www.ralfy.com examines the branding of official bottling flavour profiles with Whisky Review 431 – Caol Ila 25yo single malt @43%

Springbank 21 Year Old Vintage 1992 / Single Cask #248 / 150 Bottles

Distilled in 1992, Springbank single cask #248 was the dream of Dion Gunson, a wine merchant with close ties to the famous Campbeltown distillery. Back in the early 90’s, cask 248, an ex-bourbon filled barrel was purchased and left to slumber for 21 long years. In 2013 it was ready. Bottled at a natural cask strength of 51.9% vol and dressed with a label and fact book which has been designed and drawn by Scottish artist, Chris Watson.

A wonderful cask strength limited edition bottling of Springbank. With an out-turn of only 150 bottles, we can’t see this delicious Campbeltown malt hanging around for long…

£226.00 (£188.33 ex vat)

Click here to purchase Springbank 21 Year Old / Single Cask 248

Glentauchers 1994 / Gordon & MacPhail
Awarded 96.5 Points / Whisky Bible 2014

A vintage 1994 from Glentauchers distillery, bottled in 2012 by Gordon & MacPhail as part of their Distillery Label Range series. A superb tastng dram that offers excellent value for money.

Glentauchers 1994 was recently awarded 96.5 points in Jim Murray’s 2014 Whisky Bible, which was only 1 point behind the overall leader.

£39.50

(£32.92 ex vat)

Click here to purchase Glentauchers 1994 / Gordon & MacPhail

Springbank 21 Year Old / 2014 Release

The return of the much anticipated Springbank 21 Year Old, complete with gold attire. The 2014 release looks like it’s going to be another stunning dram, showing off the great complexity that you get from a Springbank whisky developed with age.

Very limited stock.

£216.00 (£188.00 ex vat)

Click here to purchase Springbank 21 Year Old / 2014 Release

Yamazaki Sherry Cask / 2013 Release

The 2013 Yamazaki Sherry cask, a beautiful Japanese single malt whisky that’s been aged exclusively in sherry casks.

The launch of the 2013 Yamazaki Cask Collection, coincides with the distillery’s 90th anniversary. There were four special whiskies released for 2013, matured in a variety of casks; Bourbon, Sherry, Puncheon and Mizunara Japanese oak.

Click here to view all the bottles released in the Yamazaki Cask Selection along with all our new arrivals…

£102.50 (£85.42 ex vat)

• Buffalo Trace K&L Exclusive Single Cask #43 Lot 4669 Kentucky Straight Bourbon 750ml ($24.99)
  Last October we toured Buffalo Trace distillery for the first time and got to select samples directly from the distillery. Getting to bottle our own selections from one of the nation’s best and most-popular distilleries is a fantastic way for us to provide something unique and interesting for our loyal whiskey customers. Now that the word is out that Pappy Van Winkle is made at the Frankfort facility, tourists have begun flocking to Buffalo Trace to conduct their own whiskey pilgrimages. When we were there in the Fall the campus was a madhouse of Bourbon aficionados and die-hard enthusiasts. We were lucky to taste anything as the gift shop was completely sold out of everything except cream liqueur. Luckily, there were two solid, classic Buffalo Trace casks there for the taking and we snatched them up. The #43 barrel offered plenty of burnt sugar, toasted nuts, and barrel spice right on the nose, with more on the palate right afterward. The cask yielded a little more than 200 bottles and we’re pumped to finally have them on our shelves. (David Driscoll, K&L Spirits Buyer)

• Buffalo Trace K&L Exclusive Single Cask #45 Lot 4669 Kentucky Straight Bourbon 750ml ($24.99)
  Last October we toured Buffalo Trace distillery for the first time and got to select samples directly from the distillery. Getting to bottle our own selections from one of the nation’s best and most-popular distilleries is a fantastic way for us to provide something unique and interesting for our loyal whiskey customers. Now that the word is out that Pappy Van Winkle is made at the Frankfort facility, tourists have begun flocking to Buffalo Trace to conduct their own whiskey pilgrimages. When we were there in the Fall the campus was a madhouse of Bourbon aficionados and die-hard enthusiasts. We were lucky to taste anything as the gift shop was completely sold out of everything except cream liqueur. Luckily, there were two solid, classic Buffalo Trace casks there for the taking and we snatched them up. The #45 was more herbaceous and full of bold rye flavor with plenty of wood spices on the finish. It’s a more intense version of the standard formula wi th everything dialed up a bit. We’re excited to have it all to ourselves! (David Driscoll, K&L Spirits Buyer)

• Faultline Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750ml ($39.99)
  We’ve been doing gin and single malt for years, and now rum, so why not throw our hat in the Bourbon pool? One of the obstacles that kept us from making a Faultline Bourbon earlier was availability: the current demand has made the extra barrel a thing of the past. One of the only distilleries that would sell us a cask for a private label was the old LDI distillery in Indiana, but with the already overcrowded LDI market (Bulleit Rye, Templeton Rye, High West, etc) we didn’t think our product would be different enough, or of the quality we desired, for the Faultline name. That’s when John Little from Smooth Ambler stepped in and said he’d be happy to help us do something special. If we were going to work with LDI casks, then we needed the capability to blend something special to taste – the specs wouldn’t sell this baby. John had some incredible 10 year old low rye formula that we used in conjunction with some 7 year high rye. We kept tastin g and tasting until we found the sweet spot at 100 proof. It’s FAR better than I ever thought it would be. I hoped we could provide something fun and different, but the final whiskey is phenomenal. It’s rich, with sweet fruit right on the entry, a full-bodied mid-palate, and a long, rich, spicy finish. It tastes like it came from Four Roses or somewhere fancy and at 50% it pops in all the right places. I hope we can make another batch like this because this Bourbon is the new king of K&L. Taste it if you don’t believe me. (David Driscoll)

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 Word extraordinary is often overused.

Defined as something beyond the expected, it should be reserved only for the truly remarkable. With that in mind, it is our pleasure to introduce the second expression from our Extraordinary Single Cask collection – the Glenrothes 1969 Single Cask #11485. With golden hues and peerless texture it is the most beautifully balanced, elegant and well-mannered single malt we have ever produced. The hogshead cask used to create this single malt has yielded just 133 bottles, meaning it is almost as exclusive as it is elegant.

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Ireland – Irish Whiskey

• The Irishman 12 Year Old Pure Pot Still Whiskey 750ml – 11 available ($69.99)

• The Irishman Cask Strength Pure Pot Still Whiskey 750ml – 1 available ($149.99)
  Coming from the Midleton Distillery, this pure pot still whisky is hand selected and bottled in tiny batches. On average only 2000 bottles will be produced each year. Having received 94.5 points from Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, it’s no surprise that this is one of the most anticipated new Irish Whiskey on the market. It takes a lot of a clout to get Midleton to release pure pot still for a new brand and thank god they did as this stuff is more proof that pure pot still whiskey deserves to be considered on par with single malt in terms of complexity and quality.

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Macallan 62 Year Lalique Decanter Single Malt 750ml – 1 available ($31,999.99)

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

www.ralfy.com discovers a happy place with  Whisky Review #430 – Caol Ila 12yo 2000 61.4% (Gordon & Macphail)

Whisky Exchange Whisky Show 2014 – Tickets on Sale!

1995 Glendronach 18 Year Old K&L Exclusive Single PX Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($149.99)

Good grief, Glendronach keeps bringing the hits. We’ve been obsessed with Glendronach since our first visit to the distillery in 2011. They’ve revamped this distillery, investing in the highest quality wood, using meticulous warehouse management to get the very most out of old stock and continuing to pump out some of the finest juice in Scotland. This year’s offering was aged in Pedro Ximenez casks and shows a totally different type of sherry influence from last year’s powerfully masculine dry oloroso cask. What we have here is the perfect sweet sherry nose, filled with dense dried plums, spiced pears, subtle flintiness, and a rich creamy core. On the palate, the baking spices really explode fresh clove, nutmeg, and freshly dried stone fruits. This balance between spices, dark exotic oak tones, and powerfully rich fruit is the hallmark of Glendronach. I think this cask will be the best received Glendronach yet.

Steve Greer | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: January 24, 2014

Well this is one damn good whiskey. Power and sweetness with lovely sherry flavors, baking spices, vanilla, dried fruits and rich malt. The PX barrels are a nice complement to the Glendronach malt and a great price for an 18 year old.

Jeffrey Jones | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: December 06, 2013

This is a crowd pleaser. It is big, soft and round, with the used sherry barrels adding richness and sweetness to the picture. It is not sticky or cloying, but balanced and delicious. There is no smoke to get in the way of this easy-to-drink single malt.

David Driscoll | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: November 26, 2013

This is what we call the Macallan 18 killer. It’s softer, more supple, more complex, and surprisingly less sweet than what you’d get from the renowned Highland giant. Our barrel is incredibly cakey — as in full of Christmas spice cake. Lovely stuff that just about any one can enjoy, especially at a lower-than-normal 52% alcohol. This one glides right over the tongue and into the belly — quickly and easily. A no-brainer.

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

Excellent whiskies, excellent value Batch 9 & UK exclusive Glendronachs. In short supply, available only while stocks last.

GLENDRONACH 1989 Cask 5470 £113.95

GLENDRONACH 1990 Cask 1240 PX £111.95

GLENDRONACH 1995 Cask 3302 £81.95

It is no longer much of a secret that Glendronach consistently produce some of the most outstanding sherry cask matured single malts. High standards abound, from distilling a top notch spirit to ensuring excellent cask management. The quality always shines through. These Batch releases don’t last very long and there is not much stock remaining so if you haven’t sampled a sublime, high quality, traditional style Speyside for a while, make sure you snap up one of these great single malts.

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #77

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, enjoys a special bottling for the Belgian whisky club The Finest Notes. For their 10th Anniversary, they selected a Glen Keith 1995 single cask, that matured for no less than 18 years. Truly a great cask selection.

http://youtu.be/IR88cD3CGDQ