Kensginton Wine Market’s Whisky E-Newsletter
I hope this finds you well! Before we get to the meat of this e-mail, I hope you won’t mind a heads up about a big transition we are in the midst of.
As you know, there is always a lot going on at KWM. People visiting us for the first time are almost always shocked by how small the store is because our virtual footprint is so much larger than the actual one. To borrow from an advertising campaign lodged somewhere in my brain, I’ve long thought of Kensington Wine Market as being “smallnormous.” Our ambition, ideas, and presence often exceed our limitations.
The month of June has proven to be an exceptional case of this. Even though we currently have more staff than we have ever had, and things have slowed a little, especially compared to last year. It has been more than a little crazy over the last while. While continuing to serve customers and host virtual tastings we are upgrading our phone systems, migrating our email hosting and trying to get a new website ready to launch in July.
We are especially excited about the new website. In addition to being even more secure, and far less likely to crash, it will also be more visually appealing. It will also give us the opportunity to geek out and share more information about our favourite partners and suppliers. It will also be easier to use, especially on your cell phone, with a simplified purchase and checkout process.
Getting it ready to launch though is an enormous undertaking. The text for each product needs to be reformatted, and we have to start from scratch with our pictures, which will be higher resolution. You may be better able to appreciate the scale of this project when you consider we have 3000+ products in-store at any given time, and more than 6000 over the course of the year.
In order to get the new site ready to launch, we will be no longer updating the old one with product information after this week. It will still list all the products we have in stock, and you will still be able to purchase bottles and tastings from it without issue. But photos and descriptions will no longer be updated, so that energy can be directed to getting the new site over the finish line.
As with any transition this monumental, there are bound to be hiccups along the way. So I am preemptively asking for your patience and understanding!
As with many events in the last 15 months, the 10th Annual MS Calgary Whisky Festival was not able to take place this past January. We wanted to do something to help the MS Society raise a little money, and our good friend Andy Dunn of Gold Medal Marketing suggested we offer a special single cask bottling.
He approached another good friend of ours, Anthony Wills of Kilchoman, who in turn came up with something very special for us. Kilchoman Distillery opened in 2005, with the first spirit flowing from the stills in June. Amongst others, KWM has been fortunate to bottle a pair of 10 year old casks, and in 2020 a 12 year old from Kilchoman. For the fundraiser Anthony Wills offered one of the distillery’s oldest casks, from their first full year of production. The Kilchoman 14 Year MS Society YYC Cask is the oldest whisky from this distillery ever to come to Canada, and it has arrived! $25 from every bottle sold will be going to the MS Society. More details below.
We have also just opened up a slew of new virtual whisky tastings, which will take us through the end of July. We are going to slow things down a little in August, so we can plan for the fall, including our ongoing virtual tastings. More about that in the next full Malt Messenger.
But for now, we have some really cool additions to the virtual tasting schedule, including Kilchoman with Anthony Wills on July 24, which will feature the new 14-Year-old cask. There is also, Highland Park: We’re Not in Scotland Anymore!? on July 15, which will feature a range of whiskies to appeal to the inner Viking in all of us. And then there is Really Rare & Old: Things Andrew Wants to Try, which will feature a 35-year-old Port Ellen, the official Rosebank 30 Year, a 45-year-old Teaninich and the Arran 25 Year amongst others. This tasting isn’t inexpensive, but for what you have the opportunity to try, a range worth more than $13K, it is in another sense priceless.
We also have room in a couple of other upcoming tastings, like Canada D’Eh: Shelter Point, Canada D’Eh: Two Brewers and Introducing: The Whisky Trail with Julie Hamilton & Celine Tetu. Details on these can be found below too.
Lastly, we have also added some more whiskies to our ongoing sale list. As long as certain importers keeping tempting us with deals, we continue to pass them on!
Everything in this newsletter can be purchased online, so please do so if you can! As always, in the event of a discrepancy in price, the point of sale at KWM will be taken as correct.
Please don’t hesitate to email me with any questions or comments. But be patient, I may be head down working on the new site.
Sincerely,
Andrew Ferguson
Kensington Wine Market
IN THIS EDITION
1. Introducing: The Kilchoman 14 Year MS Society Calgary Cask
2. New Virtual Whisky Tastings
3. Other Up-Coming Virtual Tastings
4. New Additions to the Whisky Bin Ends Sale List!
INTRODUCING:
THE KILCHOMAN 14 YEAR MS SOCIETY YYC CASK
As many of you know, the Kensington Wine Market is the title sponsor of the MS Calgary Whisky Festival. January 2021 would have been our 10th Annual event, but for obvious reasons, we had to pull the plug. Over the last few months, we hatched an idea with our good friend Andy Dunn of Gold Medal Marketing, to select and bottle a cask of whisky, as a fundraiser for the the MS Society of Canada’s Calgary chapter.
Another good friend of KWM, Kilchoman Distillery’s Anthony Wills offered something incredibly special… a 14 year old Kilchoman. This is by 2 years, the oldest Kilchoman ever to come to Canada. The next being our Kilchoman 12 Year KWM Bourbon Cask 338. The Kilchoman 14 Year MS Society YYC Cask has arrived in-store, and is selling for $225+gst, with $25 from every bottle sold going to support the MS Society of Canada.
Kilchoman 14 Year MS Society YYC Cask – 53.4% – Bourbon Cask 78/2006 – Distilled: May 5 2006 – Bottled March 15, 2021 – My Tasting Note: “Nose: soft, doughy and fruity with hints of spruce and beach bonfires; butter poached scallops drizzled in butter and salty lime-mezcalritas; coconut icing on vanilla cupcakes; seaspray on a warm summer day. Palate: big, bold and earthy with a teetering ballance of chewy malt, tarry peat, salty maritime tones and juicy citrus; more lime mezcalritas, lemon drizzled scallops and coconut icing; Dutch licorice, spruce tips and distant beach bonfires to round things out. Finish: long and warming with mildly medicinal tarry peat, loads of citrus, scallops and clean smoke. Comment: compared to our current 12 Year KWM Cask this 14 year old is both bolder with respect to peat and tar, and brighter with respect to its citrus fruits; both are lovely, but completely different animals.” – $225 – $25 per bottle to the MS Society!
NEW VIRTUAL TASTINGS
We have a lot of fun with our virtual tastings, which is partly why they are so successful. We’re a business, and obviously we like to sell things. But we also like trying things we are curious about, and
Highland Park: We’re Not in Scotland Anymore… Are We?!
· Date: Thursday, July 15
· Time: 8 PM
· Cost: $65
· Pick-Up Date: June 21
While looking for tasting ideas we were surprised to discover that a couple of the Highland Park themed whisky pairs were still kicking around. Highland Park went heavy on the Viking themes about a decade ago, the pinnacle of which was Light & Dark, Fire & Ice. We thought it might be fun to revisit these curiosities, along with a couple of friends. Join us for a dissection of Highland Park whiskies including: Ice Edition 17 Year, Fire Edition 15 Year, The Dark 17 Year, The Light 17 Year, Valknut, Valfather, 18 Year and an 18 Year IB single cask. 8x 15ml samples. 8P M, Thursday July 15.
*Samples available for pick-up Monday June 21.
Really Rare & Old: Things Andrew Wants to Try
· Date: Thursday, July 22
· Time: 7 PM
· Cost: $300
· Pick-Up Date: June 25
If you think Andrew looks excited in the photo above, imagine him with the range below in front of him!
We’re back with another baller range of whiskies the big guy is dying to try. The Covid-19 pandemic hit just days before we were supposed to host our first-ever Rare & Old Whisky Festival. We were gutted to have to pull the plug, but it was the right decision, and it will likely be next winter before we return to sit-down in-store, let alone festival-style tasting… but we’ve still had some fun, and will continue to. There are more than a few old and rare whiskies we want to taste, and we know we are not alone in this. The first “Rare & Old: Things Andrew Wants to Try” tasting was a hit. So we are following it up by taking things to a whole other level, with “Really Rare & Old: Things Andrew Wants to Try”. This time our range includes: XOP Port Ellen 35 Year, XOP Blacks Glenrothes 30 Year, North of Scotland 50 Year & Teaninich 45 Year, as well as the official Rosebank 30 Year, Johnnie Walker Bicentenary Blend & Arran 25 Year. In all nearly 250 years of whisky worth north of $13K+gst, including 2 closed-ish distillery drams. 7 PM Thursday, July 22. Includes 7x15ml samples.
*Samples available for pick-up June 25th (Estimate).
Kilchoman Virtual Tasting with Anthony Wills
· Date: Saturday, July 24
· Time: 5 PM
· Cost: $35
· Pick-Up Date: June 21
We are usually fortunate to welcome Anthony Wills of Kilchoman at least once a year for a tasting in-store. But due to Covid-19, it’s been a wee while. Since he last visited our shores, we’ve launched a 12 Year Kilchoman KWM Cask, and we’ve just received a Kilchoman 14-Year-old cask, bottled for the MS Society. So we are long overdue for a tasting and thrilled that Anthony has agreed to join us live from Scotland for a virtual Kilchoman tasting. In all, we have set aside a range of 8 Kichoman whiskies for the tasting: Machir Bay, Machir Bay Cask Strength (sold out), Sanaig 2021, Loch Gorm 2021, Fino Sherry Matured (sold out), 100% Islay 2020 (sold out) and the two casks: 12 Year KWM Cask and 14 Year MS Society YYC Cask. 5 PM, Saturday, July 24. 8x 15ml samples.
*Samples will be ready for pick-up Monday June 21 (Estimate).
NEW WHISKIES FROM CADENHEAD
Introducing: The Whisky Trail with Julie & Celine
· Date: Friday, June 25
· Time: 8 PM
· Cost: $45
· Pick-Up Date: Available Now
· Only 7 spots left!
With Canada Day approaching, we thought we’d shine a little extra light on a few of our favourite Canadian Distilleries. We’re teaming up with our friends at Yukon Brewing & Distilling, aka Two Brewers Yukon Single Malt to put on a virtual tasting of some of the finest whisky made in Canada. We’ll be joined by distillery co-founder Bob Baxter for a 7 whisky vertical Two Brewers tasting featuring Releases 16, 19, 20, 21, 23, and 25, as well as the stunning, recently arrived KWM Cask.
*SAMPLES READY FOR PICK NOW!
Canada D’Eh: Shelter Point Distillery
· Date: Tuesday, June 29
· Time: 8 PM
· Cost: $25
· Pick-Up Date: Available Now
· Only 14 spots left!
With Canada Day approaching, we thought we’d shine a little extra light on some of our favourite Canadian Distilleries. We’re teaming up with our friends Jacob and Leon at Shelter Point to put on a virtual tasting of some of the finest whisky made in Canada. Our range will include 7 15ml samples of Shelter Point Whisky: The Collective, Smoke Point Batch 2, Double Barrel Batch 5, and The Forbidden, as well as some soon to arrive releases: Smoke and Oak, Ripple Rock & the 3rd and final KWM Rye (Alberta Distillers) Cask!
*SAMPLES READY FOR PICK NOW!
Canada D’Eh: Two Brewers Whisky
· Date: Wednesday, June 30
· Time: 8 PM
· Cost: $25
· Pick-Up Date: Available Now
· Only 6 spots left!
We will be joined by Elixir Distillers Brand Ambassador Julie Hamilton, and International Sales Manager Celine Tetu, as we introduce a new range of independent bottlings with really cool labels, The Whisky Trail. We are starting out with 7 whiskies from the Retro Cars and Video Games labels. Our range will include single cask bottlings of Ben Nevis 1996, Cambus 1990, Glen Elgin 2007, Glenrothes 1989, Invergordon 1987, and a pair of Ardmores’ from 2009 and 1998. Participants in the tasting will not only be the first people in Canada to sample these whiskies, but they will also have the first opportunity to purchase the bottles. Friday, June 25, 5 PM.
*We will be donating $15 per ticket to the Brenda Stafford Center, a local women’s shelter.
**Only 23 spots left, out of 85!!!
***SAMPLES READY FOR PICK-UP NOW!
NEW ADDITIONS TO THE SALE LIST
When we get a deal, we pass it along. The full whisky sale list can be viewed in the PDF below, or by browsing All Sale Items on our website! Here are some of the latest and greatest new deals, to be added to our seemingly permanent “sale” list:
1. Auchentoshan 12 Year – Regular $61.99 – Save 20% – Sale $49.59
2. Auchentoshan Three Wood – Regular $82.99 – Save 20% – Sale $66.39
3. Bowmore 18 Year – Regular $124.99 – Save 20% – Sale $99.99
4. Bruichladdich Laddie Classic – Regular $74.99 – Save 25% – Sale $59.99
5. Bunnahabhain 12 Year – Regular $74.99 – Save 15% – Sale $63.74
6. Craigellachie 13 Year – Regular $75.99 – Save 30% – Sale $53.19
7. Dalmore Port Wood – Regular $129.99 – Save 20% – Sale $103.99
8. Glenfarclas 12 Year – Regular $69.99 – Save 20% – Sale $55.99
9. Jura Seven Wood – Regular $121.99 – Save 35% – Sale $79.29
10. Mortlach 16 Year – Regular $139.99 – Save 25% – Sale $104.99
11. Port Askaig 100 Proof – Regular $79.99 – Save 20% – Sale $63.99
12. Port Askaig 8 Year – Regular $67.99 – Save 20% – Sale $54.39
13. Redemption Bourbon – Regular $54.99 – Save 25% – Sale $41.24
14. Redemption Rye – Regular $49.99 – Save 25% – Sale $37.49
15. Teeling Single Malt – Regular $95.99 – Save 25% – Sale $71.99
403-283-8000
888-283-9004
Store Hours
Sunday: 11am – 6pm
Mon – Wed: 10am – 8pm
Thu – Fri: 10am – 9pm
Sat: 10am – 8pm
*All Prices Quoted here are subject to change and do not include GST. In the case of pricing discrepancies, the price at our point of sale will be taken as correct.*