AN INTRIGUING ISLAY SINGLE MALT WHISKY:

BOWMORE LAIMRIG – EXCLUSIVELY AT THE WHISKY SHOP 

Bowmore Laimrig, £70 – The Whisky Shop / www.whiskyshop.com

Luxury drinks retailer The Whisky Shop presents the 2014 release of a sought-after, limited edition whisky from Islay – Bowmore Laimrig. 

Scottish Gaelic for ‘pier’, Laimrig celebrates Bowmore’s ancient stone pier where the distillery’s barley would once have been unloaded and where the renowned single malt would have first set sail for the four corners of the world.  

The cask strength, non-chill filtered Bowmore Laimrig 15 Years Old single malt whisky, has been finished in the finest Spanish sherry butts and has a rich, dark character and colour. 

The limited edition release in the UK is exclusively available at premium drinks retailer, The Whisky Shop’s 22 stores nationwide and at www.whiskyshop.com 

Tasting Notes 

Bowmore Laimrig 15 Years Old is bottled at 53.7% volume. 

The Look: On the eye teak brown.

The Nose: Breathe in sweet dark sherry, figs and cocoa balanced with smoky peatiness and a salty tang.

The Palate: Sip a rich combination of chocolate, sherry, raisins and smoke.

The Finish: Savour the long and lingering finish.

Bowmore Laimrig will join The Whisky Shop’s collection of rare and collectable single malt whiskies.  Andrew Torrance, Managing Director of The Whisky Shop, said: “The Whisky Shop is the first retail store in the UK to provide a dedicated platform for some of the world’s most exclusive whiskies and we are proud to showcase Bowmore Laimrig in our range. 

“It’s fantastic that The Whisky Shop has been selected to offer this unique bottling to our customers, both online and at all of our 22 stores, including our premium, new concept flagships in London’s Piccadilly, opposite world-famous landmark The Ritz Hotel, and in Manchester’s exclusive Exchange Street area.” 

Hannah Fisher, Global Senior Brand Manager, Morrison Bowmore Distillers, said: “Laimrig was first released three years ago as part of our portfolio of limited editions and quickly became a favourite of Bowmore enthusiasts around the globe. As such, The Whisky Shop is the perfect partner to showcase this year’s release.”

For further information please visit www.whiskyshop.com 

Notes: 

The Whisky Shop 

The Whisky Shop is the largest specialist whisky retailer in the UK with 22 stores nationwide and an online store at www.whiskyshop.com     

The premium London Piccadilly flagship opened in 2012 and recently won the 2013 National Association of Shopfitters (NAS) Design Partnership Award for Retail.

Some incredible Ben Nevis single cask whiskies are now available to order at Loch Fyne Whiskies.

Ben Nevis 1990 21 year old Single Cask

A very rare single cask from Ben Nevis which was distilled in November 1990 and bottled in september 2012.

This Ruby Port Finish has been drawn from Cask number 3104.

One of 825 bottles – housed in a glorious presentation box

The Nose: Light, fragrant and just a hint of some sweet candy.
The Palate: Wow, hold the bus. Incredible mouth feel. Hints of soft fruits and a tropical twist.
The Finish: Sublime and rich, it goes on and on…

Click here to buy: £160

Ben Nevis 1998 15 year old Single Cask.

Another incredibly rare Ben Nevis single cask distillery bottling. Matured in a first fill sherry butt(cask reference 586)

This Ben Nevis wins the award for the richest deep red looking whisky we have seen this year.

Only 595 of these bottles were produced so you will have to be quick if you want to secure one of these.

Nose: A hint of cherries and a suspicion of some light floral notes.
Palate: A taste of dates and dried fruits quickly welcome themselves to the palate. This is more complex though with subtle hints of brown sugar and apricots.
Finish: Warming, with some hints of raisons and even some notes of chocolate orange. Delightful!

Click here to buy £89

Ben Nevis 2002 10 year old Single Cask

Another brand new Ben Nevis which we can’t help but get excited about. Another glorious rich colour takes your breath away.

A single cask 10 year old bottled at a natural cask strength of 56.4% volume. Distilled in December 2002 and bottled November 2013. One of only 710 bottles ever produced. Matured in a Port pipe which previously held white Port – an incredibly rare way to mature whisky!

Nose: A delicate array of spices and rich fruits
Palate: Another very impressive mouth feel and incredibly rich. One of the biggest impacts of the year. Delicious!
Finish: More rich notes with further hints of vanilla and mild spices.

Click here to buy £160

The dark of winter in a bottle

Getting right into the Dark Mofo spirit, we’ve crafted a very special run of only 49 bottles to celebrate winter in Paradise. During our big move a few weeks ago we came across barrels that we haven’t had access to for many years. Naturally we sampled…and then came up with the genius idea of creating a malt that best represents winter here in Paradise. Join us at the Tasmanian Whisky Lounge at Dark Mofo Winterfeast this Thursday until Saturday to secure your bit of winter. 

A limited amount of Pre-orders are open now – CLICK HERE to secure your bottle for collection at the Winterfeast. $300 a bottle and 45.6% ABV

NEW ARRIVALS

Canada – Rye

• Bender’s 7 Year Old Small Batch Rye Whiskey 750ml ($42.99)

BACK IN STOCK

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Longrow Campbeltown Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($54.99)

• Tomatin 30 Year Highland Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 2 available ($229.99)

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

The long-awaited third and final chapter of our incredibly popular Devil’s Punchbowl series will be available for sale from our web site mid July.  This series has been a great success and this final bottling rounds off the trilogy in great style with the inclusion of some our Single Malt matured in French barriques, married with our classic Arran style of Sherry and Bourbon Cask. You will find it first in our web shop.

The Limited Edition Arran 17 year-old was released at the end of March and only 9,000 bottles were released worldwide.  It sees us take another step closer to our 18 year-old which will be released next Spring and there are still a few bottles of this left in our web shop.

This Summer we are are also launching our re-designed core range of Single Malts.  Our 10 year-old, 12 year-old Cask Strength and 14 year-old are still the same excellent quality Single Malts that everyone has come to know and expect from us, with a fresh look for 2014. Click Here to read more about all of our recent and upcoming releases and to see the newly released 14 year-old.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks since the last Malt Messenger Bulletin. The Ardbeg Day events were a great success, and the first tasting of the Ardbeg Auriverdes was very well received. Nearly 100 bottles have been pre-ordered, and it’s not too late to reserve one for yourself! They are expected to be in store later in the month.

Speaking of Ardbeg, I was very surprised to learn that a small amount of the Ardbeg Galileo was re-released in Alberta. We managed to get our hands on a few cases and don’t expect it to last long. The Galileo was released to celebrate the first whisky in space, sent up on a rocket to the International Space Station. You can read more on the Ardbeg Galileo below!

We also received some exciting news! The Kensington Wine Market was named the Best Wine Store and 3rd Best Liquor Store in FFWD’s 2014 Best of Calgary. Thank you to all our wonderful friends, partners and customers for your patronage and votes! You can find the full list of winners here!

(This note arrived after the event commenced- WI) The store is going to be a busy place tonight with our Spring Single Malt Festival. 115 whiskies and 100 guests! We’re showcasing some old favourites and a number of new whiskies. Most of our new Japanese whiskies and those from Cadenhead have come in just in time for the event. If you missed out on tickets for the Festival (it sold out 2 months in advance) you can pop in to the store on Friday or Saturday for an opportunity to sample many of the whiskies that were poured!

We have two more great events coming up in the days ahead. Tomorrow night (Now tonight!) we have the Glendronach Batch 9 Dinner at Buchanan’s Chop House ($160). The dinner will feature nine rare single cask vintage Glendronachs from 1971-1995 paired with a 3 course meal. And then on Tuesday there is our Ancient Malts 4 Decades tasting ($200), an opportunity to sample 7 very special whiskies from 30 to 70 years of age. More details on both of these great events can be found below!

We have a number of really hot whiskies in our store right now, including our new Berry’s Own Aberlour 1994 single cask which is already 1/4 sold, and we’ve only had it for 2 weeks! As a matter of fact it is sold out in store right now, but don’t fret, there’s more on the way! Our Duncan Taylor Octaves are also doing nicely. We sold 8 bottles of the Deanston 1994 KWM Octave after last night’s tasting alone! Only 24 bottles left… Another one which is selling briskly is the Brora 35 Year. It is a stunning dram, and flying off our shelves.

I hope you enjoy this Malt Messenger Bulletin, and I hope we’ll see you in store soon to share a dram and check out some of our exciting new offerings.

Slainte!

Andrew Ferguson
Kensington Wine Market

PS- PS – Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/scotch_guy and Facebook: facebook.com/scotch.guy.1 www.fergusonwhiskytours.com

Thank You Calgary

For voting us Calgary’s Best Wine Store and 3rd Best Liquor Store!

Glendronach Batch 9 Dinner Tonight

9 Vintage Glendronachs from 1995 – 1972 @ Buchanan’s Chop House – $160

Glendronach’s reputation has been soaring since it was bought by BenRiach Distillery Co. in 2008. They revitalized the product line, invested in casks and started a tradition of releasing batches of vintage single cask whiskies. These batches have been very successful since they first began trickling into KWM 4-5 years ago. In some cases as few as one or two cases of each vintage find their way to Canada, and KWM is the only store to always get at least one case of each one. A case in the whisky world is just six bottles and that doesn’t go very far, so we try to set aside one of each for a tasting, and that’s what this dinner is all about. We’ll be sampling whiskies from 19 to 41 years of age, carefully paired with a 3 course meal at Buchanans.

Click Here for more details or to register. Alternatively call 403-283-8000.

Ancient Malts 4 Decades Edition

A very special tasting featuring 7 whiskies, four of them more than 40 years of age…and one of them is 60 years old!

Our very special Ancient Malts tasting will feature seven whiskies ranging from 30 to 60 years of age. The 60 year old is part of a trilogy of whiskies, 40, 50 and 60 years of age from a “Secret Distillery” (see photo in the right column), the bottler can’t tell you where they were produced, but we are under no such constraints… You’ll just have to come to the tasting to find out more! We will feature 4 whiskies from the same distillery at 30, 40, 50 and 60 years of age. We will also be featuring a very special and very tropical 41 year old Glenfiddich bottled by Cadenhead, and exclusive to KWM in Canada. Only 6 spaces are left!

Click Here for more details or to register. Alternatively call 403-283-8000.

Finally, Some New Whiskies from Bruichladdich

Bruichladdich Scottish Barley, Port Charlotte Scottish Barley, Bruichladdich Black Art 4 & Octomore 6.1

In the last year and a half Bruichladdich was bought by Remy Martin, and in Canada representation was taken over by Remy’s Canadian importer. It is not surprising that there was a hiccup in getting the new products here. Well after 9 months of waiting I can confirm that 4 new Bruichladdichs are due in to KWM next week! Here are the details:

1. Bruichladdich Scottish Barley – 50% – From the Distillery:Made from 100% Scottish barley, trickle distilled, then matured for its entire life by the shores of Lochindaal in premium American oak, it is a testament to the quality our ingredients. – $60.99
2. Port Charlotte Scottish Barley – 50% – From the Distillery: “This whisky is testament to our belief that raw ingredients matter. Trickle distilled from 100% Scottish Barley the spirit gently matures in the lochside village of Port Charlotte before being bottled here at the distillery using Islay spring water.” – $60.99
3. Bruichladdich Black Art IV – 49.2% – From the Distillery:”
Working with the very finest American and French oak to explore that most esoteric relationship between spirit and wood, Black Art is Master Distiller Jim McEwan’s personal voyage into the heart of Bruichladdich.” – $174.99
4. Octomore 6.1 – 57% – From the Distillery:”The world’s most heavily peated whisky, this is the sixth edition of the uber-experimental cult Octomore. Titanic amounts of peat but with a light, delicate complexity and a beguiling finesse. Young, yet eminently mature, it defies us. It remains an enigma. We embrace that. Here, we pay tribute to its pedigree, to the land from which it came and the raw materials that gave it life: Octomore Scottish Barley. We believe challenging convention matters.” – $131.99

We are taking pre-orders on all these bottles, the Black Art and Octomore likely won’t last long!

Another Chance at Some Rare Old Macallans

25 Year Sherry Oak & 30 Year Fine Oak

We haven’t seen either of these in a while, and we have just a couple of both! First come first serve on these two iconic drams. Shudder to think at the price on them the next time we see them!
1. Macallan 25 Year Sherry Oak – 43% – From the Distiller: “Nose: Citrus, balanced with cinnamon, sherry and wood smoke. Palate: Full and rich with dried fruits and wood smoke. Finish: Long with dried fruits, wood smoke and spice. – $949.99
2. Macallan 30 Year Fine Oak – 43% – From the Distiller: “Nose: Rich, exotic, heady and aromatic, orange. Palate: Intense, macadamia nut and vanilla with a hint of sandalwood and black cherry. Finish: Soft, silky and extremely elegant. – $1249.99

Only 2 of each available at this time. Send me an email or call 403-283-8000 to order!

Ardbeg Galileo is Back!

But only for a very limited time…

A limited Ardbeg 11 Year old distilled in 1999, and released to celebrate the first whisky sent into space! Bottled in 2012 after maturing in Bourbon and Marsala cask, it is 49%. This whisky sold out very quickly in the Fall of 2012, and we were thrilled to get some back. Only 30 bottles left, they won’t last long!

Ardbeg Galileo – 49% – 11 Year – 1999 – My Tasting Note: Nose: surprisingly mellow for Ardbeg (but not Blasda mellow), lots of barley sugar, biscuitty peat, chocolate orange and candied coated fennel; very fruity with raisins and figs, ripe oranges and grape fruits, and mixed berries; Palate: creamy, earthy, peaty, sweet and spicy all at once; the citrus fruits, creamy vanilla and chocolate are all there but loosely buried under the surging peat and barley; more candied fennel along with oily-heathery-peat; Finish: drying, peaty and still sweet showing more chocolate, fennel and orange and lime peels; Comments: this whisky will take off like a rocket! – $119.99

Please send me an email or call the store 403-283-8000 to order!

Lots of Great New Whiskies in Store.

It’s time you dropped in again!

More than 30 new whiskies have come in to the store in the last couple of weeks, most of them exclusive. We have 13 new exclusive whiskies from Cadenhead, 10 of which will be sampled at our Spring Single Malt Festival tonight. We have also received the first of more than a dozen Japanese whiskies, most of them exclusive, with a few more to trickle in over the next couple of weeks. There are also new single casks from Berry’s Own Selection, and Aberlour 1994, bottled exclusively for KWM ($139.99) and a Linkwood 1993 bottled for the Companions of the Quaich ($124.99). Many of these whiskies will feature in the next Malt Messenger. In the meantime, you may want to pop in and have a look around!

Ferguson Whisky Tours

Islay September 7-13 2014 or Kentucky October 5-10 2014

Only 2 spots left for Islay in September!
Interested in joining me on one of my fantastic whisky adventures? It’s too late to join me in Speyside this May, but not too late to take part in my Islay and Kentucky Tours, departing in September and October respectively. More details on these tours will be available on my website in the coming weeks. www.fergusonwhiskytours.com

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, 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
www.kensingtonwinemarket.com

Owner & Opperator
Ferguson’s Whisky Tours
www.fergusonwhiskytours.com
scotchguide@fergusonwhiskytours.com

Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000

• Kavalan Classic Taiwanese Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($79.99)
  After so much time spent merely reading about the great single malt whiskies from Taiwan’s Kavalan distillery, we can finally get our hands on them here in the states! The first release from Kavalan was their classic single malt expression that uses ex-sherry, ex-Bourbon, and ex-wine casks of between four and four and a half years of age for the marriage. The first thing that strikes you as you taste it is how un-youthful it is. It might as well be a 12 year old malt from the Scottish Highlands, but with an incredible supple-fruited character. The malty character, the stone fruits, the accents of vanilla–they’re all there, round and supple, but there’s something just a bit different going on from the classic Scottish profile. It’s the humid conditions of Kavalan’s warehouse that allows the maturation to take place much faster — and while I’m normally skeptical of such accusations, the proof is in the pudding here. This is real deal whisky from the next big thing. (David Driscoll, K&L Spirits Buyer)

• Kavalan Concertmaster Taiwanese Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($89.99)
  After so much time spent merely reading about the great single malt whiskies from Taiwan’s Kavalan distillery, we can finally get our hands on them here in the states! The Concertmaster is aged in ex-Bourbon casks for the first three years of its maturation, before being transfered to Ruby Port pipes for an additional year of finishing. The integration is flawless and perfectly balanced — there’s enough malty texture from the Bourbon maturation with just enough red-fruited sweetness to round out the edges. It never tastes gimmicky or overdone. It’s somewhere in between the Glenmorangie Quinta Rubin and the Balvenie 21 year. The Concertmaster is less decadent than the Balvenie, but has more chocolate and cocoa flavors than the GlenMo. Lovely. It’s the humid conditions of Kavalan’s warehouse that allows the maturation to take place much faster — and while I’m normally skeptical of such accusations, the proof is in the pudding here. Thi s is real deal whisky from the next big thing. (David Driscoll, K&L Spirits Buyer)

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com/
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Russell’s Reserve K&L Exclusive Single Barrel #19 Kentucky Bourbon 750ml ($59.99)

Finally, the much-hyped barrels from last September’s visit to Wild Turkey distillery have arrived. Our group of spirits buyers left the facility in Lawrenceburg, KY about as impressed as they could possibly be. There are some wonderful things happening with Jimmy and Eddy Russell’s traditional American whiskey. We picked seven casks in total, but only the first three have been bottled at this point. Barrel #19 is the oakiest of the bunch with aromas of pencil shavings, graphite, and oak spices on the nose. The finish is deceptive, however; it’s a brooding undertone of concentrated caramel and creme brulee. At 55%, however, that creaminess is difficult to pin down, so a bit of water is recommended to tame this single barrel beast.

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

THE JUNE OUTTURN – MORE FUN THAN A BARREL OF MONKEYS!

The June Outturn is now available; for complete tasting notes and to purchase please visit http://www.smws.ca/

Cask No. 70.8 Youthful & zesty – yet complex!
7 years old; refill barrel; 59.4%
The nose offers grass, flowers, white wine and lemon sherbet – youthful and spring-like – yet complex with creme brulee, pencil shavings, clove and liquorice. Honey and marzipan sweetness flood the palate, followed by citric zest, apple, grape and slate, with tingling heat.

Cask No. 48.37 Real old-fashioned lemonade
9 years old; 1st fill barrel; 58.6%
On the nose neat, moving from a dusty rye bread to a freshly baked fruity malt loaf. The taste is sweet and herbal; cinnamon, nutmeg and an empire biscuit. With water becoming more lemony and fresher; lemon cordial and a Mint Aero chocolate bar, and in the taste a lemon meringue pie.

Cask No. 73.57 Jamaican Rumtopf
21 years old; refill barrel; 55.7%
Very heady aroma like a musky perfume followed by aromatic sandalwood and herbal notes in a tartar sauce. The taste is initially hot then very creamy and buttery. With water, turning into a Rumtopf using high ester Jamaican rum as well as becoming juicy and fruity; it left us wanting more!

Cask No. 30.77 This is nuts!
16 years old; refill sherry butt; 57.7%
Sweet and nutty aromas, toffee doughnuts, fruit and nut fudge and toasted tea cakes. The taste is that of chocolate raisins, marzipan and almonds. Adding water releases mixed nuts and in the taste plum chutney with malt vinegar and an old Amontillado sherry.

Cask No. 31.26 BBQ smoke by a rolling sea
24 years old; refill hogshead; 53.6%
The nose carries sea-spray, seafood barbecues and beach bonfires; slate, aniseed, buttery pastry and butterscotch; charred ham later. The palate has serious smoke, sweet, woody, earthy elements and lots of savoury stuff (smoked ribs, bacon, barbecued scallops).

Cask No. 29.132 Hospitals and Japanese restaurants
21 years old; refill butt; 56.6%
The nose gives creosote, leather, hay, tarry driftwood, menthol cigarettes, burnt marshmallows and sea-drowned bonfires – eventually hospitals and Japanese restaurants (miso-soy-teriyaki combo). The palate has peat smoke, clove-studded ham, roast parsnips and cooked seaweed.

http://www.smws.ca/

FIRST EVER FULLY WINE-CASK MATURED GLEN GARIOCH LAUNCHED 

Glen Garioch adds some French ‘finesse’ to its limited-edition malt 

The first ever Glen Garioch to be fully-matured in French Bordeaux wine casks has been released. 

This limited edition vintage comprising just 450 cases globally, was distilled 15 years ago in the finest ‘tonneaux de vin rouge’ from Saint-Julien in Bordeaux. 

Relinquishing the more traditional sherry and bourbon casks, the full maturation in red wine casks has added a touch of elegance to the rich, fruity, spicy Highland character that is Glen Garioch’s house style. 

The unusual maturation process reveals the malt’s rich and multi-layered character, full of fruit, sweetness and spice. 

Rachel Barrie, Master Blender at Morrison Bowmore, said, “Distilled entirely on 23rd June 1998, this Glen Garioch was fully matured for over 15 years in the finest Bordeaux barriques. 

“Over this time, the robust and hearty spirit teased sweetness, oak spices and multi-layered ripe fruits from the French oak allowing Glen Garioch’s house style to flourish.  Imagine a blueberry and chocolate muffin filled with ginger spice! Firm in structure, with a full, rounded body and complex spiced-fruit taste, Glen Garioch 1998 Wine Matured has married the sweetness of Bordeaux with the wholesome maltiness of the Garioch spirit – the Auld Alliance at its very best.” 

Handcrafted at the distillery in the heart of Oldmeldrum in rural Aberdeenshire, the non-chill filtered Wine Cask Matured Glen Garioch 1998 will hit shelves in June 2014, retailing at around £100 with an ABV of 48%. 

Tasting notes: 

Burnished copper in colour, the Wine Cask Matured Glen Garioch reveals brambles, wild blueberries and plums on the nose, bursting from the glass with hints of chocolate, demerara sugar. In structure and complexity, layers of chocolate malt, autumn fruits and ginger marmalade meld on the tongue, leading to a sweet honey and spicy finish. 

NOTES – 

The Glen Garioch Wine Cask Matured 1998 retails for around £100 at all good whisky and specialist liquor stores from June 2014. There are only 5,400 bottles available globally.  

Product images and samples are available on request Glen Garioch, pronounced “Glen Geery” was founded in 1797 and is one of the oldest remaining distilleries in Scotland The distillery lies on rising ground in the picturesque town of Oldmeldrum, just 17 miles north-west of Aberdeen Glen Garioch was relaunched in October 2010 with a core range of two single malt whiskies – Glen Garioch 1797 Founder’s Reserve, non chill-filtered  and bottled at 48% ABV and Glen Garioch 12 Year Old, non chill-filtered and bottled at 48% ABV after maturing in bourbon and sherry casks. 

Glen Garioch is owned by Morrison Bowmore Distillers Limited which also produce Bowmore and Auchentoshan. 

Visit http://www.glengarioch.com/ for more information.