New in stock…

Arran Devils Punch Bowl Chapter 3 53.4% | 70cl
“For Chapter 3 of the Devils Punch Bowl I have chosen a brooding selection of Arrans finest ages Oloroso Sherry Butts which set the scene for the final performance. Notes of distinctive dark chocolate and dried fruits give satisfying depth and provide the ideal foundation for this last dram with the Devil. The inclusion of French Oak Barriques add a rich layer of spice and toasted oak to proceedings while the Bourbon Barrels bring the sweetness of honey and vanilla. This final flourish of the Punch Bowl brings the curtain down in dramatic style”.

James MacTaggart
Master Distiller

Price: £74.99 ex VAT
£89.99 inc VAT

Old Pulteney Navigator 46% | 70cl
Old Pulteney Navigator is handcrafted using traditional methods of the 1800s. The unique shape of the copper pot stills, the time-honoured condensation method and the northern sea breeze of maturation all contribute to the distinctive style of the whisky with its smoothness, complexity and the unmistakeable coastal character.

Tasting Notes:
Appercance: Honeycomb

Aroma: Sweet & crisp. Layers of tangy apples and dried fruit harmonise with subtle hints of dark chocolate & fresh vanilla custard.

Taste: Full-bodied and rich in flavour. The palate delivers a burst of honey, cocoa and oranges, easing gently into a long-lasting, spicy finish with a maritime surprise.

Tasting notes from Pulteney distillery.

Price: £31.66 ex VAT
£37.99 inc VAT

Wild Turkey 101 Kentucky Bourbon 50.5% | 70cl

This bourbon is made with Kentucky limestone purified water and the best ingredients available. Its a bourbon made the old-fashioned way; slowly distilled at a low proof and bottled high, so it retains its complete fuller flavour. Wild Turkey is aged to perfection in heavily-charred new white oak barrels and bottled when it reaches its full complexity with flavoured caramel and vanilla.

Price: £27.49 ex VAT
£32.99 inc VAT

Arran 12 Year Old Cask Strength 53.9% | 70cl

Batch #3 of The Arran Malt 12 Years Old Cask Strength has a combination of 5 First-Fill Sherry Butts, 13 Second-Fill Sherry Hogsheads and 31 Bourbon barrels which have been bottled at Natural Cask Strength. The influence of the Sherry Casks has enhanced the classic Arran characteristics of sweet fruit and spicy oak and the Bourbon casks give the vanilla smoothness to create a rich and powerful new edition of The Arran Malt.

Tasting Notes:
Nose: A sweet balance of dried tropical fruits and toasted oak

Palate: Complex and refined, notes of dark chocolate and coffee beans dominate while a drop of water brings out fresh orange zest and roasted almonds

Finish: A lingering finish with a spicy twist which tempts another sip…

Tasting Notes by Arran Distillery

Price: £37.49 ex VAT
£44.99 inc VAT

Back in Stock…

Arran Robert Burns Single Malt 43% | 70cl
A single malt from the Isle of Arran distillery, celebrating the famed Scottish poet, Robert Burns. This bottling is officially endorsed by the World Burns Federation, it is said that Burns held whisky in great regard.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Fresh, apple peels, some blossom and spice, vanilla cream and juicy pear.

Palate: Fruity, notes of custard and warm pastry, more orchard fruit, some tart citrus.

Finish: Apple peels and vanilla spice.

Price: £24.99 ex VAT
£29.99 inc VAT

Robert Burns Blended Scotch Whisky 40% | 70cl

“With the acclaimed Arran Single Malt at it`s heart, the Robert Burns Blend is a veritable breath of fresh air. Dry and light, with subtle hints of vanilla and sweet fruit, this whisky is a superb example of the Master Blender`s art and truly a dram worthy of the Bard himself.”

Price: £17.49 ex VAT
£20.99 inc VAT

Arran Amarone Cask Finish 50% | 70cl

Arran Amarone Cask Finish
Arran Single Malt is a Single Malt Scotch whisky distilled by the Arran Distillery, Lochranza, Scotland, the only distillery on the Isle of Arran. Arran Distillery was founded in 1995.

Tasting Notes
Colour Burnished Copper

Nose Poached pears and honey followed by toasted almonds and a subtle touch of cranberry. With water a coffee note appears together with chocolate orange and mellow butterscotch.

Palate Dark chocolate, cherry and turkish delights are evident as are stewed fruits and toffee. Mu scular notes of dark plum wrestle with bitter-sweet apricots and a hint of cinnamon.

Finish A well-balanced combination of the finesse of The Arran Malt and the restrained fruit and oak from the Amarone casks. Concentrated and elegant this malt delivers on all levels.

Price: £34.99 ex VAT
£41.99 inc VAT

Ireland – Irish Single Malt

• Connemara 12 year old Irish Peated Single Malt Whiskey – 6 available ($69.99)

Japan – Single Malt

• Ichiro Chichibu “The First” Japanese Single Malt Whiskey 750ml – 3 available ($189.99)

United States – Single Malt

• Balcones Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 7 available ($74.99)

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

If you are planning to visit the North of Scotland, be it for the Lonach Gathering or the Pipes in the Park Homecoming event in Huntly be sure to drop in by our “Whiskies of Scotland” Store at 36 Gordon Street, Huntly and browse our wide selection of whiskies and other spirits.  You will recieve a warm welcome from me, Fergus and Claire.  

Slainte, Ronnie Routledge.

Auctions ending Friday 15th August include Glenlivet, Port Ellen, Bruichladdich, Balvenie and many more… start bidding – free registration!

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Glenlivet 15 year old French Oak Reserve Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($39.99)

• Glenlivet 18 year old Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($79.99)

• Highland Park 25 year old, Isle of Orkney Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 2 available ($379.99)

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

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #92

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, loves Ardbeg. Who does not love Ardbeg? It is such a popular brand, often quite hyped, but then their whisky is outstanding as well. It is harder to find Ardbeg with independent bottlers and harder still to find sherry matured Ardbeg. Hence it is a great pleasure for Mark to try the Ardbeg 20 Year Old 1993 bottled by A.D. Rattray from a single sherry hogshead. It was released especially for the Belgian retailer Jurgen’s Whiskyhuis and one of the best Ardbeg he has tried to date. 

http://youtu.be/sszeNoRiwj8

Coppersea Distilling is first “100% New York” bourbon and rye using New York State barrels

Coppersea Distilling, the Heritage-Methods craft distillery in West Park, New York, has filled the first whisky barrels made from New York State-grown white oak since prohibition; built by a New York cooperage, U.S. Barrel Company. These two inaugural barrels were filled with bourbon and rye whisky.
The bourbon is the first to be matured in New York State oak since the U.S. recognized that spirit as a “distinctive product of the United States” in 1964.

Founded in 2011, Coppersea Distilling is one of the few distilleries in the world capable of bringing nearly the entire whisky-making process in-house. This New York farm distillery produces ultra-premium whiskies and eaux de vies from Hudson Valley-sourced corn, rye, barley and fruits using Heritage-Methods distilling traditions: open wooden fermenters, direct-fired copper-pot stills, sour-mashing and floor-malting. Read more.

www.ralfy.com shows how time and water give two malts from one bottle with Whisky Review 479 – Bowmore 16yo @ (Signatory)

Kininvie – a long-overdue solo appearance

There was much excitement when William Grant launched Batch One from Kininvie to the Taiwanese market in the autumn of 2013, the first-ever release from this off-the-radar distillery. But now, UK whisky drinkers have something to get excited about: Batch Two, a 23-year-old Kininvie, is about to be launched in this country. Since it began distilling in 1990, virtually all of Kininvie’s output went into Grant’s blends and the tri-distillery blend Monkey Shoulder, but Kininvie itself stopped operating in late 2010, with William Grant seemingly reluctant to throw its weight behind a third single malt – understandable given that Glenfiddich and The Balvenie were doing very nicely, thanks very much.

So far, the only Kininvie we’ve seen here at TWE has been two bottlings, released under the Hazelwood banner (we still have some here), but William Grant is now ready to unveil Kininvie to a thirsty UK market – and the results are well worth it. TWE was invited to try three cask samples in addition to the two finished whiskies to get a good grounding of the whisky’s style:

1. 2006 (bourbon barrel): bags of sweet fruit and vanilla, with refreshing green-apple notes
2. 1990 (American oak hogshead): briney, cured-meat notes, lots of spice, tight and lean
3. 1990 (sherry butt): big, big flavours of Christmas cake and rancio, but not overblown

The first ‘complete’ whisky I tried was the 17 Year Old. Sadly, at the moment it’s limited to travel retail, but for the record, it offered clean, fresh aromas of apple and pear, with a sweet, creamy, mouth-filling palate delivering spicy cinnamon and clove notes. Thankfully, the best of the bunch was the one that is going to be available in the UK: the 23 Year Old.

Kininvie 23 Year Old, 42.6% abv. RRP £96.95 (35cl)

Nose: Rich and complex with stone fruit and notes of Seville orange. Very seductive and moreish. Spices start to come through over time.
Palate: This is 20:80 sherry cask/bourbon cask, but the sherry influence certainly makes its presence felt, with a big whack of dried fruit (raisins), along with Christmas spices. Some honeyed notes in there, too.
Finish: Superb. Lovely balance, as the fruit and spices gently dissipate.
Comment: This was the pick of the five by some distance. A very classy product indeed.

Like its Batch One counterpart, Batch Two will be sold in 35cl bottles – very dinky but rather charming, with 1,286 available in the UK. William Grant’s global marketing manager Kevin Abrook says: ‘Good things come in small packages, and we think we’ve got a super whisky here. We went for 35cl because we wanted to convey the sense of something precious.’

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Kininvie – a long-overdue solo appearance