It's common today to see a producer in a particular region rename one of their whiskies after an old, regional distillery no longer in existence. Springbank, for example, makes two single malts called Longrow and Hazelburn, named after the former Campbeltown distilleries. Bruichladdich has Port Charlotte, named after what was once an old neighbor. However, I didn't realize until today that the new Powers Irish whiskey, the 12 Year Old John Lane, was named after an old Irish producer in Dublin, which was the original home of Powers beginning back in the late 1700s.

James Power, an innkeeper from Dublin, established the John's Lane distillery in 1791. Our old pal Alfred Barnard once visited John's Lane (and provided some wonderful sketches) and had this to say:

In the year 1791 this hostelry was converted into a small distillery, making about 6,000 gallons annually, its chief motive power being a horse mill. But it did not remain long at that small output. The founder was a man of energy and enterprise, and year by year, as his business increased, he continued to extend the distillery. Since 1871 the whole place has been rebuilt in a handsome and modern style, and every known appliance in the art of distilling added thereto. The establishment now covers a six-and-a-quarter acres of ground, and the offices, which abut on the busy thoroughfare of Thomas Street, form and substantial frontage to it.

Passing through the lofty and spacious public offices, we crossed a paved court and entered the noble block of buildings devoted to the storage of grain. They are five stories high, well lighted, and measure 192 feet long by 100 feet broad. The barley is carted to the distillery by the farmers, and lifted by hydraulic hoists to the receiving rooms. At the entrance to this department there is an enclosed office, with glass roof and sides, in which sits the corn-sampling clerk; a portion of each delivery is handed to him for comparison with the samples of the purchase, which hang in bags upon a frame on the wall. If the sample is not up to the mark he refuses delivery, and reports the fact through the telephone to the corn-buyers office.

The first process of the manufacture of whisky now begins, by the corn being sent from these two floors to the to kilns adjoining, whither we next bent our steps. These kilns are indeed elegant buildings, each measuring 57 feet by 30 feet, with open groined roofs, lined with wood and stained oak, like small English parish churches, in fact far superior to many we've seen. Iron doors shut off these kilns, which are heated by open furnaces, and floored with the patent perforated Worcester tiles.

What's interesting about this description is that Barnard is describing the grain component of Irish whiskey, in this case the "corn." Barnard goes on to describe the malt side of the distillation as well, since Irish whiskies are almost always blends.

A noble-looking building is the still house. It is 68 feet long, 66 feet wide, and 57 feet high, containing five pot stills, all kept as bright and clean as burnished gold; the wash flows by gravitation to two wash stills, each holding 25,000 gallons, and said to be the largest pot stills ever made.

The detail with which Barnard goes on concerning the process at John's Lane distillery is about five times as long as he spends with most other producers, leading one to believe he was quite impressed with the distillery.

Does he describe the whisky? Yes, indeed.

On completing our tour of inspection over the distillery, we accepted the hospitality of the partners and did ample justice to a substantial luncheon. We had previously sampled the firm's make of 1885, which we thought good and most useful, either as a blending or single whisky. The old make, which we drank with our luncheon, was delicious, and finer than anything we had hitherto tasted. It was perfect in flavour, and as pronounced in the ancient aroma of Irish whisky so dear to the hearts fo connoisseurs, as once could possibly desire, and we found a small flask of it very useful afterwards on our travels.

Since John's Lane distillery made pot still Irish whiskey, the new Power's 12 Year Old John Lane edition is also 100% pot still whiskey, unlike the standard Powers 12 Year old. It's made today at Midleton distillery, the home of Jameson, Paddy, Midleton, and Redbreast. It's unlike any other Irish out on the market currently with its leathery, tobacco notes on the finish. Quite potent stuff. It seems that Irish whiskey was once quite a populated market. Alas, there are only a handful of Irish whisky distilleries around today. Check out this list from Barnard's time, however:

Dublin

Bow Street - John Jameson & Son

John's Lane - Sir John Power & Son

Thomas Street - George Row & Co.

Marrowbone Lane - Wm. Jameson & Co.

Jones Road - The Dublin Whisky Distillery Company, Limited

Phoenix Park - The Distillers Company, Limited

That's just in Dublin! Nearly twice as many than exist today. Then there's another 22 scattered all over the rest of the country that I need to read through and research.

What a time that must have been for Irish whiskey! In any case, I'll have to sip my bottle of the Powers John Lane edition in the meantime and think about what it must have been like.

-David Driscoll

If the final product is actually higher in quality, then it should be more expensive. I think everyone is on board with that. The better the booze, the more it will cost. My question, however, is: how many craft spirits producers are actually giving us "craft" spirits?

I do think craft spirits exist, but maybe not in the way that we think they do. For example, I think craft gins are absolutely a reality, but not because of the distillation. Craft gins exist because of the time and thought put into the sourcing of botanicals. Our most recent batch of Faultline Gin, for example, was a small batch of gin macerated with freshly-smoked citrus peels. We did that by hand and in small amounts to make sure it tasted right. It wasn't something we would have been able to produce continually on a large scale, but since we were only making one batch it wasn't a problem.

I think craft fruit liqueurs and eau-de-vies exist. There are simply some fruits that are too expensive and delicate to distill on a large, profitable scale. Some liqueurs use actual fresh fruit rather than artificial flavors and coloring to create a cassis or framboise. That takes time and attention.

I think craft tequila is real. There are simply different ways of shredding the agave into a fermentable pulp. The distilleries that use machines and shred in large quantities have pulp that oxidizes faster. Those using mortar and pestal with manual or horse-drawn labor have more control over each crush, much like a winery pressing its grapes. That ultimately affects the freshness of the spirit. The same could be said for rum made from fresh sugarcane juice.

What about whisk(e)y, however? Does craft whisk(e)y exist? Has anyone proven that the type of grain used is actually important? I think Bruichladdich has, but do many people consider Bruichladdich to be a "craft" distillery?

The blending side of production is what makes John Glaser's Compass Box a "craft" whisky company. He marries whiskies on a much smaller scale, creating more finessed flavors that might not have been possible with larger amounts of barrels. However, do people consider Compass Box a "craft" whisky producer?

It's the size of the distillery that seems to decide who's "craft" and who isn't these days. But does the scale of distillation matter when it comes to whisk(e)y? I don't think so. I think what ultimately matters is which cuts and which distillates are used in the final product. If you distill pot still whisky on a large scale it's probably going to taste as good as a smaller scale operation, as long as both are using the finest heart cuts. Kilchoman comes to mind as a producer that uses a very focused percentage of their actual heart and the result is amazing. If you're talking about column still American whiskey, however, then I'm not sure if it even matters. Yet, we're hearing about new "craft" American whiskey distilleries all the time. Are they distilling micro amounts of whiskey that tastes better than Jim Beam?

The problem with making craft whiskey is that it takes time to find out the answers to these questions. Time is money, however, and most small distilleries cannot afford to use small percentages of their distillates or work slowly in the name of quality. They consider themselves "craft" because they are small, not because they're better. This is ultimately going to tarnish the "craft" whisk(e)y industry because the term will become ironic.

Have you tasted a "craft" whisk(e)y before?

Yes! It was terrible!

Shouldn't it be the opposite?

-David Driscoll

Nevertheless, there's a lot of skepticism that goes along with wine and whiskey sales, especially for people who know nothing about either one. How do you know I'm not just selling you some over-oaked, over-priced Cabernet that we're making a fat margin on? A similar comparison might be auto repair. If you're like me and know nothing about fixing cars, then how are you to know if a mechanic is actually fixing your car, or simply adding on additional charges to hike up the bill? It's tough to decipher if you're auto illiterate.

So you can imagine my despair when, while leaving St. George distillery in Alameda this past Tuesday, my car started overheating at the Oakland airport where I was picking up my mother on the way back to the peninsula. I was able to make it to the terminal, but after throwing mom's bags into the trunk and getting her in the front seat, we couldn't make it much further without blowing a gasket. A security guard told us about a gas station just outside the airport on 98th where we might find service. I proceeded cautiously, using as little throttle as possible, while the warning kept beeping away. After making the right turn there was no gas station in site, but I did see a sign that read, "Smog checks and oil changes" so I pulled into the driveway hoping for some help.

That driveway turned out to be North American Motors, a local garage that happened to be in the right spot at the right time. The general manager Romeo came right out to look at my car and assess the situation. Like me, Romeo drives a Volkswagen GTI (parked right next to where I was) and knew the problem could be one of many possibilities. Since I needed to get back to work and my mother needed to get to her car, Romeo immediately called the nearby Hertz Rent-a-car and got us set up for transportation. Within twenty minutes a NAM employee had given us a ride to the rental and we were back on the road towards San Mateo. Romeo said he would call me later with an update.

It turned out there were multiple issues. I needed a new water pump. I needed a new temperature module on my radiator. I might as well do the fan belt since I was paying for labor now. Within two days my car was ready to go, so I headed back over to Oakland this morning for payment and pick-up. It turns out the North American Motors had paid for my rental car, so there was no charge for two and a half days of Suburu action. My co-worker Armando, who is familiar with car repair, said the bill should have been far more than it was. How could it happen that, when breaking down in an unfamiliar part of the Bay Area, I had overheated next to one of the most honest and helpful garages in existence?

Not only was my car fixed, but it had been washed, the oil changed, and all of the fluids topped off and checked for levels. I couldn't believe it. These guys could have taken me to the cleaners and I would have paid it (unknowingly), but they didn't. You could tell that Romeo and his crew were happy that I was happy. My satisfaction was their primary goal.

So there. Karma. I make an effort to be as honest and helpful as possible with all K&L customers and the universe provided me with the same level of service. What goes around does come around, eh?

That being said, if you need help with your car I can't recommend this place highly enough:

North American Motors

132-98th Ave

Oakland, CA

(510) 635-9191

-David Driscoll

I'm just going to paste what I put in the email here before it's too late!

The new whiskies from Lost Spirits are here and they’re already selling like hotcakes, despite the fact that I haven’t even sent out an email. I’ve sold 30 bottles already this morning, so I guess my blog post got people excited! WARNING: Most people who didn’t like the last batch of Lost Spirits whiskies do NOT like these either. Don’t expect a radical change in flavor profile. However, people who were intrigued or found the last batch “interesting” will definitely like these. They’re far more polished and the oak/sherry aging are much more like traditional single malt than the wine barrels he used last time around. The Bohemian Bonfire is like the Bruichladdich Bere Barley, but infused with plant matter and smoke. The peat in these whiskies is more mossy and earthy, than smoky. It’s classic Lost Spirits flavor. I can’t promise you that you’ll like these. I can only tell you that I do.

We’ve got an exclusive on the “Bohemian Bonfire,” as Bryan only made one barrel and we bought it. I like this one better. My friends Dave and Anthony from St. George agreed.

Lost Spirits "Bohemian Bonfire" K&L Exclusive Peated California Single Malt $55.99 - After the release of his first California single malts, Bryan Davis was looking for inspiration and doing a bit of soul-searching. That's when he stumbled upon a single barrel of Kilchoman at a whisky tasting he attended. The flavors were bright, clean, and surprisingly drinkable, despite the youth of the whisky itself. When Bryan inquired into what Kilchoman's magic consisted of, he learned that the distillery takes one of the smallest heart cuts in the business (with pot still distillation, the distiller usually takes the middle cut, dumping off the heads and tails for redistillation). Bryan didn't add the cuts back in, however. He took a small middle cut and left it at that. That was step one. The next step was to get better cooperage. Rather than use the wine-soaked casks for extra flavor, Bryan wanted mild oak aging as to not detract from the high-quality distillate. He scrubbed out his wine barrels and cleaned profusely, leaving only the wood in its place. His new, ultra-spirit was placed into the barrel and laid down to rest. The result is the Bohemian Bonfire, the same whisky as Leviathan with a smaller heart cut and normal oak aging. It's by far the best whisky Bryan has ever made and it's much more mainstream without losing the Lost Spirits character. It's also, without a doubt, the best peated American whiskey I've ever tasted. Only 160 bottles were made.

This one is more palatable to the mainstream due to the sherry. It’s dark and rich, but spicy underneath. I’ve already sold through the 24 bottles I had in SF this morning alone! CRAZY!

Lost Spirits Ouroboros Peated Sherry Aged 100% California Single Malt $55.99 - When Bryan David visited the store recently he had a whisky with him called Ouroboros and it was dark like sherry. When Bryan was unable to secure fresh sherry butts to mature his single malt, he decided to create his own. He took his own cooperage, filled them with sherry, let the barrels sit, emptied them out, and filled them with a new distillate - comprised of 100% California single malt and smoked with 100% California peat (sourced from the San Joaquin delta). Again, the result is outstanding. It's all of the plant-like, beery flavor of Lost Spirits distillery with the mellowing agent of sherry to help balance it out.

-David Driscoll

Angel's Envy rye? Really? Two minutes?

Are you telling me that we have to be ready to pounce on things like Angel's Envy rye from now on? Not just Pappy, or Stagg, or Black Maple Hill, but fucking Angel's Envy rye for a costly $67.99 a bottle?

Yes. That's what I'm telling you. I can't speak for other stores, but this is the reality at K&L.

We all know that there's a bit of a whiskey shortage in the states right now, but that's not the whole problem (if you didn't know you should read this - scary!). The popularity of American whiskey is through the roof right now, and the fact that Robert Parker is dipping his toe in these waters is only more evidence of this.

However, that's not the whole problem either.

The problem is the increase in accounts looking to sell American whiskey - as in retailers, bars, and restaurants.

Remember that a large chunk of all spirits end up behind a counter, not just on a retail shelf. With every new whiskey bar or cocktail lounge that opens up (about five a day in San Francisco alone, it seems), that's another account that wants part of what's available. They want Buffalo Trace products, they want Heaven Hill products, they want popular whiskies on their menu - period. I've watched the upswing in Bay Area booze-related businesses drain K&L allocations steadily over the past three years. We used to get Black Maple Hill whenever we wanted it. Then it was down to 120 a month. Then 60. Now it's a case here and and case there whenever it's back in stock.

Willett Bourbon is another casualty of this phenomenon. It's not anyone's fault. I don't blame Pacific Edge or any one at the distribution center. They've got more customers than whiskey, plain and simple. That's the same problem we have! Everytime a new whiskey customer starts shopping at K&L, another name goes on the email list, another person clicks on the hotlink, and another competitor for these whiskies joins your ranks. The distribution game works the same way. K&L is competing with other retailers, bars, and restaurants for the hottest products on the market, i.e. American whiskey.

I used to get about 60 bottles of every Willett expression as it was released. More if I asked for something in particular. Sometimes I didn't even take my entire allocation! With the immenent arrival of the new Willett 4, 6, and 10 year old Bourbons, I'm looking at less than 25 bottles total of each expression. That's less than half of what I used to get, simply because Pacific Edge has to spread the wealth a little more these days. And, believe me, these bottles will sell out in two minutes or less.

This is the same reason we have to put "one bottle per customer" limits on things like Russell's Reserve Single Barrel, Elijah Craig Cask Strength, or other super-limited releases. We're getting paltry allocations of rare American whiskey right now, almost to the point that it's not worth the time or effort to take care of three bottle drops (i.e EC 12 cask strength). It's frustrating. It's tough. But it's the reality of the business right now.

We're in the same situation as all of you.

-David Driscoll

In any case, most of the emails I've received over that past few weeks have pertained to budgeting. Namely, how does one know what to pull the trigger on when there may be something better and more exciting around the corner? I can tell you this: there are no trophy malts on the table right now. There may be something in the works, but it's not looking too promising at the moment, mainly because of the asking prices. It's going to be hard to beat the current Mortlach 22 Year when it comes to sherry-aged malt, and there's still not a whisky I've tasted this year that outshines the 1979 Glenfarclas from last year's haul. Those bottles are fairly priced for what they are. We've still got about forty bottles of Port Ellen and Glenlochy lying around, as well, and those whiskies are damn fine for those looking to splurge. Everyone who's had a taste agrees. That being said, why splurge for less exciting casks with higher price tags when we're pretty set for the moment? Value continues to be the focus.

Here's what is still coming:

- A flurry of affordable deals from the Exclusive Malts: six casks in total, all under $100.

- Another peated Benriach, another sherried Glendronach, another hogshead of Glen Garioch.

- A stunning sleeper from the Isle of Arran. The type of whisky that won't sell as a pre-order, but will go out the door fast once people taste it.

- Bladnoch. Three casks. Just got more samples in the mail, so I think this is happening. I'm keeping quiet until this is over.

- New casks from new producers. Some ancient malts from some not so familiar faces. Cheeeeeeeap.

If you're holding out for that Brora or Ardbeg super announcement, don't hold your breath. Those days are over. We were thinking about a 22 year old Ardbeg cask until we realized we'd have to retail it for $500 a bottle. Yikes.

That's the news for now. We might do a new podcast soon. Faultline Bourbon labels just went to the TTB for approval. Faultline Rum labels are being designed. New Faultline Gin Batch #3 is in development. New Lost Spirits whiskies should show up this week. There's plenty to keep you busy.

Myself, as well.

-David Driscoll

Has anyone else seen this commercial for Johnnie Walker that usually airs during Mad Men? I saw it again this past Sunday night and after about seven viewings it's really starting to bother me.

First off, this is the most blatent attempt yet to use the popularity of Mad Men's drinking culture to sell a particular product. What surprises me is the fact that Diageo paid for it, rather than just aluding to it like everyone else does. Every whisk(e)y company out there is capitalizing on the success of the show, especially rye producers (I say this because more people come into K&L every week looking for rye to make Manhattans for their Mad Men party), but this new Johnnie Walker spot marks the first time I've actually seen a paid actor from the show making an attempt to market one particular brand.

Like most major companies looking to capitalize on pop culture trends, Diageo is about three years late to the party. Forget the fact that Don Draper seems to drink Canadian Club more than anything and that Roger Sterling always pours vodka. Forget the fact that the past two seasons have focused more on the business than the boozing. It's still fun as hell to drink liquor while watching an episode of Mad Men. What I don't see anymore, however, is the same glamour in Don Draper's character. We know too much about him now and his recent actions have made him look weak and childish. He's like a rock band releasing a new album after rehab. The music may be interesting and profound, but it's no longer fresh or cutting edge.

So instead of Jon Hamm, Diageo hires the sultry Christina Hendricks to play a combination of Don Draper and Joan Harris. She walks with the sexy swagger of our favorite secretary (now SCDP partner), but talks with the forceful authority of an ad writer. A piano-driven jazz hook plays that can't decide whether it's playful or seductive. Christina turns around and we see her face. The shot cuts to a pair of high-heels, slowly walking towards the camera, toe over toe. We see Christina's full-figure (no pun intended) and everything is slightly muted except for the lighted area over her breasts. She saunters towards the screen. "It's classic," we hear her say, although her mouth does not move. We see a shot of her waist as Christina stops, sways her hips, and places one hand on her side, saying "It's bold." She grabs a rocks glass of whisky, holds it up to the camera, and finally claims, "It's Johnnie Walker. And you ordered it." A static shot of the bottle along side a whisky and soda closes the commercial, with a stenciled version of Christina's signature tracing the screen.

So, what do you think?

If I'm Don Draper I tear that idea up. I throttle the writer who came up with something so derivative, obvious, and boring. "If I wanted something that sounded like me, I would have written it myself," is what I imagine Draper saying to this proposal. It's not only that the Mad Men opportunity is past its prime, it's the technical aspects as well. The direction is first-year film school, the cinematography is amateurish, and the lighting rather trite. The commercial is attempting to bring Christina's sex appeal to Walker Red, yet Hendricks' movements seem too choreographed and unnatural. She moves like a doll rather than the intimidating force of her character, limiting her effectiveness. The line "It's Johnnie Walker and you ordered it" irks me as well. It's too much Mad Men, not enough Johnnie Walker. It makes Walker Red feel like a punchline rather than a centuries-old product. It's such an attempt to be Don that it's almost a caricature.

The commercial wants the consumer to feel confident in his choice of Walker Red. The idea of affirmation is classic Draper. As Don once told Lucky Strike, good advertising is "a billboard on the side of the road that screams reassurance in whatever it is you're doing. It's OK. You are OK." However, the way the Walker commercial comes together is clumsy, and more reminiscent of Dudley Moore's pitch to Jaguar than Don Draper's.

While, to me, it seems that Johnnie Walker was looking to combine Don and Joan into one person, they ended up with Pete Campbell – frat boy chic.

Back to the drawing board, Peggy.

-David Driscoll

Last year we learned about a new distillery south of the Bay Area called Lost Spirits that was making peated single malt whisky. It was being run by a guy named Bryan Davis who brought us two of his newest creations: the Seascape and the Leviathan. Bryan had worked as a distiller in Spain before relocating to California and building a steam-powered, outdoor still near Salinas. These were the first whiskies he was ready to bring to market. They were bold, exciting, and interesting, but they weren't for everyone. Nevertheless, I thought they deserved an audience, even if it meant taking back a few returns for people who didn't "get it."

There were a lot of people who didn't "get it." Bryan was using Canadian peat, Canadian barley, an odd type of still, and wine casks for maturation. It wasn't surprising that his distillates didn't at all resemble anything one would find on Islay. They were experimental. They were works in progress. Most importantly, however, they were quite polarizing.

While Bryan quickly drew the attention of single malt enthusiasts all over the world, not all of that press was positive. Many drinkers found the whiskies simply too bizarre and they weren't afraid to share their opinions with the blogosphere. Like most people that put themselves out there for the world to judge, Bryan was nervous about the public response and quite sensitive as well. To him, the criticism was personal because he had invested everything he had into these whiskies. It got to the point where he emailed me wondering what he should do. I told him to lay low for a while and just keep working. He told me he was considering just shutting everything down. After a lukewarm response from some online reviewers, Bryan was wondering if he even should be making whisky.

I told Bryan that we had actually lost money selling the first batches of his single malts, which is not what he wanted to hear. I told him that the amount of returns we had on those bottles eclipsed any of the profits we made from selling them. However, I made sure to point out to him that I was completely fine with that. As a retailer, it's my job to anticipate this kind of response. I knew full well what I was putting on the shelf and I knew it might not go over well with many of our customers. I was willing to take that risk. I believed in what Bryan was doing and I didn't care about the revenue. I just wanted to support a local guy who I thought was capable of doing something great.

I didn't hear from Bryan again for a few months until he emailed me again last week, wondering if he could stop by the store to taste me on a few new samples. He came to Redwood City yesterday with two bottles in hand: one labeled as Ouroboros and the other called Bohemian Bonfire. We went to the tasting bar and poured them off into the glassware. I nosed and sipped. I asked him, "How much of this stuff do you have and how much can you get me?"

After the debacle that occured post-Seascape/Leviathan, Bryan was discouraged and disheartened. He was looking for inspiration and doing a bit of soul-searching. That's when he stumbled upon a single barrel of Kilchoman at a whisky tasting he attended. The flavors were bright, clean, and surprisingly drinkable, despite the youth of the whisky itself. When Bryan inquired into what Kilchoman's magic consisted of, he learned that the distillery takes one of the smallest heart cuts in the business (with pot still distillation, the distiller usually takes the middle cut, dumping off the heads and tails for redistillation). Bryan didn't add the cuts back in, however. He took a small middle cut and left it at that.

That was step one. The next step was to get better cooperage. Rather that use the wine-soaked casks for extra flavor, Bryan wanted mild oak aging as to not detract from the high-quality distillate. He scrubbed out his wine barrels and cleaned profusely, leaving only the wood in its place. His new, ultra-spirit was placed into the barrel and laid down to rest. The result is the Bohemian Bonfire, the same whisky as Leviathan with a smaller heart cut and normal oak aging. It's by far the best whisky Bryan has ever made and it's much more mainstream without losing the Lost Spirits character. It's also, without a doubt, the best peated American whiskey I've ever tasted.

The other bottle Bryan had with him was called Ouroboros and it was dark like sherry. When Bryan was unable to secure fresh sherry butts, he decided to create his own. He took his own cooperage, filled them with sherry, let the barrels sit, emptied them out, and filled them with a new distillate - comprised of 100% California single malt and smoked with 100% California peat (sourced from the San Joaquin delta). Again, the result is outstanding. It's all of the plant-like, beery flavor of Lost Spirits distillery with the mellowing agent of sherry to help balance it out.

Instead of folding under the pressure and criticism, Bryan Davis used the negative attention as fuel to get better. He went back to the drawing board and retooled his whisky. I think the Bohemian Bonfire is so good that I bought all of it - every single bottle. If that means I'm going to lose money again, then so be it, but I don't expect anyone to object this time around. That whisky has the soft sweetness found in Bruichladdich's outstanding Bere Barley release with the sweet peat of Laphroaig, never losing the beery malt flavor that has become Bryan's trademark.

I can't wait to get these in. I love a good comeback story.

-David Driscoll

These are the last two barrels from the Signatory deal. After this we’ll move on to the Exclusive Malt whiskies:

1991 Cambus 21 Year Old K&L Exclusive Signatory Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Grain Whisky $99.99 - Here we go! After two years of hunting for a replacement to our wildly successful single grain Girvan, we've finally found a cask of grain worthy enough for our discerning customers. Cambus is one of the most difficult to find grain distilleries for a couple of reasons, it's been closed since 1993 and it is rumored to be at the heart of the Johnnie Walker Blue bottlings. No surprise that it's difficult to find, if Diageo is relying on this whisky to produce one of its most sought after blends it will certainly be controlling as much stock as possible. Occasionally small lots slip out of the blenders grasp and into our glass! Here we have a super high quality grain in all its awkward splendor. This nose is all oak spice and vibrant fresh fruit. Clove, coriander, freshly grated nutmeg, apple skins, under-ripe mango. On the palate the fruit takes over, plus vanilla cake frosting, the baking spices remain subdued, onto a bit of coconut and some fresh oak. A perfect example of why, sometimes, we must not blend all the grain. (David Othenin-Girard)

1997 Laphroaig 16 Year Old K&L Exclusive Signatory Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky $99.99 - We love Laphroaig. Everybody loves Laphroaig (if they don't hate it). Not a lot of people on the fence regarding Laphroaig. That's why it's really hard to get. It's really expensive as well. These are both cause and effect. We've seen prices go up, while quality has remained consistent. We took on a middle aged Laphroaig last year and sold it for what seemed like a reasonable $140. Now we have another cask of Laphroaig and it's difficult not to oversell it. If we're always so effusive about every whisky we taste people start to question our judgment. So, I'm not going to do it like that. I'm just going to say that this is top tier Laphroaig. It's in that prime moment between the intensity of a young Laphroaig and that depth of the older offerings from this legendary distillery. This was the whisky that we spent time wringing our hands about because we were expecting to be paying the same price as our 18 year from 2012, but somehow we were able to get the price down to something far more reasonable. It won't last and it will go up significantly after the pre-arrival campaign is finished.  Don't miss it! (David Othenin-Girard)

These will be on the same container as the other malts and are due to arrive in late August or September.

-David Driscoll

What's darker than maple syrup, brimming with spice cake, supple as all hell, yet massively powerful at 58.1% alcohol? Our new K&L Exclusive single barrel, first-fill sherry cask of Mortlach!

This is not a pre-arrival. This baby is in stock right now!

Why did we not sell it in advance? Here's the story:

Chieftain's has a pretty cozy relationship with Diageo because Diageo needs Glen Goyne for its blends and Ian McCleod owns both the distillery and the Chieftain's independent label. For that reason, Chieftain's often has access to stuff from the big D portfolio that no other indy bottler has. We didn't have an appointment with Chieftain's this year because they are running out of casks to sell and they weren't going to offer us anything. However, this Mortlach cask was one of the last things they were willing to sell us, mainly because they knew I really, really wanted it. They were going to bottle it whether we wanted it or not because it needed to get out of the wood or risk oversaturation, so that meant we could probably get to the states by mid-May if we pushed. We did. It's here. That was fast!

I love sherry-aged Mortlach. I adore it. To me, when done properly, it has no equal in the world of single malt. I think it's better than Macallan, Glenfarclas, Glendronach, Balvenie, or any other similar whisky profile in the business. This isn't a fact, this is just my personal opinion. Finding a sherry cask of Mortlach has been kind of a white whale search for me. I don't mean finding a bottle to purchase. I mean finding an entire cask, just for K&L and whatever customers wanted to share it with us.  I ask every producer we visit if they have any. The answer is almost always "No." When they do have a barrel it's never the right one. This 22 year old butt, however, was like a ray of light coming down from the grey, overcast, Scottish sky.

Why is old, sherry-aged Mortlach a rarity? Because Diageo needs every drop for Johnnie Walker. It's not like I can't get a cask of Mortlach in general. I can buy Mortlach whenever I want because there's plenty of it on the independent market. It's just that it doesn't taste like this.

I'll put this out there right now: this single barrel of Mortlach is easily the best sherry-aged whisky we have in stock. And I'll put this out there, too: I can't remember selling a better one.

Personally, I like this more than any of the Balvenie 1401 Tun series malts. I like this more than our 1970 Glenfarclas. I like this Mortlach more than anything I've ever tasted from Glendronach. It's crazy rich, concentrated, and supple, but it's never sweet. It's powerful and spicy, but the complexity of flavor is delicate and elegant. It's the total package for sherry-aged malt in my world. With water I could drink this all day and all night.

That's just my own personal opinion. Normally when we buy whisky I'm not thinking about myself, but rather what the customer would want and what will represent quality to the greatest number of people. But this barrel purchase was entirely selfish. I bought this cask for me. It represented my own tastes and my own desires. It was another notch in my quest to bottle the greatest Diageo whiskies in the world without having to buy them from Diageo. It was everything I love about my job all rolled into one wooden barrel.

If you like big, massive, super-sherried whisky that pushes the maturation right up to the edge without going over, then I hope you'll share this whisky with me. Because there's a lot of it. Like 500 bottles.

And I can't drink it all myself.

1990 Mortlach 22 Year Old K&L Exclusive Chieftain's Single Sherry Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky $169.99 - If you've ever taken a sip of Johnnie Walker Black then you've tasted Mortlach whisky. The Speyside distillery is one of Diageo's most-prized institutions, creating richly-textured whiskies that provide the backbone to many of its legendary blends. Yet because the whisky isn't sold as a single malt in the United States, the name Mortlach doesn't necessarily stir the emotions of the whisky-loving faithful. But there's another reason Mortlach hasn't achieved stardom abroad: most of what does make it to the States, under the guise of an independent label, is unsherried. To drink Mortlach out of an unsherried hogshead barrel is like drinking Laphroaig without peat or Macallan without richness. It's not at all representative of what the distillery does best. Nevertheless, the occasional hogshead makes its way over every now and again, devoid of the toffee, the cocoa, the spice, and the power. It's no wonder that these oddballs have done little to boost the distillery's rep. On our last visit to Scotland, however, we finally found a prize worthy of purchasing: an ancient, first-fill sherry cask of delicious, traditional, full-throttle Mortlach. Think Macallan 18 on steroids: big, opulent, dense, chewy, meaty, caramel, fudge, baking spices, herbaceous notes, and cakebread. Considering that Macallan 18 just took another price increase, this Mortlach looks like a super value. We've never found a cask of Mortlach this good, and we don't expect to again. Just make sure to add water!

-David Driscoll