Celebrate the 2025 Lunar New Year with the prestigious Johnnie Walker Year of the Snake. Designed by Asian-American artist and cultural pioneer James Jean, inspiration is taken from every drop of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. His artwork of the mythical snake, interwoven and layered with auspicious elements, echoes the visceral flavour experience of this exceptional Scotch Whisky.

2025 Lunar New Year – Year Of The Snake

70cl · 40% ABV

£229.95

ADD TO BASKET

View More Johnnie Walker

VIEW ALL

Bardstown Bourbon Company 6 Year Old “C7H6O On C6H6O3” K&L Exclusive Cherry Wood Finished Cask Strength Single Cask Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (750ml) $74.99 View

Horse Soldier 10 Year Old “Barrel Select” K&L Exclusive Single Barrel #125 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) $109.99 View

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

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 551: Ben Nevis 3 Year Old 2021 for Klubb23 – Double Trouble

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries two very young, peated Ben Nevis releases. Recently, Ben Nevis started producing peated malt again. Belgian bottler Klubb23 was eager to find out how that tastes and selected two sister casks – octaves 85 and 86, but both quite different. One is an Ex-blended malt octave, the other an ex-Caol Ila Oloroso octave. Oh, my! Now Mark is eager to find out as well.

https://youtu.be/2rGWYk6bu7k

Raise a dram to Robert Burns with Bladnoch this January

As the world prepares to celebrate the life and work of iconic Scottish poet, Robert Burns, on Saturday 25 January 2025, Bladnoch Distillery has recommended two of its finest Lowland single malt whiskies to toast Scotland’s national bard this Burns Night.

Commonly referred to as ‘Queen of the Lowlands’, Bladnoch is the southernmost distillery in Scotland and one of the closest to where Burns spent most of his life in Dumfries & Galloway. The water which gave life to this historic 208-year-old distillery sustained the whiskies of Burns’ era, making Bladnoch the ideal dram to complement Burns Suppers of all sizes this January.

Expertly handcrafted by master distiller Dr Nick Savage and his team, using water from the River Bladnoch which flows alongside the distillery, the Bladnoch Twinned Cask Collection comprises four whiskies – Vinaya, Liora, Samsara and Alinta – each natural in colour and non-chill filtered to ensure the truest flavours shine through.

The collection is named to reflect the unique twinning of two cask types which are married together during the whisky-making process.

Bladnoch Vinaya, 70cl, 46.7% ABV, £50

Vinaya, a Sanskrit word meaning respect and gratitude, pays homage to Bladnoch Distillery’s original founders who paved the way for the brand’s exciting new era of innovation and production.

Non-chill filtered and natural in colour, Bladnoch Vinaya is matured in a unique combination of first-fill bourbon and sherry casks, a process which creates notes of fresh apple, sweet floral grass and hints of chocolate.

A light and refreshing single malt, this is ultimate tipple to raise a dram to Scotland’s national bard on Burns Night.

Available at www.bladnoch.com, Amazon and specialist whisky retailers.

Bladnoch Alinta, 70cl, 47% ABV, £75

Bladnoch Alinta is the perfect smoky single malt whisky to toast the bard this Burns Night. Alinta, an indigenous word from several southeast Australian language groups, means ‘fire’ and ‘flames’, and evokes the notes of campfire embers found in each sip.

A sweet, smoky, peated spirit, Bladnoch Alinta takes its flavour from maturation in Pedro Ximénez sherry and ex-bourbon casks and is the ideal complement to the savoury earthy and peppery favours of haggis.

Available at www.bladnoch.com, Amazon and specialist whisky retailers.

Tasting notes

Bladnoch Vinaya

Colour: Summer barley field.

Nose: Sweet floral grass with boiled sweets.

Palate: Fresh green apples and chocolate with a hint of pepper.

Finish: Light and refreshing.

Bladnoch Alinta

Colour: Copper.

Nose: Smoky ice cream, delicate floral with sweet oak.

Palate: Campfire smoke, almonds and raisins with a white chocolate body.

Finish: Long with a sweet smoke.

About Bladnoch Distillery

Bladnoch Distillery was established in 1817, making it the oldest privately owned Scotch whisky distillery in the world. As the southernmost distillery in Scotland, Bladnoch is commonly referred to as the ‘Queen of the Lowlands.’

Hand-crafted using malt from British growers and the pristine water from the River Bladnoch which flows alongside the distillery, Bladnoch single malts are non-chill filtered to ensure the truest flavours shine through.

This legacy brand has been revived in recent years by Master Distiller, Dr Nick Savage, formerly of The Macallan, and owner David Prior, who purchased Bladnoch Distillery in 2015 and is the first Australian businessman to own a Scotch whisky distillery.

Larceny Barrel Proof 8 Year Old “That’s One Heater Of A Wheater” K&L Exclusive Private Single Barrel #7446978 Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Wheated Bourbon

(750ml ships as a 1.5L)

$79.99

View

The new Larceny Barrel Proof Single Barrel is one of the most exciting new offerings from the wonderful Heaven Hill distillery. This barrel was selected in April of 2024 by the K&L Spirits buying team at the distillery in Bardstown. It’s distilled from a mashbill of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley. This is the Old Fitzgerald Distillate mashbill popularized by the Stitzel-Weller distillery under the Old Fitzgerald brand. Back then their flagship product was the Very Old Fitzgerald 8 year and it seems that wheated bourbon might still be best at the beautiful 8 year mark. This barrel and it’s sister cask (#7446976) are two of the best bourbons in the store at any price right now offering powerful dried stone fruit, sweet banana bread and integrated oak spice. Bottled at a cask strength of 114.7 without chill filtration or additions of any kind.

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

Matured in hand-selected sherry oak casks of exceptional character, this annual Glengoyne release of only 5200 bottles is the taste of 30 years, held in a single dram. Their finest sherry casks are left almost entirely to their own devices for 30 years. Almost, but not quite. Twice, perhaps three times in three decades, their malt master will taste this ongoing alchemy of cask and spirit. His aim: to hand-select only the best sherry oak casks. Each decade has added deep colour, intense flavour and limitless complexity to the precious contents. Only the best can become Glengoyne 30 Year Old.

£895.00

Tasting notes:
Colour: Deep Amber
Nose: Black Cherry, Sherry Trifle, Marmalade, Tea Rose, Rum and Raisin Chocolate
Palate: Burst of sweetness changing quickly to Plum compote, Cinnamon, Cloves and Tangy Marmalade

TyndrumWhisky.com
The Green Welly Stop
Tyndrumwhisky, Tyndrum
Crianlarich, Perthshire FK20 8RY
United Kingdom

Discovering Peated Whiskies from Beyond Scotland

Some of the most ardent whisky fans are intensely loyal to the layers of smoke offered by peated whiskies. Peat heads generally gravitate toward Scotland, the epicenter of smoky whisky. But other distillers around the globe, inspired by the Scots, offer their own peated whiskies. Explore those non-Scotland peated whiskies here.

If you’ve ever had a stroopwafel with a warming cup of coffee, you’ll know that this Dutch (or even Belgian) caramel waffle makes for the ultimate treat on a grey day. Picture it in whisky form, add a skoosh of whipped cream and you have our 30th ‘Heresy’ release, Skooshy Stroopwafel.

“This release perfectly demonstrates our commitment to exploring the interplay between spirit and wood to create a unique adventure in flavour,” says our Whisky Quality Manager, Julien Willems.

This 11-year-old small-batch single malt is beautiful marriage of ex-bourbon hogsheads and European oak sherry butts. It’s a whisky packed with spicy, tingling fruity flavours that reminded our Tasting Panel of pumpkin-spiced iced coffee with lashings of skooshy cream on a stroopwafel.

READ MORE

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