THE ART OF
SINGLE CASK WHISKY

Single casks are often held up as the pinnacle of whisky making. Unlike most whiskies, where a blender has had the chance to mix casks to create the whisky they want, a single cask has sat relatively untouched since distillation. The flavour of the spirit within comes from the skill of the team who made it and the cellarmen who have nurtured the whisky through its maturation.

These aren’t whiskies that are constructed to fit into a range, but wild takes on a distillery’s style, influenced by the natural world around them rather than a blender’s hand. The final step of the process is choosing a cask that’s ready and worthy of being bottled. This is something that at first seems easy, but takes years of experience to get right: there’s more to it than trying a load of whisky and choosing your favourite.

Our team of whisky experts – led by The Whisky Exchange’s co-founder Sukhinder Singh – expect a lot from a whisky and our exclusive single-cask releases only hit the shelves if they meet the team’s exacting standards. If you’re looking for excellent whisky that doesn’t tread a distillery’s well-worn path, our exclusive single-cask selection is the place to find them.

  SHOP SINGLE CASKS 

Benromach Single Cask 20 Years Old Shop Exclusive

We are very excited to introduce our newest shop exclusive! This single-cask Speyside malt was distilled on the 27th of May 2002 at the Benromach Distillery. It spent 20 years maturing in a First-fill Bourbon Barrell before being bottled exclusively for our shop at cask strength, without chill-filtration or artificial colouring – as natural as it gets! T

his incredible dram opens with roasted hazelnut, buttery toffee and caramel on the nose. The palate is complex, rich and warm, with more hazelnuts, butterscotch and a whiff of smoke.

Only 203 bottles were produced.

£169.99

Shop now

The Art of the Blend – first release by Max McFarlane.

The Art of the Blend launched its first release in the series at Whisky Live Taipei last October with spectacular feedback from collectors and whisky enthusiasts. We are humbled by the wonderful tasting review featured in Whisky Magazine’s January edition, shown below.

Our First Release was created by legendary whisky maker Max McFarlane, with over 46 years in the Scotch whisky industry.  He has carefully selected and married three first fill Oloroso sherry casks from Craigellachie, Aultmore and Glenrothes, creating an absolute masterpiece limited to 1968 consecutively numbered bottles, never to be released again.  Our second release in the series will be created by another top whisky maker who will have complete freedom to choose barrels from any of the whisky regions in Scotland.

www.theartoftheblend.com

news@theartoftheblend.com

Hello from Shelter Point!

We hope that some of you were able to enjoy the good times at Victoria Whisky Festival. It was great to be back in person after such a long time. The range of masterclasses was amazing, it presented the opportunity to try so many great whiskies from such prestigious brands. It was great to see our Brand Experience Manager, Chris Read, presenting a masterclass as well, for those that missed it, it did include a sample of our 10 Year Old, more information on that will come later in the year.

Another highlight of the Whisky Festival was the confirmation of what had possibly become one of the worst kept secrets in Canadian Whisky. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Masterclass contained a sample of release 152.1 – which originated from this very distillery. Rumours of this release had been coming out of the UK late last year and it was with great pride that the news was confirmed in January. We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of appreciation that flowed from the announcement, we received some lovely coverage on Global News and CTV and received messages of support from far and wide. Releases 152.2 and 152.3 have also come out in different locations around the globe and it is fantastic to think that Shelter Point single malt is being enjoyed around the world.

This little flurry of exposure has come at a good time as we are also very excited about some other developments:

·         Our Single Malt Whisky is now being stocked in BC Liquor Stores across the province. Again this has taken a while to put into place so it is lovely that our flagship product is now out there in our broadest distribution ever. We’re working on plans to improve our distribution across Canada and this is a great step in the right direction. Keep an eye out too for the Evans Family Reserve which will be available exclusively in the BCL Stores soon.

·         We can’t forget our friends south of the border either! We have also just launched our direct to consumer service in the US, this means that we can ship our products to most locations in the States. The page can be found here with our Single Malt, Ripple Rock and Smoke Point currently available.

UPCOMING EVENTS

If you are in the area we would love to see you at these events!

Victoria
Island Craft Festival Winter 2023 Edition
Sun February 19^th , 5:00–10:00 a.m.
Wicket Hall, 919 Douglas St

Vancouver
Shelter Point Showcase
February 22nd, 2023
6:30PM-8:30PM
Taste of Legacy
Beside Legacy Liquor Store
1637 Manitoba Street

North Vancouver
Sip Around The World
February 23, 2023
The Pipe Shop
115 Victory Ship Way
North Vancouver

Winnipeg
Winnipeg Whisky Festival
March 3^rd & 4^th 2023
Hotel Fairmont Winnipeg, 2 Lombard Place
Winnipeg, MB

Nanaimo
Wee Tipple – Nanaimo’s Whisky Festival
March 4^th  2023
The Grand Hotel
4898 Rutherford Road
Nanaimo, BC

Vancouver
Vancouver Cocktail Week
Golden Era Cocktail Revival Gala
March 11^th 2023
Pacific Ballroom, Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
6 to 7 pm VIPs • 7 to 11 pm Partygoers

Duncan
10th Annual Cowichan Valley Whisky Festival
March 11^th 2023
Ramada by Wyndham Duncan Cowichan Valley,
140 Trans-Canada Hwy, Duncan, BC

We hope to see you at an event soon, in the meantime continue to enjoy a dram of Shelter Point.

Cheers!

If you’re after a dram to see you through the rest of winter, here are a few of our favourites bottles to cosy up with. From a sweet and spicy single pot still Irish whiskey from Redbreast, to a sweet and floral 18-year-old Highlander, to an Islay dram from Kilchoman that offers the perfect balance of peat smoke, fruit and sweetness.

These are big, bold drams handpicked by The Whisky Exchange head buyer Dawn Davies MW for their thick layers of rich fruit and spice. Exactly the kind of whiskies to warm you up on brisk, frosty evenings as we make it through the homestretch. Explore our selection of sherry cask single malt Scotch for even more full-flavoured whiskies.

SHOP NOW

2009 BenRiach 12 Year Old “K&L Exclusive” Peated Rye Barrel #13467 Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) (Previously $120)

$84.70

View

The long and complicated history of BenRiach includes an optimistic vision, a long closure, a rebirth, a short closure, and finally, a modern renaissance – of which we are now in full swing. Built in 1897 by John Duff, BenRiach sits next door to Duff’s hugely successful Longmorn distillery. BenRiach boasts a huge floor malting facility and five on-site, traditional, stone-walled and earthen-floored dunnage warehouses. It is one of the most traditionally-styled distilleries in all of Scotland. Sadly, shortly after it was built, the market fell out of Scotch and it was shuttered for over half a century. When it was reborn in 1965, it was controlled by Seagrams for a time, then taken over by Pernod Ricard, then shuttered again in 2001. Fortunately for whisky fans everywhere, the inimitable Billy Walker purchased the facility in 2003 and with this change in ownership, BenRiach’s fortunes began to change. Walker had spent years blending whiskies and knew the magic that lied within BenRiach. Over his tenure the quality of their releases skyrocketed, and the popularity of the distillery soared. This grabbed the attention of Brown Forman, who took over in 2016. It is now under the watchful eye of one of Scotland’s finest Master Blenders, Rachel Barrie. This special K&L cask spanned both Mr. Walker and Ms. Barrie’s tenure. The peated distillate, laid down in 2009, drinks like a supremely old-school Speysider. Tropical fruit and intense spice mingle perfectly with the smoke.

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Did you know Saint Valentine is also the patron saint of beekeepers?  Tis true – and thus in celebration of love and sweetness we have bundled up two of our best-selling whiskies into a Valentine’s offer.

Aurora is our best-selling expression globally. Crafted from a marriage of whisky matured in first-fill bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry hogsheads, it’s a stunningly sweet dram which has won awards in major competitions in Europe, Asia and America.

Accompanying it is a bottle of our hugely popular Small Batch 458 whisky, matured in the best hand-selected casks, with every ounce of sweetness and flavour drawn from the oak.

And to make sure there’s no argument over the loving cup, we’re also including two engraved Glencairn tasting glasses.

Grab this bundle from our webshop while stocks last.

With love

From all at Wolfburn

BUY NOW

New Limited Release:

Lum Reek 10 Years Old Cask Strength Batch 2

This peated blended malt was aged for at least ten years. Created by Master Distiller Billy Walker, who has sourced the finest vintage Speyside and Islay Single Malts and blended them with aged Glenallachie in pursuit of the perfect balance between peat and rich, fruity character. The spirit was laid to rest in premium Spanish sherry casks, wine barriques and virgin oak casks. The flavours marry and extract additional characteristics from the wood as time passes. Batch #2 of the 10 Years Old is bottled at a natural cask strength of 55.8% ABV, with no colour added and non-chill filtered for maximum flavour.

NOSE: Waves of grilled honeycomb, ginger and vanilla, cinnamon, campfire smoke and treacle.

PALATE: Bursting with dark chocolate, burnt orange peel and honeycomb, followed by smoked spiced, butterscotch and roasted coffee beans, with notes of ginger on the finish.

£60.99

Shop now

Campbeltown Loch Blended Malt

All five malts from the region’s three distilleries have been used to produce this genuine Campbeltown blended malt.  It’s an unmistakable Campbeltown whisky: Initial sweet, softer notes of fruit, honey and butterscotch give way to reveal more complexity with traditional maritime and spice notes combined with the subtlest touch of peat smoke. Matured in a combination of Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Sherry Casks. Vatted and bottled at Springbank Distillery, Campbeltown.

£38.50