Stunning Single-Malt Rarities from a New Independent Bottler
“Rites Of Passage, while just delivering their first releases to the U.S., will surely be a household name in no time if the quality of their casks are all this high.”
— Andrew Whiteley, K&L Spirits Buyer
We just secured a unique opportunity on a set of limited-release Scotch gems that have all the ingredients of instant best sellers. The crown jewel is an iconic 30 Year Old Bunnahabhain, but we’re already seeing a run on a sneaky good Mannochmore 13 Year Old and an Orkney 16 Year Old from Highland Park. One barrel of each of these was produced, meaning there’s just a few hundred bottles for the world, and a fraction of that for the California market. Thanks to some strong relationships, we were able to secure a meaningful allocation, but quick action will be rewarded, as these one-of-a-kind gems are already moving fast.
Orkney (Highland Park) 16 Year Old “Rites of Passage” 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead Cask Strength Orkney Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) ($129.99)
K&L Notes: Disitlled July 21st, 2006 and aged in a refill cask until 2018 when it was reracked into a first fill Oloroso sherry hogshead. Bottled 9/22/22. 287 bottles produced and just a fraction of that available in California. Bottled at a cask strength of 59.3% ABV and without chill-filtration or added color. There is no shortage of Orkney on the independent market these days. Nearly always sold without the accompanying Highland Park name, it is a terribly kept secret where these casks are coming from. The racking into first-fill sherry here really sets this one apart. A beautiful amber in color it’s not nearly as powerful a cask as we see on Rites of Passage’s other sherry releases, but in this case, that is actually a great thing. The cask was perfectly matched to the spirit. It doesn’t cover up that delicate honey and heather note and gentle smoke of modern HP, but rather it just frames it all perfectly.
Andrew Whiteley | K&L Spirits Buyer | Review Date: April 20, 2023
Flavors as golden as the pure gold color. Sweet orange marmalade, tart lemon bars dusted in powdered sugar, and a gently wafting heather smoke mark this wonderful cask. At nearly 60% ABV, it is full-flavored and powerful yet remarkably restrained. With a dollop of water, the smoke really comes forward, and the profile mellows into a summertime sipper. I am craving this by the pool in a highball on a sunny day. It feels like a garden party on a crisp spring day combined with the delights of a stonefruit orchard in late summer. Roasted malt and succulent peaches, nectarines, and plums are bright and clear. Modern HP can be a bit of a chameleon, and here we have the lighter profile of this special distillery showing off its colorful plumage. The cask influence is more wine-driven than the other sherry casks in the Rites of Passage line-up, a distinctly different feel on sherry, but a magic whisky nonetheless.
Mannochmore 13 Year Old “Rites of Passage” 1st Fill Bourbon Hogshead Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) ($149.99)
K&L Notes: Rites of Passage by Epicurean Selection has fired the opening salvo in the war for the future of independent bottling. Delivering casks of the utmost quality with respectable age stagements and carefully managed wood selection at prices that are fair is no easy task, and many new bottlers don’t even seem to be trying on the last part. This 13 Year from Mannochmore shows, more than the Blue Chip distilleries of ROP’s other releass, what exactly we can look forward to in the long run. A surpsingly active refill hogshead from a workhorse Diageo distillery that was surely destined to be blended away has been revitalized into one of the most exciting casks we’ve seen in the 12- to 15-year-old space in quite some time. Reracked in 2019 into a first-fill bourbon hoggie, this cask really highlights the best of Mannochmore. Malt- and fruit-forward, it is pretty and creamy and everything you want out of a Speysider. Bottled at cask strength (54% ABV) and without color or chill-filtration.
Andrew Whiteley | K&L Spirits Buyer | Review Date: April 20, 2023
Easy to overlook in a line-up that includes 30 Year Bunnahabhain as well as mature Laphroaig and Highland Park, it would be criminal to pass up this humble Mannochmore. At ‘just’ 13 years of age, this is a cask for the true malt lover. If you cannot get enough of a quality malt that brings pure joy to your palate, make space, as this is a cask whose photo should sit next to Single Malt Scotch in the dictionary. The long and clear ferments at the distillery and nondescript stills provide a lively and fruity, malt-forward whisky. Designed for the heart of many a Diageo blend, this workhorse plant just makes damn good whisky. When you put it into a first-fill bourbon hoggie of the highest order, you get the magic that has made Single Malt a choice beverage for the last couple of centuries. The liquid amber color is reminiscent of the fields of grain from which the raw materials came. As you nose your glass, you can see the tall stalks of barley waving in a gentle breeze. You’re transported to the malt room or a busy bakery with its toasty goodness hanging in the air. Sweet fruits in a sticky mix like the filling of a Danish provide just the right counterpoint to the more earthy tones of the grain. Thick vanilla pudding and butterscotch are clear indications the bourbon hogshead was a cracking cask. I haven’t been this enthralled with a bottling of a random distillery in a long time. I could drink this every day and be perfectly content. It reminds me of when I first fell in love with Scotch.
Bunnahabhain 30 Year Old “Rites of Passage” 1st Fill Oloroso Barrel Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) ($599.99)
K&L Notes: Rites of Passage is a new independent bottler committed ot the old way of doing things. Lamenting the loss of medium- to long-term aged single casks, they only bottle superlative quality casks in premium barrels with a minimum age statement of 12 years. Many of their casks will greatly surpass that, like this 30-year, first-fill sherry cask from Bunnahabhain. Double barreled in first-fill olorosso, this particular whisky was distilled on December 2nd, 1991 and filled into first-fill sherry and was reracked into a new first-fill sherry cask in 2017 by Epicurean Selection, the company behind Rites of Passage. It was finally bottled on October 5th, 2022. It is dark as chocolate and clean as a whistle. 47.3% ABV natural cask strength with no added color or chill filtration. Only 249 bottles produced.
Andrew Whiteley | K&L Spirits Buyer | Review Date: April 20, 2023
We have not seen full-term, sherry-aged Islay single malt approaching this quality in nearly a decade. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a double first-fill cask like this from Scotland. The whisky is darker than Coca Cola thanks to aging in two consecutive first-fill sherry barrels. Twenty-five long years in first-fill followed by five more years in another first-fill barrel! The fact that this barrel saw not one, but two squeaky clean sherry casks is a miracle. Not a trace of stinky sulfur here, but a deep and heady mix of raisins, maple syrup, brioche, toasted graham crackers, dried dates, figs, and baked pie, all with a trace of ancient Islay smoke and salt that was surely bombastic in its youth but has mellowed into the graceful, mature adult of any parent’s dreams. A zestful citrus note provides the perfect amount of lift and freshness to what would otherwise be a heavy and thick profile. It’s glorious and criminally underpriced by today’s standards. The only tragedy here is that we weren’t able to secure the entire barrel as an exclusive.
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