We are delighted to announce the arrival of the first three expressions in our Limited Edition anCnoc Peaty Collection.

Aiming to unravel the mysteries of peated whisky for modern drinkers, this new collection from our Knockdhu Distillery features anCnoc’s classic light, easy-drinking style but with a dark, distinctive and smoky twist.  Click here to shine a light on your dark side and discover the anCnoc Peaty Collection.

To celebrate the launch of the new collection we are giving you and a friend the opportunity to win a trip to Scotland to visit Knockdhu Distillery and enjoy a whisky masterclass with our Distillery Manager.  Visit our website to enter before the 30th April for your chance to win.

Regards,
Knockdhu Distillery

April Outtrun & Victoria Partner Bar News

PUT SOME SPRING IN YOUR STEP WITH THESE SEVEN NEW SIPPERS!

The April Outturn is now available. For full tasting notes and to purchase please visit http://www.smws.ca/.

Also, if you haven’t heard yet, we are thrilled to announce that Victoria’s Little Jumbo will be our newest Partner Bar, joining Fets Whisky Kitchen in Vancouver and Brasserie Kensington in Calgary!

An ever-changing range of Society bottles will be on the bar and available by the dram. Please join us on Monday, April 14th to celebrate this exciting new partnership: http://ow.ly/von7V

In the meantime, don’t be sheepish about settling into this month’s Outturn (which includes a new distillery for the Canadian branch):

Cask No. 9.73 Frighteningly easy to drink
16 years old; refill barrel; 57%
The nose has leather books, polished tables, tobacco and mint; with water – afternoon tea with delicious sweet treats. The palate combines dark chocolate, candied cherries and dates with sherbet, lemon cakes and flapjacks – frighteningly drinkable.

Cask No. 7.93 A complex cornucopia
11 years old; refill barrel; 57.6%
The multifarious nose has lemonade, pancakes, Golden syrup, Deep Heat and forests after the rain. The palate has chocolate chip cookies with ginger cake, chili, lemon, light wood and almond fingers.

Cask No. 77.28 Tropical nights
25 years old; new charred oak 2nd fill hogshead; 54.9%
Candlewax and scented wood; tropical fruits and flowers; toasted pineapple, dark chocolate, marzipan and coffee with cardamom seeds. Waxy and mouth-filling, with juicy fruits and chocolate truffles dusted with cocoa.

Cask No. G4.4 Enjoy some R & R
34 years old; refill hogshead; 47.4%
The nose has Caramel bars, toffee popcorn and freshly ground coffee beans; the taste is vanilla ice cream and lemon tart. With water citrus sorbet and a flavour of orange blossom and homemade shortbread – enjoy a bit of relaxing and reminiscing in the garden.

Cask No. 46.21 A ballerina in stilettos
11 years old; refill sherry butt; 60.9%
NEW DISTILLERY FOR THE CANADIAN BRANCH
The nose offers buttered popcorn, puff candy, toasted almonds, pot-pourri and Christmas essential oils – maple syrup, bacon, malt and wood with water. The chewy tasty palate has lemon zest, moist gingerbread, duck in orange sauce, syrup of figs, pepper and leather.

Cask No. 3.206 Dark and mysterious
15 years old; refill sherry butt; 56.9%
The nose is dark and complex – molasses, aniseed, dark toffee, tarmac, toast, tobacco, charred mackerel and oily boats; with water marmite, soy sauce and Demerara. The palate has ash, kippers, treacle toffee, honey-glazed ham, creme brulee, fireplaces, dark chocolate and liquorice.

Cask No. 29.139 Why do fools fall in love?
18 years old; refill barrel; 59.9%
Here we go – coal tar, charcoal, cinders, roast pork belly, and sea salted chips; the taste big, hot, ashy, embers and a well-cleaned hospital floor. With water pencil shavings, roast ham and taking an Elastoplast off with your teeth.

http://www.smws.ca/

Glencadam 22 Year Old
The Rare Casks Release 4
Vintage 1991 / 55.3% vol / 96 Bottles

The ethos of The Rare Casks series is to introduce and explore drams that excite and stimulate discussion. The latest addition to the range is no exception.

Release 4 in The Rare Casks series is a stunning Highland malt from the Glencadam distillery. Distilled in 1991 and aged in a refill bourbon cask for 22 years, this is a truly wonderful addition to this cask strength series of malts. Having previously been mothballed, the distillery was brought back to life in 2003 and is the only existing distillery in the region of Angus.

The dram possesses a distinct haze which hints at the true rustic character you would expect from a cask strength malt bottled in its truest natural form, without chill filtering or colour additives…

96 bottles filled, 55.3% vol.

£76.95
(£64.13 ex vat)

Click here to purchase Glencadam 22 Year Old / The Rare Casks

New! Glenglassaugh Single Casks Batch #1

Eight new single casks from the Highland distillery ranging from 1968-1986 (45-28 year old). Each bottle is hand numbered and highly collectable.

Buy from $218.91

The limited edition Bowmore Laimrig 15 year old – The Whisky Shop UK exclusive – is now available to pre order!

Bowmore Laimrig – 15 year old is the latest limited edition release from Bowmore.

Scottish Gaelic for ‘pier’, Laimrig celebrates Bowmore’s ancient stone pier where the distillery’s barley would once have been unloaded and our celebrated Single Malt first set sail for the four corners of the world. Finished in the finest Spanish sherry butts, our cask strength, non-chill filtered Bowmore Laimrig has a rich, dark character and colour.

Tasting Notes:

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.
Bottled at 53.7% volume

Pre Order today to secure your bottle. Stock arriving on 24th April – only £70.00

Come and check out our Facebook competition to be in with a chance of winning an all-expenses paid trip to Islay. Click here to enter.

SIMPLY CLICK HERE TO BUY

WHISKY: THE MANUAL

DAVE BROOM

PUBLISHING APRIL 8, 2014 from Mitchell Beazley

 $19.99, Hardcover

World-renowned expert Dave Broom dispels the mysteries of whisky and unlocks a whole host of exciting new possibilities for this magical drink in this spirited, entertaining and no-nonsense guide.

Full of practical and fascinating information about how to enjoy all styles of whisky, it busts a few myths along the way, including the notion that whisky is a drink for old men, that single malts are better than blends, and that is has to be drunk neat.

Most whisky books tell you how to become an expert. The Manual tells you what to drink and how to drink it.  

Whenever whisky has been most popular, it has been drunk long, mixed, made into cocktails or been flavored.  The reason?  Because it tastes great that way!

Whisky: The Manual begins by detailing the history of whisky, sharing wonderful anecdotes such as the decision to dye whisky pink in the 1970s to make it more attractive to women.  It traces the emergence of whisky throughout the world— from its introduction to America and Canada through to its arrival on the shores of Japan, and provides the essentials of whisky production. The book is then divided into two parts: 

 “What to Drink” explores flavor camps, provides extensive tasting notes on the major brands, new brands and brands from around the world, demonstrating and celebrating whisky’s extraordinary diversity. 

 “How to Drink” explores how to enjoy whisky in myriad ways – using water and mixers, and in cocktails. Dave tested 103 whiskies with club soda, green tea, Coca Cola, ginger ale and coconut water and then rated how each whisky stands up to each mixer.  The results will surprise you and inspire you to experiment.   It only follows that there would also be a section on whisky cocktails, from classics such as the Manhattan and Old-Fashioned to exciting, contemporary inventions  such as the Tatami Cocktail and the Green Breeze.

Dave gives you permission to mix!

About the Author

Award-winning author and whisky expert Dave Broom has been writing about whisky for 25 years as a journalist and author. He has written eight books, two of which (Drink! and Rum) won the Glenfiddich Award for Drinks Book of the Year. He has also won the Glenfiddich Award for Drinks Writer of the Year twice and in 2013 won the extremely prestigious IWSC Communicator of the Year Award.

Dave is editor-in-chief of Whisky Magazine: Japan, consultant editor to Whisky Magazine (UK, the USA, France, Spain), and a lead columnist at Whisky Advocate (USA). He is also editor of the Scotch Whisky Review and a contributor to a raft of national and international titles including the Spectator, Mixology, and Imbibe (Europe). He is a regular broadcaster on TV and radio.           

Over his two decades in the field, Dave has built up a considerable international following with regular training/educational visits to France, Holland, Germany, the USA, and Japan. His remit has covered consumer features as well as business reports. He is also actively involved in whisky education, acting as a consultant to major distillers on tasting techniques as well as teaching professionals and the public. He was also one of the developers of Diageo’s generic whisky tasting tool, the Flavor Map.

WHISKY: THE MANUAL by DAVE BROOM

Mitchell Beazley, April 8, 2014 $19.99, 224 pages

50 full-color Illustrations

ISBN: 9781845337551, Distributed by Hachette Book Group 

Dave Broom New York book signings and tastings

Saturday, May 10, 2014

The Dead Rabbit, 30 Water St, 12:30-2:30 PM

www.deadrabbitnyc.com 

Char No 4, 196 Smith Street, Brooklyn, 4-6 PM

www.charno4.com 

The Flatiron Room, 37 West 26^th Street,   7:30 – 9:30PM

www.theflatironroom.com  

Please check individual websites for details

APRIL OUTTURN: SPRING TINGLES

Sting the senses this spring with a fierce nip of ‘Galactic root canal treatment’ (26.100) then soothe them with the ‘honey dripping from a wooden spoon’ in ‘Breathe in long!’ (9.82). Perhaps you’ll drink in the deep honey gold dram that is ‘Fantastically floral’ (35.106) and earn your stripes with ‘Weird but wonderful’ (66.50) – it’s got smoky flavours contentious enough to stir up a hornet’s nest. Get your order in quick – these bottlings are sure to attract…

Young & spritely

36.74 Whiter than White
BUY £44.00

26.100 Galactic root canal treatment
BUY £48.40

Sweet, fruity & mellow

35.106 Fantastically floral
BUY£57.00

1.179 The Artists Studio
BUY £114.50

Spicy & sweet

76.115 ‘Glamping in a Yurt’
BUY £71.70

Spicy & dry

39.97 A symphony of sophistication
BUY £87.20

48.41 Pink wafers in a lady’s hat shop
BUY £95.00

Old & dignified

73.62 Magical, mellifluous marvelosity
BUY £92.40

9.82 Breathe in long!
BUY £100.00

Oily & coastal

4.189 ‘Cracking!’
BUY £51.80

53.202 A Bracing Outdoors Loving Character
BUY £59.30

Peated

66.50 Weird but wonderful
BUY

Exclusive to April Offers
3.215 Weird but wonderful
(A happy coincidence!)
BUY £68.10

Heavily peated

29.150 Chapter and verse
BUY £95.90

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

Our Spring 2014 tasting schedule is now online and open for registration. We have an incredible lineup of tastings including Glendronach Batch 9 Dinner, The Speyside Whisky Trail and Blockbuster Single Malts with Hunter. There is also our biannual whisky festival, the Spring Single Malt Festival, Thursday June 12, it always sells out quickly, so don’t delay in booking your tickets. We have a couple of distillery specific events for Tomintoul/Glencadam Distilleries and Balvenie Distillery with their travelling brand ambassadors, and a very exciting special edition of our Last Samurai Japanese whisky tasting. I’m most jazzed about our Ancient Malts tasting on the 17th of June, the Four Decades Edition which will feature not just 30 and 40 year old whiskies, but also a 50 and 60 year olds too! These tastings begin April 17 with Whisky, Women & Chocolate, which given the proximity of the holiday, will likely have an Easter theme!

There are lots of fun events in our Spring 2014 schedule, which may be the best we’ve ever put together. But you don’t have to wait until then for a great tasting opportunity! Our Spring tasting schedule is detailed below, and can also be seen on our website’s In Store Tastings page.

Last but not least, there’s some info on the bottom of this Malt Messenger Bulletin which will be of interest to all you Ardbeg fanatics. Kindly at least scan the rest of the newsletter so you don’t miss any of the other juicy tidbits!

I hope this finds you well, and that you enjoy this Malt Messenger Bulletin.

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

Kensington Wine Market Spring 2014 Tasting Schedule

Could this be our best spring lineup ever?

All of these tastings are now open for registration, online: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php , by phone: 403-283-8000 and in store.

1. Whisky, Women & Chocolate – Thursday April 17 – Gather your girlfriends for a pairing of everyone’s two favorite food groups, whisky and chocolate! Hint! There will definitely be an Easter theme! – $60
2. The Speyside Whisky Trail – Thursday April 24 – We’ll follow the River Spey as it winds past some of Scotland’s most iconic distilleries on this virtual tour. Along the way we’ll sample some of its finest whiskies! – $60
3. Classic Single Malts – Tuesday April 29 – This is our classic introduction to the world of single malt Scotch whisky. You’ll discover a little history, how it’s made, and sample six distinct styles. – $35
4. Blockbuster Single Malts – Tuesday May 13 – Join us for a sampling of some of our fastest moving single malts with KWM’s fastest mouth, our own Hunter Sullivan. Like these whiskies, this tasting is expected to sell out in a flash. – $40
5. Glencadam & Tomintoul Distilleries – Tuesday May 20 – We’ve put together a special lineup of 7 whiskies for our tasting with Bob Kyle of Rare Drams. There’s a trio of Tomintouls, including the stunning 1977, a pair of Glencadam, including the new 21 year and two even rarer treats! – $55
6. Balvenie with Elizabeth Havers – Thursday May 22 – Brand ambassador, Elizabeth Havers, will guide us through a tasting of whiskies from one of Scotland’s most iconic distilleries. – $30
7. Rare Malts – Tuesday June 3 – Only the rarest whiskies, those more than 20 years of age, or from closed distilleries are considered for this very special tasting. – $80
8. Spring Single Malt Festival – Thursday June 12 – Our famous biannual whisky festival may be limited to just 100 participants, but there will be just as many whiskies to sample in this festival style tasting. Warning! Tickets sell out very quickly. – $60
9. Glendronach Batch 9 Dinner – We’ll be cracking one bottle each of the nine Glendronach vintage single casks from Batch 9 for this dinner tasting at Buchanan’s Chop House. – $160
10. Ancient Malts: 4 Decades Edition – This tasting typically sees whiskies aged 30 to 40 years of age or more. This incarnation will feature not just 30 and 40 year old whiskies, but also a 50 and 60 year too! Only 1 session will be held! – $200
11. Last Samurai: Special Edition – Thursday June 26 – We have some real curiosities from the world of Japanese whisky in store. We could tell you more, but then honor would dictate that we’d have to commit seppuku! – $100

“Auriverdes” is the Ardbeg Day 2014 Bottling

And North Canada’s First Ardbeg Embassy is Taking Pre-Orders!

Keeping a whisky like Ardbeg’s annual Ardbeg Day bottling secret would be challenging enough, but with the distillery’s cult following and fanatical Ardbeg Committee members it is nigh on impossible. Some clever scotch anoraks in the US discovered that they could place a freedom of information request to discover the identity of whiskies coming to the US long before they actually arrive. Perhaps it is with this in mind that the distillery confirmed the 2014 bottling late last week as the Auriverdes, or Green & Gold. This is a clever nod to the distillery gold nectar and iconic green glass bottle, but also to the host country of this year’s Football(soccer) World Cup, Brazil.  

Kensington Wine Market will be hosting Ardbeg Day festivities on Ardbeg Day, May 31st. Details on those events will be announced in the next month or so. The Ardbeg Auriverdes will be available for sampling at the event, though the whisky proper is not expected to arrive in store until later in June with a target retail price of $125-30. We are taking pre-orders for June arrival!

Pre-Order Ardbeg Auriverdes

Ferguson Whisky Tours

Speyside Tour May 11-17 2014

Deadline to register is this Friday. Estimated price, $3500-4,000 per person.

• 7 days/6 nights
• Includes visits to the following distilleries some to be confirmed:
o Glengoyne
o Deanston
o Edradour and Signatory
o Glencadam
o Glen Garioch
o AnCnoc
o Glendronach
o Balvenie
o Cardhu
o BenRiach
o Gordon & MacPhail
o Benromach
o Tomatin
o And More.
• As always, we’ll wind up with a whisky dinner at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society
• Check out the website, or send an email to scotchguide@fergusonwhiskytours.com for more details.

• 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

NEW ARRIVALS

Japan – Single Malt Scotch

• Ichiro Chichibu “The First” Japanese Single Malt Whiskey 750ml – 1 available ($189.99)

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Highland Park “Freya” Valhalla Collection Single Malt Whisky 750ml (ships as 3L) – 4 available ($259.99)

• Lost Spirits Distillery Seascape II Single Malt Whiskey 750ml ($44.99)

BACK IN STOCK

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Dalwhinnie 15 year old Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($49.99)

United States – Bourbon and Rye

• Angel’s Envy 100 Proof Rye Whiskey 750ml (one bottle limit) ($67.99)

• Russell’s Reserve 6 Year Old Small Batch Rye 90 Proof 750ml (3 bottle limit per customer) ($34.99)
  One of America’s finest and most authentic rye whiskey. Great price for an excellent 6 year Rye.

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

CHAPTER 13
As promised, this is your heads up for our latest release. The new release of Chapter 13 is sporting its bespoke label and will be incredibly rare with the run limited to just 1499 bottles.

The quirky label design for Chapter 13 was designed by Emma Garner, who was picked as the winner of a national competition, to design a label for us that followed a theme of “Englishness”. Emma received £500 prize money.

BUY NOW £49.99

Ch.13 Release Two Whisky Tasting Notes
Nose
Sweet with hints of raisins, toffee and vanilla. Caramelised Demerara sugar, (think Crème Brûlée). Floral with notes of lavender, eucalyptus and pine – like the warm fresh wood smell of a sauna. Hints of dark chocolate, mocha.

Palate
Soft and creamy like a light syrup. Spicy and warming – hints of mixed spice, red liquorice, black pepper and cloves. After swallowing the finish is long, dry and almost like a light brandy. This whisky really is one to sip and savour!