16 Year Old American Oak Second-Fill

Our first ballot for 2024 is 16 years in the making. Allow the warm embrace of TD0116 to welcome you back to the new year with bursts of stone fruit, caramel popcorn, halva and honeycomb.

 American Oak Old & Rare Second-Fill TD0116

“A harmonious dance of creamy richness and texture, TD0116 seamlessly weaves together the nuances of its long maturation in refill American oak.”

– Sullivans Cove Sensory Team

Matured for 16 years in a 300L second-fill American oak cask, yielding just 414 bottles of Sullivans Cove single cask Whisky.

READ THE FULL TASTING NOTES HERE

The Final 2023 Limited Edition from Cult-Favorite Booker’s
Booker’s “Storyteller Batch” #2023-04 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

(750ml) ($99.99)

The final release of 2023 from a connoisseur’s favorite, Booker’s “Storyteller Batch” is master distiller Fred Noe’s tribute to his father Booker Noe’s famous ability to spin a riveting yarn about almost anything. Delivering all the cask-strength opulence, power, and punch that all the Booker’s batches are known for, it’s another absolute classic from one of Kentucky’s most esteemed bourbon families.

Booker’s “Storyteller Batch” #2023-04 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) ($99.99)

K&L Notes: The Storyteller batch is made up of barrels from four production dates aged in different warehouses. The Storyteller is the fourth release of 2023 and an homage to 6th-generation Booker’s distiller Booker Noe. According to current, 7th-generation distiller Fred Noe, “The color of ‘Storyteller Batch’ is a rich amber with a golden shine. Sitting in your glass, the scent of a great bourbon fills the room and invites you to further explore the brown sugar aroma. The taste is delightful and well-balanced, with notes of vanilla and wood. I tasted this batch on a drizzly September day. There was a slight chill in the air, and it reminded me that fall is just around the corner, and this bourbon has the perfect warm finish for the days to come. A little bit of water further opened the tasting experience for me, but you can enjoy it any way you please. Storyteller Batch is just the way Dad would have wanted it when he created this brand over thirty years ago—I can almost hear him telling one of his great stories while he sips a glass of his own. I hope you enjoy this batch as much as I do!”

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

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

Beam Suntory France Begins Operations

One-of-a-Kind, Limited-Edition Bourbon at Best Pricing
Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Sonoma Triple Finish Series No. 19 Wine & Brandy Finished Kentucky Straight Bourbon
“…a thought-provoking whiskey that tastes excellent and is the perfect combination of new flavors/feels without straying too far from a classic bourbon profile.”
— Andrew Whiteley, K&L Spirits Buyer

One of the most intriguing bourbon profiles we’ve seen recently comes from the visionary pioneers at Woodford Reserve. The 19th edition of their Master’s Reserve is a master class in blending skill, utilizing three different barrel profiles to create one of the most harmonious and artfully constructed wine cask-finished bourbons on the market. Adding to the appeal, our spirits team worked out a superb deal that brings it to you at the best available price.

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Sonoma Triple Finish Series No. 19 Wine & Brandy Finished Kentucky Straight Bourbon (700ml) (Elsewhere $195) ($134.99)

K&L Notes: In 2004, with the launch of Woodford Reserve’s Master’s Collection, Woodford stepped squarely into the era of ‘whiskey innovation.’ That first release was a four-grain whiskey. Some of the innovations, like four-grain mashbills, have become staples in the whiskey landscape, while others have turned out to truly be one-offs, but the one commonality with Woodford’s releases is they’re all incredibly well done. While most releases focus on the impact of one specific thing, like an unusual mashbill or a new type of barrel finish, the latest release, No. 19 in the series, combines multiple previous innovations into one cohesive blend. Blending is the true heart of the artistic side of whiskey making. It’s the human touch that cannot be easily outsourced to complex chemistry equipment and technical distlling specs. It is where the Master’s Collection—and Elizabeth McCall (the Master Distiller for Woodford)—shine brightest. The blending skills at Woodford differentiate these releases from many of the craft whiskey innovations we’ve seen over the last 20 years. This release perfects the marriage of red fruit with bourbon in a way that many have tried before, but it succeeds where others have muddled through. The formal regimen is a mouthful: Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon that has been finished in Sonoma County Pinot Noir, brandy, and former bourbon barrels used to age red wine. Fortuantely, the whiskey itself is also a mouthful, in the best way possible.

Andrew Whiteley | K&L Spirits Buyer | Review Date: January 09, 2024

The latest Master’s Collection not only avoids the pitfalls of wine cask-finished whiskey, it excels where so many fail. While many can become overly tannic and wind up a disjointed array of fruit and whiskey notes thoughtlessly mushed together, here we have impeccable balance and harmony. The key, I believe, lies in the careful blending of similar but different wood/wine/whiskey profiles rather than hoping a single wine cask will just get lucky and work. The brandy barrels in particular provide a bridge between grape and grain that allows the Pinot barrels and the bourbon/wine cask to come together. Let’s taste. At first blush, I was nervous as a blast of red fruits came jumping out of the glass. With a few extra minutes to open up, the incredible spice, caramel, and vanilla that wrap around those red fruits caught up and provided the structure on which the tart Pinot Noir red fruits could really shine. With a proper undertone of classic bourbon notes, the elusive red cherry aromas really pop and feel like they come out of the bourbon itself, not the wine cask—a sign of harmonious integration. Freshly dried vanilla pod, warm caramel, and sweet ground cinnamon bark play peacefully with a little tropical pineapple and toasted coconut that really make this bourbon stand out in a good way from the others on my shelf. On the palate, it’s texturally dusty, feeling old and proper, but flavor-wise it is a fun mix of youthful and mature—lithe fruit bounces over deep oaky notes. Vanilla pudding and cigar box meet in the middle. The ABV, a seemingly low 45.2%, is actually perfect as it allows the wine tannins enough room to provide grip without overtaking the whole profile. The finish is lengthy due to that tannin, feeling more like a fine wine finish than a bourbon finish, but hinting at sweet corn. This unusual barrel regimen gets a 10/10 for execution in my book. The end result is a thought-provoking whiskey that tastes excellent and is the perfect combination of new flavors/feels without straying too far from a classic bourbon profile.

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

Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Year of the Dragon

£220

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Celebrate Lunar New Year in style with a limited-edition whisky. Made in collaboration with contemporary artists from China and beyond, the bottles and their packaging feature vibrant and distinctive designs of the 2024 zodiac: the wood dragon.

Dailuaine 2012 11 Year Old
Year of the Dragon

£89.95

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Glenfiddich 21 Year Old
Chinese New Year 2024

£199

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We’ve welcomed luxury spirits from Glenfiddich, Johnnie Walker and Courvoisier, as well as an independent bottling from Douglas Laing’s Xtra Old Particular series: a 35-year-old sherried Bunnahabhain. Discover more one-of-a-kind whiskies to welcome the Year of the Dragon, curated by our buying director Dawn Davies MW.

Bunnahabhain 1988 35 Year Old
XOP Year of the Dragon

£510

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Gleann Mòr A Rare Find Glenlossie 30 Year Old

£399.99

Bottling Notes:

Single cask bottling from Gleann Mòr Rare Find range of a 30 year old Glenlossie 1992. An exceptionally well balanced whisky, this Speyside Single Cask release, like many of this age, has been matured in a refill Hogshead, allowing the fruity flavour of Glenlossie spirit to age slowly and patiently into this wonderful expression.

Distilled: 1992 Bottled 2023

Cask: #3501

Limited: 272

Non Chill Filtered  | Natural Colour | Cask Strength

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Crisp green apple and cut grass.

Palate: Golden syrup, buttered bread, lychee and breakfast tea.

Finish: Medium dry finish with a touch of white pepper.

55.2% ABV

The Good Dram Show – Episode 539 ‘Lady of the Glen’

Welcome to this week’s episode of the show in which I’ll be taking a look at some releases from Hannah Whisky Merchants in their Lady of the Glen Range. The Good Dram Show with Chris Goodrum. Episode 538 – Clearing Out The Notebook…! Filmed in The Study Nottingham

Featuring

Lady of the Glen ‘Rare Cask’ Knockdhu 2012 (10 year old) 58.2%

Lady of the Glen ‘Rare Cask’ Blair Athol 2013 (10 year old) 57.7%

Lady of the Glen ‘Rare Cask’ Teaninich 2010 (13 year old) 58%

Lady of the Glen ‘Rare Cask’ Dailuaine 2013 (10 year old) 59%

Lady of the Glen Rare Cask Dufftown 2008 (13 year old) 54.7%

Lady of the Glen ‘Rare Cask’ Caol Ila 2013 (10 year old) 56.7%

Lady of the Glen

Johnnie Walker partners with James Jean for Lunar New Year

New Johnnie Walker Blue Label Limited Edition Design is created by one of the worlds’ most influential visual artists, James Jean

Johnnie Walker, the world’s number one Scotch Whisky[1], today announces an intricate new Johnnie Walker Blue Label Lunar New Year Limited Edition Design created by one of the most influential visual artists in the world, Asian-American artist James Jean.

The vivid design for the Year of the Dragon features an innovative and dynamic interpretation of 2024’s Zodiac animal, the noble Wood Dragon. Regarded by many as the mightiest of all the Zodiac animals, the dragon is symbolic of life and creativity as well as a portent of future prosperity in traditional Asian culture, echoing the defiant optimism of the Johnnie Walker motto, Keep Walking. In James’ layered illustrations the evergreen Wood Dragon springs from bountiful flora and fauna, and bursts to life with auspicious ambition.

Renowned for his ability to work across different genres with an imaginative and multifaceted approach to image making, James fuses contemporary subjects with aesthetic techniques inspired by traditional Chinese scroll paintings, Japanese woodblock prints, and Renaissance portraiture.

Recently James worked closely with a number of Hollywood directors on promotional posters for several award-winning high-profile films.

James, who was born in Taipei and raised in New Jersey and attended the School of Visual Arts in New York, says: “With Johnnie Walker Blue Label Lunar New Year, we wanted to create a dragon that felt different, new and innovative – respect for the past but also looking into the future with optimism; in the same way that Johnnie Walker stands for progress through that incredible Keep Walking spirit.”

“The Year of the Dragon is rich in symbolism and tradition in Asia. Many consider the dragon the most powerful animal in the Chinese Zodiac and the Wood Dragon felt remarkably close to me because of the natural elements prevalent in my own work. Evolved from traditional depictions of Chinese dragons, my dragon is composed of flowers and organic elements, from which emerge tendrils and arcing lines, evoking the idea of roots and connection.”

James, who currently lives in Los Angeles, sought inspiration for his designs from the layers of incredible flavour that Johnnie Walker Master Blender Emma Walker and her team bring to Johnnie Walker Blue Label – a whisky made using some of the rarest whiskies from the unparalleled Johnnie Walker reserves of maturing Scotch, including some irreplaceable casks sourced from long-closed ‘ghost’ distilleries.

“There are hidden elements in the picture as well – layers to be discovered, just like the layers in this incredible whisky. I included chrysanthemums, from which flow liquid gold – inspired by Johnnie Walker whiskies – and hummingbirds sipping on the precious nectar. I want the viewer to peel back the layers and discover more about the image. I want my work to function from far away but reveal more details the more closely you explore the imagery.”

Johnnie Walker Global Marketing and Innovation Director, Joao Matos, adds: “James Jean’s remarkable interpretation of the Wood Dragon for Johnnie Walker Blue Label Lunar New Year captures the essence of tradition and innovation. Just as Johnnie Walker embodies progress with our ‘Keep Walking’ spirit, James has beautifully blended respect for the past with an optimistic look towards the future. His dragon, crafted from flowers and organic elements, is a symbol of the power of creativity and connection. We’re thrilled to celebrate the Year of the Dragon with this exquisite, limited edition design.”

James Jean also designed incredible artwork for the Lunar New Year John Walker & Sons XR 21 limited edition design. All Johnnie Walker Lunar New Year limited edition designs are available in selected markets globally.

[1] IWSR 2022