A Whisky Coup So Good, We Put Our Name On It

K&L Liquors’ Balblair 10 Year Old Ex-XO Cognac Octaves Finished Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $39.99

David Othenin-Girard

K&L Spirits Buyer · October 21, 2026

One interesting aspect of creating store brands is the inherent skepticism many consumers have when presented with a product that looks too good to be true. That skepticism is understandable when more than one of our competitors is more concerned with the profits their store brands deliver than the quality inside the bottle. I stand by everything we’ve ever put our name on, from the lowly Faultline Blended Scotch for $20 to the single-barrel Buff Turkeys we bottled for many hundreds of dollars.

If I’m going to put our name on it, I’m simply not comfortable having anything less than exceptional in the bottle. That said, it’s very, very difficult to put great single malt into a bottle for under $50, and doing so in any meaningful quantity is simply impossible. Yet here we are with this incredible little Balblair, a rarity among independent bottlings, from a forgotten project that seems to have just been left to sit. Now, after many years finishing in old ex-Cognac octaves, this special little Highland malt is a pure joy. And while it won’t be available indefinitely, we did get a nice little chunk of it, and I’m hoping we can periodically offer a great 10-year-old malt under our label for less than $40.

So let’s taste it. The color is a typical and attractive old gold (0.6). The nose offers an almost idyllic deep malt tone, with sweet, fudgy nougat and dense Highland shrubbery of heather and thistle, balanced by twinges of bright citrus and sweet stone fruit. It’s not funky at all, as some naked Balblair can be, and the old French oak is extremely subdued, creating a beautiful frame for this special Highland malt. The palate offers chocolate and apricots, with a medium body and a pleasant spicy note that builds into a sweet, herbal finish. It’s not a super powerful or in-your-face style, but it’s damn drinkable and cheap enough to throw around or make a great Scotch cocktail with. We simply need more wonderful malt at this price point, and this is hands down my favorite thing on the shelf for the money.

KL NOTES

This incredible small batch from one of Scotland’s most beautiful northern distilleries is truly unprecedented. Occasionally we come across lots of whisky that are simply too good to be believed, and this is one of those rare moments. The project was originally developed by a prominent bottler directly with the owners and involved commissioning a large number of ex-Cognac barrel octaves, specially manufactured for this exact purpose.

They selected an exceptional parcel of nicely aged Balblair, one of the North Highlands’ most under-appreciated distilleries, and further matured it in these remarkable little casks. The old French oak had been seasoned with rich Cognac for so long that the harsh tannins and dryness French oak can sometimes impart were completely resolved, leaving only depth, polish, and luxurious complexity.

After all that work, cost, and effort, the owner of the whisky simply walked away. We were not the originators of this fabulous idea, and had we been, we would likely have needed to charge more than double this price. Instead, we are in the lucky position of taking advantage of an incredibly rare lot of whisky that will never be recreated at this cost. Malt of this quality should be much more expensive, but we are not here to take profit simply because we can. We want every bottle of K&L Liquor’s branded spirits to overdeliver by a huge margin. We are confident this special bottle will outperform its price point many times over.