Malt Messenger Bulletin
Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,
If you weren’t quite ready for whisky yet, last night’s snowfall might help gently nudge you in that direction. I don’t yet have a scraper in my new car so I found myself scraping the windshield with my driver’s license and no gloves. My gloves are in a box somewhere too and halfway through the front windshield I could have done with a dose of something peaty! Never mind, the snow will all have melted by this afternoon, but rest assured it will be back. As they say in Game of Thrones, “Winter is Coming!”
Our Fall Single Malt Festival and Scotch Malt Whisky Society 1st Anniversary Party are now long sold out. But lost in the excitement about these two juggernauts are a number of other noteworthy, interesting events. Tomorrow night we have our first Whisky & Chocolate tasting, that isn’t restricted to women. We’ve had a number of suggestions over the last few years that we open the event up to everyone, and we have. Then on Monday Canadian Whisky expert Davin de Kergommeaux will be in store for a Canadian whisky tasting featuring new and interesting Canadian whiskies including an advance sample of the new Forty Creek Copper Pot which won’t be available until November. Davin will be leading us through a range of seven Canadian whiskies including 6 new products, and the tasting is just $25!
Moving forward to next weekend the 1st Anniversary of the Society may be sold out here in Calgary, but we still have room in our Edmonton launch the following evening. This event, which will feature the same 12 new whiskies as the Calgary event, will be our first formal tasting in the province’s capital. We are thrilled to be heading to Northern Alberta to continue spreading the good word and the whisky gospel.
Our October tastings schedule will be rounded off with two very interesting and noteworthynd events. Firstly, on Monday October 29th Alistair Walker of BenRiach/Gledronach will be coming to Kensington Wine Market to celebrate the launch of three new casks of BenRiach: two for Kensington Wine Market and the third for the Companions of the Quaich whisky club. We will also be sampling some of the other new BenRiach and Glendronach whiskies including the 17 Year Septendicem and 25 year Authenticus to name just a few.
And last but certainly not least, Michael Urquhart of Gordon & MacPhail will be in store on the 30th for two back to back tastings of the Gordon & MacPhail Glengrant 60 Year Diamond Jubilee bottling. Like the Generations Glenlivet 70 Year old tasting last year this is an event not to be missed. Less than 100 bottles of the 1952 vintage Glen Grant have been bottled, and just a few are coming to Canada. Normally it would cost us $400/person or more to put on such an event, but thanks to the generosity of Michael and G&M we are able to offer it for just $175, with proceeds going to a good cause.
Lots of exciting events this fall at Kensington Wine Market… I have provided more details on each of them below. And hope you are able to join us for some of them.
Stay warm and drink whisky!
Slainté!
Andrew Ferguson
Scotch Expert Kensington Wine Market
PS-Don’t forget to follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/scotch_guy and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/scotch.guy.1.
WHISKY & CHOCOLATE – Friday October 12th – 7PM – $60 – TODAY!
How can you go wrong when you pair two indulgences such as whisky and chocolate? We’ve run this tasting as a ladies only event for the last 4-5 years and have opened it up by popular demand to all comers. Don’t have any plans tomorrow night? Wondering how to fill the void left by Gary Betman and the NHL players association? What better start could we offer you than a fun tasting of at least 6 single malts, carefully paired with interesting offerings from your favourite food group, chocolate!
Whiskies to be sampled will include the following new releases:
- Wilson & Morgan Ben Nevis 1996 Sherry Butt – $83.49 + GST
- Wilson & Morgan Bunnahabhain 2001 Sherry Butt – $77.99 + GST
- Royal Lochnagar Distillers Edition 2011 – $85.99 + GST
- Nikka Miyagikyo 15 Year Single Malt – $154.49 + GST
- And at least 2 others…
To register call the store at 403-283-8000 or book your tickets online: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php .
CANADIAN WHISKY W/ DAVIN DE KERGOMMEAUX – Monday October 15th – $25
Davin de Kergommeaux takes his whisky very seriously. He has written articles on it for Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate and other publications, runs a blog: www.canadianwhisky.org and has recently published a new book: Canadian Whisky. Davin is also one of just three ‘Malt Maniacs’ in Canada, and a highly respected whisky expert. Davin will be guiding us through a tasting of 8 Canadian whiskies including:
1) Gibson’s Grey Cup Edition 12 Year – $41.19 + GST
2) Forty Creek Port Wood Reserve – $65.79 + GST
3) Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve – $TBA
4) Crown Royal XR – $178.99 + GST
5) Calgary Stampede 25 Year – $64.49 + GST
6) Lot 40 Single Copper Pot Still – $39.99 + GST
7) Pike Creek Double Barreled – $39.99 + GST
8) Alberta Premium Dark Horse – $26.99 + GST
Davin will also be on hand to sign copies of his book, which includes photography from Calgary’s own Jane Cameron.
Canadian Whisky by Davin de Kergommeaux – $24.99 + GST http://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/products/details/inventory/17079/index.php
To register call the store at 403-283-8000 or book your tickets online: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php .
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY CANADA EDMONTON LAUNCH –
Saturday October 20th – $35 Members / $45 Guests
The world’s largest whisky club is heading to Edmonton for a launch party the evening after our first anniversary in Calgary. Edmonton will be the second Canadian city to see the Society formally launched and we will be bringing 12 new single cask, single malt Scotch whiskies along with us. Since its launch a year ago more than 300 new members have joined the Canadian branch of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, the world’s largest whisky club. And we’ve launched more than 100 whiskies, 90 of which have sold out.
Our grand tasting will be taking place in the Governors Room of the Prince of Wales Armoury at 10440 108 Avenue. We will have some appetizers and one or two surprises. Tickets are $35 for members and $45 for guests. For more information on the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada please visit: www.smws.ca . To register for the event call the store at 403-283-8000, 888-283-9004 or book online at: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php
BENRIACH CASK RELEASE PARTY W/ ALISTAIR WALKER – Monday October 29th – $30
Alistair Walker’s made a visit to our store each of the last three years, and every time it’s been to help us celebrate the launch of a new cask. In 2009 it was a Madeira finished BenRiach, in 2010 a 1995 PX Sherry Glendronach and last year it was our iconic Glendronach 1972 39 Year. This year, he is coming to celebrate the launch of 3 different casks, two of them for Kensington Wine Market and one for the Companions of the Quaich, a Canadian whisky club. Kensington Wine Market has selected a 1983 BenRiach which is very soft and tropical, as well as a peated 1994 BenRiach 18 Year finished in Virgin Oak. The Companions of the Quaich have selected the latter’s sister cask, also a peated virgin oak finish. All three of them are superb, and all three will be on offer as well as the new BenRiach 17 Year Septendicem, 25 Year Authenticus and a range of other whiskies from Glendronach and BenRiach. Participants will also be getting a bespoke whisky glass to remember the evening. All this for just $30!
Kensington Wine Market is accepting pre-orders on its 3 BenRiach casks:
- BenRiach 1994 KWM Peated Virgin Oak 18 Year – Cask 3806 – 56.8% – Virgin Oak Hogshead – Two years ago we selected and bottled a Madeira finished cask of BenRiach which was a huge hit. We’ve done a lot of casks, so when I approached BenRiach about doing another cask, they came back with some interesting samples. Two of the samples really stood out, both of them peated samples of BenRiach, both of them finished in Virgin Oak casks. One of these casks, the more subtle of them, has been selected by and bottled for Kensington Wine Market. The second has been bottled for the Companions of the Quaich whisky club, see below. – Estimated Price – $117.49 + GST
- BenRiach 1994 Companions Peated Virgin Oak 18 Year – Cask 3805 – 56.7% – Finished in a Virgin Oak Hogshead – This is the sister cask to the KWM cask, and exclusively available to member of the club. This was the more heavily peated of the two casks, and the favourite of the club members who selected it. Both casks were fantastic and will make an interesting pair. This bottling will be exclusive to members of the Companions of the Quaich whisky club… but the club is always open to members. More on the club below. – Pricing and Ordering is Reserved for Members of the Companions of the Quaich
- BenRiach 1983 KWM Cask 298 29 Year – Cask 298 – 44.2% – Matured in a Hogshead – This is a soft, subtle and beautiful older bottling of BenRiach that we are proudly able to offer at a very reasonable price. This is not our Glendronach 1972 reborn, but anyone and everyone who samples this will agree that it is a stunning and beautiful whisky. This BenRiach as well as the two others will be available for sampling at the BenRiach Cask Release w/ Alistair Walker (more info on the tasting below). – Estimated Price – $205.99 + GST
To register call the store at 403-283-8000 or book your tickets online: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php .
ANCIENT MALTS W/ MICHAEL URQUHART – Tuesday October 30th 6-7PM -or- 8-9PM – $175
It is hard to see how this won’t be the tasting of the year in Calgary. Last year Michael Urquhart and Gordon & MacPhail helped us celebrate the launch of the Generations Glenlivet 70 Year and Private Collection Glenlivet Decades with two special tastings here at KWM. Michael is returning this year to help us celebrate the launch of the Glen Grant 60 Year Old Diamond Jubilee bottling. This whisky was filled into cask four days before the Queen’s coronation in 1952. Only 85 bottles of this rare whisky are available worldwide.
G&M Glen Grant 60 Year Diamond Jubilee – 42.3% – Cask 465 – Distilled: 1952 – Bottled: 2012 – Only 85 bottles have been released world-wide. I had the privilege of sampling it at a tasting last year, and you will have just such an opportunity this fall the Ancient Malts Tastings w/ Michael Urquhart on October 30th at 6PM and 8PM. The whisky is produced from a First Fill sherry cask laid down four days before the Queen’s Coronation and decanted on its 60th birthday the 2nd of February 2012 (I sampled it no more than a month later!). Whisky Advocate magazine scored it 92pts and I was suitably impressed by it, tasting note to come in a future Malt Messenger. The decanter was specially created by Glencairn Crystal, specially etched and then inlaid with silver. The bottle carries a crown with a Swarovski crystal and has a diamond shaped stopper. The bottle also features a Sterling silver collar and stopper. The bespoke boxes have been made by hand from Scottish elm hewed near the Queens residence at Holyrood House. – Estimated Price $13, 999 + GST
We will be sampling the Glen Grant 60 year and at least 5 other whiskies from Benromach/Grodon & MacPahail including:
- Benromach 1969 – Only 4 bottles coming to Canada! – $1,099.99 + GST
- G&M MacPhail’s Tamdhu 1971 40 Year – $249.99 + GST
- Benromach 30 Year – $307.99 + GST
- And at least two other old and notable whiskies.
Tickets are $175+GST, which is a bargain, and a fraction of the actual cost to put on this event, which would be closer to $400. But thanks again to the generosity of Michael Urquhart and Gordon & MacPhail we are able to offer the tasting at a reasonable price, and we will be donating proceeds from the event to an as yet undecided charity. Participants will also receive a bespoke whisky glass to take home. There are two different seatings for the event on Tuesday October 30th:
- Ancient Malts w/ Michael Urquhart 6pm – $175 + GST
- Ancient Malts w/ Michael Urquhart 8pm – $175 + GST – Only 6 spaces left!
To register call the store at 403-283-8000 or book your tickets online: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php .
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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, and don’t include GST. In the event of discrepancies, the 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
www.kensingtonwinemarket.com
Owner & Operator
Ferguson’s Whisky Tours
www.fergusonwhiskytours.com
