We love this time of year, with all the new life springing up around the distillery, and the Abbey grounds are looking particularly Spring like!

This month’s biggest event locally has been the Fife Whisky Festival. We were delighted to be chosen again as the venue for the festival banquet, and sat 88 people down to dinner. With drams to match each course provided by our own Chef Wilkie, the event was hailed as a great success. The guest speaker was crime novelist Val McDermid, who grew up in Kirkcaldy. She described the dinner as ‘The best kind of night out—in beautiful surroundings with delicious food, lively conversation, and the perfect choice of drams to accompany each course.’

At the dinner, Murray, our UK Trade Manager proposed a lovely toast, acknowledging the sad passing of Aedan Burt (1993-2023). Aedan was a keen whisky enthusiast, a member of our sensory panel from the beginning, and co-founder of Fib Whisky—Fife Independent Bottlers. We mourn his loss. Fife Whisky Festival were also pleased to raise funds of around £1,000 for Age Concern Cupar during the course of the weekend.

We are in the midst of whisky show season and so Elliot, Murray, Dean, John, Scott and Matt have all been out and about across England and Europe spreading the Lindores word. We love getting to meet our Lindores fans in person whilst hopefully recruiting new ones along the way. We have already had Stirling and Fife, then Alloa and Speyside, with the incredible Islay Festival of Music and Malt from 26th May till 3rd June.

Internationally, Drew and I will be heading out to Limburg, which holds the biggest whisky festival in Germany—one of our key markets. The theme for this year’s Limburg Festival is ‘Feel the Celtic Spirit’, and we hope this bodes well for us. And Elliot has been in Nuremberg, to visit the second biggest Fair in Germany. Last week he showcased our spirits to a private whisky club, then ran our very busy stand at the three days of the Fair.

The Brand Home has leapt into Spring with both feet and it is already super busy with tours and tastings – after the long dark winter it’s always wonderful to see the place buzzing again.   We welcome our first wedding party next Saturday evening after which the events calendar swings into action with private tours, tastings, dinners, highland games, beatings of the retreat and much, much more.

We hope you are all looking forward to a wonderful Spring/Easter break, although on the personal front fortunately Friar John Claw and Vesper are blissfully unaware that their peace is about to be shattered with the arrival of Onion, a tiny terrier terror who is set to visit when part of the Lindores clan return home for the Easter break.

Slàinte, and Happy Easter!

Helen & Drew McKenzie Smith
Custodians of Lindores Abbey

CASKS OF LINDORES II BOURBON

We are very excited to be launching the latest release to the public on the 6th April, once again exclusively through selected stockists.

Step into the tantalizing world of Scotch whisky and discover the first instalment in our new Casks of Lindores II series. Aged in ex-bourbon casks and bottled at a limited-edition strength of 49.4% ABV, this whisky is bursting with flavour!

So get in contact with your favourite local independent specialist bottle shop to find out how and when you can get hold of a bottle!

STOCKISTS

Lindores Abbey Distillery
Abbey Road
Newburgh, Fife KY14 6HH
United Kingdom

R U ready to relax?

A lot of you definitely are, judging by our ticket sales. We have never sold this many tickets this early in the year. Amazing. And very relaxed 😉 We’re obviously not the only ones that are so happy we can finally have a normal relaxed Maltstock again, at our regular venue.

The good news is, we’re not sold out, yet. So you can join the relaxed fun by getting your tickets here: https://www.maltstock.com/shop

Bob, Klaas, Stan, Teun

Camping

We only had very limited camping space at Maltstock and those spots are all gone now. If you really feel camping is the only thing that will make you relaxed, please check scouting campground directly opposite of the Maltstock venue: https://www.maltstock.com/shop . Or camping de Ekelaar, just 2,3 kilometers from Maltstock.

Although we have sold a record number of tickets for this time of year, we still have tickets available at the moment. Want to enjoy Maltstock? Simply get your ticket here: https://www.maltstock.com/shop

Program

Just like the past few years we’ll be running a few “regular” masterclasses on the Friday. And we’ll definitely continue our “Drinks with…” session on the Saturday. And of course there’s no extra charge for attending any of these. How relaxed is that! We’re currently busy with putting the program together. We’ll keep you updated on our Facebook page and in the newsletters.

Chichibu!

Remember those strange days when we did tastings through zoom? When we even had a campfire tasting with people from the UK, USA and Japan all together in one tasting. And although it was great fun and a brilliant tasting, it is with very great pleasure we can announce that Yumi will join us live at Maltstock this year!. There’s a lot of catching up to do. It has been a few years since she was able to join us.  Of course she will be hosting Chichibu tastings. We’re very much looking forward to seeing how Chichibu is currently doing. But what makes us really relaxed is the fact we get to welcome Yumi again!

Maltstock on tour

Last weekend the always relaxed festival in Groningen was held. Henk and Miranda, both long serving Maltstock volunteers, are also part of the WFNN organization. to add to those relaxed vibes, Maltstock was present with a small stand and lot’s of relaxed whiskies. And in full relaxed colors!

High Parkland 16 Year Old “Dramfool” Single Cask Orkney Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $129.99 View

Caol Ila 14 Year Old “Dramfool’s Middle Cut” Cask #313329 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $139.99 View

Caol Ila 14 Year Old “Dramfool’s Middle Cut” Cask #313321 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $139.99 View

Lochindaal 12 Year Old “Dramfool” Port Cask Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $229.99 View

Port Charlotte 13 Year Old “Dramfool” Rum Cask Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $249.99 View

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

The Good Dram Show – Episode 504 ‘Hazelburn’

Welcome to this week’s episode of the show. It has been over a year since I last did an episode of the show on the Springbank’s triple distilled spirit called Hazelburn, so here’s a new one! The Good Dram Show with Chris Goodrum Episode 504 – The Infinite Expectation of Possibilities!

Featuring

Hazelburn 2001 (17 year old) – Cage Bottling 47%

Hazelburn 21 year old (2022 Release) 46%

Hazelburn 2007 (10 year old) Single Cask 55.4%

Hazelburn 1997 (8 year old) Private Port Cask Malt House Islay Tokyo 56.2%

Cadenheads Authentic Collection Hazelburn 2007 (12 year old) 51.9%

Cadenheads ‘Wood Range – Sherry Cask’ Hazelburn 16 year old 58%

HAZELBURN WHISKY

CADENHEADS

Filmed in The Study Nottingham

Tasting Notes

Cardrona Distillery launches ‘Full Flight’, two seven-year-old single cask whisky expressions

New Zealand’s premier single malt producer, Cardrona Distillery, has unveiled two milestone single-cask whiskies to mark seven years in oak. The new ‘Full Flight’ expressions have been carefully hand-selected by Distillery Founder Desiree Reid from two very special ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks.

Created to showcase the progress of Cardrona’s single malt, the new additions will join Cardrona’s portfolio of award-winning single cask whiskies, which includes their critically acclaimed ‘Just Hatched’ single cask releases, which sold out in a matter of days, and their five-year-old counterpart ‘Growing Wings’.

The rich Cardrona Full Flight Single Cask Release Sherry bottling was matured for seven years in a González Byass Oloroso sherry butt then transferred to a Pedro Ximénez butt for a decadent finish.

Bottled at 67.2% ABV, flavours of hot cross buns laden with spice, combines with sun-scorched nectarine and a drizzle of Cardrona’s signature borage flower honey. £125 for 350ml.

The exquisite Cardrona Full Flight Single Cask Release Bourbon was matured in an ex-Breckenridge Bourbon cask for seven years. With a 66.9% ABV, flavours of honeyed Central Otago apricots, seasoned with applewood and vanilla are finished with a dollop of rich cream custard. £125 for 350ml.  

Founder Desiree Reid said: “We’re thrilled to announce the arrival of ‘Full Flight’, taking us another step closer towards the release of our signature ten-year-old, and symbolising the last stage of our progress report journey.” 

Cardrona’s whiskies start life as a single malt base spirit, made from barley, yeast and Cardrona Alpine water. The whisky is then distilled in the distillery’s two copper pot stills, from Forsyths of Rothes, Scotland.

For whisky lovers and collectors, Cardrona’s progress report series maps the spirit’s journey towards its future signature 10-year-old.  Cardrona’s icon is named in honour of its guard, the New Zealand falcon – kārearea. It is often found perched at the end of the barrel house, and the bird famously stood on the neck of the wash still as it was craned into the distillery. 

www.cardronadistillery.co.uk 

Instagram:  @cardronadistillery     Facebook: @cardonadistillery    LinkedIn:@cardonadistillery

About Cardrona 

Cardrona is a unique brand, distilling hand-crafted luxury spirits in New Zealand’s stunning Southern Alps to share with the world. The Cardrona story is infused with the magic of the Cardrona Valley and the incredible vision and determination of founder, Desiree Reid, who sold her family farm to pursue her dream of building a modern, family-run distillery in her native New Zealand. She chose the Cardrona Valley for its unspoilt tranquillity, crisp clean air and the availability of superb quality local ingredients, perfect for foraging across the seasons. Most importantly, it gave her access to the crystal-clear, mineral-rich Alpine waters of New Zealand’s highest mountain pass for production.

Spring is here!

Greetings from Shelter Point,

Spring is fully here and we are loving seeing the sunshine and the longer evenings. Here at the distillery we are looking forward to this years barley being planted in the next few weeks. This is always a landmark point for us as the we are able to see the next generation of whisky growing around us.

The first delivery of malted barley from last years harvest arrived a couple of weeks ago and that has allowed us to get going with this years distilling schedule. The familiar smells of warm malt and fermentations have been coming from the still room and sight of the new make spirit coming from the still has been great to see.

Thinking of barley makes me think of Montfort, our whisky that is made entirely from barley grown on the farm. A single grain whisky made from 100% unmalted barley this is a real gem of a dram. If you haven’t tried it yet, you are missing out. Find it here

We are also very pleased to confirm that we are now able to sell to customers in the US, which is a great step forward. We can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to deliver to all locations but we think that major locations are covered. Head here to our online store, initially we have our Single Malt, Ripple Rock and Smoke Point single malts available, with more to come soon hopefully.

We are open as usual for tours and tastings, 10am – 5pm from Wednesday to Saturday, so come and join us for a dram. We’ve had a great start to the year so far and we’ve loved being able to welcome people to the distillery throughout the year.  We are hoping to be able to open on Sundays soon too, so keep an eye out here and on our social media for when we are able to offer that.
 
Upcoming events:

April 21^st – we will be pouring at the Whisky and Words event at the Vancouver Writers Festival at Granville Island in Vancouver. If you are in the area please stop by and say hello. Madison our new Brand Ambassador will be there pouring some of our best selling whiskies.

May 2^nd Shelter Point will be hosting a masterclass at 40 Knots Winery. More information can be found here – it’s a chance to enjoy some of our whiskies in the fabulous surroundings of the 40 Knots winery.

May 13^th – Shelter Point will be among the exhibitors at BC Distilled. This event is a great way to see the results of the skill passion and creativity shown by BC’s craft distillers.

May 13^th – We will be hosting a Mothers Day event at the distillery. Rewarding all deserving mothers with a free tasting, discounts and we’ll even have a food truck onsite to add a little extra reason to hang out at our beautiful spot.

May 20^th  12:45 pm-  Shelter Point will be hosting a masterclass at the Victoria Highland Games Whisky School, tickets can be found here

May 20^th 6:00pm – Shelter Point will be at Artemis Whisky bar in Victoria for some featured cocktails and a chance to learn about our whiskies and the process that goes into making them.

Stay well and we hope to greet you here at the distillery soon,

Cheers
Chris

A Massive New Haul from the Beloved Redacted Bros.

Our spirits buyers have just secured what can only be described as a treasure trove of singular K&L Exclusive Casks from one of our all-time favorite independent bottlers. The Redacted Bros. (a.k.a. the Thompson Brothers of Scotland’s Dornoch Castle) have routinely supplied us with some of the best-selling and most cherished whiskies we’ve taken in over the past decade or more, often at prices that will make any collector giddy with excitement. Sub-$70 bottlings from Craigellachie and Aultmore push new envelopes in collectible value, while stunning, old specimens from Glenburgie and Ledaig can be had for a fraction of what you’d pay for any other single malt approaching 30 years in age. A rare single-refill sherry butt from Laphroaig, so hardcore spirits fans can have a field day stocking their collections.

2010 Williamson (Laphroaig) 12 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single Refill Sherry Butt Islay Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival)

This exceptional single cask was sold to this bottler as the “Williamson” blended malt and therefore cannot include the source on the label. But we have no problem telling you that this excellent whisky was distilled on the famous little stills located just outside the little seaside town of Port Ellen. Adorned in the throwback label, the Thompson Brothers, are clearly giving the old nudge nudge wink wink to the famous old bottling from nearly a century ago, with block letters and cursive writing. Filled into a used sherry butt in 2010, this excellent cask was transferred to Dornoch and bottled at a cool 100 proof without the use of coloring or chillfiltration. This is meaty old- school Laphroaig with big herbal notes and wild tropical fruit aromas balancing the savory smoke and ocean-y zestiness. An absolute treat for lovers of quality peat. Thompson Brother’s Tasting Notes: Nose: Pickled walnuts, sweaty farm shed, game meat; smoked pheasant, fatty & rich. Some old passive sherry notes. Cigar ends, a flinty minerality, antique books, clove cigarettes. Lots of generic modern Lp notes – it would be lazy for us to use them! Palate: Clove oil, eucalyptus, leather-bound books, waxed oak floorboards, pickled brine, smoked pineapple salsa. Finish: Menthol rolling tobacco, dry (peat) harth, sandalwood, camphor, chilli oil.

$109.99 View

2009 Craigellachie 13 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single Refill Hogshead Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $64.99 View

Brothers Simon and Philip Thompson began bottling whisky in 2013 in Dornoch, their hometown. Two years later, they renamed their business Dornoch Distilling, and started distilling whisky soon after. They also produce special bottlings of aged rums and whiskys, like this one. Based in Speyside, Craigellachie is known for its bold, fruity, and aromatic single malts

2009 Aultmore 14 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single First Fill Red Wine Barrel Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $69.99 View

This unusual Aultmore was distilled in 2009 and filled into California red wine barrels at birth. Bottled at cask strength without the use of chillfiltration, it was hand selected by the Thompson Brothers for exclusive sale by K&L Wine Merchants in California.

1995 Glenburgie 27 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single Refill Hogshead Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $200.00 View

This gorgeous barrel of ‘Burgie was hand selected by the brothers Thompson for us and bottled without chillfiltration at a natural cask strength of 53% abv. Aged for nearly three decades in a high quality refill hogshead, these old Glenburgies have incredible fruit character and tons of depth. A sister cask was bottled for the European market at slightly lower proof and has been well received. The awesome retro cartoon label is not the BEST reason to buy this awesome cask, but it’s not a bad one. Rich and fruity with hints of herbal and sugar character, few old Speysiders will beat this excellent cask if you’re looking for the fruit-driven malt the Burgie does so well.

1995 Ledaig (Unpeated) 27 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single Refill Hogshead Cask Strength Isle of Mull Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $200.00 View

This very unusual barrel is truly one of a kind. Produced with the fermentation and cut times of Ledaig, but with unpeated barley and aged in a refill hogshead, it was hand selected by the Thompson Brothers and sold partially in Europe as a 26 year old. The rest of the cask was bottled exclusively for sale at K&L. One of only 108 bottles and bottled at a moderate but still robust 92 proof without the addition of color or any chillfiltration of any kind.

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

Rare Booker’s Bourdon at Bonhams Skinner 

Sale Page

The Rare Spirits auction running online from April 17 – 27 will be highlighted by a bottle of WhistlePig Boss Hog I, estimated at $8,500 – 10,000. Founded in 2007 and based in Vermont, WhistlePig has quickly cemented itself as a premier maker of American Rye and each year produces this signature bottling called The Boss Hog.

Additionally, the sale will feature a bottle of Booker’s Bourbon, estimated at $3,000 – 4,000 and bottled in 1986 before the general release in 1987. The bourbon in these bottles was distilled and blended by Booker Noe, grandson of Jim Beam. With production limited to less than 2400 bottles and gifted to VIPs only, it is likely that after 37 years only a handful still exist.

Prize draw

THE SINGLETON OF GLEN ORD

Shop any of The Singleton single malt range this April and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a bottle of the rich and succulent The Singleton of Glen Ord 39 Year Old, which was matured in a combination of port, Pedro Ximénez and oloroso sherry, before a finish in Bordeaux red wine casks.

LEARN MORE

The Singleton is a family of Scotch whiskies – it’s not a single distillery, but rather a selection of whiskies made at three of Diageo’s distilleries: Glendullan, Glen Ord and Dufftown. Each distillery is denoted as the ‘The Singleton of….’ on the bottle, with the range showcasing the individual characters of Dufftown, Glen Ord and Glendullan, embracing the history and legacy of each. The Singleton line-up includes a variety of styles, from the spicy, nutty single malts of Dufftown, to Glendullan’s fruity and grassy whisky, and the vibrant freshness of Glen Ord.