Malt Messenger Bulletin – Two New KWM Casks, Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 2 & a Whisky Advent Calendar! – Scotch Whisky News
Malt Messenger Bulletin – Two New KWM Casks, Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 2 & a Whisky Advent Calendar!
With the flood of the century and the 101st Stampede behind us we are back to business as usual at Kensington Wine Market. Our hearts go out to all of those who are still suffering from the effects of the flooding, but are also filled with pride at how the city and province have pulled together. Our Scotch Malt Whisky Society July First Friday tastings raised $600 in support of Red Cross Flood Relief and our Canada Day store sale even more! We have another event coming up on July 30th that will help raise further funds for flood related charities. Dan Volway, brand ambassador for The Macallan, has agreed to donate all the whiskies for the tasting at our store on condition that the proceeds go to charity. It will be another chance to help those stricken, while enjoying a few good drams. You will find the details on the Macallan 1824 tasting below.
In addition to the Macallan 1824 tasting on the 30th, we have a free tasting at 6PM this coming Tuesday. Graeme Macaloney will be giving a presentation on the proposed Victoria Caledonian Distillery and Brewpub. The tasting starts at 6PM, includes a complimentary whisky tasting and will take roughly an hour. There is no charge for the event, but you must register for it. You can do so through our website at https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php , or by phone 403-283-8000. Further details are provided below.
We have a lot of exciting whisky announcements to roll out over the next 4-6 weeks, including: a weekend whisky event in Banff, a Kentucky Bourbon Tour and some very cool new products. I’ll get the ball rolling today by announcing two new KWM casks, the arrival of Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 2 and a really interesting gift idea which will be here early in the fall.
First and foremost our Benromach casks are slated to arrive in store at some point in the next two weeks. If you attended our Spring Single Malt Festival in June or our Robbie Burns Supper in January then you may have already sampled them. The casks, both First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrels are very tasty, one peated, one not. Both of them will retail for less than $85, and from now until the day they arrive in store you can pre-commit to bottles from one or both casks and save 10% on their purchase. Tasting notes and details on both whiskies are provided below.
Secondly, Batch 2 of the Glendronach Cask Strength has just landed! Batch 1 sold out in a matter of weeks this spring, and I expect Batch 2 will be just as popular. Fewer than 300 of the 12000 total bottles produced have come to Canada, of which KWM has a healthy allocation. I’ve sampled both and feel that Batch 2 is just as good if not better than Batch 1. My tasting notes on both can be found below.
Finally, we have a really interesting gift idea for the whisky lover in your life! We have acquired the Whisky Advent Calendar produced by Master of Malt in the UK as a Canadian exclusive. The Whisky Advent Calendar consists of 24 30ml bottles of Scotch whisky, one of which is a 50 year old. We first announced this last week on Twitter, and within minutes we had orders for nearly 20 calendars. This could be the hottest whisky item in Canada this fall. More information can be found on the Whisky Advent Calendar below. You can pre-order yours through our website at: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/products/details/inventory/18692/index.php
I hope this Malt Messenger Bulletin finds you well, and that you are having a wonderful summer. Stay tuned to the Malt Messenger for some other exciting announcements in the coming weeks.
Slainté!
Andrew Ferguson Kensington Wine Market
PS – Don’t forget you can follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/scotch_guy and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/scotch.guy.1 .
MACALLAN 1824 TASTING W/ DAN VOLWAY – Tuesday July 30th – $50
Macallan Brand Ambassador Dan Volway will be coming to town to put on a tasting of the new 1824 collection for our customers. The tasting will feature the Gold, Amber and Sienna bottlings pitted against the Travel Retail (Duty Free) Collection releases. As a special treat we will also be sampling the Macallan Ruby; the oldest bottling in the new 1824 Collection. Part of Proceeds to be donated to an Alberta flood related charity. These new Macallans have stirred up quite a debate. Why not come formulate your own opinion on them, and support a great cause.
You can register online at https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php or by calling the store at 403-283-8000.
MACALONEY DISTILLERS TASTING – Tuesday July 23rd – FREE (But you have to register!)
Join us for a free tasting and information session, Tuesday July 23rd with Graeme Macaloney of Macaloney Distillers. Graeme Macaloney PhD, an experienced fermentation engineer and a Scotsman, is launching a full scale single malt & pot still whisky distillery, and real ale brew pub – the Victoria Caledonian Distillery. He will be conducting a complimentary “Show & Tell” presentation on his plans, including a complimentary whisky tasting. Graeme has lined up some industry heavyweights behind his project, and is intensely touring the Country building support.
More info will be posted on our BLOG, later today. https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/blog/
You can register online at https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php or by calling the store at 403-283-8000.
OUR BENROMACH CASKS ARE NEARLY HERE – Pre-Order & Save 10%
When Michael Urquhart agreed to being our special guest for this year’s Burns Supper, Andy Dunn of Gold Medal Marketing and I came up with the idea of including a cask selection in the evening’s proceedings. Most of the 120 participants had a chance to sample the four cask samples and vote on their favourites. Later that month I sat down with my tasting panel to review the whiskies and count the votes. To my surprise there were not one, but two casks that stood out. We asked Benromach to bottle them for us and the whiskies have only just landed in Alberta. Here are my tasting notes on the two casks:
- Benromach 2004 KWM Cask 246 – 60.4% – 9 Year – 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel – 258 Bottles – My Tasting Note: “Nose: very creamy and grassy with celery, toasted coconut chips, honey dew melon and orange slices; doughy with a faint hint of peat and juicy malt; Palate: loads of honey, cream, fruits and malt; there are both citrus and soft melon fruit notes with vanilla milk shake and sweet chewy malt; though more than 60% alcohol the spirit is soft and smooth; Finish: lingering, sweet and malty with more melon notes, late dried orange and vanilla/honey; Comments: proof positive you can have a very complex whisky at a young age!” – $84.99
- Benromach 2005 KWM Cask 126 – 60.4% – 8 Year – 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel – 245 Bottles – My Tasting Note: “Nose: very malty and chewy with honey and clean wood smoke; there is some orange peel and a hint of chocolate with aloe like vegetal notes and a trace of cantaloupe; Palate: sweet, smoky and slightly salty to start; honey, chocolate, orange peels and big chewy malt quickly follow; there are notes of melon and white fruits under the smoke, malt and big honeyed oak; peat and chocolate are the last elements to come to the party; Finish: juicy and sweet with soft peat smoke honey and malt; Comments: this is a Benromach for Islay drinkers and those wanting to dip their toes into peatier waters!” – $82.49
Pre-order one or more of either of these whiskies and save 10%!
GLENDRONACH CASK STRENGTH BATCH 2 IS HERE! – $84.99 + GST
One of the most popular whiskies to come through our doors this year was the Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 1. In just three weeks this April 150 bottles sailed through our doors. Well the hotly anticipated Batch 2 release is in, and I decided to sit down and sample them side by side. Both heavily sherried and cask strength, they were similar but noticeably different. Both were very fruity, with Batch 2 showing more leather and wood notes. They are very close, but if I had to pick a favourite, Batch 2 slightly edged out the first. Don’t believe me, come try them for yourself.
- Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 1 – 54.8% – Matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez Sherry Casks – My Tasting Note: Nose: fruit leather, fruit compote, pan-seared strawberries, fresh raspberries and maple syrup; loads of brown sugar and soft spice; Tiger Tail ice cream, and round candied fruit; Palate: more berry fruits, with chocolate, Demerara and brown sugars; very sweet with notes of maple syrup and a range of spice from hot cinnamon, to clove and black peppercorn; a little tarry and leathery this is a round full dram with lots of layers; Finish: fruity, leathery and sweet with some hints of tobacco and long lingering dark spices! – $83.99 – 6 bottles came in with Batch 2, we have 3 bottles available, 1 per customer first serve!
- Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 2 – 55.2% – Matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez Sherry Casks – My Tasting Note: Nose: treacle sauce, musty-earthy oak, candied nuts, tobacco leaf and Black Licorice Nibs; honey and malt with soft leather; fleshy orchard fruit (plums & peaches) with orangey citrus; Palate: big, leathery, sweet and spicy with tobacco and more musty-earthy oak notes; the dark sugars and candied fruit are there, but it is woodier and more leathery than Batch 1; still a richly sherried whisky though with espresso bean, dark chocolate and salty Dutch licorice; Finish: long, leathery and sweet with the sweet dark sugars reemerging along with candied fruit. – $84.99 – If we run out in store, there is more on the way, leave us an order!
PRE-ORDER THE “WHISKY ADVENT CALENDAR” – $299.99
Kensington Wine Market is very pleased to announce that we have acquired Master of Malt’s Whisky Advent Calendar as a Canadian exclusive for our store in Calgary! This could be this fall’s hottest whisky gift idea in Canada… Within 30 minutes of announcing it on Twitter we had a dozen orders! Behind each of the 24 doors is a different 30ml sample of delicious whisky! The exact contents are a surprise, but we can tell you that behind one of the doors is a sample of 50 year old Scotch whisky, the full-sized bottle of which is worth $600! The Whisky Advent Calendar will retail for $299.99 +GST and is Exclusive to KWM in Canada!
You can pre-order your Whisky Advent Calendar by clicking this link to the product page and placing a request through our website. Or you can call us at 402-283-8000 or 888-283-9004 and leave your information.
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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, don’t include GST. In the case of discrepancies in pricing, the price in our in store point of sale will be taken as correct.
Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger.
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
Manager & Scotchguy
Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Owner & Opperator
Ferguson’s Whisky Tours
