Club Corner
Special Release - Oban Single Malt
Q3: Oban 10 Coastal Orchard Single Malt Scotch This quarter, we are once again visiting the majestic Scottish Highlands, but instead of the lovely town of Alness, we are going 3 hours south west to the quaint town of Oban on the opposite coast! The iconic, eponymous distillery is our destination this quarter, and we are featuring one of their recent special releases. Inspired by – you guessed it – a coastal apple orchard, the team at Oban selected this combination of cask types to exhibit their fruit and spice flavors. The initial maturing in refill casks with part of the finishing happening in charred American oak supplying the spice and sweetness; and the Oloroso cask finish supplies the fruit notes.This is something to sip on with the final few warm days we have left in the year, and it even has enough body to keep you warm at the start of the cold season. Sláinte!Daniel RuppertSpirits & Beer Buyer Oban 10 Coastal Orchard Single Malt Scotch Region: West Highlands Tasting Notes: Nose: Maritime salinity, quickly replaced by herbal oak and vanilla. Palate: Apple, citrus, and vanilla with a hint of the maritime notes seen on the nose. Finish: Medium length exploring the more spicy notes imparted by the American Oak finish. Cask: Charred American Oak& Oloroso Sherry ABV: 58% Price: $99.99/750ml
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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
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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
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Single Malt Club Quarter 4: Mars Whisky Komagatake Single Malt Japanese Whisky 2024 Edition
Japanese single malt whisky has been steadily on the rise in both popularity and brand saturation over the last few years. The Mars Distillery is an important one to highlight for their excellence and longevity in whisky making. This smaller distillery, not owned by a conglomerate, has consistently produced diverse examples of fine Japanese whisky. This selection is a brand-new limited edition annual release from Mars Komagatake Distillery (fka Shinshu). It is also, sadly, the last of these annual experimentations. This release will give way to a core Komagatake product that will now not change year to year but will stay a consistent recipe. An end of an era. But we have the last bottle to celebrate! かんぱい! Will Popko Spirits Buyer Mars Komagatake Edition 2024 Region: Nagano Prefecture, Japan Located between Japan’s soaring Southern Alps and the towering Central Alps, at just over 2,600 feet, Mars Shinshu (Komagatake) is Japan’s highest whisky distillery. The Hombo family, the Mars proprietors, have been distilling for more than a century and added whisky to their repertoire in 1949. Until 1984, when located in the Tsunuki region, it was the southernmost whisky made in Japan, which ended when the Hombo clan moved the distillery to the idyllic alpine setting of Miyada village in southern Nagano Prefecture, Central Japan. They chose this site for its cool temperature, which slowed maturation, and the plentiful soft granite filtered snowmelt fed aquifers. A beautiful choice. In 2016, Hombo Shuzo reopened and introduced new pot stills to their first distillery located in Kagoshima now known as the Mars Tsunuki Distillery. They also built an aging facility on a tiny island known as Yakushima, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where they now age spirits from both Shinshu and Tsunuki distilleries. Mars produces a wide variety of whisky, from high-ball designed mixing whiskies to super limited collectible rarities, and everything in between. The Komagatake Single Malt 2024 Edition is a new watermark for this historic Nagano-based distillery. Every year, or edition, there has been a different recipe, but this is the first 100% unseated release. Composed of 100% malted barley, aged at least 4 years, twice distilled in copper pot stills, and primarily aged in ex-bourbon barrels with support from sherry and a variety of wine casks, this is the last vintaged Komagatake release from the Mars Distillery. Cask Type: ex-bourbon, sherry and unspecified wine casks ABV: 50% Price: $129.99/700mL Tasting Notes: Nose: bright apricot, banana, orange peel, spiced apple Palate: rich maple syrup, hazelnut, persimmon jam Finish: deep sherry
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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.
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