Blanton’s Black “Takara” Kentucky Straight Bourbon (750ml)(Japanese Import) $210.00 View
Blanton’s Red “Takara” Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon (750ml)(Japanese Import) $220.00 View
Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
This latest delightful dram takes its name from the dark, murky, and peaty waters of the nearby Loch Gorm. An annual release, we always look forward to this Islay sherry-bomb! Named after the dark and peaty loch next to Kilchoman’s distillery on Islay, this 12th annual release of Loch Gorm is the 2023 version of the only regular expression matured entirely in Oloroso sherry butts. The expression is a marriage of 22 specially chosen casks: 8 distilled in 2013, 6 distilled in 2014, and 8 distilled in 2015. Bottled at 46% abv.
Nose: sea spray, currants, citrus and salty peat smoke.
Palate: peaches, orange peel, spicy ginger and waves of maritime smoke.
Finish: long and fruity with a last wave of peat.
It’s the 20th anniversary of The Peat Monster. And to mark this momentous occasion, we’re going back to where it all began. Introducing our next limited edition – The Peat Monster Cask Strength: Origin Story. Follow us on a flavoursome homecoming journey to New York City, the place where the monster first came to life.
While its components are sourced from Scotland, our beloved blend, The Peat Monster was born in the USA, as a whisky made in collaboration with Park Avenue Liquor Shop. After adapting and refining the recipe to get the right level of smokiness, we created something very special. The bottle was sent to Park Avenue Liquor Shop with a note, which simply read: “It’s a monster”.
Now the monster returns from Scotland to New York City, bringing skyscrapers of smoky flavour to the glass.
At 56.7% ABV, The Peat Monster Cask Strength grows into something stronger and more expressive. A blend both smokier and peatier than the original. On the nose, expect wisps of sooty barbecue smoke, green apple, and aromatic citrus oils, all underpinned by a gentle cinnamon warmth. On the palate, there’s a dazzling metropolis of flavours – from tarry smoked almond, to seaweed, to cayenne pepper – all made more industrial and more intense by the whisky’s higher ABV.
This limited edition is a celebration of The Peat Monster’s American roots – from the cooperage behind the barrels it was finished in, to the illustration on the label. The whisky in the bottle was part-finished in seasoned virgin American oak barrels made specially for us in Missouri, which brings an increased presence of vanilla and cinnamon.
The label design, created by American artist Marc Burckhardt, shows the monster returning to its birthplace of New York City, surrounded by its iconic skyscrapers and steam grates.
CLICK ABOVE TO SHOP FOR THE PEAT MONSTER CASK STRENGTH AT COMPASSBOXWHISKY.COM
Caol Ila 10 Year Old “Hart Brothers” Single Hogshead Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $69.99 View
Dalmore 10 Year Old “Hart Brothers Finest Collection” K&L Exclusive Cask Strength First Fill Sherry Butt Unchillfiltered Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $69.99 View
Aberlour 11 Year Old “Hart Brothers Finest Collection” K&L Exclusive Cask Strength First Fill Sherry Butt Unchillfiltered Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $89.99 View
Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
We’re honouring our landmark 40th anniversary with a collection of exciting new casks. Our ‘New Wave’ series celebrates new distilleries and hidden gems – a symbol of everything that the SMWS is all about. Trying new whiskies has always been part of the endless discovery journey for our members, and that’s as true today as it has ever been.
Each bottling within the series has been illustrated by the Society’s original illustrator, Bob Dewar – the artist who was instrumental in defining our look when we started out 40 years ago, and whose artwork still adorns the ceiling of our spiritual home at The Vaults. Our ‘New Wave’ is a look forward, with an interpretation of flavour by our old master on each bottle label.
FOUR NEW FLAVOURS…we’ve just released the first batch of bottlings from our ‘New Wave’ series. Click on over to our website to BUY NOW or keep on scrolling to discover more.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ
Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information
This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!
Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video
First Look at a One-of-a-Kind Collectible Scotch
2010 Williamson (Laphroaig) 12 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single Refill Sherry Butt Islay Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) ($109.99)
“An absolute treat for lovers of quality peat.”
— K&L Spirits Buyers
One of the most exciting projects in our spirits program is back: Redacted Bros. These gems are from a famed bottler that can’t use their name stateside, hence the “redacted” name on our labels. But the combination of limited quantities, eye-catching artistic labels, and incredibly high-quality, unique bottlings have made every parcel of Redacted Bros. an instant best-seller. Today’s feature is an old-school 12 Year Old Laphroaig under the pseudonym Williamson. Call it what you will, but we’ll call it a brilliant opportunity from a fan-favorite distillery. While this gem is not to be missed, make sure to also check out our site for first dibs on the latest renditions from Redacted Bros.
*Pre-arrival item is expected to be available for shipment or pickup in autumn 2023.
K&L Notes: This exceptional single cask was sold to this bottler as the “Williamson” blended malt and therefore cannot include the source on the label. But we have no problem telling you that this excellent whisky was distilled on the famous, little stills located just outside the seaside town of Port Ellen. Adorned in the throwback label, the Thompson Brothers are clearly giving the old “nudge-nudge, wink-wink” to the famous old bottling from nearly a century ago, with block letters and cursive writing. Filled into a used sherry butt in 2010, this excellent cask was transferred to Dornoch and bottled at a cool 100 proof without the use of coloring or chill-filtration. This is meaty, old- school Laphroaig with big herbal notes and wild tropical fruit aromas balancing the savory smoke and oceanic zest. An absolute treat for lovers of quality peat.
Thompson Bros. Tasting Notes: “Nose: Pickled walnuts, sweaty farm shed, game meat,s smoked pheasant, fatty & rich. Some old passive sherry notes. Cigar ends, a flinty minerality, antique books, clove cigarettes. Lots of generic modern Lp notes – it would be lazy for us to use them! Palate: Clove oil, eucalyptus, leather-bound books, waxed oak floorboards, pickled brine, smoked pineapple salsa. Finish: Menthol rolling tobacco, dry (peat) harth, sandalwood, camphor, chili oil.”
Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
GRILLING MEETS DISTILLING AS ARDBEG SERVES UP
ITS FIRST BBQ-INSPIRED WHISKY
Introducing Ardbeg BizarreBQ – a mouth-watering Limited-Edition Single Malt cooked up by Master Distiller, Dr Bill Lumsden, in partnership with pitmaster DJ BBQ
Ardbeg is launching Ardbeg BizarreBQ – the Distillery’s first ever Limited-Edition barbecue-inspired whisky. Cooked up by the experimental and eccentric mind of Ardbeg’s Director of Whisky Creation, Dr Bill Lumsden, this whisky captures and complements the flavours of smoky barbeque. The unique flavour concept for the expression has been aided by the expertise of grilling guru, Christian Stevenson (AKA DJ BBQ), resulting in an Ardbeg that packs a meaty, peaty punch.
Like grilling, distilling shares a key element when it comes to the creation of flavour – fire. Using an experimental cask toasting process, the recipe for Ardbeg BizarreBQ is made up of double-charred oak casks, Pedro Ximénez sherry casks and the distillery’s unique BBQ casks that have been extra-charred on an old-fashioned brazier. This cask combination comes together to imbue a mouth-watering sweet, tangy and smoky flavour that’s perfectly suited to barbecuing.
Bottled at 50.9% ABV, this Limited-Edition whisky has been inspired by the Islay Distillery’s ongoing collaboration with DJ BBQ, which began in 2020. Fuelled by a shared obsession for smoke and its rich flavour possibilities, Dr Bill and DJ BBQ have been on a mission to create a new Single Malt that complements both whisky-making and barbequing. As one of the world’s most awarded smoky malts, Ardbeg is renowned for its smoke mastery, and so the new expression also marks the next phase of the distillery’s journey to uncover new ways of experiencing and enjoying smoky flavours.
Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s Director of Whisky Creation, commented: “Ardbeg BizarreBQ is certainly a hare-brained idea, but with DJ BBQ’s help I was able to cook up something truly incredible. Puffs of charcoal and soot mingle with smoky wood and aromatic herbs and spices. The undeniable smell of bonfire and BBQ embers linger in the background. Deep, warming smoke follows in flame-grilled steak, chilli oil, cured leather and clove. If there’s one Ardbeg you want with you grill-side, it’s this one.”
Christian Stevenson (DJ BBQ) said: “Barbeque lovers and Ardbeg lovers are one and the same – it’s all about the smoke – which is something Ardbeg BizarreBQ has in spades. I’ve been on a mission to create and perfect a variety of BBQ dishes and accompanying Ardbeg serves that honour the fundamental laws of smoke, wood and heat for some time. This new Limited-Edition Ardbeg takes this match made in heaven to the next level, and I can’t wait for BBQ and whisky fans to try it.”
Fans can also head over to ardbeg.com to watch the hijinks as they happened when DJ BBQ joined Dr Bill at Ardbeg Distillery on Islay to lend a hand in creating this mouthwatering malt.
Ardbeg BizarreBQ Limited Edition will be available initially from the Ardbeg Distillery Visitor Centre on Islay and in Germany from 3rd April 2023 onwards. It will launch in global markets later this year and in the UK in June, and will be available from Ardbeg Embassies, whisky specialists, online retailers and from the Distillery Visitor Centre.
For more news on Ardbeg BizarreBQ and all things Ardbeg, and how smoky malt whisky lovers can be a part of Ardbeg’s global Committee, visit Ardbeg.com.
Follow us on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ardbeg
Instagram: @ardbeg
Twitter: @Ardbeg
BizarreBQ Limited Edition Tasting Notes
Colour Glowing Charcoal Embers
Aroma Puffs of charcoal and soot mingle with smoky wood and aromatic herbs and spices. Treacle toffee, hickory smoked ham and cinnamon-dusted espresso rise up.
A splash of water releases distinctively sharp citrus aromas, along with herbal notes such as fennel and aniseed. Grilled artichokes and a suggestion of seared meat sizzle the senses. The undeniable smell of bonfire and BBQ embers lingers in the background.
Taste The mouthfeel is alive with spice, like BBQ ribs smothered in chilli. A myriad of deep, warming smoke follows close behind in flame-grilled steak, chilli oil, cured leather and clove. Ginger, aniseed and tar crackle on the palate with an aromatic woodsmoke edge.
Finish The massive, hot aftertaste lingers on and on with more grilled artichoke, black olives and a sooty note that slowly simmers away.
ABV: 50.9%
RRP: £75
NOTES
Ardbeg:
Ardbeg prides itself on being The Ultimate Islay Malt Whisky. Established in 1815, Ardbeg is revered by connoisseurs around the world as the peatiest, smokiest and most complex of all the Islay malts. Despite its smokiness, Ardbeg is renowned for its delicious sweetness, a phenomenon that has affectionately become known as ‘the peaty paradox’. During the 1980s and 1990s, Ardbeg suffered from an uncertain future, and it was not until the brand was purchased by The Glenmorangie Company in 1997 that the Distillery was saved from extinction. Since then, the Distillery has risen like a phoenix and today Ardbeg is well established as a niche, cult malt, with a passionate following.
Christian Stevenson (DJ BBQ)
DJ BBQ (aka Christian Stevenson) is a live fire chef and a leading name in the world of BBQ. After a successful broadcasting career he harnessed his passion for cooking over fire and now has his own YouTube channel and is also a regular on Jamie Oliver’s FoodTube. DJ BBQ stars in and hosts festivals including Meatopia, The Big Feastival, Camp Bestival, Grilltopia and The Big Grill. He is the author of Fire Food (2018), The Burger Book (2019) and Fire Feasts (2022).
In 2020, Ardbeg partnered with the ‘catertainment’ star and certified pitmaster to create The Smoke Sessions – an online series which offers a guide to mouthwatering barbecue serves, and smoky whisky cocktails. This was followed by the BizarreBQ World Tour, where DJ BBQ embarked on a global mission to find fellow smoke obsessives and uncover some of the weirdest and wildest BBQ dishes in all the land.
https://www.youtube.com/c/djbbq
The Ardbeg Committee:
The legacy of the whisky was safeguarded in 2000 by the formation of the Ardbeg Committee. The Committee is made up of thousands of Ardbeg followers worldwide who are keen to ensure that “the doors of Ardbeg never close again”. Today there are more than 180,000 members of the Ardbeg Committee in over 130 countries. Committee Members are regularly consulted on new bottlings and expressions and are offered exclusive Committee bottlings. Members also receive invitations to special gatherings, tastings and events. The Committee, chaired by Jackie Thomson, is free to join at ardbeg.com/en-gb/committee.
Awards:
Ardbeg is one of the world’s most highly awarded smoky single malt whiskies. Since 2008, Ardbeg has won more than 50 gold and double gold medals in key whisky competitions. Ardbeg has twice been awarded ‘World’s Best Single Malt’ at the World Whiskies Awards (2010, 2013). At the 2014 Global Icons of Whisky Awards, Mickey Heads was voted ‘Distillery Manager of the Year’. The following year, Ardbeg’s expressions took the top three spots in Whisky Advocate magazine’s review of the best single malt Scotch whiskies under US$100. Meanwhile, both Ardbeg Corryvreckan and Ardbeg Uigeadail have been awarded gold medals at the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Ardbeg 10 Years Old also won the Best Single Malt Scotch 10 Year Old at the International Whisky Competition 2019, while the Ardbeg Distillery won the Distillery of the Year 2019. In 2020, the International Whisky Competition awarded Ardbeg Corryvreckan first place for Best Single Malt Scotch, Best Single Malt Scotch (No Age Statement), Best cask Strength (Over 57% ABV), Best Peated Scotch and Best Islay Single Malt. Ardbeg Wee Beastie also earned first place for Best Single Malt Scotch Under 10 Year Old and The Ardbeg Distillery achieved another Distillery of the Year award. In 2021, Dr Bill Lumsden was awarded Master Distiller of the Year for the fifth time, and Ardbeg Uigeadail won World Whisky of the Year in the International Whisky Competition. In 2022, at the International Whisky Competition, Ardbeg was awarded The Distillery of the Year Award, while Ardbeg Ardcore won first place in Best New Scotch Release, Best Peated Single Malt and Best Islay Single Malt.
The Glenmorangie Company:
The Company is one of the most renowned and innovative distillers and marketers of Scotch whisky brands worldwide and is part of Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, the Company produces Glenmorangie Single Highland Malt whisky and Ardbeg Single Islay Malt.
2009 Craigellachie 13 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single Refill Hogshead Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $64.99 View
2009 Aultmore 14 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single First Fill Red Wine Barrel Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $69.99 View
2010 Williamson (Laphroaig) 12 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single Refill Sherry Butt Islay Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $109.99 View
Glenburgie 27 Year Old “Redacted Bros.” (Thompson/Dornoch) Single Refill Hogshead Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Pre-Arrival) $200.00 View
Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
Grab some exceptionally limited whiskies for spring, this is the last chance to buy the remaining bottles from some outstanding casks before they vanish forever. With 15 bottles or fewer available, don’t miss out on an unbelievable flavour experience.
With the numbers dwindling on these rare beasts, capture these captivating casks NOW. Click over to our website to explore or keep on scrolling for some of our flavour favourites.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ
Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information
This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!
Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video
From Distillery 29, prepare to find a tropical flavour paradise, with elegant perfumed spice and ripe tropical fruits finding perfect harmony after 27 years of maturation in bourbon wood. Elegant perfumed smoke met juicy ripe tropical fruits in a near-perfect balance. The effect was almost one of hallucination. The taste was almost impossible to describe; some sort of delicate food fusion, so we tried. A sushi grain bowl with smoked sardines, spicy mayo, furikake and tempura crunchies … we do hope you get the idea. A drop of water and miraculously we were transported to Havana, Cuba, in the 1920s, and the Sevilla Havane hotel, haunt of the rich and famous; the air heavy with sweet cigar smoke, the allure of the most expensive perfumes and the tropical heat – truly extravagant. Keep scrolling to learn more about each of these bottlings, or WATCH our introduction below.
ELEGANT EXTRAVAGANCE Cask No. 29.288
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ
Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information
This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!
Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video
