• 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.

Early June 2014 Outturn Offerings 

Cask No. 93.57                                           $170 

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of this! 

Campbeltown 

The nose was both interesting and appealing – appeal from sherry-soaked Christmas cake, honeyed apricots, balsamic-glazed pears, spun sugar, dark toffee and gorse flowers; and interesting thanks to benevolent smoke, tobacco, hessian, old sailing ships and new cars. The palate got us quite animated – cinnamon, nutmeg and iced gingerbread, molasses, toffee apples, honey-glazed ribs, salty limes, sweet sherry, prawn tempura and ‘biting a leather steering wheel’. The reduced nose – ‘Tim Burton gothic candy floss’ and ‘Sixteen men on a dead man’s chest’. The palate now gave honey, toffee and vanilla, plus wood, leather and ash (‘recently used electric chair!’). From ‘Scotland’s Glen’. 

Drinking tip: Good dram for your last request (of the evening) 

Colour: Burnished copper gold

Cask: Refill butt

Age: 21 years

Date distilled: March 1992

Alcohol: 58.3%

USA allocation: 180 bottles

Cask No. 4.188                                           $125 

A ploughman’s picnic 

Highland, Island 

A bracing start to the day with breakfast of granary toast with marmalade, caramelised apple and fresh grapefruit. Our ploughman strides past hedgerows, damp woods and gorse bushes. The flavours are exotic with a dramatic blast of ginger, cinnamon stick and orris root. Lunch delivers pork pie and Branston pickle with pretzels, and salted crisps and cashews. Sweet apple pasties and gingerbread cake. One panel member likens it to a drag race between smoke and sweetness. A rolling mouthful of heathery smoke with blackcurrant jam, cherry lozenge complete this culinary joyride of adventure.  Everybody agrees the whisky is the winner. 

Drinking tip: An embracing and invigorating hug of a dram 

Colour: Foxes whiskers

Cask: First-fill barrel

Age: 13 years

Date distilled: June 2000

Alcohol: 61.8%

USA allocation: 114 bottles

Cask No. 53.192                                        $180 

Mojitos, cigar smoke and everlasting joy 

Islay 

The nose evoked beach scenes – sea air, rock pools and a new tar road through the sand dunes; gammon was cooking on a smoky barbeque – also pineapple, coconut and lemon puff biscuits. The palate was interesting and tasty – lemon pepper pork, chalky mineral notes, good wood (pencils, cedar boxes, wood-burning oven in a bakery) and a perfect balance between sweetness and smoke. The reduced nose was a walk on the beach – sea-shells, sun-tan lotion, trees, sun coming up – heart singing with happiness…. The palate now had mint humbugs, caramel, ash, mojitos, cigar smoke and everlasting joy. From Islay’s biggest distillery. 

Drinking tip: For relaxing on the beach – or whenever you are feeling happy 

Colour: 18 carat gold

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 23 years

Date distilled: December 1989

Alcohol: 55.9%

USA allocation: 120 bottles

Cask No. 76.109                                        $90 

Sinfully seductive 

Speyside, Spey 

Attractive perfumes made the nose sinfully seductive; elderflowers, daffodils, white grapes, lemon and pepper, floated like pretty clouds over luscious landscapes of cereal. With water, we found it spritzy, fresh and clean; fruit salads of pineapple, strawberry, peach, pear and grape on beds of vanilla custard.  The immediate palate was deliciously sweet (iced donuts, dried fruits) with entrancing orchard flavours (Williams pear and delicate blossoms made us long for Spring), but besides that, we also encountered zesty lemon sorbet, magnificent malt, subtle wood, peppery spice and (believe it or not) salty leather. An amazing, lip-smackingly tasty dram from Dufftown’s oldest distillery. 

Drinking tip: Not very typical of the make – could be an aperitif – especially for the first picnic lunch of Spring 

Colour: Translucent buttercup

Cask: First-fill barrel

Age: 8 years

Date distilled: May 2004

Alcohol: 59.5%

USA allocation: 126 bottles

Cask No. G4.6                                            $150 

Ray Mear’s Digestif 

Grain 

Pre-dilution, the panellists were post supper. The nose suggested sweet treats- Battenberg cake and flapjacks smothered in Golden Syrup. Once tasted sweet transferred into cinnamon and then- liquorice, chicory, smoked meat, coal tar soap and pitchuli.  The addition of a tiny portion of water encouraged the scent of petrichor. To taste- Victorian Lemonade drunk from a plastic milk carton along with wet cardboard. One panellist suggested a wet muslin package with clove, ginger, tagine spice and dried banana. 

Drinking tip: While Foraging 

Colour: 18 Carat Gold

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 18 years

Date distilled: February 1988

Alcohol: 55.4%

USA allocation: 72 bottles

Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society at http://www.smwsa.com/

Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky Ltd’s new ‘Single’ range continues the company’s long history of bottling Single Malt and Single Grain Whiskies from some of Scotland’s finest distilleries.

The majority of the whiskies in the ‘Single’ range are at least 30 years old, or from distilleries that are no longer producing whisky. Bottled from a Single Cask, at Cask Strength, presented in a handsome leather and hardwood case, as rich and luxurious as the whisky it contains. 

Ardbeg 1994 19 Year Old Single
70cl | 53% ABV
Incl. Tax: £340.00

Bunnahabhain 1979 34 Year Old Single
70cl | 42.7% ABV
Incl. Tax: £390.00

Cameronbridge 1978 35 Year Old Single
70cl | 53.9% ABV
Incl. Tax: £359.00

Caol Ila 1983 30 Year Old Single
70cl | 52.9% ABV
Incl. Tax: £370.00

Caperdonich 1992 21 Year Old Single
70cl | 54.5% ABV
Incl. Tax: £250.00

Laphroaig 1997 16 Year Old Single
70cl | 53.7% ABV
Incl. Tax: £279.00

Miltonduff 1982 31 Year Old Single
70cl | 52.4% ABV
Incl. Tax: £349.00

Springbank 1993 20 Year Old Single
70cl | 54.4% ABV
Incl. Tax: £325.00

GlenDronach Grandeur – Batch 5

Limited Stock!

GlenDronach Grandeur Batch 5, an exceptional 24 year old whisky that’s been specially selected by Master Distiller, Billy Walker from some of the oldest and most unique Oloroso sherry casks at GlenDronach.

Batch number 5 of the Grandeur series is limited to 600 bottles and has been bottled at 48.9% vol.

£297.50
(£247.92 ex vat)

Click here to purchase GlenDronach Grandeur Batch 5

JUNE OUTTURN: A CAROUSEL OF FLAVOURS

This month’s bottlings will hook you in and give you a surprise every time. Maybe you’ll give the contortion of complex flavours in ‘A Rollercoasterboaster!’ a whirl. Or perhaps it’ll be the ‘Autumn fairground dram’. Alternatively, breathe in the nostalgia of ‘Like summer’ with exhilarating notes of “toffee apples”, “coconut wafers” and “candy floss” – it will take you back, up, down, and round and round…

Young & spritely

26.101 An autumn feast at springtime
Special Queen Street 10 Year Anniversary Label
BUY £55.70

9.87 The Banks of the Seine
BUY £44.00

Spicy & sweet

37.57 A Rollercoasterboaster!
BUY £107.00

G7.6 Like summer
BUY £69.80

121.71 Eating the Italian way
BUY £48.10

Old & dignified

72.40 An infinity of concinnity
BUY £161.00

35.109 A class act
BUY £116.40

39.96 The Sultan’s Treasure Chest
BUY £131.10

Light & delicate

10.78 Sing along with Julie Andrews
BUY £49.00

Juicy, oak & vanilla

5.37 Lazing on a Sunday afternoon
MORE
Exclusive to June Trio

73.63 Vanilla Spice Latte
BUY £45.00

Oily & coastal

3.221 Starry, starry night
BUY £76.00

Lightly peated

66.48 Autumn fairground dram
BUY £45.00

Peated

53.208 Old bagpipes under a bed in Islay
BUY £62.40

Browse all bottlings

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

Limited Edition Release.

Chapter 7, Rum Cask. In time for Father’s day
Chapter 7, rum cask, is here again and as it is a personal favourite, we are always very excited about this release. We are releasing 96 bottles of cask strength decanter bottles and 520 bottles of 46%.
Non Chill filtered, Not Coloured.

These are truly unique and rare whiskies.

ORDER NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT AS THESE WILL SELL VERY QUICKLY

Chapter 7 – Tasting Notes –

Nose Sweet, soft and slightly spicy. A mixture of vanilla and rum & raisin ice cream, fresh and citrusy with a hint of tropical fruits. Slightly nutty with a hint of marzipan.
Palate Very soft again with citrus notes. Slight peppery spice with a hint of raisins. Malty with a hint of fresh wood. Salty and dry on the finish. Slightly nutty

All sorts of interesting new whiskies and spirits have been arriving through our door over the last few months and now we’ve got our lovely new shelving (thanks Chris the Chippy!) it’s a lot easier to browse through it all.  If you aren’t able to visit us in person then it’s also really easy to browse our new Scotch Whisky arrivals and other New Products online.  If you’re a peat lover then don’t miss out on the two peated releases from AnCnoc – Flaughter and Rutter, we can thoroughly recommend them.  If peat’s not your style then there are plenty of other delights, including the new Arran 17 year old, and if you enjoy making cocktails the Plum Sake we now stock tastes luscious on its own as well as in cocktails (see below for recipe).

With Father’s Day less than 2 weeks away (June 15th) then now’s the time to start thinking about what to buy for your Dad (and we don’t mean a pair of socks…).  We’ve got some suggestions for you in our Father’s Day gift section that cater for all tastes and budgets, and you might also want to have a browse through our Father’s Day Gift Guide.  Just contact us if you need any further advice/inspiration!

One final piece of news, we have now recommenced shipping to the USA and at very competitive rates.  Check out our Delivery page for more information.

Sláinte!
Fran and Ken
Arkwrights Whisky and Wines
www.whiskyandwines.com

NEW PRODUCTS

HAKUSHU DISTILLER’S RESERVE

I was fortunate enough to attend the release tasting for this smoky whisky from Suntory’s Hakushu distillery and it was fascinating to taste through the component whiskies of various ages and from differing cask types that went into creating this expression. Fresh, minty and smoky it’s perfect for summer – I loved it.

Buy Online: £39.99

TOMATIN CU BOCAN 1989

A real cracker of a whisky! Tomatin, but not as you know it. Rich and really smoky. We tried this at around 10am and were savouring the taste for the rest of the morning.

Buy Online: £ 199.99