2010 Auchroisk 12 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Refill Sherry Butt Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $59.99 View

The lovely Auchroisk distillery has been a favorite of blenders and independent bottlers alike since its founding in 1972. It offers consistently delicious creamy Speyside character, a wonderful base malt to build a blend around. The distillery in Mulben has also been used for vatting of the J&B Highland malts before blending at the main J&B facility to the south. We’ve had many wonderful Auchroisk over the years and we’ve managed to keep the prices unreasonably low on these lovely casks. This one was filled into an old sherry butt in 2010 and bottled at an impressive 60.3% without chillfiltration of coloring of any kind. It absolutely should not be consumed without the addition of a healthy dollop of high-quality spring water, which is crucial for releasing the supple fruit and sweet malty character. It offers a creamy rich texture and a rich chocolate-y character which is on full display once proper adornment has been achieved. It also loves air and needs plenty of time to open in the glass.

2014 Caol Ila 8 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Ex-Bourbon Barrel Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $59.99 View

2009 Blair Athol 13 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single ex-Bourbon Barrel Cask Strength Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $64.99 View

If you didn’t already know, we’re huge fans of the bucolic Blair Athol distillery just outside the highland resort town of Pitlochry. The stone walls covered in ivy at this, the spiritual home of the Bell’s Blended Scotch, are one reason we love this exceptional whisky. If you do manage to make it to this special distillery, you might notice giddy septegenarian fans of the UK only Bell’s Blend swarming the small distillery like it was vatican, but it is the VIP warehouse tour that keeps us going back. That’s because nothing beats Blair Athol straight from the bung of a big beautiful barrel. But the closest we can come is to bottle it for you straight out of the cask. This 13 year old ex-bourbon barrel is truly a special expression. With a bit of air, this youngster shows exceptional complexity. Unusually, it tastes absolutely divine right out of the bottle at a cool 111 proof -rich, buttery and malty, but has plenty of spice to keep it from feeling overly sweet. A stupendous example of this underappreciated distillery.

2007 Glengoyne 15 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Hogshead Cask Strength Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $74.99 View

1996 Invergordon 26 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Hogshead Cask Strength Single Grain Scotch Whisky (700ml) $79.99 View

Grain Whisky has had a renaissance over the last decade. It turns out that despite all the clamoring for single malt, it’s hard not to love exceptionally well aged and delicious grain. Especially when you factor in price! While we have bottled quite a bit of grain over the years, we’ve had to get much much pickier on the single casks we purchase. The prices have climbed a lot in the last 5 years and as a result we only choose a couple of exemplary casks a year now. This 26 year old Invergordon is one such cask. Relatively young in the world of disitlleries, the Invergordon facility was built in 1960 and today is owned by Whyte and Mackay which took control of the distillery in the early 90’s. This would have been distilled shortly after their takeover and likely has been in the Laings warehouses since shortly after distillation.We strive to partner with long term holders of whisky whenever we can as the pricing is usually significantly better than what is available on the open broker’s market for Scotch. Here this quarter of a century+ year old cask can be had for a song.

2008 Orkney’s Finest 14 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Refill Hogshead Cask Strength Orkney Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $79.99 View

While there seems to be no shortage of Orkney malt on the market, there is a serious dearth of it at screaming good prices. For just 80 bucks this famous Ornkey distillery at cask strength and a respectable 14 years is a heck of a deal. Aged in a refill hogshead this shows off that beautiful heathery peat that the distillery is famous for. Bottled at its natural cask strength of 51.7% and without coloring or chill filtration.

2012 Laphroaig 10 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Ex-Bourbon Barrel Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $89.99 View

It’s comical to think Laphroaig is charging $350 for their official bottling single casks that are 7 years old! We obvioulsy passed on that because we are still finding exceptional gems like this. Here we have a 10 year old for just $90! All that big bombastic peat and iodine in a classic ex-Bourbon cask giving the balaced vanilla and creamy malt center stage. At 53.5% ABV and without coloring or chill filtration, this is surely one of the best ways to add more of Islay’s Southern shore to your life.

2008 Bunnahabhain 14 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Hogshead Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $109.99 View

The old distillery just to the north of Port Askaig was founded in 1881. It’s become one of the best loved Islay malts, despite its normally gentle character. We’ve had several lovely casks of naked Bunnah over the last few years, but this one truly stands out. The great northern Islay distiller is renowned for capturing that ocean character without relying on heavy peat smoke. In fact, the distillery makes sure to note that their whisky contain less than 2 ppm of phenol, making it one of two regularly produced unpeated Islay malts, but this little whisky might fall outside the standard specs of their flagship malt. This beautiful refill hogshead was distilled in September of 2008 and bottled at cask strength of 54.2% abv in October of 2022. While it is by no means a big peat bomb, there does seem to be some seriously intense aromatic character that other bottlings have lacked. A big snappy salty nose, coupled with a rich caramelly sweetness. Rich upfront peat, which quickly subsides into a complex sweet earthiness. There’s no question that this whisky will confound some Bunnah lovers, perhaps this batch came right after one of the Moine batches, but for anyone but the most sensitive to peat, it will perfectly classic slightly more than lightly peated Islay in the best possible way.

1992 Cameronbridge 30 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Hogshead Cask Strength Single Grain Scotch Whisky (700ml) $139.99 View

There was once a time when old grain was completely under appreciated. That meant we could snag very old casks for next to nothing. But the market has changed, The days of 50 year old grain for $300 are long gone. We do occasionally see good old grain, but often the prices are not far off what you’ve expect to see on a single malt, and one thing we cannot stand for is overpriced single grain. So we wait and watch the market and eventually we come across a great cask like this that offers three full decades of maturation for what seems like last century’s pricing. The Cameronbridge distillery was the first in Scotland to adopt the new design of Robert Stein. Founded in 1824, the distillery is now important hub for Diageo’s spirit production of all kinds. This would have been distilled right after renovations of the facility were completed to allow for dual production. Distilled in September of 1992 and filled into an refill ex-bourbon barrel it spent just over 30 years aging and was bottled without chillfiltration or coloring in October of 2022 at a perfect 51.5% abv. Sweet and bourbon-y on the nose, we don’t often like to compare the two disperate styles of whisky, inspite of their technical similarities, but this one truly bridges the gap. Big, rich and bold, it doesn’t need more than a few minutes in the glass before it’s ready to enjoy!

1997 Ardmore (Unpeated) 25 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Cask Strength Single Refill Hogshead Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $199.99 View

This unprecedented cask of Ardmore is as unusual as it is delicious. The famous Highland peater was built at Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire in 1898. The spiritual home of the once popular Teacher’s Highland Cream, its original owner was in fact the son of the founder of that brand, Adam Teacher. One of the last distillers to use coal to fire their stills, this barrel was distilled prior to their transition to gas in 2001. It boasts the ability to produce nearly 5.5 million liters of pure alcohol a year with 8 working stills. Nearly all of that is made with heavily peated barley. The distillery has remained relatively unknown, although the eastern Highlands is becoming a more significant corner of the single malt landscape, thanks to improvements over the last two decades of its two major neighbors – Glendronach & Glen Garioch. The enigmatic offering is one of the only we’ve ever seen from this special distillery to feature unpeated barley. That said the constant use of heavily peated barley remains in the system and so a very subtle smoke character remains in the whisky, but by no means is it the standard Ardmore. Add more than 2.5 decades and you’ve got an absolute gem. So, if you’re looking for great old school malt, but aren’t a fan of the smokey stuff or you’re just looking to expand your understanding of Scotch malt in a general sense, you’ll not want to miss this old Highlander. Exceptional in its own right, it represents a true oddity very unlikely to be seen again.

1997 Blair Athol 25 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Sherry Butt Cask Strength Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $279.99 View

This beautiful cask of Blair Athol is truly the star of our 2023 campaign. We rarely get access to such exceptional old malt and if you’ve been following the K&L Exclusives, this will easily compare to the wonderful 25 year Cragganmore we sold last year. The Blair Athol malt is an absolute dream and when you put it into high quality casks, it can produce one of the Highland’s most complex and delicious whiskies. Founded in 1798 by John Steward and Robert Robertson, it changed hands many times until eventually being mothballed in 1932. IT was after that that Arthur Bell purchased the distillery to make it the home of his Bell’s Blend. Production start up again in 1949 and continues to produce the top dressing malt for blends. But a few special casks make it out of the system and we’re extremely lucky and proud to have procured this exceptional whisky. Fewer and fewer casks are able to offer this old malt experience for a relatively reasonable price. Any one looking for great old highland sherry should look no further. This is the best around.

2000 Laphroaig 22 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Hogshead Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $349.99 View

It seems like forever since we’ve had 20+ year old blue chip distilleries on the docket for a reasonable price. It’s getting harder and harder to secure these casks, and this one is a veritable coup. Distilled in June of 2000 and bottled in October of 2022, this 22 year old beauty is finally on our shores. Aged in a refill Hogshead, this is all about the spirit and time. Elegant, leathery, briny, sweet barley, and chock full of that lovely peat that only really comes with long years in cask. Bottled without chill filtration or coloring at its natural cask strength of 48.5% ABV.

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