Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,

Our Fall Single Malt Festival is less than 24 hours away and we have yet another sell out on our hands! If it was hard for any of us to believe we are already half way through November, the snows and cold of the last few days have certainly got us back on pace. Its whisky festival time again, and what a Festival do we have in store! More than 90 whiskies are on offer this year including the first Canadian tasting of the 4 new releases from Arran (14 Year, Amarone, Port and Sauternes), Port Ellen 29 and 30 year olds, Ardbeg Supernova, Highland Park Earl Magnus, Compass Box Hedonism Maxximus, Amrut Double Barrel, Bunnahabhain 25 Year, Cask Strength Rosebank 1991, Auchentoshan 1998, BenRiach Authenticus 21 Year and much, much more. The problem will be deciding what to sample!

Tradition has it that we now have a Friday whisky dinner the night after the festival to give a little extra incentive to those who are visiting us from out of town. This year’s Glenglassaugh Dinner is going to be extra special, not just because we are to sample 21, 29, 30 and 40 year old expressions. Stuart Nickerson, distillery manager has recorded a special message for those attending the dinner. We will have an audio/video presentation on the distillery to enjoy while we sample its whisky! As always the whiskies will be complemented by a three course meal prepared by the chef at Buchanan’s Chophouse, one of our city’s finest restaurants! I’ve more to tell you about the dinner below, which is undoubtedly one of the whisky tasting events of the year in Calgary.

In line with the Fall Single Malt Festival and the Glenglassaugh Dinner there are some incredible new whiskies in town. This information can’t wait until the next full Malt Messenger, so I’ll break it down for you below!

Also we have the 2011 Whisky Bible by Jim Murray and the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2011 now in stock. Just in time for the whisky festival…

One final note, Peat-Heads have reason to rejoice, the next edition in the Octomore series, Octomore 3 will be in next week  $149.99. Kensington Wine Market is getting at least 30 bottles, pre-order yours today!

As always I hope you’ve enjoyed this Malt Messenger Bulletin, stay tuned for the November Malt Messenger sometime next week!

Slainté!

Andrew Ferguson

The Glenglassaugh Dinner – Friday November 19th 7PM @ Buchanan’s Chop House – $170.00

Glenglassaugh distillery was founded two miles west of the town of Portsoy at the east end of Sandend Bay on the Moray Firth in 1875. The distillery was established by James Moir, a local business man, its quickly earned a reputation for making quality whisky and rapidly began to prosper. After James’s death the distillery changed hands a number of times before closing in 1907, a victim of the Pattison Whisky Crash. A new distillery building was installed in 1959 and production ran from 1960 through 1986 when it was closed by its owners Highland Distillers. Highland Distillers also owned Glenrothes, and through the 70’s and 80’s they tried to produce a Glenrothes like spirit at Glenglassaugh. In 1986 these efforts were ceased and the decision was made to close Glenglassaugh and expand production at Glenrothes. And so the distillery remained silent from 1986 until November of 2008 when the distillery was officially reopened by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond under new ownership. The still ran again for the first time of the 4th of December 2008.

Glenglassaugh is in the unenviable position of having a 22 year production gap. Because there was no spirit distilled between 1986 and late 2008, the distillery has to rely of limited stocks of rare older whisky while its waits for its newly filled casks to mature. This is why Glenglassaugh is the only distillery in Scotland with a core range that begins with a 21 year old! We’ll sample the full core range: 21 year old, 30 year old and 40 year old as well as a 29 year old bottled by A. D. Rattray. We’ll start things off with some examples of the new make Glenglassaugh: The Spirit Drink That Dare Not Speak Its Name and the Spirit Drink That Blushes to Speak Its Name. All in all this lineup of whiskies would set you back $4000.00 or more if you were to buy a bottle of each, making our dinner at $170 a bargain, especially when you look at the menu Buchanan’s has prepared for us:

1st Plate: Tuna Tartar with a Basil Creme Fresh and Wasabi Sauce

2nd Plate: Pan Roasted Bay Scallop Stuffed with Rock Shrimp with Key Lime Aioli

Main Course: AAA Alberta Filet of Beef Medallions with Belle Pepper Mushroom Whisky Sauce and Bacon Parsnip Mashed Potato

Desert: Sticky Toffee Pudding with Toffee Sauce and Chantilly Cream

To register call the Kensington Wine Market at 403-283-8000 or visit our website www.kensingtonwinemarket.com..

New Single Malt Scotch Whiskies:

These are just a few of the new whiskies available at the Kensington Wine Market. I will have a full list in the next Malt Messenger!

1.       Edradour Cask Strength Decanter 1997 – New and exclusive to the Kensington Wine Market. 707 bottles from a single sherry cask at 56.4%, bottled at 12 years of age. Tasting note to come. – $129.99

2.       Edradour 24 Year PX Sherry Finish – Exclusive to KWM, this Pedro Ximenez finished Edradour is very elegant. Distilled in 1985 and bottled after 24 years it is fruity and chocolaty with gentle spices, sweet, sour and musty notes. – $166.99

3.       Edradour SFTC Chateauneuf du Pape Finish – This Edradour was matured in Bourbon casks before finishing in a Chateauneuf du Pape hogshead. 453 bottles have been released at a cask strength of 56.6% after ageing 12 years. Exclusive to KWM! – $99.49

4.       Arran 14 Year – This 14 year old replaces the 12 but is less sherried and more similar to the Peacock release we saw last year. It is getting rave reviews. Distillery Tasting Note: An initial burst of brine leads onto warming toffee apples and hazelnuts. This is followed by dates, chocolate orange and spiced tea cake. The mouthfeel is overwhelmingly rich and weighty.” – $76.49

5.       Arran Amarone Finish – Arran has consolidated and streamlined there cask finish line, I’m not sold on the packaging, but the price is good and rumour has it the quality is there. Try it for yourself! Distillery Tasting Notes: “Dark chocolate, cherry and Turkish delights are evident as are stewed fruits and toffee. Muscular notes of dark plum wrestle with bitter-sweet apricots and a hint of cinnamon.” – $76.99

6.       Arran Port Finish – Distillery Tasting Notes: “Layered fruits and spice combine, with cinnamon baked apple wrestling with raisin and plum pudding. The dram opens out to reveal warming barley and a hint of sweet pear.” – $76.99

7.       Arran Sauternes Cask Finish – Distillery Tasting Notes: “Richly honeyed and backed with a lifting zestiness which slides into spice and zingy salt. Once the dram opens out, vanilla and sultana stand out followed by notes of toasted oak. – $76.99

8.       Bruichladdich 18 Year Bourbon – I haven’t tried them yet, and its near impossible to find info on them on the web, but a trusted customer highly recommended the bourbon and cognac finished 18 year olds so I’ve taken a chance on all three including the rum finish. More details as they come. – $96.99

9.       Bruichladddich 18 Year Cognac Finish – See above.  – $96.99

10.   Bruichladdich 18 Year Rum Finish – See above. – $96.99

11.   Auchentoshan 1998 – This is a very limited edition sherry cask matured Auchentoshan bottled a natural cask strength of 54.6%. – $64.49

12.   Auchentoshan 1977 – Only 240 bottles of this sherry matured whisky are available in the world. 49%, only a dozen or so bottles are available in Canada. – $506.99

New American Whiskies – Buffalo Trace Antique Collection:

1.       Sazerac 18 Year – One of the most rare and hard to find whiskies in the world. This real American Rye Whiskey is rich, deep and full bodied. Usually scored in the high 90’s in the Whisky Bible. KWM received but 6 bottles! – $147.49

2.       Thomas Handy Rye – This whiskey is barrel proof, the American version of cask strength, and has a massive palate and body. 96.5pts Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2011. – $140.49

3.       Eagle Rare 17 Year – Old Boubons are far from common, mainly because the oak—which by law has to be new each and every time in the US—overwhelms the whiskey very quickly. The Eagle Rare 17 skirts the right side of this razor’s edge with notes of “molasses, leather, vanilla and toffee.” KWM only received 6 bottles. – $127.49

This is the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. KWM received all but the William Larue Weller. The George T. Stagg has sold out.

Whiskies Back In Stock:

1.       Edradour Caledonia – Exclusive to the Kensington Wine Market this special bottling of Edradour is a 12 year old finished in Oloroso sherry for at least 4 years. The whisky is chewy and very fruity with figs, sultanas and a hint of clove. 46% NCF and no colouring.- $93.99

2.       Bruichladdich Golder Still – Back and at a greatly reduced price… This is the 3rd bottling in a trilogy of whiskies that included the Blacker Still (2006) and Redder Still (2007). 4,900 very collectible bottles of this 23 year old have been released world-wide! – $212.99

Jim Murray’s 2011 Whisky Bible – $21.95 + GST

The Whisky Bible has a fresh new look for 2011 to go along with the more 900 new and revised reviews. The 2011 Whisky Bible has 3,850 reviews of whisky from the world over. While the bulk of the book is taken up by single malt Scotch whiskies, the book also reviews most of the major American, Canadian, Irish, Japanese and World Whiskies. You may not always agree with his scores, or the distilleries which seem to dominate year after year, but the tasting notes always come in handy when searching for your next dram!

Malt Whisky Yearbook 2011 – $29.99 + GST

Back for a 6th year the Malt Whisky Yearbook is the ideal resource for the whisky aficionado that likes to know every detail about his or her favourite distilleries. Every single malt distillery in Scotland, Ireland, Japan and most of the rest in the world are included with a detailed breakdown on their history and what’s happened in the last year.  The book includes tasting notes on one or two of the distillery’s most common bottlings, interesting articles on the world of whisky and detailed descriptions of the various processes involved in manufacturing malt whisky. No whisky bar or man’s bathroom is complete without one, and if you only buy one whisky book, this should be it.

­­If you have any whisky questions or comments concerning The Malt Messenger please contact me by e-mail, phone, or drop by the store. Feel free to forward me any whisky news you feel should be included in a future issue of The Malt Messenger; it might just get included.

All of the products mentioned in THE MALT MESSENGER can be purchased in store, over the phone or from our website at www.kensingtonwinemarket.com.. All prices quoted in the Malt Messenger are subject to change!

Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger!

Slainte!

Andrew Ferguson
KWM Scotchguy

403-283-8000
888-283-9004
1257 Kensington Rd. NW
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2N 3P8

scotchguy@kensingtonwinemarket.com