Malt Messenger No. 145 by Andrew Ferguson – The Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah Edition – Merry Whisky News!

Kensington Wine Market’s Whisky Newsletter

It is hard to believe there is less than a fortnight until the end of the year, and barely more than a week until Christmas. Where has the year gone?

2022 has been a year of ups and downs, but there will be time to reflect on that later; we’ve got 8 more days of pre-Christmas shopping to get through, and the final full Malt Messenger of the year.

We’ve been busy over the last couple of weeks planning our Winter 2023 tasting schedule, and most of our planned January and February events are now online and open for registration. We’ve put together a fun mix of both in-person and virtual tastings. More details on our tasting page, and below!

We have had another Outturn of Scotch Malt Whisky Society Whiskies since the last Malt Messenger. Evan has summed up the range which included a rarely-seen Glen Garioch.

We have also pulled together our annual Malt Messenger Last Minute Christmas Gift Guide. Not sure what to get the whisky lover on your list, or need some gift suggestions for your loved one to surprise you with? We’ve got you covered! This year I’ve asked my colleagues, Harmony, Sammy, Curt and Evan, to join me in selecting one whisky each at 5 different price points. Our selections are below.

We do have one last exciting bit of news for this edition of the Malt Messenger: we have a new line of independent bottlings in-store from the infamous Whisky Sponge… aka Angus MacRaild. There are 14 new single malt Scotch whiskies as well as some Armagnac, Cognac and Rum. I am really resisting the urge to insert a Seinfeld reference here!

As always, in the event of a discrepancy in price, the point of sale at KWM will be taken as correct. Online ordering and in-store purchasing are always our preferences.

On behalf of my amazing team here at KWM, I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukkah, Festival Holiday Season and all the best in 2023!

Sincerely,

Andrew Ferguson

Kensington Wine Market

In This Edition

1. Introducing The Whisky Sponge – Spongeworthy Whisky…

2. Evan’s Corner: The SMWS Canada December 2022 Outturn

3. New 2023 Tastings Both In-Person & Virtual

4. Our Annual Last Minute Christmas Gift Guide

Introducing: The Whisky Sponge

Spongeworthy Whiskies

Many of you will be familiar with the Whisky Sponge, an irreverent blog that has poked fun at the Scotch whisky industry for more than a decade. For the first few years at least, the authorship was a mystery, but it was eventually linked with Angus MacRaild, who is a respected whisky expert and contributor to Serge’s Whisky Fun.

Angus started bottling whiskies a couple of years ago under the Whisky Sponge Label, and we have finally been able to welcome some of them to Canada! We’re working on pulling together a virtual tasting with him hopefully in February or March of 2023.

Orkney Sponge

1. Orkney Sponge Highland Park 1998 – 57% – 23 Year – Refill Hogshead – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: richly evocative with that signature Highland Park/Orcadian peaty tang. Lots of concentrated medicinal, herbal and coastal qualities intertwining with soft waxes and honeys. Just gorgeous! Palate: perfect at full cask strength, resinous, honeyd and syrupy in texture with soft underlying peat, citrus fruits, lightly smoky cereal notes and many coastal and medicinal complexities. Harks back to an older style of Highland Park. Finish: long, naturally sweet, herbaceous, richly oily and showing beautifully intricate peat smoke. ” – $890 – 89.75pts Whiskybase

2. Orkney Sponge Old Orkney Malt 2005 Edition 002 – 55% – 16 Year – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: bright, citrussy and coastal with sweet heathery peat smoke and chalky mineral aspects. Very evocative of this modern and distillate-driven Orkney malt style. Palate: great fatness from the distillate, balanced rich maturity with abundant distillery character. Superb freshness, power and all these lovely jangling mineral qualities. Finish: long, honeyed, herbal, delicately peaty and salty.” – Refill Hogshead – $265

3. Orkney Sponge Old Orkney Malt 2006 Edition OO3 – 57.1% – Refill Hogshead – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: very mineral and citric, taut, dry peat smoke, dried herbs, lanolin, and some softer cereal notes. Drying, wonderfully chiselled, sharp and even a little waxy. Great, old school Orkney charisma! Palate: Superb power on arrival! Crisp peat smoke, lemon juice, chalk, barley extract, mineral oils, and gentle waxy qualities to the mouthfeel. Works brilliantly at 57.1% with great drinkability. Finish: long, more floral now, still very mineral, and still with this nicely balanced peat smoke and coastal freshness.” – $285

Equinox & Solstice

1. Old Equinox & Solstice Ben Nevis 7 Year Autumn 2022 – 48.5% – 2nd Fill Sherry Butt – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: oily, fat, and grassy distillate with an overlay of soft, sweet sherry and dark fruits. There’s also a nicely warming peppery note and classic Ben Nevis waxiness. Palate: terrific body and fatness in the mouth. Waxes, mechanical oils, pepper, and sweet dark fruit notes. Finish: surprisingly long and persistently waxy, peppery, and oily.“ – $200

2. Old Equinox & Solstice Glen Garioch 10 Year Summer 2022 – 48.5% – 10 Year – Two First Fill ex-Bourbon Barrels – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: immediately has that ‘summery’ vibe with abundant natural sweetness, oily cereals, freshly kilned malt, light waxes and pollen-heavy yellow meadow flowers. Palate: as much about body and texture as about flavour. Oily and waxy, with balanced sweetness, honeyed notes and some nicely chalky and mineral touches. Finish: Medium in length, plenty sweetness, soft waxes, flowers and stones.” – $200

3. Old Equinox & Solstice Pulteney 13 Year Spring 2022 – 48.5% – Two 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels and One Refill Bourbon Barrel ABV – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: chalky, peppery, floral, and fresh at first nosing. With suggestions of coastal flowers, pebbles, olive oil and sandalwood. A lovely, easy, and fresh nose that’s evocative of its coastal highland origins. Palate: a great balance between sweetness from the malt and more brittle waxy and peppery overtones. Dried flowers, pollens, toasted cereals and light notes of olive oil and subtle ointments. Finish: medium in length, crisp cereals, waxes, pollens, gentle honey notes and abundant freshness brining to mind ozone and sea air.” – $200

Whisky Sponge & One Islay Sponge…

1. Islay Sponge Whisky Sponge Part 1 1990 – 50.6% – 31 Year – Refill Barrel – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: oily and medicinal Islay peat, full of soft notes of iodine and TCP, but also gauze, seawater, grapefruit, and waxy lemon rind. Gentle, deeply evocative, and beautiful. Palate: immediately full of these mature and long-aged peat flavours. Smoked teas, dried exotic fruits, mineral notes of beach pebble and some dried seaweed impressions – complex and harmonious. Finish: long, with green fruits, softly smoky herbaceous notes, fennel and persistent traces of iodine.” – $1050

2. Whisky Sponge Caol Ila 2009 Edition No.66 – 56.3% – 12 Year – 2nd Fill Sherry Butt – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: immediately herbal and liqueurish. Lots of aniseed, salted liquorice, wormwood, and wintergreen. A feeling of many ointments, medicines, and root extracts. Overlaid with a sweet and thick peat smoke. Palate: a seriously big and mouth-coating example of Caol Ila. More industrial aspects of coal tar soap, boiler smoke and engine oil mix with natural tar extracts, fir wood resins and cured meats. Still wonderfully on aniseed and smoked fennel. Finish: long, very tarry, sweetly medicinal, oily, and full of leathery peat smoke, ointments, and herbal liqueurs.” – $265 – 88pts Whiskybase

3. Whisky Sponge Dailuaine 1997 Edition No. 64 – 48.8% – 25 Year – Two Refill Hogsheads – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: broad, generously biscuity, naturally sweet, lightly waxy and showing a fatter and fuller Speyside style typical of Dailuaine. Lightly peppery and with plenty of overripe yellow fruits. Palate: the natural cask strength of 48.8% makes for a perfect easy drinking strength here, immediately easy, mouth-coatingly sweet, playfully fruity and hugely pleasurable to sip. Great maturity on display without any tiredness or dominance from the wood. Gorgeous! Finish: Medium in length and with more of these soft peppery, sweet biscuit and juicy fruit notes. Also some drier floral qualities in the aftertaste.” – $385 – 89.44pts Whiskybase

4. Whisky Sponge Edradour 2005 Equilibrium II – 16 Year – 55% – 2nd Fill Sherry Hogsheads – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: scented hardwoods, BBQ smoke, glowing peat embers and game meats cured with herbs and paprika. Shares many similarities with Equilibrium One, but this is overall much more subtle, scented and complex. Palate: remarkably easy despite the 55% bottling strength. Sweet, peppery peat smoke, gentle cured meat notes, dark chocolate, tobaccos and dark fruits muddled with wood smoke. Silky in texture and really well integrated. Finish: long, deeply smoky with coal and wood smokes intermingling. Sour cherries, cough medicines, salted liquorice and a dark, almost sticky peatiness.” – $365 – 87.6pts Whiskybase

5. Whisky Sponge Glen Garioch 1991 Edition No. 65A – 41.1% – 30 Year – Refill Hogshead / 1st Fill Port Barrique – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: deeply syrupy, chocolatey and dominated by dark fruits, plum wine, aniseed and gentle herbal and rancio notes. Wonderfully concentrated, elegant and cohesive. Palate: the natural strength is low, but the whisky is still wonderfully rounded, balanced and still shows good power. Intensely darkly fruity, herbal, chocolatey and full of earths, wormwood and pipe tobacco. Finish: surprisingly long with rancio, tart berry fruit and impressions of soft waxiness and mulling spices.” – $1075

6. Whisky Sponge Glen Grant 24 Year Edition No.56 – 49.8% – 1995/1997 – Refill Barrel and Refill Hogshead – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: a lovely balance of freshness and maturity. Barley, apples, bright cereals and orchard fruits on one hand; subtle waxiness, mineral oils, shoe polish and light peppery warmth on the other. Palate: perfect and super drinkable at cask strength. Citronella waxes, sweetened cereals, olive oil, green fruits and a lightly waxy texture. Everything you want in a good, mature Glen Grant. Finish: medium in length, warming and still with plenty of green and orchard fruits. Some wood spice and hessian in the aftertaste.” – $400 – 87.75pts Whiskybase

7. Whisky Sponge Glen Keith 1993 Edition No.62 – 51.9% – 28 Year – Refill Barrel/Refill Hogshead – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: softly waxy and full of crystalised and candied fruits. Easy going, lightly oily and full of extremely enticing Speyside fruity goodness. Palate: hyper quaffable mature Speyside malt. The rich fruitiness of the distillate is balanced perfectly by a firm wood spiciness and a lovely waxy texture in between. Hugely pleasurable for lazy evening sipping. Finish: Medium in length and warming, with a focus on on waxes, mineral oils and overripe green fruits.” – $610 – 89.57pts Whiskybase

8. Whisky Sponge Glenlivet 2007 Edition No.57 – 53% – 14 Year – 1st Fill Sherry Hogshead – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: wonderfully dense, dark, and fruity. Full of sticky raisins, date, sultanas, and fruit cake. Also, old Armagnac, chocolate, and tobacco. Rich, layered, clean and classically sherried. Palate: a terrific full bodied sherry profile. Works really well at this bottling strength and shows off all the softer, fruitier tones of this cask, but leaves intact lots of spices, dark chocolate, chewy tobacco and earth richness. Finish: long, earthy, balanced and nicely drying. Still a lot of dark, sticky fruits, tobaccos, and leafy notes.” – $310 – 86.75pts WhiskyBase

9. Whisky Sponge Highland Malt 1993 – Edition No. 59B – “Pride of Sponge” – 46.1% – 28 Year – Refill Hogshead – Producer Tasting Note (sort of): “Made from a secret, ancient family recipe handed down since the primordial era, this delectable Cream Of Sponge features only natural highland ingredients, tinned fresh at unreduced strength without any additives or colouring. Full of vitamins, minerals, vegetable emojis and famed for the waxy residue it leaves on your tongue. Please sup your Cream Of Sponge responsibly, in the manner of an ancient, wizen Druid sooking it painstakingly by the thimbleful from a wooden spoon.” – $425

10.                Whisky Sponge Knockdhu 2006 Edition No.63 – 55% – Refill Hogshead – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: pure olive bine, peat ash, lemon juice and seawater. Simplistic, naked, raw and insanely pure. A medical tincture injected directly into your nostril! Palate: once again all about purity, power, precision and raw ingredient flavours. Yeasty, briny, citric, ashy and robustly smoky. Finish: long, extremely salty, full of pickling vinegars, mercurochrome, bonfire ashes and grizzly peat.“ – $330

11.                Whisky Sponge Springbank 1995 Edition No.60B – 51.5% – 26 Year – Refill Hogshead – Producer Tasting Note: “Nose: big and generously focused on fat waxy notes, soft, lightly medicinal peat smoke, pepper, gentle coastal notes and elegant crystalised citrus fruits with a superb freshness and balance. Palate: the strength, weight and body are all perfect. That pulpy, waxy Springbank texture that comes alive at this kind of age really shines from the off. Then the usual flavours of soft, elegant peat smoke, hessian, medical embrocation and hints of green and citrus fruits. Finish: really long, warming and full of waxy, peppery peaty notes, citrons, camphor and fresh coastal air.” – $1500 – 90.48pts Whiskybase

Evan’s Corner:

The SMWS Canada December 2022 Outturn

19.53 – TOTALLY FANCIFUL – $228

This is a straightforward but very well-made Glen Garioch in ex-Bourbon. Great malty backbone with creamy, spicy, and fruity notes in wonderful balance.

77.72 – ADMIRE THE ARCHITECTURE – $158

Another very good Glen Ord with an old-school dry style. This and the previous 77.71 – OAT SO STICKY are awesome and show Glen Ord in a better light than I can remember noticing before.

85.68 – GTR – GINGER, TOBACCO AND RUM – $152

One of my personal faves in the tasting – the name is bang on. Plenty of Christmas-y ginger and rum notes to get you in the holiday spirit!

72.109 – ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE CASK $140

Big sherry and big char notes in this one. One of the favourites of outturn attendees for both the virtual and live tastings.

4.315 – NO VIKINGS NEED APPLY$180

Another great Highland Park from the SMWS! Further proof that if you want good HP, then you should choose indie bottlings over the official core range for this distillery.

G15.17 – A DRUID’S MAGIC POTION – $138

This is one funky peated whisky, and it should be. How often have you had a peated grain whisky that was made by putting peated malt through a column still? Only Loch Lomond could really pull this off, and they do!

NEW 2023 Tastings Both In Person & Virtual

SMWS January 2023 Virtual Outturn

·     Date: Thursday, January 5th

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $55

·     VIRTUAL TASTING

Log in, pour your drams, and join us from home, the cottage, or work for the first Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada Virtual Outturn of 2023. The KWM team will be your guide as you sample through an exciting range of 7 new, never-before-sampled, SMWS bottlings.

Thursday, January 5 @ 7 PM

SMWS January 2023 In-Person Outturn 6 PM

·     Date: Thursday, January 6th

·     Time: 6 PM

·     Cost: $60

·     IN-STORE TASTING

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada’s January 2023 Outturn tasting will feature new, never before featured bottlings. The range will be the same as the virtual tasting the night before but will also include nibbles from our friends at Peasant Cheese, and the comradery that can only come from 18 SMWS Members in our tasting room. Please note we will not be holding back stock of the Outturn bottles specifically to purchase for this in-person tasting, though there will likely be bottles of most whiskies still available.

Friday, January 6 @ 6 PM.

Bourbon & Beyond Virtual Tasting

·     Date: Friday, January 13th

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $45

·     VIRTUAL TASTING

It’s been a few months since our last Bourbon tasting, and Harmony & Evan are chomping at the bit to get back to it. Harmony has selected a lineup of 7 American whiskies including Bourbon and Rye. The lineup will feature a range of whiskies between 4 and a stupendous 24 years of age!

Friday, January 13 @ 7 PM

The Burns Bash Festival Returns

·     Date: Wednesday, January 25th

·     Time: 7-9 PM

·     Cost: $50

·     IN-STORE FESTIVAL

For the first time since 2020, the Burns Bash is back… We’re marking “the Bard” birth, on his actual birthday this year, with a whisky festival featuring a mix of the latest and greatest new arrivals and some very good deals. We’ve cut out the poetry, bagpipes and haggis, but you’ll get to sample some great malts while catching up with friends new and old. We think that Rabbie would approve of that!

Wednesday, January 25 from 7-9 PM

Independents Day: Whisky Bargain Hunting Virtual Tasting

·     Date: Tuesday, January 31st

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $35

·     VIRTUAL TASTING

Often, the best bargains in Scotch whisky come from independent bottlers. However, with so many indie bottles on the market, where do you even start? It can be daunting to select a bottle of Scotch without tasting it first, so that is precisely what we will do! With this tasting, we will sift through some of these bottles in search of some diamonds in the rough.

Tuesday, January 31 @ 7 PM

SMWS January 2023 Virtual Outturn

·     Date: Wednesday, February 1st

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $45

·     VIRTUAL TASTING

Log in, pour your drams, and join us from home, the cottage, or work… for the February 2023 Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada Virtual Outturn Tasting. The KWM team will be your guide as you sample through an exciting range of 7 new, never-before-sampled SMWS bottlings.

Wednesday, February 1 @ 7 PM

SMWS January 2023 In-Person Outturn 6 PM

·     Date: Thursday, January 6th

·     Time: 6 PM

·     Cost: $50

·     IN-STORE TASTING

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada’s February 2023 Outturn tasting will feature new, never before featured bottlings. The range will be the same as the virtual tasting the night before but will also include nibbles from our friends at Peasant Cheese, and the comradery that can only come from 18 SMWS Members in our tasting room. Please note we will not be holding back stock of the Outturn bottles specifically to purchase for this in-person tasting, though there will likely be bottles of most whiskies still available.

Thursday, February 2 @ 6 PM.

That Bruichladdich Virtual Tasting

·     Date: Tuesday, February 7th

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $65

·     VIRTUAL TASTING

The annual arrival of Bruichladdich limited releases is a little like water and the Okavango Delta; for most of the year there is nothing more than desert, and then all of a sudden there is a surge of life. Conveniently, this also makes for a nice little tasting lineup. We have 8 Laddies slated for this virtual vertical tasting: the latest annual releases of Organic, Bere and Islay Barley; the Port Charlotte SC:01 Sauternes Cask; all three of the Octomore 13s; and as the cherry on top, the Black Art 10.1.

Tuesday, February 7 @ 7 PM.

Whisky & Chocolate

·     Date: Thursday, Ferbruary 17th

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $65

·     IN-STORE TASTING

A sumptuous whisky and chocolate tasting for lovers of both, or people who just love whisky or chocolate! Singles, couples and more complicated or unconventional groupings are all welcome.

Friday, February 17 @ 7 PM

Lost in Translation Virtual Japanese Tasting

·     Date: Tuesday, February 21st

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $45

·     VIRTUAL TASTING

The regulations for Japanese whisky have changed, and for the first time we can now more easily distinguish between true 100% made-in-Japan and what we like to call Japanese-ish whiskies. We will sample two releases each from Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries, including the limited edition Aromatic Yeast releases, and three other Japanese, and Japanese-ish whiskies!

Tuesday, February 21 @ 7 PM.

Bladnoch Distillery Virtual Tasting

·     Date: Thursday, February 23rd

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $50

·     VIRTUAL TASTING

For the longest time, from the 1990s through the first 5 years of the new Millenium, the Lowlands only had three active distilleries: Auchentoshan, Glenkinchie, and Bladnoch. And the Bladnoch Distillery was barely in production for most of that time. It was only in 2015 under new ownership that full time production was resumed, and it would be another 3-4 years until the first bottlings found their way to Canada. A few short years later we find ourselves with a shelf full of Bladnoch single malts, so we’re going to do a range tasting with 7 of them.

Thursday, February 23 @ 7PM.

30 for 30 on the 28th: KWM 30th Anniversary Virtual Tasting Pt.2

·     Date: Tuesday, February 28th

·     Time: 7 PM

·     Cost: $225

·     VIRTUAL TASTING

We did an epic range of 30-year-old whiskies and whiskies from the 1992 vintage (the year we opened) to celebrate our 30th Anniversary back in May of 2022 (on the 30th of the month if we are being precise). And we’ve had it in the back of our mind to do another such tasting before our 30th Anniversary year was up, but alas there are only 28 days in February. Andrew has been tucking aside 1992 vintage and 30 year old bottles for the occasion for months, but the paucity of both 30 year old and 1992 vintage whiskies was making it hard to flush out the range…so we’ve gotten creative. Our range consists of Bowmore 30 Year 2021 Edition (we sampled the 2020 in May), Glengoyne 30 Year, Springbank 30 Year, our Glenfarclas 1992 KWM 30th Anniversary bottling, and the two 30th Anniversary Cognacs bottled for our store by Chateau Montifaud and Vallein Tercinier. For our 7th bottle we have selected a 1991 vintage Tormore 29 Year from Gordon & MacPhail. True it isn’t from 1992, or 30 years of age, but we are determined to see this tasting go ahead, and it does look very enticing…

Tuesday, February 28 @ 7 PM

Last Minute Christmas Gift Guide

We’re doing things a little differently for this year’s gift guide. Rather than put together a list of my top picks, I thought it would be more fun to let 4 of my full-time whisky staff each pick one product at 5 different price points. In addition to my own selections, Curt, Evan, Harmony and Sammy have also given you their recommendations. Listed alphabetically by employee.

Below that you will find Books & Accessories as well as Gift Packs!

Andrew’s Picks

<$100: SMOS Ardmore 11 Yr KWM Cask 707923 – $99.99

It is a rarity to find a single cask single malt under $100 these days, and at cask strength too… forget it. Sweet, peaty, and fruity, it is great value!

<$200: Compass Box KWM 30th Anniversary Blend – $194.99

One of the best bottles we’ve ever put our name on, it is moderately peated, elegant and very fruity… and there is 17 year old Ardbeg in it!

<$300: Boutique-y Clynelish 20 Year KWM Cask – $219.99

How could I resist not putting a bottle with my likeness on the list… this whisky is a celebration of justifiable monument desecration for the anarchist, rebel, revolutionary, or proud patriot on your Christmas list!

<$500: Boutique-y Cutler & Stubbs Blend B1 42 Year Blended Scotch Whisky – $399.99 (500ml)

Don’t get hung up on the playful label, or the bottle size (500ml), this is a gorgeous Blend, likely Edrington stock (think Macallan & Highland Park), and it is sublime!

$500+: Berry’s Ronnie’s Reserve 1975 The Nose – $2,199.99

Part of a range of Glenrothes bottled to mark Ronnie Cox’s retirement, this 44 year old whisky is quite simply gorgeous… I like the 1979 too, but the 1975 has the edge!

 

Curt’s Picks

<$100: Benromach Contrasts: Cara Gold Malt – $94.99

Smells like a dirty, smoky barn. In other words, whisky heaven.

<$200: Teeling 15 Year KWM Armagnac Cask 16570 – $149.99

One of our best (and most overlooked) store casks. If you haven’t already picked up a bottle, you’ve been whiskying wrong.

<$300: Orkney Sponge Orkney Malt 2005 Ed.No.002 – $264.99

A label that hearkens back to the long lost Stromness distillery, which tragically went the way of the Dodo in the 1920s. With a label like this it wouldn’t even matter what was in the bottle!

<$500: Whisky Agency Glen Grant 1997 – $369.99

Once the belle-of-the-ball, Glen Grant rarely gets the love it deserves anymore. Look to the indies (like this one!) for the real sleepers.

$500+: Blackadder Statement Ladyburn 1973 200mL – $1,299.99

Truth: there is not a single bottle in the shop I am more curious about. Ladyburn (aka Ayrshire) was in production for less than a decade and has been nothing but a memory since 1975. Of all the untold thousands of whiskies I’ve tried, there have been no more than 3 or 4 Ladyburns…ever. Liquid history.

 

Evan’s Picks

<$100: (ish): Kentucky Spirits Ltd. KWM Barrel Bourbon – $104.99

This stretches the concept of 100 bucks since it is $105, but what doesn’t push the budget nowadays?

<$200: Berrys Tobermory 2008 KWM Cask – $149.99

Because everybody deserves a massively sherried, high-alcohol whisky from the Isle of Mull for a gift this season!

<$300: SMWS Membership Pack – $230.00 – OR – SMWS 19.53 – Totally Fanciful – $227.99

Gift the gift of a Scotch Malt Whisky Society membership for the year to yourself or someone else – either way this $230 gift of whisky deserves to be shared.

$500+: Whisky Agency Glentauchers 1989 3 Rivers – $824.99

I have not tried this, but one can’t go wrong with a Glentauchers, and Curt’s tasting notes make it sound enticing.

 

Harmony’s Picks

<$100: Kilchoman Sanaig – $98.99

It’s peated and sherried – what’s not to love?

<$200: Glenfarclas KWM 21 Year Cask Strength #2 – $199.99

It’s Glenfarclas 21 on steroids. Plus two men in kits? *whistles*

<$300: Glenmorangie Signet – $261.99

Chocolate and coffee with booze – the perfect after dinner sipper.

<$500: First Edition Laphroaig 14 Year Sherry – $424.99

Damn! Medicinal with dark fruit. Classic Laphroaig. Leaves you wanting more, more, more…

$500+: Glengoyne 25 Year – $599.99

Sherry bomb ditty boom! Smooth, with leather, red fruits, brown sugar, long spicy slowly drying oak.

 

Sammy’s Picks

<$100: Sortilège Maple Syrup Whisky – $46.99

My favorite kind of maple syrup for the festival des sucres.

<$200: Dumangin Whisky Bushmills 2014 – $134.99

Poached Pear with vanilla ice cream in a bottle.

<$300: Cadenhead Original A Tennessee 18 Year – $289.99

Perfect topping for my sticky toffee pudding.

<$500: Boutique-y Glen Garioch Bt.4 29 Year – $449.99

Tropical fruit and melons with chocolate. Also…there are not too many older expressions of Glen Garioch on the market.

$500+: Kinship Collection 2021 – $9,199.99

I cannot decide which I want the most, so I just want the whole lot!

 

Books & Accessories

Glasses and books for the Whisky Nerd in your life!

1. Glencairn Glass – Our favourite whisky glass! – $12

2. Glencairn Glass Twin Pack – Two is better than one (…and so is the price!) – $21

3. Canadian Whisky: The New Portable Expert – No one knows more about Canadian Whisky than Davin de Kergommeaux. This is the second, updated version of his award winning book. – $23

4. Malt Whisky Yearbook 2023 – Our favourite annual whisky tome is here, the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2022. The book features writeups on most single malt distilleries around the world, with a focus on distilleries in Scotland. There are also tasting notes and articles by notable whisky writers. – $34

5. Everything You Need to Know About Whisky: But Are Too Afraid to Ask – A collaboration between Nick Morgan and The Whisky Exchange, “Everything you Need to Know About Whisky: But Are Too Afraid to Ask” is 250 pages written for whisky lovers, by a man who has dedicated his life to the industry. – $43

6. Glencairn Cut Crystal Glass – Our favourite whisky glass, fancied up a lot with a nice weight! – $40

 

Gift Packs Galore

1. Drinks by the Dram Japanese Whisky Set – 5x30ml Japanese Whiskies – $70

2. Drinks by the Dram Regions of Scotland – 5x30ml One single malt from each of Scotland’s Regions. – $55

4. That Boutique-y Whisky Scotch Set – 4x50ml Scotch Whiskies – $55

5. Glenmorangie Gift Pack – 4x100ml – Just in time for Christmas, a gift pack of 4 100ml bottles of Glenmorangie. 10Yr, Lasanta (Sherry Finish), Quinta Ruban (Port Finish), Nectar D’Or (Sauternes Finish). – $60

6. Compass Box Peat Monster Gift Set – Peat Monster needs no introduction by this point. It does, however, need to do a quick twirl in its new livery. Check out this wicked little gift set from the team at Compass Box. The pair of glasses that come with this bottle are unquestionably some of the coolest we’ve ever seen. Great design, and brilliantly weighted for comfort. We can neither confirm nor deny that a certain member of the whisky team may have wanted these glasses so bad that he or she bought this package, gifted the bottle, and keep the glassware. Ok…we actually can confirm that, but we won’t mention names. …unless you ask. – $90

7. That Boutique-y Whisky Premium Scotch Set – 4x50ml – $92

8. Tomatin Contrast – 2x350ml – “This limited release presents a unique opportunity to directly compare the effect of Bourbon and Sherry casks on whisky distilled in specific years at Tomatin Distillery; 1973, 1977, 1988, 1991, 2002 & 2006. Having selected and vatted casks from the same six years in both types of casks, our Distillery Manager, Graham Eunson, has created two incredible whiskies and an exceptional tasting experience.”- Regular $209.99 – SALE $105.00

9. Old Forester Whiskey Row Gift Pack – 3x375ml – One of the best Bourbon deals in the store! This holiday gift pack includes one 375 ml bottle of each of the following: 1897 Bourbon Bottled in Bond, 1910 Old Fine Whisky, and 1920 Prohibition-Style Bourbon. – $110

10.                Drinks by the Dram Whisky Collection Set 2022 – 12x50ml Primarily Scotch whiskies. – $126

11.                Drinks by the Dram Irish Whiskey Series 2022 – 12x50ml Irish Whiskies – $90

“Holiday” (Dare We Say ‘Advent’?) Calendars…

In addition to our own KWM 2022 Whisky Calendar, we also have 6 different Holiday ‘Advent’ Calendars from Drinks by the Dram and That Boutique-y Whisky Co. Rather than clog this email with descriptions, you can find all the info on our site, including the full product lists. But we suggest you don’t look at that… there are too few surprises left in this World.

2. That Boutique-y Whisky Holiday Calendar – 24x30ml Whiskies – $259.99

3. DBTD Peated Whisky Holiday Calendar – 24x30ml Peated Whiskies – $279.99

5. DBTD Scotch Whisky Holiday Calendar – 24x30ml Scotch Whiskies – $279.99

6. DBTD Whisky Holiday Calendar – 24x30ml Whiskies – $280

And let’s not forget our own pride and joy…

KWM 2022 Whisky Calendar – 1x35ml, 23x50ml, & 1x 100ml – The KWM Whisky Calendar, aka “25 Days of Dram Fine Whisky”, is back for the 9th straight year. Much more info on our website! This year’s calendar includes 24 50ml premium whiskies, a custom logo Glencairn glass, and a 100ml Scotch Malt Whisky Society whisky for Christmas Day. You can follow along on the KWM Blog starting December 1, or on one of our various social media channels as we introduce and discuss each day’s whisky. – $460

FREE DELIVERY

We are proud to offer Free City Wide Delivery on all orders over $100 Monday-Friday! Orders under $100 are subject to a flat rate $10 delivery fee.

CURBSIDE PICKUP

Physical distancing is made easy with curbside pickup. Order online or by phone, wait for confirmation your order is ready then call us when you are parked in the back or out front. Be sure to let us know what your vehicle looks like!

403-283-8000

888-283-9004

Regular Store Hours

Mon-Wed 10 AM – 8 PM

Thurs & Fri 10 AM – 9 PM

Sat 10 AM – 8 PM

Sun 11 AM to 6 PM