November has gone by so quickly it seems like a blur, and Christmas is nearly upon us. We’ve been slowly rebuilding from Whisky Week, The Fall Single Malt Festival and our Annual Fall Sale. The last of the scheduled whisky tastings for the fall was last night, Master Malt, and we had an incredible lineup. But don’t despair, we’ve added a few tastings to the December Calendar to keep the party going.
Next Thursday, December 4, we are putting on a tasting of our new range of whiskies from Master of Malt’s “That Boutique-y Whisky Company” range. Exclusive to KWM in Canada we have a selection of seven very tasty single malts from: Bowmore, Clynelish, Caol Ila, Highland Park, Macallan, Secret Distillery No.1 (Glenfarclas), and Springbank. We’ll be sampling this range in the “Master’s of Malt?” tasting, only $60 for 7 delectible malts! Further details below.
The following week, on Thursday December 12, we’ve added a Wilson & Morgan Launch Tasting, to highlight some impressive new whiskies just in from independent bottler Wilson & Morgan. A few of them are exclusive to KWM in Calgary, all of them are very limited. We have a pair of Bowmores at 15 and 22 years of age, whiskies from Clynelish, Bunnahabhain and Glen Keith as well as two oldies: MacDuff 32 Year and Caol Ila 30 Year. I’ve already sampled 3 of these, and can assure you, you are in for a treat! Just $65 gets you in the door for this one. Further details below.
The Whisky Advent Calendar may have come and gone, but if you’re looking for some great gift ideas still readily available, we have lots of options for you. The two most popular annual whisky books are back in stock, Malt Whisky Yearbook 2014, as well as Jim Murray’s 2014 Whisky Bible. Links to both of these books can be found on the sidebar. They’re a great addition to any gift this fall, as are some of the gift packs we’ve been stocking up on. We have miniature gift packs from: Auchentoshan, Benromach, Bowmore, Glenfarclas, Glenglassaugh, Tomatin and more! Our annual Malt Messenger Gift Guide will be out in a few weeks, but in the meantime you can feast your eyes on some of gift packs an miniatures available below!
More than a few new whiskies have found their way through our doors over the last couple of weeks. Detailed information on most of these will come out in the next full Malt Messenger, in the meantime I’ve included a list to tease you with which can be found below. It includes whiskies from the aforementioned Master of Malt and Wilson & Morgan, as well as Gordon & MacPhail, Glenfiddich, Kavalan, Tomatin, Littlemill, Highland Park, Cadenhead, Springbank and more!
The most exciting new whiskey in our store is our very own cask of Breaking & Entering Bourbon by St. George Distillery. This blended bourbon is very soft and smooth, and available no where else in the world but our shop. This is our 5th cask of Bourbon in the last 6 years, and as with the previous ones, we expect it will disappear quickly. Drop in for a taste! Further details below.
Finally, ticket sales for the MS Calgary Whisky Festival have been brisk. We crushed our goal of 50 by November 21, and are already well above our goal of 100 by December 1 (125 and counting!). Kensington Wine Market is the retail sponsor of the 3rd Annual MS Calgary Whisky Festival, January 16 2013, and the official ticket seller. We are forecasting 25 presenters and more than 150 whiskies at this years event, building on the successes of the previous two. Anyone who purchases their tickets for the MS Calgary Whisky Festival before December 3 will be included in the early bird draw for a bottle of 24 year old Highland Park. More details on the MS Calgary Whisky Festival and the draw can be found below.
I hope this Malt Messenger Bulletin finds you well, and keeping warm by the fire with a seductive dram. If you’re running low, we have some options for you…
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
Kensington Wine Market
PS- PS – Don’t forget you can follow me on twitter twitter.com/scotch_guy and Facebook facebook.com/scotch.guy.1 .
Malt Whisky Yearbook 2014 Now In Stock!
$29.99
The 9th Edition is revised for 2014 with updated distillery information, new tastings notes and more great articles and insights on the whisky industry.
The best reference on Malt Whisky period!
Click Here For More Info
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2014
$21.99
The 10th Anniversary Edition of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. 4,500 whiskies reviewed, including 2,500 single malt Scotch whiskies, 375 blends and 634 American Whiskies.
Click Here for More Info
Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada Tasting Added for December 11
$55 Members / $45 Guests
Note this tasting is only open to those not registed for the December 6 event. Both members and the uninitiated are welcome to join us! The Calgary branch of the World’s largest whisky club will be holding an overflow tasting at Winebar Kensington to showcase December’s new releases. Members, guests and non-members are all welcome. 7 rare, limited, cask strength, single cask single malt Scotch whiskies will be sampled!
Click Here to Register
MS Calgary Whisky Festival 2014 Tickets Now On Sale!
Thursday January 16 2014 $95
25 stations, more than 40 different distilleries, a dozen brand ambassadors and 150+ whiskies, all for a good cause! We’ll also be announcing shortly a trio of Master Classes which will run concurrent to the event.
Buy before December 3 to be included in the early bird draw!
Click Here to Register
December KWM Whisky Tastings
Our Winter 2014 schedule will be out soon, but in the meantime here’s a couple of
1. Masters of Malt? – Thursday December 5, 2013 – 7PM – Peasant Cheese Shop (next door to KWM) – There are no age statements, no details on the type of casks the matured in and all we really know is the distillery of origin, the strength and the number of bottles. They have such great labels…, but how good are they? Join us for a tasting of our colour new exclusives from Master of Malt’s “That Boutique-y Whisky Company” range, and decide for yourself. We’re moving next door to the new Peasant cheese shop for this tasting! – $60
2. SMWS Canada December Overflow Tasting – Wednesday December 11, 2013 – 5:30PM – Winebar Kensington 1131 Kensington Rd NW – This is an overflow seating for the SMWS December release. It will consist of the same lineup of whiskies as the First Friday tasting. 5:30PM, Wednesday Nov 11 at Winebar Kensington, 1135 Kensington Road NW. Please note this tasting is not open to anyone attending the Dec 6 tasting. – $55 Guests / $45 Members
3. Wilson & Morgan Launch Tasting – Thursday December 12th – Wilson & Morgan is a boutique independent bottler, and they have some real gems! We’re taking over the neighboring Peasant cheese shop for a tasting of 7 Wilson & Morgan single malts from Bunnahabhain, Bowmore (15 & 22 Year), Caol Ila (30 Year), MacDuff (32 Year), Glen Keith 21 Year and Clynelish! – $65
You can register for our tastings in store, by phone, or through our website: https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php.
New Editions of Popular Whisky Books in Stock
The 2014 Editions of the Whisky Bible and Malt Whisky Yearbook are in!
1. Malt Whisky Yearbook 2014 – In my humble opinion this is the best and most comprehensive whisky book out there. Wikipedia can only tell you so much, and there is something satisfying about leafing through the pages of this book discovering facts about distilleries you didn’t even know existed. Publisher Iggvar Ronde finds a way to make this annual reference interesting, fun and fresh every year. This is a must have for the dedicated lover of malt whisky, and a great gift for any whisky fanatic. We are proudly the only Canadian store listed for the 2nd straight year! – $29.99
2. Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2014 – The self-proclaimed prophet of whisky scoring is back with his 10th Edition of the Whisky Bible, featuring 1,100 new entries. Controversial, opinionated and brash he may be, but you at least have to respect the amount of work that goes into this book. I frequently disagree with the scores, but find most of the tasting notes helpful. First and foremost the Whisky Bible is a buying guide, and there is no substitute for it. – $21.99
3. Whisky Advocate Winter 2013 – Why not put out a quick plug for John Hansell’s fine whisk(e)y magazine, it is just in. Features a special report Blended Scotch Whisky, a whisky lover’s Guide to Golf in Scotland and much more. – $6.50
Gift Packs R Us
We’re Stocking Up on Popular Gifting Items at All Ranges for December.
It’s hard to stuff a stocking with several whisky bottles, though I’ll give full props to anyone who takes on the challenge… Around this time of year we start to see a proliferation of gift packs offering a selection of malts from various distilleries. We have some great standbys this year, like the Auchentoshan, Bowmore and Glenmorangie gift sets but also some new and exciting ones. Glenfarclas has come out with a gift pack featuring a more mature range of whiskies 15, 21 and 25 years of age, and has also released a miniature of their 40 year old, complete with tube. Benromach has also come out with a handsome gift set featuring 3 200ml expressions and we even have 200ml sets of our best selling
Montifaud Cognacs
.
The king of the Gift Packs is the Glenglassaugh Rare Cask Series. This leather bound pack is a steal, containing 3 200ml Glenglassaughs: 26 Year, 37 Year and 43 Year. A 200ml of the 43 Year alone should be $714, based on the price of the full bottles (when it was available), meaning you are effectively getting this charming little set at 35% discount, and they are throwing in the 26 and 37 years olds as a bonus! We sold nearly 30 of these last year, and are only getting 5 this year. This is a once in a lifetime bargain that will not come again. The distillery’s new owners are not likely to continue giving away the farm! Just $499.99…
1. Auchentoshan Gift Collection – 3x50ml – 12Yr, 18Yr & Three Wood – $22.99
2. Benromach 10 Year 200ml – A perfect miniature replica including tube and cork. – $23.99
3. Benromach Tri Pack – 3x200ml: Organic, 10 Year & Peat Smoke -
4. Bowmore Gift Collection – 3x50ml – 12, 15 & 18Yrs – $22.99
5. Glenfarclas 40 Year 50ml – A true miniature of their classic 40 year old… The only 50ml 40 year old in our market! – $47.49
6. Glenfarclas 15, 21 & 25 Year Gift Pack – Another great offering of more mature malts! – $49.49
7. Glenglassaugh Rare Cask Series – As described above, 3x200ml in a leather bound case. 26, 37 and 43 Year olds. – $499.99
8. Glemorangie Gift Parck – 4x100ml: 10 Year, Lasanta, Quinta Ruban & Nectar D’Or – $67.99
Scotch Malt Whisky Society – $230
More than just a gift pack, this is your hall pass to the World’s Largest Whisky Club! Membership in The Scotch Malt Whisky Society will not only entitle you to The Society’s wonderfully packaged Membership Pack (including four 100 ml bottles of Society whisky (shown here), but also: the ability to purchase Society bottlings: the monthly Outturn (the list of the Society’s latest releases) and Unfiltered (the quarterly award winning whisky magazine). For more information on the Society visit www.smws.ca.
2014 MS Calgary Whisky Festival Tickets on Sale!
Buy your tickets before December 3rd to be included in the Early Bird draw!
The 2014 MS Calgary Whisky Festival’s 3rd incarnation will be held for the second time at the Epcor Center on Thursday January 16, 2014 at 6pm. 100% of the proceeds raised are going to the MS Society of Calgary and Southern Alberta. Tickets for this event are only available through the MS Society of Calgary and Kensington Wine Market, for $95. Last year’s event featured 25 different exhibitors and more than 150 different whiskies. This year’s event will be even bigger and better! Three Master Classes, to be announced at a later date will be offered before and during the event at an additional cost of $20/each. Master Class tickets will go on sale in December. Physical tickets for the Festival and the Master Classes will be mailed out, or made available for pickup until December 3rd. Please note these tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE, and NO Store Credit will be issued on cancellations. If you find you cannot attend, you can give your ticket (s) to someone else. If you wish to purchase a Master Class ticket when available, you must first have a Festival ticket.
Buy your ticket(s) before December 3rd and you will be included in the early bird draw for a special whisky gift basket valued at more than $250, featuring a highly sought after bottle of Cadenhead Highland Park 1988. This sold out, cask strength. 24 year old whisky was matured in Ex-Sherry casks and has a very rich palate. The gift basket includes a pair of glasses, a whisky book, some whisky magazines and a flask. The winner will be drawn on December 3rd, and will be able to claim their prize at or after the event from the MS Society.
To purchase tickets for the MS Calgary Whisky Festival visit our website https://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/tastings/register.php or call 403-283-8000.
Introducing our New, Exclusive, KWM Bourbon Cask
The St. George Breaking & Entering KWM Cask – $65.99
It is barely through the door and it is already rolling off the shelf. This is a blended bourbon, bottled by St. George Distillery in San Francisco (technically Alameda). St George has been craft distilling since 1982, and is at the forefront of that movement in the United States. While they will eventually have their own proprietary Bourbon, they are the moment buying casks from Kentucky and blending them to create their own unique style of Blended Bourbon. We’ve been carrying their stock bottling, Breaking & Entering, a reference to their pillaging of casks of Kentucky Bourbon for their blends, for about 6 months. A few months ago we hit upon the idea of selecting our own exclusive cask of their blended bourbon for our store. Samples were sent up and reviewed by Hunter Sullivan (AKA The Whisk(e)y Padawan), Bryan Childs (AKA my older son) and yours truly. We selected the bottling now gracing our shelves for its elegance and subtlety. This is a Scotch drinkers Bourbon! Proper tasting note to follow in the next Malt Messenger. Drop by and give it a taste for yourself. We’re very proud of it! $65.99
Summary of New Whiskies at KWM
Lots of exciting and tasty new drams!
We’ll have time to go into greater detail and provide tasting notes on many of these whiskies in future Malt Messengers. In the meantime, you might be curious about what’s new! Here a list, of all the new whiskies at KWM:
Exclusive Whiskies
1. Cadenhead Small Batch Bowmore 1998 – A Bowmore of a different sort, creamy, subtle and floral! – $101.99
2. Cadenhead Small Batch Capperdonich 1977 – A sherry-bomb without the sulphur or bitter notes, this is a superb older dram from a closed distillery. – $364.99
3. Cadenhead Small Batch Dalmore 1988 – An unusual but stunning Dalmore, very soft and tropical! – $169.99
4. Cadenhead Small Batch Highland Park 1988 – SOLD OUT!
5. Cadenhead Small Batch Littlemill 1977 – SOLD OUT!
6. G&M Highland Park 1973 w/ Cut Crystal Glass – A sublimely delicate older Highland Park, complete with a cut crystal glass, I would love to find this under the tree! 1/4 the price of comparably aged distillery bottled Highland Park! !!!- $455.99
7. G&M Longmoran 1973 – SOLD OUT!
8. G&M Smith’s Glenlivet 1974 – Only 3 left! a Very creamy and toffeed Glenlivet. – $344.99
9. Kavalan Ex-Bourbon Oak 46% – New and exclusive to KWM, same big Kavalan whisky, slightly lower strength! – $139.99
10. Kavalan Sherry Oak 46% – New and exclusive to KWM, same big Kavalan whisky, slightly lower strength! – $154.99
11. Master of Malt Bowmore Batch 2 – “A smoky, muscular whisky with more than a hint of sherry in the mix. It comes with a rather wonderful comic book illustration of the distillery with a cheeky a schoolboy, stolen bra in hand, being chased by a lifeguard from the nearby pool. Fact Hunt: The swimming pool is actually heated by the waste heat from Bowmore’s copper pot-stills!” – 49% – $144.99
12. Master of Malt Caol Ila Batch 1 – “Batch 1 of That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s Caol Ila Single Malt Scotch Whisky has been launched to mark the team’s trip to Fèis Ìle 2013!” – 45.8% – $151.99
13. Master of Malt Clynelish Catch 2 – “The second batch of That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s Clynelish is a delicious whisky with a lovely sherried flavour. It comes with a superb hand-drawn illustration of a trio of cats, in the style of the grammatically challenged cats of the internet. Here we see a mother scolding a ginger tom cat (Clynelish), asking him why he can’t be more like his older brother (Brora). This is a little joke about the fact that Clynelish often takes a back seat to Brora – a closed distillery with a big reputation. Nonetheless, Clyenlish’s whisky is truly fantastic, as evinced here. – 50.6% – $152.99
14. Master of Malt Highland Park Batch 1 – “This label features those who attended the masterclass but moreover voted to decide the final contents of this Highland Park release we now proudly present to you! As ever, there is more to it than that as our veritable palatium of whisky pals are joined by the ghost of Charlemagne himself!” – 44.7% – $170.99
15. Master of Malt Macallan Batch 3 – “It seems there are some perspective tricks afoot on the label of That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s Macallan Batch 4. Are Macallan’s Curiously Small Stills really that small, or is that just a handsome giant trying to sneek a peek at how their whisky is made with a comically over-sized magnifying glass? I guess we’ll never know.” – 44.3% – $175.49
16. Master of Malt Secret Distillery (Glenfarclas) Batch 3 – “This is a superb single malt whisky from one of Speyside’s most famous distilleries. Whilst we can’t tell you which distillery it is from, we can say that it is one known for its independence and for its massively sherried whiskies.” 55.4% – $151.99
17. Master of Malt Springbank Batch 2 – “It is a classically styled, oily, rich single malt, just as you’d expect from Campbeltown. The label features a wonderful illustration of Neil and Joel from Caskstrength.net, operating the distillery’s famous old Porteus Mill.” – 53.1% – $159.99
18. St George B&E KMW Bourbon – See above for more details on our new exclusive cask! – $65.99
19. Wilson & Morgan Bowmore 22 Year – A huge hit at last night’s Master Malts tasting this PX Finished Bowmore is sweet, fruity and chocolaty. It blew off the shelf, we sold 15 bottles and won’t last long! – $215.99
20. Wilson & Morgan Caol Ila 30 Year – The closest thing to a Port Ellen you’ll find, missing only the buttery oils. Not surprising considering the malt would have had similar specs and was from the same place. Older Caol Ilas like this are rare, and this sherry cask matured bottling is a stunner! – 57.5% – $457.99
21. Wilson & Morgan MacDuff 32 Year – One of my favourites at last night’s Master Malts tasting, this is from an obscure distillery, but a superb malt. Very tropical! – $409.99
Returned Exclusives
1. Benromach 1969 – The closest whisky to the Black Bowmore, without being a Bowmore, and at a quarter the price. Only 2 bottles left! – $1169.99
2. G&M Rare Vintage Dallas Dhu 1979 – Subtle creamy and tropical, ever so delicate and smooth. This is an increasingly rare malt from a lost distillery! – $289.99
3. Glendronach 1971 Cask 2971 – COMING BACK! – 6 bottles! Big Sherry Bomb – $1223.00
Other New Whiskies
1. Adelphi Fascadale 5 – $71.49
2. Adelphi Liddesdale 5 – $143.99
3. Auchentoshan 1979 Oloroso – only 3 left! – $509.99
4. Campbeltown Loch 21 Year 2013 Edition – $125.99
5. Glenfarclas Family Cask 1983 – $473.49
6. Glenfarclas Family Cask 1984 – $507.49
7. Glenfiddich Distillery Edition 15 Year – $73.49
8. Glenfiddich Rich Oak 14 Year – $59.99
9. Glenrothes 1991 1L – $139.99
10. Glenrothes 1995 – $74.99
11. Kilkerran Work in Progress V Bourbon
12. Kilkerran Work in Progress V Sherry
13. Longrow NV – $63.99
14. Springbank Gold Medal Marketing Cask – This 12 year old single sherry cask bottling was selected by Andy Dunn and Jennifer Tuff of Gold Medal Marketing with the assistance of Hunter and I here at KWM. It is spicy, fruity and rich with some lovely salty peat. Andy is donating roughly $8.25/bottle to local vetrans charities. This is a superb Springbank, and a great buy! – $104.99
15. Tomatin Cu Bocan (peated) – $62.99
16. Tomatin 21 Year Ltd. Ed. – $331.99
17. Tomatin 40 Year – Tied for my 3rd favourite at Master Malts last night! – $929.99
18. Tomintoul 1977 36 Year – We received 3 bottles, only 1 left! – $809.99
19. Wilson & Morgan Clynelish Marsala Finish – $78.49
Other Returned Whiskies
1. Highland Park 12 Year – $56.99
2. Highland Park 18 Year – $115.49
3. Lagavulin 16 Year – $108.99
4. OMC Ardbeg 16 Year Rum Finish – $199.99
5. Tomatin Decades – $185.59
Coming Soon
1. Glendronach 2002 KWM Cask – $104.99 – Exclusive KWM Cask
2. Kilchoman 2008 KWM Cask – $119.99 – Exclusive KWM Cask
3. Macallan M – $3799.99
4. Wilson & Morgan Bowmore 15 Year – $139.99
5. Wilson & Morgan Bunnahabhain 2001 – $78.49
6. Wilson & Morgan Cragganmore 20 Year – $164.99
7. Wilson & Morgan Glen Keith 21 Year – $182.49 – Exclusive
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, 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
Manager & Scotchguy
Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
www.kensingtonwinemarket.com
Owner & Opperator
Ferguson’s Whisky Tours
www.fergusonwhiskytours.com
scotchguide@fergusonwhiskytours.com
Kensington Wine Market
403-283-8000