United States – Bourbon and 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
We seem to have a queue of delivery trucks up Greek Street waiting to drop off their wares as we get in each morning, as new whisky just keeps on arriving! This week we have the indomitable WhistlePig Boss Hog with it’s quite frankly awesome flying pig stopper! A small allocation of the ever popular Old Pulteney 35 Year Old, the new Kilkerrans from Glengyle, and even some whisky from Taiwan!
WhistlePig Boss Hog, 13 Year Old, Barrel 63, 75cl, 58.5%
The Boss Hog is the cream of the WhistlePig crop. This 13 year old has been bottled at barrel proof, and is a peppery rye with notes of candied orange peel, wild flowers and varnished oak. The flying pig stopper is a tribute to Mortimer, the WhistlePig boar who died defending his missus from a rival male! This rye is available in very limited quantities so get it while you can! £200
Old Pulteney 35 Year Old, 42.5%
A superb aged Old Pulteney presented in a beautiful porthole box. Only a small quantity has been produced and is reminiscent of the excellent 40 year old bottling. Spiced orange, dried lemon peel and rancio notes form the backbone of this Highland malt, with undertones of sea salt, sultanas and greengages. £450
Kilkerran Work In Progress 7th Release Bourbon Wood, 54.1%
This outstanding, down-to-earth whisky reveals flavours ranging from coastal salinity to honey-coated almonds. We’re huge fans of this recent addtion to Campbeltown. In fact our boss used to buy us out of all of our stock of previous editions so he could keep his last bar stocked with his favourite whisky! This Bourbon cask matured single malt has been bottled at cask strength. £46.95
Kavalan Soloist Single Malt, Sherry Cask, 57.8%
An insane Taiwanese single malt that has been very much matured in ex-sherry casks – where the sherry starts and the whisky stops we can’t decide! This is single malt made exactly as it would be in Scotland, and the King Car distillery that produces it has won a multitude of awards for their efforts! £120
With summer in the air here at TWE HQ, we think it’s time for a new competition. We’re big Highland Park fans and we’ve got a very special bottle to give away: Highland Park 1976 Orcadian Vintage.
The Highland Park Orcadian Vintages are an impressive range of whiskies, very limited releases that are increasingly hard to find. They range from the 1964, one of the oldest officially bottled Highland Parks ever released, through to the 1976, bottled at a comparatively sprightly 35 years old back at the end of 2011.
I was very fortunate enough to have a taste of the 1976 a couple of years back, and was very impressed.
Nose: Fruit skins, vanilla cream, milk chocolate, ground almonds and a hint of sea spray.
Palate: Soft to start, with a creamy mouthfeel. An initial burst of sweet apple turned slowly into mouth-puckering apple skins, with fruity caramel keeping things just sweet enough.
Finish: Long and lingering, with apples and custard, cinnamon fireball gobstoppers, nutmeg and a lingering hint of fruity Garibaldi biscuits.
Here’s what Gerry Tosh, then brand ambassador and now global marketing manager, had to say about the 1976:
It’s an impressive dram which sells for over £2,500 on the rare occasions that you can find it. We have a bottle, and we’re going to give it to one lucky Whisky Exchange customer.
All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning, is buy a bottle of Highland Park Dark Origins before 19 August 2015 and you will be automatically entered into the draw.
The Dark Origins appeared about a year ago and flew off the shelves, as you might expect a Highland Park fully matured in sherry casks to. About 80% of the whisky comes from first-fill casks and the majority of those are made from European oak, a combination that gives a huge sherried punch to the whisky. However, they then calm things down with a good dose of refill-sherry-cask-matured whisky, which adds a distinctly Highland Park character and lets their gently smoky spirit sing.
Nose: Sharp new leather and backbone of sweet raisins, with an Eccles-cake
richness, nutmeg, sharp clove notes, hints of charcoal and boot polish.
Palate: Bitter char at first, giving way to sweet raisins, wax polish and old armchairs. Orange and liquorice hints build behind damp bark, rich earth and gentle notes of green leaves.
Finish: Medium length, with dry raisins, anise and lingering salty liquorice.
Here’s what new global brand advocate, Daryl Haldane, reckons:
It’s a great dram in its own right, and the chance of winning a bottle of the 1976 makes it an even better prospect. For full details, head over to the competition page, but make sure to grab your bottle of Highland Park Dark Origins by 19 August 2015 to be in the draw.
You can find full details, including all of the competition rules, terms and conditions, on our Highland Park Orcadian Vintage prize draw page.
Macallan 1973 Speymalt
Bottle 2015 – Gordon & MacPhail
A 1973 vintage Macallan bottled by Gordon & MacPhail as part of their Speymalt series. Beautiful colour on this single malt scotch whisky, aged for over 40 years before being bottled in 2015 at 43% vol.
Recently voted the best blended malt whisky in the world at the World Whiskies Awards. This whisky boasts a rich and complex flavour and also includes a hint of smoke.
Yamazaki is Suntory’s flagship single malt. The surprising, delicate yet profound experience of a Japanese single malt was born at Yamazaki.
The Nikka Coffey Malt is the result of a unique distillation process in “Coffey” type column stills, which are normally used for grain whisky production.
Tel: 08456 803 489 Local Rate from Anywhere in the UK Lines open Mon – Sat from 10am till 6pm
Email: sales@htfw.com
In this edition of the HTFW newsletter we have focused on some truly amazing Whiskies bottled by those award winning Whisky specialists and our very good friends Gordon & Macphail.
During the mid 1960’s the Connoisseurs Choice range was born and has been a household name for Whisky enthusiasts ever since. Offering some truly amazing Single Malts at the most competitive prices you’ll be sure to find a Whisky from a Silent distillery or a forgotten gem at the best possible price. Many distilleries are only available in single malt format via the Connoisseurs Choice range and are quite often bottled at unique ages.
Speymalt! Probably our favourite range to come out of the G&M warehouses is a series of Single Malt bottlings from one of the Worlds most famous Scottish distillery, Macallan.
Something to note is that for a period in the 1960’s & 1970’s Gordon & Macphail were the official bottlers for Macallan.
Rare Old was Introduced in 1999 and this series carries some high age statements from high profile silent distilleries such as Port Ellen, Rosebank, Glenlochy and many more.
Don’t forget to try and make time to visit us at our new Retail Store in Birmingham’s Historic Jewellery Quarter where you can browse our full range of G&M bottlings, several of which are available to sample.
***For 5% Off All Gordon & Macphail Bottles Simply use the Code: 1895
***Offer ends Midnight Sunday 12th July 2015 For more information about any of the G&M bottles below simply click the image
Until next time Jason Kirby
Scotland – Single Malt Scotch
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
Malt of the Month – Laphroaig 10 Year Old
The Islay Festival may have finished weeks ago, but July’s Malt of the Month has been chosen to help those of us who went relive the visit and to give those who couldn’t go a slice of Islay.
It’s Laphroaig’s 200th anniversary in 2015 and they’re celebrating throughout the year with events and special releases. We’ve decided to join in for July, knocking £5 off bottles of their flagship whisky: Laphroaig 10 Year Old.
I’m not very good at hiding my obsession with whisky from the distillery, and I love the fruity, briny, smoky, medicinal flavour combination that they get into their spirit. The way they make their whisky has changed gradually over time, but the 10 Year Old has always been their core release, showing the key flavour profile they are producing.
Nose: Singed lemons, cresosote-painted fences and pink shrimp sweets. There’s wood smoke and sea spray, as well as sweetness – toffee and candied citrus peel.
Palate: Oily on the palate, with charcoal and coal stoves to start. It’s not as sweet as on the nose, with layers of smoke, brine and hints of smoked fish. The initial dryness gives way to some gently fruity notes, with waxy apples joined by candied lemon and bitter Seville orange.
Finish: Barrel char, cinnamon spice and hints of fruit. A bonfire sits on the tongue, slowly fading to sweet anise.
Comment: Not as fruity as some of the older bottles, focusing on the core Laphroaig medicinal character with wood smoke as backup. Intense, distinctive and definitely Laphroaig.
To invoke the cliché, it is a Marmite dram – some people love it, some hate it. However, as an entrance into the peatier end of Scotch single malt, it’s second to none, and has converted many to the delights of sweet, smoky whisky. If you’ve not tried it before, then this is the perfect opportunity. If you have, then it’s time to stock up.
Japan – Single Malt Scotch
Scotland – Single Malt Scotch
United States – Bourbon and 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
