Canadian Club 1.75L…$16.99
Canadian LTD 1.75L…$11.99
Dewar’s White Label 1.75L $27.99
Jim Beam Bourbon 1.75L…$21.99
Johnnie Walker Black Label…$25.99
Johnnie Walker Black Label 1.75L…$49.99
Johnnie Walker Red Label 1.75L…$27.99
Knob Creek Bourbon…$24.99
Seagram’s Crown Royal…$19.99

Prices valid w/Binny’s Card September 1 through September 7, 2010. Not responsible for misprints or typographical errors.

Sizes 750ml unless otherwise stated. Advertised items limited to quantities on hand.

Don’t forget to use your Binny’s Card!

Get discounts on mixed case wine purchases and work towards a 2% rebate on every $500 of eligible purchases. Get your free card at a Binny’s near you.

Visit Binny’s at www.binnys.com

BENRIACH’S LATEST AND VERY LIMITED BATCH OF SINGLE CASK BOTTLINGS NOW AVAILABLE
 
AWARD-WINNING BenRiach is issuing its latest batch of single cask bottlings this week. Available worldwide, Batch 7 maintains BenRiach’s reputation for encapsulating both perfection and rarity in a glass.
 
The new release celebrates the sixth anniversary of the first bottling of BenRiach under its new independent owners. Back in August 2004, its ‘Heart of Speyside’ core range of 12, 16 and 20 yo malts became available for the first time.
 
Fast forward six years, and Master Distiller Billy Walker has selected ten highly distinctive casks from 1976 to 1993 for BenRiach aficionados. These vintage malts are immense and full of character – from pineapple, coconut, honey, and spicy vanilla to treacle toffee, cloves and chocolate coated fruits.
 
And the range of exceptional vintages is enhanced by their prolonged maturation in different casks – from a Virgin American Oak and a Gaja Barolo Finish to a Tokaji and a Peated Tawny Port Finish.                                                  
The ten, in ascending chronological order, are:
 
Year     Number        Strength       Age          Cask Type                            Style
                 
1976     8795               53.2%        33yo          Hogshead                                    Classic Speyside       
 
1977     1033                52.2%        33yo         Pedro Ximinez Hogshead              Pedro Ximinez Sherry Finish
 
1978     4417                50.4%        32yo         Tokaji Hogshead                           Tokaji Finish                                      
 
1979     7511                47.9%        30yo         Bourbon Barrel                             Classic Speyside   
 
1980     2532                51.1%        30yo         New Wood Oak Barrel                   Virgin American Oak   
 
1981     2589                51.6%        28yo         Bourbon Barrel                             Classic Speyside                                
 
1984     493                  54.1%        25yo         Hogshead                                    Classic Speyside                               
 
1984     4052                51.7%        25yo         Tawny Port Hogshead                   Peated/Tawny Port Finish
 
1991     4389                54.9%        19yo         Virgin Oak Hogshead                    Virgin American Oak Finish
         
1993     7420                56.7%        17yo         Gaja Barolo Hogshead                  Gaja Barolo Finish          
 
Bottled in July 2010, the ten are all bottled at cask strength, with natural colour and non chill-filtered. They are individually numbered by hand and presented in a gift tube.
 

Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,

There are just two days to go until the Isle of Arran 15th Anniversary celebration.  This is a festival style event, so we have lots of room to accommodate anyone hoping to attend.  So far about 30 of the initial 50 tickets have sold. The event is the Canadian launch of a special 15th Anniversary bottling. Andrew Hogan of Isle of Arran will be on hand to talk about his distillery, samples those present on a range of whiskies from the Arran distillery and sign any purchased bottles including the 15th Anniversary bottling. Kensington Wine Market has committed to 96 of the 180 bottles coming into the province, of which more than half have been pre-sold. More information on both the event and the special bottling can be found below.

I have decided to hold off on the next full Malt Messenger until after Labour Day, as I’m sure much of its readership is away on vacation. However there are a couple of tidbits which can’t wait until then. First and foremost, our Fall Tasting Schedule is now online.  All of our whisky, beer and wine tastings for September through December are now online. All the beer and whisky tastings are listed below.

Secondly, some whiskies from BenRiach which have long been out of stock—the 15 Year Old Cask Finishes—are back. All three are excellent whiskies, and exclusive to KWM. Historically the most popular was the 15 Year Old Madeira Finish, which was the impetus for us to bottle our own cask of the same.

Finally, we have single malts from all over the world at KWM, Scotland, Ireland, Japan, Canada, the United States, Wales, England, Australia and now Sweden.  Sweden’s first single malt distillery, Macmyra is now available in Canada. Two different expressions are available: Mackmyra Special ’03 and Mackmyra First Edition – $66.49. I’ll include my tasting notes below.

I hope you enjoy this little Malt Messenger Bulletin, and Happy Labour Day!

Slainte!

Andrew Ferguson

PS-Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/scotch_guy

Isle of Arran 15th Anniversary Celebration – Thursday September 2nd 7PM – $40

Special guest Andrew Hogan of the Isle of Arran Distillery will be in town for one night only to celebrate the distillery’s 15th Anniversary and formally launch the 15th Anniversary bottling here in Alberta. Join us at the Kensington Wine for a fun and informal evening celebrating 15 years of distillation at one of Scotland’s finest distilleries. We will formally sample 4 whiskies from the Arran portfolio (10 Year, Bourbon Cask, Moscatel Cask and 15th Anniversary) under the guidance of Andrew Hogan whilst he sheds some light on the Isle of Arran’s only distillery. After the formal tasting you will have an opportunity to get Andrew to sign a bottle of Arran for you or try a few other of the distilleries whiskies. This tasting will be a great way to start off the fall tasting season and the perfect transition into the Labour Day long weekend.

Call the store 403-283-8000, drop by or visit our website www.kensingtonwinemarket.com to register.

Isle of Arran 15th Anniversary Amontillado 1999 – $82.99

Who could believe the Isle of Arran distillery is now 15 years old.  I remember the lead up to its 10th Anniversary like it was yesterday, and the launch a year later of its first regularily available 10 year old. How the time flies! The Isle of Arran distillery has now been distilling for 15 years, and they decided to release a special edition 11 year old bottling to commemorate the event. The whisky is from refill hogsheads finished for more than a year in eight Amontialldo Sherry Butts from Spain.

“Offical Tasting Notes: Nose: The aroma is complex with hints of dark chocolate, cherries and ginger. Mint-toffee and hazelnut emerge with water. Palate: Rich and creamy on the palate with classic sherry wood notes of dried fruit and spice. A confectionery sweetness mingles beautifully with the intrinsic citrus character of the Arran Malt. Finish: Much drier on the long finish with an intriguing peppery note developing.”

The whisky will go on sale at the Kensington Wine Market first on Thursday September 2nd at the launch party with the distillery’s Andrew Hogan (for more information please see above). Only 180 bottles are coming in to the province, and at the reasonable price of $82.99 there will be a lot of demand for this dram. For the time being we are limiting pre-orders to 3 bottles per customer. Andrew Hogan will be signing bottles the night of the event. Please e-mail me if you would like to reserve some bottles.

BenRiach 15 Year Old Cask Finishes Back in Stock – $82.49/each

1.       BenRiach 15 Year Old Henrique’s Madeira Finish – Matured 14 years in Bourbon casks and finished for a full year in a Henrique’s Madeira cask, this is an excellent summer or breakfast whisky. Jim Murray said: “This is an essay in subtlety… we have one of the truly great Speysiders on our hands!” Nose: Vanilla and spices with watermelon and peaches, with a rich backdrop of Madeira and oak wood. Palate: An avalanche of butterscotch, hazelnuts, peaches and spices, with and rich Madeira. Finish: dry with concentrated barley and grape. – Exclusive to KWM

2.       BenRiach 15 Year Old Jamaican Dark Rum Finish – Matured in the traditional style in American bourbon barrels, this whisky is then ‘finished’ in Dark Rum barrels, sourced from the Caribbean island of Jamaica. During this second period of maturation the whisky derives many interesting characteristics specific to the Dark Rum barrel. Nose: toffee, spices, cinnamon & sultana w/ a backbone of rum. Palate: toffee, cinnamon, apricots & chocolate. Finish: rum & sultanas dominate the finish. – Exclusive to KWM

3.       BenRiach 15 Year Old Tawny Port Finish – Matured 14 years in Bourbon casks and finished for one full year in Tawny Port pipes. Nose: crème brulée, honey, cinnamon and coconut in harmony with rich port notes and oak wood. Palate: Butterscotch, herbs, cinnamon, peaches and sultanas, infused with rich port and oak wood notes. – Exclusive to KWM

Tasting Notes Mackmyra Single Malt

1.       Mackmyra First Edition – Nose: fresh, light, sweet and fruity with some grassy malt; Palate: light, soft and floral, apples and clean malt; Finish: light and clean with soft dry oak. – $66.49

2.       Mackmyra Special ’03 – Nose: dry smoke, creamy vanilla, faint berry fruits with grassy-herbal notes; Palate: clean and buttery with some crisp smoke, a few bitter herbs and melons; Finish: dry, sweet and lightly bitter with woody smoke. – $91.49

——————–

If you have any whisky questions or comments concerning The Malt Messenger please contact me by e-mail, phone, or drop by the store. Feel free to forward me any whisky news you feel should be included in a future issue of The Malt Messenger; it might just get included.

All of the products mentioned in THE MALT MESSENGER can be purchased in store, over the phone or from our website at www.kensingtonwinemarket.com. All prices quoted in the Malt Messenger are subject to change!

 You can follow me online on Twitter at www.twitter.com/scotch_guy..

Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger!

Slainte!

Andrew Ferguson
KWM Scotchguy

403-283-8000
888-283-9004
1257 Kensington Rd. NW
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2N 3P8

scotchguy@kensingtonwinemarket.com

Ticket Sales Skyrocket

WhiskyFest San Francisco 2010 will have more exhibitors, more speakers, and more whiskies than ever before. The word seems to have gotten out as ticket sales are way up from last year. As a WhiskyFest attendee, we wanted to urge you to purchase your ticket soon before we sell out.

Friday, October 8, 2010 | San Francisco Marriott Marquis

Regular admission: $110 | VIP admission: $150 (includes one hour early entry at 5:30 pm, limited ticketing, special VIP-hour only pours and more)

Advance ticket sales only at www.maltadvocate.com or by calling
800-514-3849.

Grant’s blends have recently scooped some top prizes at three major wine and spirit competitions.

Golds at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, 2010
This is the oldest and most prestigious competition of its kind. There were entries from over 150 countries and with blind tasting, judges chose purely on merit. Our awards included:

Grant’s Ale Cask – Gold Best In Class
Grant’s 12 Year Old – Gold
Grant’s 18 Year Old – Gold

Golds at the Scotch Whisky Masters, 2010

With over 150 top Scotch whiskies battling it out for honours, we were especially pleased to come away with 15 major medals including:

Grant’s 12 Year Old – Gold
Grant’s 18 Year Old – Gold

Golds at the International Spirits Challenge 2010

This massive contest attracted over 1,000 contenders from all over the world. We were very proud to win 5 medals including:

Grant’s Sherry Cask – Gold
Grant’s 18 Year Old – Gold

These awards are a real tribute to our craftsmen. Brian Kinsman, our Master Blender, puts it perfectly:

“The skills and dedication that go into the making of our whiskies is reflected in the medals won. We still use some of the same techniques as William Grant did when he first started the company back in 1886.”

Visit Grant’s at www.grantswhisky.com

Because of Labor Day the usual single malt 1st Sunday tasting moves to…

September 9th (Thursday)
Scotch Tasting 4:00 p.m.

and the regularlt scheduled;

September 12th (Sunday)
Scotch Tasting 7:00 p.m.

both feature;

Scotch 101: Back to School Single Malt Scotch Tasting. Our annual course for the beginner or just anyone who likes single malt and wants to learn more.

$50 per person. Reservations are accepted but not required. 402.553.9501 or monique@dundeedell.com

September 21st (Tuesday)
Single Malt Tasting 7:00 p.m.  Bruichladdich Tasting Vertical tasting featuring 8 new expressions of Bruichladdich. Simon will join us straight from the distillery, his first trip to the Dell! Please email or call Monique with reservations.

$50 per person. Reservations are accepted but not required. 402.553.9501 or monique@dundeedell.com

Visit The Dundee Dell at http://www.dundeedell.com/

New additions boost Benromach Origins range

Speyside’s smallest whisky distillery, Benromach, has added two new variants to its Origins range.

Benromach Origins Batch No. 2 was distilled in 1999 and has been fully matured in Port Pipes.  This is the first Benromach expression to be fully matured in a wine cask, allowing the characteristics of the port to infuse with the whisky.  The resultant single malt has red berry fruitiness with hints of orange peel, dark chocolate and soft smoke.

Benromach Origins Batch No. 3, distilled in 2000, has been created using the finest Optic barley then matured in Sherry casks. It displays zesty citrus flavours, softly infused with spicy aniseed and menthol notes. .

The two new whiskies are the latest additions to Origins – a series of special bottlings launched in 2008 to highlight how small changes in the art of whisky making can help shape the character of the final single malt. Each batch displays the ‘Benromach style’ of peat-smoke with malt aromas and a delicate perfumed nose, while at the same time offering a slightly different sensation for the consumer.

Benromach Distillery Manager Keith Cruickshank anticipates that the new whiskies will be popular with both fans and novices alike:

“It’s two years since we released the first batch of Benromach Origins, created using Golden Promise barley”, said Keith.

“These two new batches are quite different but still recognisably ‘Benromach’ in style”, he continued.
 
“Because we are such a small operation, with just two distilling staff, we have the freedom to make changes to the whisky-making process, while maintaining our commitment to handmade quality. This results in interesting and innovative variations.”
 
Benromach has also recently re-packaged its exclusive Vintage Speyside Single Malt. This sophisticated greatly-aged single malt, a winner at this year’s Spirit of Speyside Whisky Awards and described as ‘a powerful presentation of a Sherry-matured Speysider’, has been encased in a sleek brushed metal tin, replacing the previous outer box, to give it a stylish and contemporary look in line with other whiskies in the Benromach range.
 
Benromach Origins Batch 2 and 3, and Benromach Vintage will be available from whisky shops and fine wine and spirits retail specialists with suggested UK retail prices of £38.50 and £299.00 respectively.

NOTES

Benromach distillery is Speyside’s smallest. Based in the attractive Moray town of Forres, the gateway to Scotland’s famous whisky producing region, just two expert distillers make this sweet, golden malt whisky.

The distillery went through many changes of ownership and closures before being ‘rescued’ and restored by local family-owned firm Gordon & MacPhail in 1993, and was officially opened by the Prince of Wales in 1998.

For more information about Benromach Distillery and the Benromach range of Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whiskies go to www.benromach.com.

BULGARIAN LIFEGUARD LIFTS WHISKEY LOVERS’ ULTIMATE DREAM PRIZE IN GLOBAL COMPETITION

BUSHMILLS VILLAGE, IRELAND: Ivan Ivanov, a 28-year old lifeguard from Svishtov Bulgaria, has won a global Bushmills Irish Whiskey® competition with a prize described as ‘the whiskey lover’s ultimate dream’.

Ivan was chosen from finalists from nine countries as the winner of the Make it at Bushmills challenge at a gala dinner this evening (Thursday) in the village of Bushmills on Ireland’s north coast. The historic area has a history of whiskey production stretching back more than 400 years.

He will now spend 30 days working alongside Bushmills’ Master Distiller Colum Egan with the aim of becoming the first ever person outside the distillery to create their own blend of one of the world’s best-loved Irish whiskeys. Their prize also includes a month’s luxury penthouse accommodation in Ireland and £5,000 spending money.
 
Make it at Bushmills has attracted interest from around the globe since its launch in the New York Stock Exchange on St Patrick’s day on March 17. The nine finalists from Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Northern Ireland, South Africa, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Bulgaria were chosen by public vote to represent their countries in this week’s two-day ‘Bushcamp’ finale, set by Bushmills’ Master Distiller, Colum Egan.

The contestants included a head sommelier from a French three-star Michelin restaurant, a former Wall Street broker and a drumming world record holder.

Following a series of mental, physical and skills-based challenges, the performance of the individual contenders was assessed by a judging panel that included Irish rugby legend, Keith Wood, Foy Vance, one of Ireland’s most respected singer-songwriters and Joel Harrison, a regular contributor to a number of leading whiskey publications.

Ivan said: “Winning the public vote to represent Bulgaria in the final phase of the competition was a real honour. But to be the overall winner is just incredible – I still can’t believe I’ll spend a month making whiskey with the world’s best. It’s the whiskey lover’s ultimate dream.”

Colum Egan said: “Throughout the competition, Ivan has shown that he has the passion and personality to Make it at Bushmills. This is a fantastic opportunity for him to learn how great whiskey is made and I know he’ll grasp this opportunity with both hands.”

Follow Ivan’s progress at the Old Bushmills Distillery on facebook.com/bushmills1608 .

A Scottish Celebration 5pm, Friday, October 22, 2010

PORT PERRY, ONT. – Oakridge Golf Club is looking forward to hosting “A Wee Bit o’ Scotland – A Scottish Celebration” during the evening of Friday, October 22, 2010. Our Clubhouse will be bursting with all things Scottish! The evening will begin with Oakridge’s “resident bagpiper” Mark Lethbridge. Next, enjoy a traditional Scottish dinner paired with a flight of five fine single malts presented by Bill Somerville of independent bottlers Gordon and MacPhail. Claidhmor will perform after the meal, filling the Clubhouse with their lush Celtic harmonies. It will be an evening full of sensory surprises and not to be missed!

The evening is sure to sellout quickly. Space is limited to just 72 guests.

There are four price options:

with 18 holes of golf (11am tee-off) $140;
with nine holes of golf (1:30-2:30pm tee-off) $125;
without golf $95;
for dinner and entertainment only (without the single malts) $55.

Welcome reception at 5pm. Tartans anticipated.

Contact: John Frechette
Marketing Director
905.985.0883 x144
http://www.golfoakridge.com

The Spirit Drinks – “A Recipe for Success?”

The new Glenglassaugh Spirit Drinks were officially launched at Bramble Bar in Edinburgh on Thursday August 26th, 2010.

These drinks are truly innovative, demonstrating how colour, nose and taste all develop as spirit matures in cask. However their real difference is that each one is a fantastic drink in its own right and can be drunk straight or long with a mixer and ice or as a cocktail.

Bramble Bar has been voted one of the top cocktail bars in the world and the team are extremely creative, having developed a number of cocktails in past years. Last year they created “The New Yorker Re-visted” using “The Spirit Drink that dare not speak its name”, which is featured on their exclusive cocktail list. This year they surpassed themselves and they created a signature cocktail for each of the four Spirit Drinks.

Each of the cocktails are different and builds upon the base flavours in the specific Spirit Drink to create a unique drink, the list includes “Peated Julep”, “Fledgling Sour”, “Clearac Manhattan” and “New Yorker Revisited” . Having tried them all I find it hard to say which is my favourite, but to allow you the opportunity to try them as well, and to form your own opinion, we will be making the recipes available shortly.

A number of well kent faces were in attendance and I can confirm that they all left with big smiles on their faces.

Slange
Stuart

Visit Glenglassaugh Distillery at www.glenglassaugh.com