The Old Malt Cask line of single cask single malts was created by the Laing brothers in 1998. They’ve since bottled countless legendary single malt and continue to surprise and delight connoisseurs with their diverse range of exceptionally selected single casks. Unlike K&L’s Exclusive single casks, Old Malt Cask is traditionally bottled at 100 proof, but always without chillfiltration or coloring of any kind. The Laings selected a diverse range of malts to celebrate 25 years in the single cask business, picking out choice casks and bottling them in the gorgeous retro packaging.

2010 Linkwood 13 Year Old “Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary” K&L Exclusive Single Canasta Sherry Butt Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $79.99 View

This very reasonably priced Linkwood is aged for 13 years in Canasta Cream Sherry. The famous distillery, which is one of the core malts in the Johnnie Walker line of blended scotch, has become well known in Scotch circles for producing excellent whisky. Built in 1821 outside of the city of Elgin by Peter Brown. It was eventually becoming part of United Distillers, one of predecessors to Diageo. The 3 sets of stills are housed in two separate buildings, 1 in Linkwood A and the others in Linkwood B, built in 1971. The robust character of the famous old distillery loves sherry and this lovely butt was well seasoned with a blend of oloroso and Pedro Ximinez sherry produced by William & Humbert known as Canasta. The savory and sweet character of the sherry pairs perfectly with the rich malty and earthy flavors of Linkwood. Deep and complex it’s taken the sherry character perfectly in stride.

2008 Inchgower 15 Year Old “Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary” K&L Exclusive Single Sherry Butt Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $89.99 View

Inchgower is lovely underrated distillery on the eastern edge of the Speyside region. It was founded in 1875 and became one of the core malts for the Bell’s blend in the 1930s, eventually becoming part of Diageo when Guinness and Grand Metropolitan merged in 1997. It’s uniquely situated behind the seaside town of Buckie and it’s robust malt seems to love sherry as much as any other in the region. This refill sherry barrel offers a wonderful glimpse at the quality of this lovely distillery without over powering the malt with heavy wine character. It still has plenty of mature sherry flavor and offers a balanced polished example of this lovely undervalued distillery.

2009 Craigellachie 15 Year Old “Old Malt Cask” K&L Exclusive Refill Hogshead Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky (700ml) $99.99 View

The wonderful Craigellachie distillery is beginning to become more of a household name now that the owners have made an earnest attempt to market the malt under its own name. The funky little distillery outside of the eponymous named village is on the hillside directly across from Easter Elchies the famous estate where Macallan is built. The much more humble Craigellachie proudly displays the John Dewars name in large letters on the front of the distillery building. Craigellachie has been a regular on our shelves for many years offering complex malts of rich character. While this special cask is listed as a “refill hogshead” you’d figure the bottlers would have noticed the insanely dark color and powerful sherry character and listed the previous contents of the barrel on the label. Perhaps they don’t have precise records regarding the contents, but there’s no question that this whisky was filled into a highly active sherry hogshead in January of 2009. Bottled at a cask strength of 52.2 without coloring or chillfiltration, lovers of sherried Craigellachie will rejoice. Deep and complex with no sulfur character whatsoever. It retains the gorgeous old school industrial notes (old diesel engine and earthy malt) that we know and love in Craigellachie, but these are framed perfectly by the beautiful sherry and oak. A truly stupendous value that many other brand would be comfortable selling for twice the price.

2011 Caol Ila 12 Year Old “Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary” K&L Exclusive Single Manzanilla Sherry Butt Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $109.99 View

This highly unusual and delicious malt from the famous Caol Ila distillery on the northern shore of Islay, was filled into a manzanilla sherry butt back in 2011. Finding Manzanilla sherry barrels outside of the Sanlucar is very unusual as the producers covet these old barrels for their ability to develop the trademark “flor”. The resulting wine is dry and salty with a rich texture and complex aromatics. The salty wine and the smoky whisky work in tandem to create a truly ocean driven malt. This special Caol Ila will provide an ultra-complex experience that will be nearly impossible to match elsewhere. Rich and savory with powerful ocean character and a deep complex palate. The Caol Ila distillery is the biggest secret on Islay. The darling of connoisseurs, it remains much less known than its southern sister Lagavulin. Yet, Caol Ila is consistently delivering incredible quality. Here’s the proof.

2007 Glengoyne 16 Year Old “Old Malt Cask” K&L Exclusive Single First Fill Sherry Butt Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky (700ml) $109.99 View

The wonderful Glengoyne distillery is always one to keep an eye. Built in 1833, it was sold by Archiball Macllelan to the Lang Brothers where it remained until 1965 when it was purchased by a predecessor organization to Edrington Group. In 2003, it was sold to blenders and bottlers Ian Macleod and they’ve rightfully made Glengoyne a worldwide brand. They’re famous for their sherried malt and it’s rare to see a butt make it out of their warehouses under anyone else’s label. That’s why we were so excited to see this pop up and when we tasted it we knew we had a real winner. The Glengoyne distillery is located in tiny town of Dumgoyne on the road to Blairquhosh, just 13 miles north of central Glasgow. It sits just beyond the imaginary line that all Scots agree is the starting point of the highlands. Despite its proximity to the lowlands, it’s very much in the classic highland style and has carved out a name for its self-providing nicely balanced sherry and rich malt character. We rarely see it bottled by independent bottlers and when we do its almost always in tired old hogsheads. This gorgeous 2nd fill butt, however, is so distinct and characterful, you might mistake it for first fill. We certainly did. A deep golden color and an explosive sherry nose filled with rich dried fruit, chocolate, and gorgeous malt. Many will second guess this one because it’s not a traditional “sherry bomb,” but one nosing is all it takes to see that this whisky is of exceptional quality.

2003 Benrinnes 19 Year Old “Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary” K&L Exclusive Single Canasta Sherry Butt Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $119.99 View

This wonderful Benrinnes was distilled in 2003 and filled into a first fill Canasta Sherry Butt. Canasta is a brand of cream sherry prodced bny William & Humbert made by blending dry oloroso sherry and Pedro Ximinez. The Benrinnes Distillery was founded in 1826 by Peter Mackenzie not far from the village of Aberlour. It was famous for many decades for an usual, Mortlach style, partial triple distillation and great old gorgeous worm tub condensers. A stalwart blenders malt, it is capable of producing exceptional whiskies like this one. Finding an old heavily sherried Benrinnes is difficult in its own right, but one so carefully selected at such a wonderful price is nearly unheard of. We’re very proud and pleased to be stocking the exceptional Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary line exclusively in the USA.