News & Notes
There's a lot going on in the K&L spirits department this week. It's just a matter of getting everything organized and ready to go! I'm in the office right now trying to hammer out some details about this week's priorities, so I figured I'd update all of you in the process. Here are some things to watch out for over the next few days:
-The Maker's Mark 46 Private Edition email should go out later today. We've sold more than 60% of the cask with only the blog post, so expect about a 20 minute lifespan once that email hits. I'd be surprised if we still have any bottles in stock when we close today. IMPORTANT: let me add this little note as it still seems to catch people by surprise, even long-time customers. When we get down to five or less bottles in active inventory, you risk the potential of having an in-store customer buy the last few before online orders can be picked and processed, which happens quite frequently. There can be a 2-4 hour delay between you placing your order online and that bottle actually getting pulled from the shelf. That's a HUGE window for mayhem. I get emails from people all the time who wait, and wait, and wait, and wait until the last minute, then finally order and end up missing out due to the aforementioned phenomenon. My advise is always the same: don't wait. If you want something and we still have plenty of it, buy it.
-This year's Ardbeg Committee Release—the "Kelpie"—should be available by Friday, so long as all goes well. We'll likely release it in conjunction with the new Glenmorangie "Bacalta," the Malmsey Madeira-finished edition from the heralded producer. The Kelpie should be $125 a bottle and the Bacalta $110. Keep your eyes peeled for that. The date keeps getting pushed around, so don't hold me to it. I'm at the mercy of distribution here.
-I managed to work out a deal for some old faces this week that had gone missing from K&L to due price increases or changes in the buying structure. You'll likely see a number of familiar names popping up on the website like Old Pulteney 17 and 21 year, a number of the Jameson Irish whiskies as well as Green and Yellow Spot, the entire range of Glenlivet, the standard Aberlour 12 and 16 year editions, plus other things. In almost all of the instances, I was able to get the original pricing we had been working with before the increases, so that should be a welcome relief to those of you who were in the habit of buying them from us. I'm excited to get workhorse whiskies like regular old Jameson and Glenlivet 15 back in the store. I really like both of those products and the prices are right.
-High West's new edition of Bourye just arrived. This year's edition is a marriage of Bourbon and rye whiskies from MGP between 10-14 years of age. I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm pretty confident in that whiskey. It's usually right on the money.
-St. Patrick's Day is coming up and I've got a bevy of new Irish options for you. West Cork just released a trio of limited edition 12 year olds each finished in a different cask (rum/sherry/port). Those should be on the website soon, along with some of the Jameson editions I mentioned above. I've been drinking a lot of Irish whiskey lately. Not because I'm Irish (which I am), but because it just tastes so damn good. Some of the Jameson whiskies really surprised me, like the Cooper's Croze which I don't think I had ever tasted. That's definitely going to be my Paddy's day bottle.
That's it for today!
-David Driscoll