December 2022 Auction  // 22.12.22 – 09.01.23

 December Auction CLOSES TODAY!

A warm welcome to our December Auction. Featuring nearly 10,000 rare whiskies and fine spirits, this is a unique opportunity to bid on some of the world’s most sought-after bottles. We have legendary vintages from pioneering independent bottlers, grandeur aplenty from established distilleries and unique and experimental drams from the hottest names in the whisky industry right now.

Ben Nevis 1926 63 Year Old

Extraordinary Highlights from Samaroli

Stunning 1952 Springbank – One of only 24 Bottles

Luc Timmermans’ Glenfarclas Collection

Read our latest interview, where we spoke with Luc about his collection and more.

The BEN Charity Auction

Nikka “From The Barrel” Blended Whisky (750ml)

SKU #136760694 points Whisky Advocate

 Notably balanced and elegant, the colorful palette of whiskies combines for tremendous depth of flavor. Soft, sweet butterscotch and orange peel meet poached pears and stone fruits. Earthiness appears as dried autumn leaves, coffee, old oak, and tobacco. Among the tangle of spices, tasters identified chili pepper, allspice, cloves, and universally adored its ginger note. Finally, wisps of smoke and sea salt. Overall, it feels generously malty, with the grain whisky lending broad sweetness and supple mouthfeel across the long finish. Beyond its delightful flavors, Nikka From the Barrel presents some paradoxes worthy of contemplation over a glass. It is classic, yet new to the U.S. It is typically Japanese, yet singularly magnificent. It is delightful sipped neat and also blossoms with water. Even the simple, squat bottle is in contrast to the profound complexity within. (Fortunately, the 500ml bottle offered in other markets received a supersizing for U.S. drinkers.) The great majority of new Japanese whiskies now arriving to our shores are so rare and so expensive that they seem intended only for elite whisky lovers. Nikka From the Barrel is a consummate Japanese blend for anyone to enjoy. *Number 1 in the 2018 Top 20* (JL, Winter 2018) 

K&L Notes

Being offered without an allocation limit for the first time! The wonderful Nikka From the Barrel has been one of the most sought-after offerings from this special distiller based outside of Sapporo. It’s previously not been available in the US due to the unusual bottle size, but thankfully the owners have designed a new 750ml version. This is a blend of many of the Nikka whiskies we know and love dumped and mingled for further marrying in a large vat at the distillery, hence “from the barrel.” It’s one of the few higher proof offerings available from any Japanese distiller and has a unique character. While the Hibiki Harmony might be the most popular blended Japanese whisky available in the US, From The Barrel is easily the most flavorful. This is nicely aged Yoichi, Miyagikyo, Coffey Grain and Imported Malt further aged post blending and bottled at 102.8 proof. No wonder people are going rabid for the stuff, it’s absolutely delicious!

Nikka “From The Barrel” Blended Whisky (750ml)

$74.99 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

Dalmore 2008 13 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice

A fruity dram with soft texture and a sweet taste overall, and a surprisingly spicy savoury finish

£140.00
BUY NOW

From the world-acclaimed Connoisseurs Choice range comes this Dalmore single malt whisky, independently bottled by Gordon & MacPhail exclusively for The Whisky Shop. Distilled in 2008, this expression has spent 13 years in a refill bourbon barrel before being bottled in May 2022 at 57.2% abv without chill filtration or added colouring. Highly limited, just 256 bottles have been produced.

“A mellow nosefeel, with light prickle. The initial impression is fruity – fresh apple, pear in syrup, fruit salad, a suggestion of raspberry jam – beneath this is a whisper of shortcrust pastry. A soft texture and a sweet taste overall, with a surprisingly spicy savoury finish. Little change with a splash of water, the finish now slightly tart.” – Whiskeria, Summer 2022

IT’S THE SOCIETY’S 40TH BIRTHDAY
AND WE HAVE SO MUCH TO CELEBRATE

JANUARY UNFILTERED

As the Society celebrates its 40th anniversary, Unfiltered editor Richard Goslan takes a trip back in time in the company of founder Pip Hills, to the remote farm where some unexpected events led to his whisky epiphany

WATCH NOW

READ ONLINE

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

KENTUCKY DISTILLERS’ ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD OFFICERS, DIRECTORS

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Distillers’ Association today announced that Chris Morris of Brown-Forman has been elected Chairman of the 142-year-old non-profit trade group that unites, promotes and protects the state’s signature Bourbon and distilled spirits industry.

Morris, who is Master Distiller and Vice President of Whiskey Innovation for Brown-Forman, will begin his term Jan. 1, 2023, and serve through December 2023. The KDA Board of Directors elected officers during its Annual Meeting in November.

This will be the third time that Morris has served as Chairman, with the first in 2010 and again in 2016.

Chris Morris

“It is an honor to again represent the industry as Chair of the venerable KDA as it continues to elevate America’s distinctive spirit to a level of appreciation enjoyed globally by the Cognac and Scotch Whisky industries,” Morris said.

A Louisville native, Morris has spent his entire 46-year career in the Kentucky Bourbon industry. He is responsible for maintaining the award-winning taste of the whiskies produced at the Woodford Reserve and Old Forester distilleries.

A 2016 inductee into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame and a 2017 inductee into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame®, Morris also is Governor of the KDA’s Order of the Writ® – Spirit of Kentucky Bourbon Society, and is a respected authority on Bourbon and Kentucky history.

The Board also named Jessica Pendergrass, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer for Heaven Hill, as Vice Chair; Kaveh Zamanian, Founder, Whiskey Maker and CEO of Rabbit Hole Distillery as Secretary; and Ryan Ashley, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Distillery Operations at Four Roses as Treasurer.

Other Board members for 2023 include:

·     Bardstown Bourbon Co.: Ingrid Gentry, Chief Financial Officer

·     Castle & Key Distillery: Will Arvin, Co-Founder

·     Diageo North America: Antoine Smith, Vice President of Distillation and Maturation North America

·     James B. Beam Distilling Co.: Kevin Smith, Vice President of Bourbon Affairs in Kentucky

·     Louisville Distilling Co.: Gigi DaDan, General Manager

·     Lux Row Distillers: Erika Lapish, Vice President of Human Resources

·     Michter’s Distillery: Andrea Wilson, Chief Operating Officer & Master of Maturation

·     White Dog Trading & Storage: Tyler Harris, President

·     Wild Turkey: Marco Barassi, Government Relations and Sustainability Director, North America

·     Wilderness Trail Distillery: Shane Baker, Co-Founder & CEO

·     Willett Distillery: Britt Kulsveen, President

Founded in 1880, the KDA is the voice for Bourbon and spirits issues. Its diverse membership produces the overwhelming majority of the world’s Bourbon, from legendary, global brands to emerging micro distilleries that are building the next generation of the timeless craft.

Bourbon is one of Kentucky’s most treasured industries, a booming $9 billion economic and tourism engine that sustains more than 22,500 jobs with an annual payroll topping $1.23 billion each year, and pays over $285 million in local and state taxes and $1.8 billion in federal alcohol taxes.

A key export, distilling has the state’s highest job spin-off factor among top manufacturers; buys at least 17 million bushels of corn and other grains every year, mostly from Kentucky farm families; and is currently investing more than $5.2 billion in new stills, warehouses, bottling lines, tourism experiences and more.

Bourbon production has skyrocketed more than 475% since the turn of the century.

Kentucky now boasts more than 11.4 million barrels of Bourbon aging in warehouses across the Bluegrass, the most in its revered distilling history. Distillers filled more than 2.6 million barrels in 2021 alone, the fourth consecutive year that production topped 2 million.

Attendance at the KDA’s Kentucky Bourbon Trail® and Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour® distilleries has skyrocketed more than 300% in the last 10 years. Total attendance in 2021 was more than 1.5 million visits, just below the pre-COVID record of 1.7 million visits in 2019.

Visit www.kybourbon.com and www.kybourbontrail.com to learn more.

KDA President Eric Gregory thanked the Board of Directors for its bold and visionary leadership that has guided the association on an unprecedented path of success. This year saw the largest expansion of KDA members in its history – now standing at 83 and counting.

Gregory, who is finishing his 15th year as KDA President, said he looks forward to working again with Morris as Chairman in 2023 as the KDA develops its next five-year strategic plan and seeks an end to the discriminatory barrel tax. Kentucky remains the only place in the world that taxes aging barrels of spirits.

“Strategic planning is a year-long process and challenges us to look ahead and clearly prioritize our goals and objectives,” Gregory said. “As he has proven time and time again, Chris is a focused leader who is dedicated to ensuring that the future of our industry is sustainable and secure.

“We are blessed to work with a passionate group of leaders who consistently prioritize the needs of the industry as a whole in strengthening Kentucky’s rightful place as the one, true and authentic home for America’s only native spirit.”

The Kentucky Distillers’ Association is a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade association that passionately unites, promotes, protects and elevates the Commonwealth’s signature Bourbon and distilled spirits industry. The KDA maintains an open membership policy, champions a strong commitment to the responsible and moderate consumption of spirits, and fights to curb underage drinking and drunk driving. 

KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL®, KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL CRAFT TOUR®, KENTUCKY BOURBON AFFAIR™, KBT®, BOURBON TRAIL™, KENTUCKY BOURBON HALL OF FAME®, ORDER OF THE WRIT®, KENTUCKY BOURBON TALES®, KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL WELCOME CENTER®,, URBAN BOURBON TRAIL® and THE PROOF IS HERE® are trademarks/service marks of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association. 

Please enjoy Bourbon like a true Kentuckian – Responsibly

LAST CHANCE TO BUY

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR DEALS

40TH BIRTHDAY STARTS WITH A BANG

Our first Outturn of the new year is now available online…get ready to rock the senses as we kick off our 40th birthday celebrations with a BANG. Enjoy endless epiphanies in our fearless pursuit of flavour, starting with this sweet little selection of new and outstanding bottlings.

Click on over to our website NOW to buy or for those that like to GO BOLD with flavour, keep on scrolling to discover our Maverick Malts recommendations.

READ OUTTURN

VIEW NEW WHISKIES

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

Lochlea was a cattle farm when we originally acquired it in 2006. Extending some 222 acres. Barley had historically been grown on the farm land, largely as livestock feed, so in 2015 they embarked on an experiment, growing 50 acres of malting barley. Construction got underway in 2017, converting the former piggery, byre and midden in the heart of the farm steading into the distillery, and repurposing the cattle sheds into bonded warehouses. They secured their licences in 2018, and the distillery was commissioned in August 2018.

Since then, they have been growing their barley, and the distillery team have been skillfully and patiently making spirit. The land at Lochlea is important, and not just to the distinctive taste of their whisky.

David Ferguson will be coming down in Milroy’s of Soho to lt us taste the delicious editions below:

Lochlea Our Barley

Lochlea Sowing Edition

Lochlea Harvest Edition

Lochlea Fallow Edition

Lochlea Ploughing Edition (Ploughing Edition launches on 25th January)

You will have the opportunity to purchase a bottle in store with 10% discount only for this particular evening.

Buy Now

The end of the 139th auction is fast approaching its close on Sunday evening so we thought we’d take this opportunity to highlight a few excellent lots in this month which you might have missed.

Springbank 25 Year Old Old Style

From one of the undisputed heavyweights of the whisky world this Springbank 25 Year Old Old Style hails from the bygone days of the 1990’s, back when Springbanks didn’t cost an arm and a leg.  Times have changed though and now older bottlings from the Campbeltown distillery are going up exponentially in value on the secondary market.  This trend shows no signs of stopping any time soon so there is no better time than the present to snap up this vintage malt from one of the most coveted distilleries around.

Old Weller 7 Year Old Original 107 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon 75cl

This Old Weller 7 Year Old is the original and classic wheated bourbon.  First produced by the Stitzel-Weller distillery, whose legacy is now carried on by the Sazerac Company whose Buffalo Trace Distillery reputedly use the same recipe which originally made it famous.  The bottle features the famous ‘gold vein’ design introduced in the 1960’s, though this bottling is most likely from the 1980’s given its stated volume of 75cl after the United States adopted the standard metric bottling size in 1979.  Smooth and sweet this a high quality expression of great renown which would improve any bourbon collection.

With a slightly smaller auction this month competition is high, so now is the time to get your bids in.  Happy bidding everyone and best of luck to you all in the auction.

Scotch Whisky Auctions · Unit C · 139 Lancefield Street · Glasgow, Lanarkshire G3 8HZ · United Kingdom