A New Start

I've had a bit of a black cloud over my head the last few days, but today I'm feeling more upbeat. Whenever you get into a bit of a funk it's best to look at the factors in your life you can control and then make the best of it. I realized that I control a lot of things at K&L this week. For example, I control selection, inventory, and pricing for a large portion of the company. That means if I want to change things around to fit my particular needs or placate the whimsy of my fragile emotions, I can do that. And so I will. Wow, this feels good already.

One of my favorite everyday whiskies of all time is the Benriach 12. Sadly, like most good things these days, the Benriach 12 has been discontinued by the distillery. They're replacing it with a new 12 year old sherry-matured edition which we should have in stock tomorrow. I love me some sherry, of course, but I'm really an old fashioned Highland kid at heart. I love Clynelish 14. I love Glenmorangie 10. I even love the ease and drinkability of Johnnie Walker Green Label. But much like low alcohol, crisp and clean white wines took a backseat to oaky chardonnay this past decade, subtle and nuanced whiskies like the Benriach 12 are all getting blown out the water by big sherry and bit peat. I know what it's like to have a loud person talking over you all the time (because I'm the loud guy). Ironically (or maybe fittingly, depending on how you look at it), I don't look for the same attributes in a partner. Whereas most of our beer customers want 8.5% American Double IPAs, I want 4% German lagers. Whereas many of our wine customers want 16% ABV Napa Cabernets, I want 12.5% French claret. And whereas 60.2% sherry bombs and 132 ppm peated malts have become the mainstay, I want 46% classic barley goodness. 

I want purity. I want typicity. I want comfort and effortless cool. I want vintage flavor and traditional heritage. I want a fucking Highland malt that tastes like a Highland malt, for Christ's sake! 

So I bought the rest of it. I cleaned out the supplier. There's no more Benriach 12 available in California from distribution. 

Now—since we established I'm in control here—I'm going to do the opposite of what opportunism dictates. I'm going to lower the price and let anyone who wants to join me in this sweet surrender have at it.

$39.99 for the now-discontinued standard edition of Benriach 12. Treat yourself. Pay $40 for a great whisky from a great distillery (with a real age statement!) and pour yourself a glass tonight. I'm ready to go back to the beginning with my whisky enjoyment a start remembering all the wonderful single malts I enjoyed when I first broke into this crazy business. It's a new start—or ANUSTART, as Tobias Fünke put on his license plate.

-David Driscoll