Club Corner
Single Malt Club Quarter 2: Teaninich
With warmer days ahead, we’re driven to nuanced single malt whiskies that are bright and graceful. For this quarter, the Single Malt Club is featuring an oft-overlooked Highland distillery, Teaninich. A workhorse distillery for the major global company, Diageo, it is not overlooked for lack of trying. Teaninich’s main output is making younger whisky for Diageo brands like Johnnie Walker. It is not common to find a Teaninich this old. This 11 year old scotch, aged in ex-bourbon barrels, is made at only one of two Scottish distilleries to use a mash filter rather than a traditional mash tun, or lauter tun, allowing it to process very finely milled malt. This is a lighter, cleaner spirit with fewer cereal grain notes. This scotch is yet another great example of how an independent bottler can present a rarity as interesting as it is unique. Sláinte Will Popko Spirits Buyer Teaninich 2013 11 Year Single Malt Scotch Region: Alness, Scotland Teaninich, which translates to “house of the monks”, shares the town of Alness with another distillery - The Dalmore Distillery. The Teaninich Distillery was built in 1817 by Napoleonic war hero ‘Blind’ Captain Hugh Munro. After he and his brother John Munro managed the distillery for its first 50 years, the next century-plus it changed hands a couple times until DCL (Distillers Company Limited, later The Distillers Company) purchased it before WWII. In the 1970’s, DCL built a second distillery on the site with 6 stills calling it ‘A Side’. In the ‘80’s the original Teaninich, B Side, was mothballed - the original stills decommissioned and demolished leaving only the historic receiver house. Guinness acquired The Distillers Company in the late 1980’s and in 1997 Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo. Production increased as Teaninich became the go-to distillery for a major portion of the conglomerate's output. In 2013 Diageo announced plans that expanded the distillery, adding a new still house with six pairs of stills pushing Teaninich into big-production territory. This is a distillery that matters more than one might think. It is not a flashy distillery, but a historic and technically important production house. ImpEx Beverages is the American importer of many unique spirits and is distributed by JVS Beverages here in California. Sam Filmus, president and managing director of both companies, has worked to bring unique one-off bottlings from an array of other products imported by ImpEx. This Teaninich release is specific to only ImpEx and only available in the United States. Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon ABV: 56.8% Price: $129.99/700mL Tasting Notes: Nose: tart green apple and fresh cut herbs Palate: white pepper, subdued pear and honeycomb, creamy malted barley Finish: lasting citrus and soft spices
Learn more
Single Malt Club Quarter 1 2026
Starting off the year strong, we’re featuring a pick from the Kilchoman Impex Cask Evolution. This release continues in Kilchoman’s tradition of giving an unfiltered look at how unique casks evolve the flavor of the whisky. This selection sees their whisky matured for 5 years in a fresh French muscatel blanc barrique. The Muscat cask adds layers of honeysuckle and stone fruit which balance beautifully with the natural citrus and peat smoke character of Kilchoman Single Malts. Kilchoman has quickly become a household name, and if you are already familiar with their quality core offerings, this single cask expression will only further your appreciation for their craft. Sláinte Will Popko Spirits Buyer Kilchoman 5 Year Muscatel Single Cask Scotch Region: Islay, Scotland Kilchoman (the “c” is silent) is the newest distillery on Islay in over 120 years. Founded by Anthony Willis, it is an independent, family-run operation and also the smallest distillery on the island. The distillery began production in 2005 and is one of only six distilleries still using traditional floor malting. They also get malt from Port Ellen maltings but release separate bottlings depending on the grain. They are unique in that they complete all parts of the process on Islay - growing their own barley, malting, distilling, maturing and bottling. While Kilchoman started off using Buffalo Trace barrels, since 2023 they have been getting their barrels from Breckenridge Distillery out of Colorado. The whisky produced using Port Ellen malting are peated to the same ppm as Ardbeg (50 ppm) while their own floor maltings are peated to approximately 20 ppm. This release uses the Port Ellen maltings. ImpEx Beverages is the American importer of Kilchoman whisky and is distributed by JVS Beverages here in California. Sam Filmus, president and managing director of both companies, has worked to bring unique one-off bottlings from Kilchoman and an array of other products imported by ImpEx. The ImpEx Cask Evolution series is specific to Kilchoman and only available in the United States. Cask Type: Fresh Muscatel Blanc Barrique ABV: 58.4% Price: $129.99/700mL Tasting Notes: Nose: peat smoke, citrus sweetness, white grape flesh Palate: rose water, eucalyptus, lychee with salty peat smoke Finish: lasting floral sweetness entwined with drying smoke
Learn more
Q3 2025 Single Malt Club: Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 2 Single Malt
I have a deep fondness for Scotland. It is a beautiful country of rolling green hills, dramatic mountains, ancient castles, kind-hearted people, and of course, excellent whisky! My sister is a longtime resident and has put down roots in Southwestern Scotland, only fifty-odd miles from the distillery that is featured in this quarter’s club selection. Lochlea is one of a select few distilleries that produce whisky from barley they grow onsite. Though a relatively new distillery, their roots stretch back hundreds of years. Sláinte! Sam Crocker Spirits Buyer Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 2 Single Malt Region: Scottish Lowlands Lochlea Distillery was founded in 2014 by Neil and Jen, who had lived on the property since 2006. It operated as a dairy farm for many years until they decided that for a farm of this size to be viable, they needed to do something very different. Barley had historically been grown on the farm, mainly as livestock feed, and so in 2015 they embarked on an experiment: growing 50 acres of malting barley. They began quietly, learning from their mistakes, exploring the possibilities and making contacts in the malting industry, before finally making a big decision: they’d build and operate a single malt distillery on Lochlea farm. Construction began in 2017, converting and repurposing the farm structures into distillery buildings. They secured all the licenses in 2018, and the distillery was commissioned in August 2018. Since then, they have been growing barley and patiently producing spirit. Legendary poet Robert Burns called Lochlea his home throughout his formative years, working on the farm from 1777 until 1784. Cask Strength Batch 2 is the second in a series of annual limited-edition bottlings. Each batch is bottled straight from the casks without water. Cask Strength Batch 2 showcases something entirely new from Lochlea, as Production Director John Campbell has selected a combination of Oloroso Sherry, STR and PX casks from our warehouse that work particularly well at higher strength, amplifying our signature fruit, nut, and cereal flavors. - adapted from www.lochleadistillery.com Cask Type: Oloroso Sherry, STR (shaved, toasted, recharred) and Pedro Ximenez Sherry ABV: 60% Price: $99.99/700mL Tasting Notes: Nose: Apples, peach syrup, marmalade Palate: Wild lavender, rose petals Finish: Black pepper, signature Lochlea fruit
Learn more
Single Malt Club Quarter 2: Adelphi 2013 10 Year Old Ben Nevis Cask No. 13
Scotland has a rich history of independent bottlers (IBs). Independent bottlings give whisky aficionados a chance to experience expressions that veer from the established house styles of many distilleries, as well as the opportunity to taste single malt from distilleries whose output is mostly used as a component in blends. This quarter’s selection comes from an IB with heritage dating back nearly 200 years, and was distilled at one of Scotland’s oldest licensed distilleries. Sláinte! Sam Crocker Spirits Buyer Adelphi 2013 10 Year Old Ben Nevis Cask No. 13 Region: Scottish Highlands About Adelphi: Adelphi Distillery was founded in 1826 by brothers Charles and David Gray. Located on the bank of Glasgow’s River Clyde, at its height it produced over two million liters of pure alcohol per year. It ceased production of malt whisky in 1907 after the Great Gorbals Disaster of 1906, during which a washback at the distillery collapsed, releasing roughly 150,000 gallons of liquid into the neighboring streets and resulting in one death and several injuries. The remaining distillery buildings were ultimately demolished in the early 1970s. In 1993, Jamie Walker (great-grandson of a one-time owner of the distillery) resurrected the Adelphi name as an independent bottler. He later sold the company to Keith Falconer and Donald Houston. Today, Adelphi continues to release rare and exceptional single cask whiskies, as well as operating its own distillery, Ardnamurchan, which opened in 2014. About Ben Nevis: Founded by John “Long John” MacDonald in 1825, Ben Nevis Distillery is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland. Nestled at the foot of Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis, which has a summit elevation of 4,413 feet above sea level, they have been crafting malt whisky from the highest water source in Scotland for nearly two hundred years. Only 568 bottles were produced from this cask. Cask Type: Refill Sherry Butt ABV: 59.5% Price: $129.99/700mL Tasting Notes: Color: Warm, real maple syrup. Nose: Lacquered wood, undusted library, Fig Newtons, date bread, molasses, over-baked pumpkin pie, not-quite-ripe cherries, orange fruit pastilles, oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, candied walnuts. Palate: Black forest cake, leather armchair, dark chocolate truffle, pecan pie, brandied eggnog with nutmeg shaved on top, candied lemon. Finish: Decadent; long, but spicy and dry.
Learn more
Single Malt Club Q1 2025: Nc'nean Quiet Rebels "Amy"
Nc’nean Distillery As our first selection of 2025 coincides with Women’s History Month, I am pleased to present a single malt whose namesake is a woman, from a distillery founded by a woman. Nc’nean distillery further distinguishes itself by being at the forefront of sustainability in Scotch Whisky production. This is a very approachable, pleasant whisky. I hope you enjoy it! Sláinte! Sam Crocker Spirits Buyer Nc’nean Distillery Quiet Rebels “Amy” Region: Western Highlands, Scotland “Annabel Thomas started Nc’nean to change the way the world thinks about whisky from Scotland. Her mission was to create a whisky which could exist in harmony with this planet we call home. After leaving her job in London in 2013, she spent four years raising funds and building the distillery from the ground up on the west coast of Scotland. In 2017, Nc’nean started distilling our very own organic whisky, and in 2020 our first bottle was born. We now have four different series of whiskies as well as a Botanical Spirit. Sustainability runs in our veins. We believe it is our responsibility to constantly improve our impact on this earth in terms of carbon footprint, pollution and biodiversity. B Corp certified, we use only unpeated organic Scottish barley in our distillery powered only by renewable energy. We bottle our whisky in a 100% recycled clear glass bottle (a first in Scotch whisky, we think), and we divert 99.97% of our waste from landfill. As of 2021 we became the first whisky distillery in the UK to be verified as net zero carbon emissions for scopes 1 and 2. The Quiet Rebels series is released each autumn, when a new bottling is selected by and named after one of our small team. Quiet Rebels Amy, named after our Visitor Manager and Head of Sustainability, includes whisky finished in ex-Maury casks from a small organic vineyard in France who produce a fortified wine that is made in a similar way to port. The 60-year-old vines are maintained with a variety of sustainable farming methods including agroforestry which involves integrating trees amongst the vines to improve soil richness. The farm also follows biodynamic principles such as following the lunar calendar which several studies show is an effective way to determine the best time to plant and harvest crops. These ex-Maury casks have been blended with Nc’nean’s house style STR red wine and Ex-Bourbon casks to create Amy’s dream bottling.”(source: www.ncnean.com) Founder: Annabel Thomas Cask Type: 63% STR (shaved, toasted, re-charred) red wine casks, 19% ex-Maury, 18% ex-Bourbon ABV: 48.5% Price: $118.99/700mL Tasting Notes: Lemon custard, damson jam and brown butter muffins.
Learn more
Single Malt Club Quarter 2 2024
Isle of Raasay Distillery The Isle of Raasay is probably not a place you’ve ever heard of. With a population of only 161 people, it is located in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, between the mainland and the more famous (and larger) Isle of Skye. It is roughly 14 miles long from North to South, and 3 miles at its widest point east to west. Once ruled by the MacLeod Clan (my distant ancestors), today it is primarily a site for tourism, fishing and crofting. This quarter’s club selection comes from the island’s first (and as yet only) legal distillery, opened in 2017. The aptly named Isle of Raasay Distillery was named Distillery of the Year at the 2022 Scottish Whisky Awards. This limited release commemorates that honor and was limited to 9,500 bottles globally, with 1,200 allocated for the U.S. Sláinte! Sam Crocker Spirits Buyer Isle of Raasay Distillery of the Year Edition Region: Inner Hebrides, Scotland Co-founders Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day first met in 2013 and formed R&B Distillers with the common goal of building Scotland’s leading artisanal distillery. Focusing on local production, provenance, quality, and doing things differently, by 2015, they had identified the Isle of Raasay as providing the ingredients for the perfect spirit. In 2016, they were granted permission to transform the Isle of Raasay’s nineteenth century Borodale House into a state-of-the-art distillery, visitor center, and luxury accommodation. Starting from scratch, they set about designing a distillery to create exceptional whisky that develops elegance, complexity, and depth early on in the maturation process, and a handcrafted Hebridean gin that encapsulates Raasay’s style, character and impressive geological variety. Since its establishment, the Isle of Raasay Distillery has brought job opportunities to the island, worked closely with other local businesses and become embedded in the island’s tight-knit community. Part of the distillery’s ethos is to produce, mature, bottle and market every drop of spirit directly from the island. This seeks to maximize the influence of the island on the spirit, and the distillery on the island. To quote the inimitable Whisky Writer Dave Broom at our distillery opening: “we are not just making alcohol, we are making spirit.” Courtesy of Impex Beverages Cask Type: Matured in ex-Four Roses Bourbon casks with a second maturation in Quercus humboldtii (Andean or Colombian Oak) ABV: 50.7% Price: $118.99 Tasting Notes: Unpeated spirit with notes of vanilla and butterscotch and a long finish of Crème Brûlée.
Learn more
Single Malt Club Quarter 4 2023: Benriach The Sixteen Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Benriach The Sixteen With winter officially upon us and holiday celebrations in full swing, I am moved to reflect on all that the year has brought. While this year has seen strife and suffering around the globe, we must remember that above all, we are one race of human beings, with more that binds us together than drives us apart. I hope that as you indulge in a dram of this quarter’s selection, you spare a thought for our fellow humans facing horrors that you and I can hardly imagine. Here’s to a more just and peaceful world in 2024. Sláinte! Sam Crocker Spirits Buyer Benriach The Sixteen Single Malt Scotch Whisky Region: Speyside In 1898, John Duff founded the Benriach Distillery in northern Speyside. A serial entrepreneur, Duff also owned the nearby Longmorn Distillery. The two distilleries were connected by a private railway, upon which a steam train (nicknamed “the Puggy”) transported coal, barley, peat and barrels. The 1890s were a time of great success for the Scotch industry, with more than 30 new distilleries opening during the course of the decade. The same year that Duff opened Benriach, however, the industry suffered a major blow when Pattinson’s Whisky, a prominent blender, went bankrupt. By 1900, Benriach had ceased production and began to operate solely as a malting facility for Longmorn. It was more than half a century before it began producing spirit again, when it was purchased by Glenlivet in 1965. In 1972, the distillery began producing peated malt, a rarity in Speyside. In response to Scotch’s increased popularity around the globe, Benriach increased production from two stills to four after being sold to Seagram’s in 1985, which used the distillate as a component in the company’s blended whiskies. It wasn’t until 1994 that Benriach released a Single Malt Whisky, a 10 Year Old. By 2001, Seagram’s was part of Pernod Ricard, and Benriach was operating for just three months of the year before being mothballed in 2002. Two years later, the distillery was purchased by an independent consortium headed by Scotch expert Billy Walker (today the master distiller of GlenAllachie). The group acquired Highlands distillery Glendronach in 2008 and Glenglassaugh Distillery (featured in Quarter 2’s selection) in 2013. The three distilleries were sold to Brown Forman in 2016, and in 2017 Dr. Rachel Barrie was appointed Master Blender of each. Under her guidance, Benriach launched a new portfolio of expressions in 2020, incorporating both unpeated and peated malt, and a number of different cask treatments. Originally launched in 2004, Benriach recently reintroduced The Sixteen to its lineup. Matured in a combination of sherry, ex-bourbon, and virgin American oak casks, the whisky shows layers of stone fruit, smooth creamy malt, wild honey and nutty oak spice. Cask Type: Bourbon, Sherry, and Virgin Oak ABV/Proof: 43%/86 Price: $132.99 Tasting Notes: Nose: Baked apple and creamy hazelnut malt with overtones of ginger-spiced apricot and honey. Palate: Spiced stewed apple, stone fruit and mellow nutty oak, with honeyed malt and candied peel, and a trace of smoke.
Learn more
Q4 2022 Scotch Club
There are few spirits that warm one up on a cold winter’s night better than Scotch Whisky. For our final club selection of the year, we are featuring a superb single malt from a distillery in Orkney—I’ll leave it to you to deduce which one (wink). Only 615 bottles of this USA exclusive release were produced. We are fortunate to have snagged enough for you, our dear club members. We hope you will sip, share, and enjoy this holiday season. Sláinte! Sam Crocker Spirits Buyer Single Malts of Scotland Orkney 12 Year Origin: Orkney Island, Scotland Single Malts of Scotland is an independent bottler that searches for casks from around Scotland, looking for the best malts to share with whisky enthusiasts the world over. Only those sampled and found to be of the best quality are bottled in the Single Malts of Scotland range as a Single Cask or as part of a small batch. The Single Malts of Scotland is a range of superb vintage Single Malt Scotch whiskies individually selected from stocks of aging casks from the six main whisky producing regions of Scotland. To ensure each whisky maintains its original flavor and cask character, they do not chill-filter or add color. With aged casks such as these becoming increasingly difficult to find, each Whisky can be considered unlikely ever to be repeated. Each bottling is one of a limited number, making them perfect for a special gift or the chance to try something truly unique. This Single Cask was distilled in 2009 at an Orkney distillery and aged in a single ex-sherry butt for just over 12 years, yielding 615 bottles. It is bottled at cask strength of 56.4% alcohol by volume. Cask Type: ex-Sherry butt $120 Nose A spoonful of dark berry jam is dolloped on a rich fruit cake with marzipan icing. Dark caramel, drizzled on stewed figs, is mingled with some almond flakes. Palate More rich, red fruits: cranberry sauce and candied raisins. Thick manuka honey mingles with cinnamon spice and candied orange peel. Finish The sherry has clearly influenced this dram but has not overpowered the spirit – a beautiful peppery honey finish with more fruit, some fudge sauce and baking spice.
Learn more
Wolfburn No. 318- Q3 '22 Scotch Club
Wolfburn Distillery is located in the town of Thurso and is the farthest north distillery on the British mainland, with records dating back to the Viking era. At that time, it was under Norse Orcadian rule and a major gateway to Scandinavia and the Northern Isles. The area is fringed to the north and east by dramatic coastal scenery and is home to internationally important colonies of sea birds. “Burn” is the Scottish word for creek, and “The Wolfburn” is the creek that the distillery uses as a water source. The original Wolfburn Distillery was founded in 1821 along the same waterway and was at one time the largest producer of Whisky in Caithness County, but it was shuttered around 1860. In May 2011 one of their current team went to locate the site of the old Wolfburn Distillery. After 150 years of neglect, what they found was a barely discernible pile of stones, but one thing remained from the yesteryears of Wolfburn distillery; the water. The cold clear waters that fed the mash tun and stills all those years ago were still flowing just as they always had, and if the Wolf Burn was still there, then they reckoned the whisky could be, too! A short walk downstream from the old site they found a small flat piece of land carpeted with thistles. They could take just a little of the water each day and once again turn it into whisky. The purchase of the land was finalized in May 2012 and the first ground was broken a few months later in early August. Things were on the move, plans were being drawn up, equipment was being sourced from far and wide and by the end of September the structures of the new buildings were beginning to take shape. The new distillery was constructed with the help of Forsyths, whose name is known predominantly for the high-quality copper stills the produce, and John Fraser, formerly of Glenfarclas, the original Master Distiller for Wolfburn. John has since moved on, but most of the distillate we have in bottles was produced under his guidance. The production team at Wolfburn is tiny, about 5 people, and literally everything is done by hand. They produce unpeated Whisky ten months out of the year and lightly peated distillate (about 10 parts per million) for two months. The distillery uses a South African yeast geared toward a fruitier, brighter flavor profile and their fermentations range between 75-90 hours, while industry standard is around 40 fours. Longer fermentation typically allows deeper, more nuanced flavors to develop. Most of what they produced up to this point is Non-Age Statement, and at their typical core bottlings are about four years old. But they’ve racked up awards around the world for their NAS Whiskies, and have started bottling older, special release productions that are beginning to show what they can really do as a distillery. This month we are featuring their oldest bottling released in the US to date, No. 318. Wolfburn Single Malt No 318 Small Batch Region / Country of Origin: Scottish Highlands About the Distillery: Wolfburn was founded in 2011 and began laying down distillate in 2013. They are the farthest north distillery in the British Mainland. They are a small production facility and were designed to be efficient as well as traditional, and there is no automation, so everything from milling to bottling is done on site and by hand with care and attention. Long, slow fermentations and slow, careful distillation leads to an incredibly high-quality spirit that is now starting to get some serious age and special cask treatment. While they’ve already racked up many awards for NAS (no age statement) whisky, expect great things from Wolfburn and their juice gets older. About this bottling: Batch No. 318 is lightly peated spirit matured for seven years in first-fill Oloroso sherry butts combined with spirit matured for seven years in first-fill bourbon barrels. Only 4800 bottles were produced. This is the first Special Release from Wolfburn that uses a peated spirit and is also the oldest whisky we’ve had available from them in the US. As with everything at Wolfburn, this whisky is non-chill filtered and no color is added. Tasting Notes: Lightly peat smoke on the nose with bright fruity and floral undertones. Sweet, honeyed Bourbon notes layered with orchard fruit. Rich, bright and fruity on the palate. Gently smoky throughout with a lingering, peaty finish. Fruit and floral notes layered with oak and baking spices. All the components show well: Bourbon, dry sherry, floral/fruity base spirits are all apparent, but are also well integrated and create a cohesive drinking experience. Cask Type: First Fill Oloroso Sherry Butt and First Fill Bourbon Cask Price per bottle: $125/btl
Learn more