K&L Newsletter: Our Exclusive Spirits Barrels

I can’t remember a more exciting time to be buying spirits. Twenty years ago, we were living through an extraordinary age of discovery, when incredible whiskies and other spirits could be had for a fraction of today’s prices, largely because so few people understood just how special they were. Two decades of growing enthusiasm have transformed the industry, pushing demand, production, and prices to extraordinary heights. Today, interest in fine spirits has never been stronger, but years of aggressive expansion and increasingly ambitious pricing have created a remarkable imbalance in the market. The resulting opportunities would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

Exceptional mature whiskies, extraordinary single casks, and some of the world’s most sought-after spirits are becoming available at prices we thought were gone forever. Of course, as merchants, we’re thrilled to bring these incredible deals to our customers, but as lifelong lovers and collectors of great spirits, we’re every bit as excited about what this means for our own cellars. I’ve spent the better part of two decades hunting down the world’s most interesting bottles, and I genuinely believe we’re entering another golden age of opportunity, albeit ones we've had to mostly create for ourselves. But the message is clear, and it likely will be for some time to come, if you’ve been waiting for the right moment to start exploring extraordinary spirits, this is the best time in the last half decade to be buying great spirits.

— David Othenin-Girard, K&L Spirits Buyer

• Faultline Rye: Our First / Eight years old, 111 proof, very small batch.
• The Redacted Bros / Nine bottlings from Thompson Bros & Dornoch, $54.99 - $500.
• The Trophy Shelf / Seven bottles worth the shelf space, $159.99 - $500.
• Casks We Picked Ourselves / Single barrels from Scotland, Oregon, & Jamaica.
• Our Own American Whiskey / Seven barrels and batches under our own labels, $34.99 to $129.99.
• Brandy Is the Best Value in the Store / Cognac, Armagnac, & apple brandy, $34.99 - $109.99.
• Agave & Rum / Six to finish, $34.99 - $99.99.

Upcoming Events at Your Local K&L: Mark Your Calendars

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Setting out to create K&L's first small batch rye whiskey, Stephanie Manning did not expect to find a mash bill that mirrored her own path through whiskey: 51% rye, 49% barley. The spice is off the charts, balanced by subtle stone fruit and a rich nuttiness beloved by fans of classic Speysides. One barrel in the batch spent 19 months in Madeira, funky and grassy and floral, with an almost marshmallow sweetness that is not overbearing. All five barrels turned eight years old before bottling and were married together for two weeks while being slowly proofed down. Stephanie was born on 11/11, so 111 proof turned out to be the right strength. Read more On The Trail.

— Stephanie Manning, K&L Spirits Expert

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Thompson Bros and Dornoch bottled 20 single casks without revealing what is in any of them. Ages run from four years to 29, across refill sherry butts, first-fill bourbon, a Sauternes cask, a stout barrel, and virgin Dutch oak, all at 48% ABV without chill filtration. A sealed six-bottle case is guaranteed to hold six completely different casks, balanced so that quality stays consistent from case to case. This batch carries the first U.S. single barrels from Dornoch, Lagg, Nc'nean, and Kingsbarns.

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There was once a time when K&L could have nearly anything it wanted from the Willett warehouses. Until 2012 the Kulsveens sourced every drop, and something about those ricks on the hill behind Bardstown made uniformly exceptional whisky. When the distillery opened, the rickhouse doors closed, and now we are lucky to get one barrel a year. This one took two. David picked the 15-year for California, then asked Ethan, Willett's single barrel guru, to hide this sample while he worked the distributor for a second allocation. Weeks later a competitor backed out of a New York pick and it opened up. This is K&L's first Willett barrel in New York, named for the song that came on as they drove up that road.

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Campbeltown is Scotland's smallest official whisky region, on the remote tip of the Kintyre peninsula, and it is home to three distilleries now. In the 1880s it had 30 and was known as the Whisky Capital of the World. Glen Scotia was founded in 1832 and was one of only two distilleries to survive the collapse. Stephanie got there by ferry a day after Storm Amy came through the coast. The single biggest takeaway from the tour was fermentation time: 100 to 130 hours, shorter only at the height of summer. Few distilleries exercise that patience, and the effect on flavor is profound. Sample after sample came through with tropical notes. The cask she picked was startlingly rich for 10 years old, ripe with baked apple and golden raisins folded into fresh pastry, aged in a first-fill Oloroso hogshead and bottled at cask strength with no chill filtration. Read more On The Trail.

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The guys at Pursuit United converted a love of whiskey into a professional life on many levels, and what is most impressive is that they kept the passion for it. It is rare to meet producers with high-level expertise not only about their competitors' products but about antique versions of those products and most other categories of spirits. We have had a great affection for what they bottle, but the value on their single barrels is something else. There is not another rye single barrel over 10 years old anywhere close to this price, and fewer still as good.

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The Cognac category is in a strange place. Once the absolute top dog of the spirits business, the major houses are playing defense today, and their struggles hurt the small estates that supply them. K&L has always offered access to great independent producers who would otherwise stay off most people's radar. The real reason we sell these over the big houses is that the price-to-quality ratio is astounding. We are selling a seven-year-old VSOP that would have qualified as XO before the rules changed in 2018, distilled from old-vine Folle Blanche, for $65.

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The boomerang barrels from Buffalo Trace are fun, and now that the pricing has been revised they are among the best deals in tequila. Committing to barrels without tasting them first is nerve-racking, but there is something exciting about not knowing what you will get. Two came back this time. The Stagg barrel spent nearly two years in excellent wood and drinks rich and spicy. The Blanton's barrel spent more than two years in Mexico, then rested nearly three more in tank, and came out softer and rounder. Bourbon fan or not, you will not find more añejo for your dollar.

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