The fifth and final bottle from our 15 year anniversary. Port Dundas 43 – distilled June 1, 1974! Bottled by independent bottler, The Exclusive Grains, with only 228 available. There is very little out there about this rare bottle, from a closed and demolished (2011) Lowland distillery, which once was the largest in Scotland. From our perspective, this was a light and easy-going dram, with some vestiges of vanilla, and definite cereal and herbal tones. A whopping $2300 CAD average on Whisky Base!
What a pleasure to sample these 5 great bottles this past January, now concluding our “139 years in the barrel” journey.
Taster #4 from our 15th Anniversary prestige whisky extravaganza, leaving only 1 more reveal for that total of 139 years in the barrel! Do the math, this means our 5th and final taster was a whopping 43 years old (post coming soon)!!
Check out Cadenhead’s Strathclyde 31, a single grain whisky from the Scottish Lowlands. It was aged in ex-bourbon casks, with heaps of vanilla ice cream and pecan pie on the nose, and subtly spicy, orange chocolate on the pallet. Sounds scrumptious, and it did not disappoint!
Strathclyde distillery opened in 1927 and its production primarily goes into blends. It is currently used in Chivas Brothers offerings and owned by Pernod Ricard. There are very few bottlings of straight-up Strathclyde ever made, all from independents. One of a kind, ours was bottled in 2020. Couldn’t have an anniversary without another new distillery to the club, at an impressive 31 years old!
A lovely pre-pop photo, chilling in a snowbank just waiting for us to crack into it!
Our third selection for our 15-year anniversary was “A Marriage of Casks” Bunnahabhain 27, from the Single Malts of Scotland range bottled by Elixir Distillers. This is a small batch vatting of 4 refill bourbon hogshead casks bottled in 2018. Apparently, the bourbon influence is front and centre! Rich, fruity, complex, balanced and buttery with spicy notes. Round and beautiful. It has an average price of $786 CAD. A unique and limited quantity run – a hogshead generally holds 250 liters, meaning less than 1000 liters of this nectar were ever available!
Taster #2 from our 15th Anniversary line up, inching closer to that total of 139 years in the barrel!
From the Glenfiddich web site: “The finest flavours of Scotland and France have been fused together to redefine moments of celebration and create a new extraordinary drinking experience.”
This exclusive expression has been matured for 23 Years in American and European Oak casks and elegantly finished in rare French Cuvee casks.
Colour: Deep Gold (Mark loves gooooooold) Nose: Apple blossom, freshly baked bread, candied lemon Taste: Layers of rich vanilla oak, sweet brioche, sandlewood, pear sorbet and white grape Finish: Long, opulent, sweet 40% Abv.
The 15th anniversary of ETKW did not disappoint! 139 years of skilled patience went into aging the 5 highly sought after drams featured by the Club on January 28, 2023.
Our youngest selection was Laphroaig 15, which was a regular product offering in the 1990’s. Its discontinuance was met with harsh reaction in the whisky world as it was very popular among lovers of Islay. We sampled a revived limited edition created to celebrate Laphroaig’s 200th year. Considered highly collectible, it was one of the most sought-after whiskies of 2015. Full-bodied, rich and balanced, with an average listed value of $670 on Whiskybase.
Stay tuned as we highlight 4 further age statement bottles selected to celebrate ETKW’s landmark 15 year anniversary, for a total of 139 years in the barrel!
A bit of a deep dive from the small Hebridean Island just east of Skye. Raasay has only been operating since 2017, and prides itself on employing people who live on Raasay itself as well as distilling, maturing and bottling all of their whisky on the island. Considering less than 200 people live there, we consider this dram a very neat little find! For this flagship whisky, the folks at Raasay mix peated and unpeated whisky that was matured in rye, chinkapin and bordeaux casks, dubbing it their “Six Cask Recipe”. 46.4% ABV. A lovely, unique and clean presentation!
Double header bottle #2, also under $150. This whisky also won awards in 2021-2022, including gold at the International Wine and Spirits Competition. 46% ABV, virgin oak. A different and refreshing duo, it was interesting to experience the change the triple distillation process brings to the spirit.
Another double header, another new distillery for us. Although priced very reasonably at under $150, this is Glasgow Distillery’s inaugural whisky, which won 4 awards across 2019-2020, including gold at the Scottish Whisky Awards. The distillery itself was named Distillery of the Year in 2020. “1770” refers to the history of whisky making in the city of Glasgow, however this specific distillery has only been operating since 2015. 46% ABV, bourbon cask matured and finished in virgin oak.
Treat #2 of our annual Halloween Party – The Light, created by HP to celebrate the end of winter, fresh air and long summer days, with flavours of vanilla and pear, lightly peated and aged in European oak casks. $450, 52.9 ABV. Bravo on the packaging HP, as usual!
Our annual Halloween Party arrived along with the perfect treat – 2 prestige offerings from Highland Park – The Dark and The Light – both aged 17 years and sourced from Alberta for $450 each. It seemed that The Light had the edge with our group, a bit of a surprise given a general penchant for sherry aged whisky. The Dark, created by HP to celebrate autumn and winter in Orkney, with flavours of dried fruit and light smoke. 52.9 ABV. Bravo on the packaging HP, as usual!
