We are already a little more than halfway through September, and that means there are just two weeks left to take advantage of the early bird price for Kensington Wine Market’s 2017 Whisky Advent Calendar. We managed to bring the cost down on this year’s edition to $375, but you can have it for $340, and save $35 if you order before October 1st!
Our Fall Tasting Schedule, and Fall Wine Times Newsletter have been out for a few weeks now. If you don’t get the Wine Times by snail-mail or e-mail, you can view it on our website.
The Fall Tasting Schedule has been online for just a couple of weeks, and not surprisingly the Fall Single Malt Festival was the first tasting to sell out. But there is far more to this fall’s tasting lineup than just that one event.
We have had a few new whiskies trickle into the shop over the last couple of weeks. First there is the latest Viking influenced Highland Park bottling, Valkyrie. The whisky is a more heavily peated Highland Park expression than we are used to seeing, produced with 50% fully peated malt. The Glenfiddich Experimental Series IPA is finally in. If like me you enjoy both single malts and IPAs, this might just be the whisky for you.
Finally, our best selling exclusive whisky is back in stock. The Ileach Cask Strength, a mysterious sherried Islay single malt is back. The producers can’t tell you what it is, be we are under no such restrictions. This young Lagavulin is great bang for you buck at $80, but don’t take our word for it, pop in for a taste!
I hope you enjoy this edition of the Malt Messenger.
Sláinte!
In This Edition
- Paul John Whisky Tasting with Madhu Kanna – Monday
- Kilchoman KWM Cask Launch with Anthony Wills
- Other Up-Coming KWM Whisky & Spirits Tastings
- Early Bird Pricing Ending Soon for The Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Calendar
- Introducing Highland Park Valkyrie
- Introducing Glenfiddich Experimental Series IPA
- The Ileach Cask Strength is Back
Andrew Ferguson
Kensington Wine Market
PS – Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter:
@scotch_guy, Instagram: @thescotch_guy/
or @kwmwhisky and Facebook: facebook.com/scotch.guy.1
We Have Two Amazing Value 20 Year Old KWM Exclusive Arran Single Sherry Casks
We have bottled two very different sherry casks of Arran for our shop. The samples were too tasty and the pricing too good to limit ourselves to just one of them. Read more about them here, or pop into the shop to sample them!
$150 Each
NEW Compass Box KWM 25th Anniversary Blend
This is one of our most exciting exclusive whiskies ever… It is a Compass Box Blend that we’ve created in collaboration with John Glaser of Compass Box. The whisky was inspired by some of John’s greatest hits, and it is stunning.
$160
Up-Coming Whisky Tastings at KWM
Our Busiest Season of Fall Tastings Ever!
But there is so much more than that. We have more than 10 Brand Ambasador led Master Classes this fall. Madhu Kanna’s “From Goa with Love” tasting is coming up on the 18th and We welcome Anthony Wills of Kilchoman to the shop the following night, September 19. And that is just a taste. Here is the full KWM Fall Whisky & Spirits Tasting Schedule:
- Craft vs. Classics: American Whiskey – Tuesday September 26, 7PM – American Whiskey $35 American craft whiskey is on the rise, but is it ready to go toe to toe with the established Bourbon and Rye brands? There is only one way to find out! – $35
- Balvenie with Jamie Johnson – Wednesday October 11, 7PM – For her first ever Master Class at KWM we’re going vertical with Balvenie’s Brand Ambassador Jamie Johnson. We’ll tackle the range from 12 – 25 years of age. – $35
- Millstone Whisky with Patrick van Zuidam – Thursday October 12, 7PM – Patrick van Zuidam is one of the Netherland’s most respected distillers. He’ll walk you through a range of some of the best single malt and rye whiskies in the world, including a new cask bottled for KWM! – $25
- An Introduction to Single Malt Scotch – Thursday October 19, 7PM – Your inception into the complex world of single malt whisky. We’ll debunk the myth of regions while introducing you to a range of different styles. – $30
- Spectacular Speysiders – Tuesday October 24, 7PM – Quite simply this is a range of our favourite Speyside whiskies new and old… you won’t be disappointed! – $75
- Legendary Gordon Macphail w/ Alastair Milligan – Sunday October 29, 4PM – We’ll sample a range of Benromach and Gordon Macphail whiskies with Brand Ambassador Alastair Milligan, including a pair of very rare 1982 vintage whiskies from St. Magdalene and Brora. - $80
- Going with the Grain – Monday October 30, 7PM – This will be an exploration of single and blended grain whiskies with an emphasis on old and rare. Three of the whiskies sampled will be north of 50 years of age, and two others over 40! – $100
- Head to Head to Head – Tuesday October 31, 7PM – This time it will be Evan, Hunter and Marty going head to head to head. Which expert’s whisky picks will reign supreme in this KWM Battle Royale! – $30
- Hunter Laing with Andrew Laing – Thursday November 2, 7PM – We are thrilled to be launching our first ever single cask of Bowmore, with special guest Andrew Laing of Hunter Laing. It is our first exclusive cask of Old Malt Cask, since the Port Ellen we bottled with Andrew’s father Stewart many years ago. This will be a stand-up mini-festival including a glass! – $30
- Springbank with Melanie Stanger – Friday November 3 – Springbank is the most stubbornly traditional distillery in Scotland. We love its spirit of independence, and of course its whisky! Special guest Meanie Stanger will take us through a range of whiskies representing its three spirit styles and Kilkerran whisky from its sister distillery Glengyle. – $30
- Masters of Malt – Thursday November 23, 7PM – Only the rarest and very special whiskies are showcased at this tasting which always highlights some of the most exciting new whiskies in the world! – $125
- Whisky Advent 2017 Launch Party – Thursday November 30, 7PM – Twas the night before Whisky Advent and all over the floor, there were tables full of whiskies for sampling throughout the store! A mini whisky festival celebrating the launch of our 2017 Whisky Advent Calendar (event price includes a complimentary Glencairn glass). You have the opportunity to attend this event FREE (1 ticket-per calendar) with the purchase of our Advent Calendar, but space in the event is limited so buy your calendar soon and register for the party! – $25 (FREE with the purchase of an Advent Calendar)
- Glenfiddich with Beth Havers – Tuesday December 5, 7PM – Glenfiddich is launching three new expressions this year, and our friend Beth Havers, Glenfiddich Canadian Brand Ambassador, is making a special trip to Calgary just to showcase them! – $30
Early Bird Pricing Ending Soon for the Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Calendar
Just Two Weeks Left to Save $35, Ends September 30th!
We were a little late getting out word on our Whisky Advent Calendar this year… A couple of products fell through very late in the game, which left us scrambling. Fortunately we managed to figure things out, we found a couple of other gems and we have pulled together another exciting offering for 2017. We also succeeded in bringing the base retail price down by $25, and we are extending the early bird price until the end of September. Save $35 by ordering before September 30, $340+GST, $375+GST thereafter!
Here are the details on the Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Calendar:
This year we have 25 all new whiskies, never before featured in the KWM Advent Calendar, including a Dutch whisky and three KWM exclusive single casks… We are really excited about our 2017 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar. For the fourth straight year we have designed and built our own exclusive Whisky Advent Calendar, featuring 24 50ml whiskies, a 100ml Christmas Day bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (The Society) and a custom logo Glencairn glass. The Society is the world’s largest whisky club, and bottles whiskies exclusively for its members. This year’s Calendar has a single cask from the Society that has been selected and bottled exclusively for the Calendar and Canadian Society members (750ml bottles will be made available to Society members in 2018!). Since Society whiskies are exclusively available to Society members, this is an opportunity for non-members to get their hands on a Society whisky. Recipients of the KWM Whisky Advent Calendar will be the first people to sample this exciting new whisky!
The Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Calendar is more than just a product for us – it is a way for us to share and connect with other whisky lovers in Calgary, Alberta and across Canada. Details on the whiskies’ released and their distillery will be posted on the KWM Blog each day of Advent. Recipients of the Calendar are encouraged to share their thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The KWM Whisky Advent Calendar also comes with a 10% discount card, good for any of the whiskies in the Calendar (excepting the Society whisky), subject to availability.
A deposit of $150 will be charged for each calendar requested. This helps KWM with the production costs. The balance of the payment will be taken a few days before delivery to our shop. ETA is late October, early November!
Order a Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Calendar!
Introducing: Highland Park Valkyrie
The First in a Series of New Orcadian Single Malts!
The Valkyrie, bottled at 45.9% is the first in a series of the 3 Highland Park releases, with Valknut and Valhalla to follow in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Valkyrie is a smokier than typical expression of Highland Park, made with a higher proportion of Orkney peated malt than is typical in distillery bottlings.
Highland Park famously malts roughly 18-20% of its own barley on traditional floor maltings. It does this with Orcadian peat from the legendary Hobister’s Hill. Orcadian peat is very different from that in other parts of Scotland, because the Orkneys are too windy for trees to take root. Consequently the peats on Orkney are light and more floral than their darker and woodier mainland counterparts.
Most Highland Park bottlings are composed of whiskies distilled from 1/4 heavily peated Highland Park malted on site and 3/4 unpeated commercial malt. The Valkyrie is composed of half and half, make it one of the peatiest Highland Park’s the distillery has ever released.
Highland Park Valkyrie - 45.9% – My Tasting Note: “Nose: honeyed with bright freshly picked oranges and dark chocolate; doughy with some fruit flan, clean fragrant smoke and waxy tallow candles. Palate: starting light, citrussy and silky it quickly builds into something richer and more savoury; firm smoke and oily peats mingle with chocolate, spices: liqourice root, fennel and cloves; still fruity with tobacco and leather; Finish: big, long firm; the rich smoke and savoury maritime notes mingle with chocolate and fruits. Comment: this whisky proves I’m not crazy, I’ve sampled some uncharacteristically peaty Highland Park single casks over the years… it is an interesting style that I hope we see more of! - $105
Highland Park Valkyrie – 45.9% - Distiller’s Tasting Note: “Green apples | Sun-ripened lemons | Oriental spices | Vanilla | Preserved ginger | Dark chocolate | Salty liquorice | Warm aromatic smoke.” – $105
87pts Whisky Advocate: “Valkyrie replaces the current Dark Origins expression and was matured in a combination of first-fill American oak sherry casks, American oak bourbon casks, and European oak sherry casks, along with some refill casks. Apricots and aromatic wood smoke on the nose; slightly oily, with raisins. Stewed fruits on the palate, with earthy peat, licorice, and black pepper. Aniseed, dark berry notes, and wood spice in the finish.”
From the Producer: “Plunging down from the dark heavens, the Valkyries would descend like avenging angels on horseback to comb the battlefields for the bravest of the fallen warriors, heroes fit to enter the great Norse god Odin’s hall, Valhalla. VALKYRIE celebrates our rich Nordic ancestry here on Orkney, where we were once part of a vast Viking kingdom, and its packaging was designed by internationally renowned designer and Viking Soul, Jim Lyngvild. Exquisitely balanced and delivering wave upon wave of warm aromatic smoke and richly ripened fruit, VALKYRIE is the first in a series of three special Viking Legend releases and has just been awarded the Chairman’s Trophy in the 2017 Ultimate Spirits Challenge, scoring 99 out of 100.
“The Valkyries go weaving with drawn swords, Hild and Hjorthrimul, Sanngrid and Svipul. Spears will shatter, shields will splinter, Swords will knaw like wolves through armour. Darraðarljóð (Song of Oarrador), Njal’s Saga”
Describing the fall of Brian Boru to Viking forces at the Battle of Clontarf, 1014
Introducing Glenfiddich Experimental Series IPA
A Whisky For Lovers of All Things Hoppy!
Billed as the first single malt matured in an IPA cask, the distillery commissioned Speyside Craft Brewery to produce a beer specifically to season the casks. The beer was matured for a month in ex-Glenfiddich casks before the casks were returned to the distillery to finish a single malt batch for 3 months. Bottled at 43%. This is a limited edition and will not last long.
Andrew’s Tasting Note
Nose: creamy, doughy and fruity; citric and floral: subtle raspberry and marmalade with a touch of hop oils.
Palate: round, creamy and oily with grassy malt, lemon slices on goat cheese and gentle hop oils; very floral with a prominent hop component and moderately decadent with soft honey and sugars; creamy, it becomes more herbaceous and vegetal.
Finish: long, coating and vegetal with lemon, goat cheese, cream and oily floral hops.
Comment: the concept is unique, and it has created a unique whisky; like the beer who’s barrels it was matured in the whisky is refreshing and crisp, a great summer sipper.
Distiller’s Tasting Note
“Vibrant with a zesty citrus note followed by soft, sweet vanilla and a hint of hops.”
The Process
- Our collaborators had a momentous task ahead. First, they had to design and create three separate brews of different strengths – freshly brewed IPA craft beer that could rest in whisky casks, later to be used to finish the Experimental Series variants.
- Back at our Distillery, Brian secretly kept up to nine barrels seasoning at any one time, hidden from view in his warehouse. He varied the time the craft beer spent penetrating deep into the oak casks, before filling the casks back up with whisky to see what new flavours would be revealed.
- It was a lengthy, experimental process but they finally decided on their favourite: Brew 2. The science of seasoning, beer strength and the time the whisky spent being finished all had a remarkable effect on the final, distinctive flavour.
- What began as a quirky idea had quickly turned into an intensive experiment. Not only had Brian pioneered a new malt, but he had created a new craft beer in the process.
The Ileach Cask Strength Is Back
Our Best Selling Exclusive Whisky
It is back and exclusive to KWM in Calgary again, bottled at 58%. And it is enormously darker… this is new and exciting! The Ileach Cask Strength is a mystery malt from Islay. In other words, the distillery of origin is a mystery but, look closely at the label, and you’ll see a couple of clues: the distillery has its own bay, presumably passable on only the one side; it’s water-front has a distinct appearance; and could that be the ruins of the Dunyvaig Castle on the far right?
The Ileach Cask Strength – 58% – My Tasting Note: “Nose: pungent, this is classic Islay, maretime, smoky, salty and medicinal; lots of brine and chewy malt, some dark fruits, chocolate, leather and earthy tones; underneath a base of vanilla and toasty oak. Palate: still maretime, smoky, tarry and medicinal, the whisky is earthy, leathery and malty; it is also big and rich, there is leather, tobacco and chocolate with loads of spices too. Finish: tarry, leathery, peaty and chocolaty with salt and oils. Comment: classic sherried Islay single malt with a very prominent sherry cask influence. Is it Lagavulin, Caol Ila, peated Bunnahabhain? We’ll never know, but the whisky’s label has clues!” – $80
To Register: pop into the shop, call 403-283-8000 or register online!
Thank You for Reading the Malt Messenger!
Contact & Disclaimers
If you have any whisky questions or comments concerning The Malt Messenger please contact me by e-mail, phone, or drop by the store.
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 and don’t include GST. In the case of discrepancies in pricing, the price in our in store point of sale will be taken as correct.
Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger.
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
Owner & Scotchguy
Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
www.kensingtonwinemarket.com
Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000