 93 POINTS at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge, FRED MINNICK – No. 2 in Top 100 American Whiskey 2022. BEST OF THE BEST by the Robb Report, DOUBLE GOLD at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, 2021 PLATINUM MEDAL at the L.A. Spirits Awards – but none of these will do this special whiskey justice. The unusual mixture of barrels creates and incredible diachotomy between the grassy, spicy rye and the sweet tropical fruit imparted by the exotic wood. The Gray Label version takes a much older base, a minimum of 16 year old rye whiskies, and applies the same treatment. Deeply mature and complex, the nutty complexity of the Madeira is the anchor that holds the complex freshness of the apricot brandy barrels to the wild delicacy offered by the Martinique Agricole rhum casks. The bundle offers an incredible $80 value as compared to purchasing these excellent whiskies independently. This incredible deal is a one time only opportunity to taste two of the excellent Barrell Craft Spirits Company’s most renowned products.

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

After more than a century in the whisky business, the team at Glenfiddich continues to make bold choices, and the Glenfiddich Grand Series is their latest innovative range. The whiskies have been specially created to celebrate grand occasions by bringing together traditions from across the world, combining Scotch whisky with flavours from France and the Caribbean.

The latest addition to the series, Grand Yozakura celebrates the Japanese tradition of viewing sakura flowers lit up at night, with Yozakura meaning ‘night cherry blossoms’ in Japanese. Discover the full series below.

SHOP GLENFIDDICH 

GLENFIDDICH GRAND YOZAKURA

This new release has been matured for 29 years in traditional oak casks and is the first Scotch whisky to be finished in Japanese awamori casks – an aged spirit native to the island of Okinawa made from rice. Expect indulgent layers of toasted oak, creamy vanilla toffee, crunchy green apple and bursts of spices.

ralfy review 976 Extras – Keeping a ‘malt’ log book

CHIVAS DROPS LIMITED EDITION CHIVAS 18, IN COLLABORATION WITH K-POP ICON LISA

For something incredibly interesting and the outlier amongst our other Festival Rare Release single malts is the small-batch single grain, Dark ‘n’ Stormy Crème Brûlée, from distillery G16.

“G16 Dark ‘n’ Stormy Crème Brûlée has an interesting back story, with a new distillery code because it will be the 16th grain whisky that we’ve bottled at the Society,” says Euan Campbell, our Head of Whisky Creation. “It’s the result of a custom distillation that we carried out in when we did a special project to distil our own bourbon-style mash bill at distillery 156 back in April 2016.

“We took a bit of trans-Atlantic inspiration for this one, using some different grains and creating a mashbill of 58 per cent corn, 21 per cent malted barley and 21 per cent unmalted rye. It was distilled in a pot still, which is unusual for a grain whisky, and then matured in heavily charred 24-month air seasoned new oak barrels from Kelvin Cooperage in the US, with toasted heads added to the casks to create even more flavour. We bottled this at 6-years old and at 50% abv, as a nod to the “bottled in bond” strength you find in the US. It’s certainly one of a kind, a custom distillation never to be repeated, and utterly delicious.”

DON’T MISS this wonderfully unique bottling, priced at only £55 it is an experience not to be over-looked. Click over to our website now to BUY NOW along with the last few bottlings from our 2023 Festival Rare Release.

BUY NOW

ALL FESTIVAL BOTTLINGS

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

The final countdown has begun; our auction closes tonight.

Regular auction users by now will know the drill, but for those of you that don’t here’s how it works. From 7pm UK time our anti-sniping software will start monitoring activity on the site, as soon as the bidding begins to slow down significantly the auction will close at an unspecified time. In our experience it is some time after 9.00pm before the auction ends. Don’t worry, there is still time left to make your bids but the window of opportunity is closing.

Macaloney’s Island Distillery Scores ‘World’s Best’ Hat-Trick at World Whiskies Awards

Macaloney’s cements standing in elite group of global distilleries, claiming a third World’s Best gold medal in 2023’s World Whiskies Awards 

SAANICH, BC (April 20, 2023) – When Graeme Macaloney PhD, President and Whisky Maker at Macaloney’s Island Distillery, was invited to London, UK to attend the World Whiskies Awards in person, he thought he might go home with three awards. Instead, he brought home four, including World’s Best Pot Still award for one of their flagship whiskies, Kildara Signature Expression. This success demonstrates the reslience of Macaloney Distillers, who recently settled a lawsuit with the Scotch Whisky Association in April 2022.

In addition to the prestigious World’s Best award, Macaloney also brought home:

·     Best Canadian Single Malt, gold medal for its Siol Dugall Signature Expression

·     Best Canadian Single Cask Malt, gold medal for The Peat Project: Single Cask Portuguese Red wine Barrique with Washington Peat

·     Best Canadian Pot Still, gold medal for its Kildara Signature Expression

“Winning World’s Best Single Pot Still for our Kildara, along with three gold medals for Best Canadian Single Malt, Best Canadian Single Cask Single Malt, and Best Canadian Pot Still was breathtaking” said Macaloney. “With our prior World’s Best New-Make & Young Spirit awards in 2019 and 2020 for our peated spirits, we are the first Canadian craft distillery in history to take an unprecedented three World Best gold medals in blind tastings at the prestigious World Whiskies Awards in the UK!”

With their recent wins, Macaloney’s has now graduated to join a rare handful of global whisky brands such as Suntory, Red Breast, J.P Wiser, and Johnny Walker. Moreover, they are the only craft distillery in Canada to have won three or more World’s Best gold medals.

“None of this would be possible if it weren’t for the grassroots crowdfunding support we continue to receive from whisky enthusiasts across the country, the mentorship I received from the late, great Dr. Jim Swan, and the incredibly hard work of all of our staff,” commented Macaloney.

Macaloney’s Island Distillery’s medal haul of 4 gold medals joins two other Victoria and two other Canadian winners from the 2023 World Whiskies Awards, including:

·     Best Canadian Small Batch Single Malt – Devine Distillery’s Glen Saanich in Victoria, BC

·     Best Canadian New Make & Young Spirit – Anhoka’s Heavily Peated Single Malt in Parkland County, Alberta

·     Best Canadian Rye – Lot 40’s Dark Oak in Windsor, Ontario

·     Best Hotel Bar – Clive’s Classic Lounge in Victoria, BC

To learn more about Macaloney’s Island Distillery or purchase their award-winning whiskies, visit www.macaloneydistillers.com.

About Macaloney’s Island Distillery & Twa Dogs Brewery: Macaloney’s Island Distillery & Twa Dogs Brewery is a destination craft distillery & brewery funded by Canadian single malt whisky & beer enthusiasts from coast-to-coast via an on-going crowdfunding campaign. The Visitor Centre gift store is normally open 7 days per week for kilt-clad guided tours & tutored tastings.

Macaloney’s Island Distillery & Twa Dogs Brewery

761 Enterprise Crescent, Saanich, Greater Victoria, BC, V8Z 6P7

| 778-401-0410

macaloneydistillers.com