Malt Messenger Bulletin
Surprise Summer Sale Starts Now
The tags are up, the banner is hung and the pricing is live, our Surprise Summer Sale is on!
We only have 4 store-wide Sales a year at KWM. The Surprise Summer Sale is usually held earlier in August, but as we delayed our May Birthday Sale to June, we thought it best to push this one back by a few weeks too. So for those of you who thought we’d forgotten or skipped it this year, SURPRISE!
Before we get to the juicy details on the sale, there are a few other exciting tidbits we would like to share with you before it is too late…
Firstly, we have a really exciting pair of new Virtual Whisky Tastings scheduled for Saturdays September 12 & 26. For the Boutique-y Whiskies Double Header we will be joined from the UK by Special Guests Sam Simmons (Head of Whisky) and Dave Worthington (Global Brand Ambassador) for the Boutique-y Whisky Co. Just $80 for two tastings of six whiskies each, including 21 year old Ben Nevis & Clynelish, a 28 Year Cambus and a 24 Year Bourbon… More details below. These tastings are already 2/3 sold… only 35 spots left!
There is a new GlenDronach in town, a 2009 Vintage 10 Year, bottled exclusively for Canada. The whisky staff are all rather impressed with it, something you don’t often here. It has been a rather hot commodity over the last week. Note as a brand new arrival it is not on sale!
We also have an exciting whisky return, the Berry’s Blue Hanger 11th Limited Release is Back! This KWM exclusive has been gone for the shelves for a couple of years. We are doubly excited about its return, as it also dropped in price by $45/bottle… Only about 30 of the 60 bottles which just returned are left!
Now back to the Surprise Summer Sale. The pricing is live online now. As always, we have created PDFs with the best deals on Whisky & Other Spirits as well as Wine, to help you focus your shopping.
Please order through the website if you can, or swing by the store. You are welcome to pop down to the store, but if you do please wear a mask, be patient if there is a line, and respect our other Covid-19 Policies.
If you are looking to have your order packed for pickup please note we already have a healthy waiting list, and it could take up to a week for your order to be ready.
If you are requesting Curb Side pickup, please give us at least 4 hours to pull and process your order. Ideally please wait until you receive the confirmation it is ready.
We are expecting higher than normal demand for delivery in Calgary. Free Delivery for orders over $50 is still available, but again please be patient as we work through all the requests.
Happy Hunting!
Andrew Ferguson
Kensington Wine Market
Andrew Ferguson
Kensington Wine Market
PS – Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter:
@scotch_guy, Instagram: @thescotch_guy/
or @kwmwhisky and Facebook: facebook.com/scotch.guy.1
New Virtual Whisky Tasting(s)
The Boutique-y Whiskies Double Header with Sam Simmons & Dave Worthington!
If you’ve been paying attention to my emails over the last little while, you’ll have noted that we had to get creative with virtual tastings on account of not being able to pour samples… Hoping that will change in the near future, but in the interim, we’ve been using available gift packs and 50mls to put on virtual tastings. While scouting the available options I noticed there was a decent amount of last year’s “12 Whiskies of Christmas” from That Boutique-y Whisky Company left in the market.
The set is composed of 12 wax sealed 30ml bottles, and there are some cool whiskies in it: Cambus 28 Year Single Grain, 21 Year Clynelish & Ben Nevis, and a 24 Year Bourbon to name just a few. So we negotiated a deal (they originally sold for $110+gst) and purchased the lot of them with an eye to putting on some tastings. We approached the chaps at That Boutique-y Whisky Company about taking part in the tastings, and they jumped at the opportunity.
We will be splitting the whiskies over a pair of tastings on Saturday September 12th and 26th, at 5PM, to accommodate our friends in London. We will be joined in the tastings by Sam Simmons (Head of Whisky) and Dave Worthington (Global Brand Ambassador). The cost is $80+gst for the samples. We can pack them for out of town pickup. Free Delivery is available within Calgary city-limits. A zoom link and password will be emailed out the day before the tasting.
The people are thirsty, and demand is high, only 35 of the 95 spots for the tasting are still available!
Boutique-y Whiskies Double Header with Dr. Whisky aka Sam Simmons – Saturday September 12, 5PM & Saturday September 26, 5PM – $80+gst
Register by phone at 403-283-8000 or online.
Introducing: The Glendronach 2009 10 Year
A Very Decent Place Holder for the GlenDronach 12 Year…
If you are wondering why we haven’t seen certain releases from the BenRiach and GlenDronach distilleries over the last few years, there is a very good reason for it. The GlenDronach 15 Year Revival has its own reasons for only infrequently being available, mainly owing to a shortage of suitable stocks.
For the rest of the BenRiach Distillery Co. Whiskies, which include BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh, many of the skus are tied up in a dispute between the old importers, and the new one. Until it is resolved -and apparently progress has been stagnant-, many of the products like the GlenDronach 12 and 18 Years won’t be returning to Alberta. In the interim, the distillery has bottled a 2009 10 year old small batch whisky for “Canada” to replace the 12 Year. It arrived in-store on Wednesday, we cracked a bottle and were suitably impressed. My tasting note below.
GlenDronach 2009 10 Year – 43% – Pedro Ximenez Sherry Casks – My Tasting Note: “Nose: nutty with soft leather, raisins, chocolate and syrup; doughy with baking spices, vanilla icing and dry grasses. Palate: rich and nutty its starts slow but builds in to decadent spices, syrup and cooked raisins; sweet and dumpy with black licorice and dark chocolate; candied orange and chewy malt; late vanilla, dunnage warehouses and minty-floral-tones. Finish: medium in length with leather, spices and candied fruit. Comment: released to replace the 12 Year, at least in Alberta; this is quintessentially GlenDronach and a lovely dram; I think it would have been improved at 46%, but I digress; the nose is good and the palate is better; very quaffable stuff!” – $96
Surprise Summer Sale
The Best Deals & Fine Print!
We last saw this whisky about 2-3 years ago, and were thrilled when we had the opportunity to get it back. Especially when we found out the price was dropping nearly $50. Whisky Advocate Magazine gave this edition of the Blue Hanger Release a rating of 92pts and titled it their 2015 Blended/Blended Malt Whisky of the Year. As with the last time it was here, it is again exclusive to KWM, with only 60 bottles for Canada.
The 11th release is a vatting of a total of 8 casks: 4 hogsheads, 3 sherry butts and 1 puncheon. Amongst these is purportedly both peated and unpeated malt from Bunnahabhain distillery but the rest of the makeup is not known, or cannot be disclosed…
Berry’s Blue Hanger 11th Release – 45.6% – Hogsheads & Sherry Butts/Puncheons – My Tasting Note: “Nose: honey and marzipan mingle with clean smoke and chocolate salted caramel tarts; crisp lemon and orange with loads of creamy vanilla and dried fruits: raisins and apricots. Palate: round and immediately smoky, earthy and chocolaty all laid over a base of silky vanilla and decadent honey; firm spices develop including bright ginger, black licorice and candied fennel; there are dried fruits hinting at a sherry influence balanced out by muddier tones of sweet peaty malt. Finish: big, bold and malty with lovely vanillans, leather, dried fruits and spices; delicate clean salty smoke and gentle earthy peat underneath! Comment: lots going on here though it is not as peaty as some past releases, very layered and complex; a gateway whisky to more heavily peated malts?” – WAS $165 – NOW $120+gst
Whisky Advocate Tasting Note: “It’s the intensity of flavor that just grabbed me by the lapels and spun me round. It harbors intense tangelo juiciness; that unparalleled concentration of deep citrus skillfully mingled with dark vanilla, dried apricots, and gentle smoke. This goes the distance, delivering wave after delicious wave: peach juice, mandarin, pineapple cubes, and lemon zest. A firm, unctuous finish shows a little charred wood and dark sugar cloaked in fine smoke. Tongue pleasing and very special indeed. £90” (Spring 2015) 92pts Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick”
Surprise Summer Sale
The Best Deals & Fine Print!
Most* in-stock Whisky, Gin, Rum, Brandy and Other Spirits are 10-50% off!
Browse Whisky & Spirits Discounted by 15% or More!
Most* in-stock Wine is at least 15% off, with savings up to 50%!
Browse Wines Discounted 20% or More!
All in-stock Beer is 5-30% off!
Sale Rules & Conditions
Due to Covid-19, we have a few more than usual!
- This Summer Sale is this weekend only: Friday, August 21 through Sunday, August 23, 2020. It will end at 6PM in-store and 11:59PM online.
- Most in-stock Wine is at least 15% off with savings of up to 50%. Excludes some new arrivals.
- Most in-stock Whisky is at least 10% off, with well over 250 products 15-50% off! Excludes some new arrivals.
- All in-stock Spirits, including, Cognac, Gin & Rum, are all at least 10% off, with many discounted 15-30% and a few up to 50% off!
- All in-stock Beer is at least 5% off with others discounted by up to 30%!
- Sale pricing will not be applied retroactively or carried forward from the end of the sale.
- Sale is on in-stock items only, with the exception of KWM exclusives (including SMWS on sale), on which we will honour the discount should we run out (provided we still have stock).
- In the event of a discrepancy in price or discount, the Point of Sale at Kensington Wine Market will be taken as correct.
- No additional discounts or promotions can be applied on top of these discounts. The best discount available will be the only one applied.
- No phone orders please.
- We strongly urge you to consider ordering online.
- Free Delivery and Curb Side Pickup Are Available.
- Please give us at least 4 hours after placing your order for Curb Side Pickup
- Deliveries will be arranged on a first come first serve basis next week.
- In-store shopping is limited to 6 customers at a time. Do not come in to the store if you have any Covid-19 symptoms. Please wear a mask, observe a 2 metre social distance with other customers and staff, refrain from picking up products unless you intend to purchase them. Kindly limit the amount of time you spend in-store out of respect to other customers who may be waiting to enter and shop as well. If you are asked to wait before entering please be patient.
- In-store Sale Hours:
- 10-8 Friday
- 10-8 Saturday
- 11-6 Sunday
*Exclusions include some select new items, limited Nikka whiskies and most Scotch Malt Whisky Society whiskies.
Thank You for Reading the Malt Messenger!
Contact & Disclaimers
If you have any whisky questions or comments concerning The Malt Messenger please contact me by e-mail, phone, or drop by the store.
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 and 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
Owner & Scotchguy
Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
www.kensingtonwinemarket.com
