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After 18 years of buying spirits for K&L, this special parcel may be my crowning achievement. Just a few years ago, it would have been nearly unfathomable that we could gain access to stocks of this quality at such low prices. We have, of course, bottled similar whiskies before. Years back, we secured a 1991 version from Hunter Laing, and only last year we offered a Faultline barrel from 1998 that sold out almost immediately. Now, we bring you another "Single Vintage Blended Malt" a full decade that barrel's senior for exactly the same price. It is an absolute coup and, if I’m honest, may get me in a little trouble, but that surely will not stop me. My style has always been to ask forgiveness rather than permission. The true challenge with stocks like this is how you label them. We cannot, under any circumstances, place the distillery name on the label, even though it is beyond doubt where the whisky comes from. The once-accepted trade name Burnside belongs to our dear friends at Cadenhead, and out of respect (and good sense, given their well-known litigious nature) we would never infringe on it. So the question becomes, what do we call this whisky? Our friends at Duncan Taylor sold us that wonderful barrel for our Faultline label that they dubbed “The Huntley,” a reference to their hometown. That option was off the table for us. After some consideration, we settled on a playful nod to our friends in Campbeltown: “The Sideburns.” We are not the first to use the name, but ours is plural, because who on earth needs just one Side-burn? Needless to say, this is one of the most outrageous deals I have ever had the honor of brokering for our shop. It represents the pinnacle of my ongoing effort to push back against one of the most damaging trends in our industry: the erosion of value for the end consumer. If you destroy the primary market for great whisky by pushing prices beyond reason, you eventually destroy the market itself. Too many producers have forgotten the first rule of selling anything: give customers what they want at a price they can afford. Start with the customer’s experience and build the system backward from there, rather than forcing corporate projections and marketing jargon down their throats. What do customers want? Great old malt whisky. But in today’s marketplace, finding a bottle over 25 years old that delivers real value in the glass is nearly impossible. Certainly there are other ways brands create value for their customers through lifestyle, image, luxury packaging, or grand storytelling. But if the true measure is taste—and for me it always is—you will struggle to point to a single product that offers what this whisky does at anywhere near this price. This parcel is, without exaggeration, one of the finest opportunities ever presented to lovers of Scotch worldwide. I hope this is only the beginning. If we can continue to secure parcels like this through new channels, then perhaps we can begin to chip away at the barriers keeping customers from enjoying extraordinary old whisky rather than just looking at them. For now, I am confident in saying this is easily the greatest Scotch deal K&L has offered in its 40-plus year history.

Since acquiring the property in 2009, Virginie Saverys has worked to convert all 162-plus hectares of vineyards to organic and biodynamic practices. In 2015 the Sangiovese was harvested relatively early, between 10-28 September. Hints of dried rose petals, violet, pepper and black tea add complexity to fragrant red cherry and strawberry. (MM)

Elisabeth and Jean-Marie Egrot have made one of the most elegant, textural and complete non-vintage champagnes that we carry- and it is still at an affordable price! It is composed of 80% Pinot Noir from the grand cru of Ay and 20% Chardonnay from the 1er cru of Louvois and dosed at a little under 8 grams per liter. This wine has the silky texture and tiny streamers that only patience brings and I think you will be surprised at the finesse of this bottle. That being said, the power is still there, and I love this Champagne with full flavored, hot smoked salmon!

Infectious dark purple florals, spiced damsons and smoky minerals overlay the meaty, juicy texture and fine shapely tannins and purr contentedly towards the finish line. (DWWA 2024)

The 2022 Château Tronquoy is the finest vintage of this cuvée ever produced, offering fabulous aromatics of cassis, graphite, violets, flowers, chocolate, and earthy nuances. Full-bodied and beautifully rich and textured on the palate, with sweet tannins and a seamless, concentrated mouthfeel, it’s already hard to resist, and as I said from barrel, it shows the ripeness of the vintage while staying pure, balanced, and seamless. It’s going to benefit from just 4-6 years in the cellar and drink well for 25+ years.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Radius is a gorgeous wine from a favorable growing season. Velvety berry fruit and elegant structure are the orders of the day. Supple and focused, it is supremely clear and precise, with beautiful curves. Tea leaves, blood orange and sweet black cherry flesh out, expanding like a peacock's tail on the epically long finish. What a beautiful wine. (BN)

I initially hoped this wine would be bottled under our Anonymous Wine Collective label. When I was presented with this incredible parcel resting in barrel, I could hardly believe the pedigree of the vineyard source, the quality of the wine, and the exceptional pricing. Alas, the wine needed to find a home more quickly than the process of creating and approving a new Anonymous bottling would allow. Rather than miss the opportunity, I decided to utilize a label design the winery already had ready to go: Root & Stone. As it turns out, the name couldn't be more fitting. This Chardonnay draws incredible mineral intensity from mature vines rooted in the extraordinary rocky, marine shale soils that define this site. The fruit comes from one of the most iconic vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills and is crafted by a winemaker with decades of experience. Under its regular label, this wine sells for $50 per bottle and has a long history of glowing critical acclaim, routinely earning 92-95 points from top publications. Stylistically, this is a leaner, mineral-driven, almost Chablis-like expression of Chardonnay, with racy acidity, bright floral and citrus notes, salty, stony minerality, hints of toasted rye and golden barley, and just a subtle framing of oak. On the palate, the wine has wonderful tension and a beautifully linear feel, carrying through to a mouthwatering finish of rock salt and citrus zest. I'm super stoked on this wine. For anyone who loves taut, mineral-driven Chardonnay rather than a richer, more opulent style, I truly think Root & Stone delivers unbeatable value.

Capacious blackcurrant, blueberry and dark cherry fruit cradled in a coffee, cacao richness which fortifies the weighty structure and strident tannins. Oozing substance and charisma. (DWWA)

Château de la Charrière is one of our most popular direct import producers and a label that easily represents the best bang for your buck we carry in Burgundy. Formerly run by Yves Girardin, the business is now run by his young son Benoit, who has modernized the winemaking since his first vintage in 2011.

Sunny, rich and ripe, offering aromas of peach, pear and quince that lead into a texture that is unexpectedly lush yet still retains an elegant balance. The cuvée is based on young vines in St-Romain - two-thirds of the blend this year - complemented by grapes purchased in the Mâconnais. The result is a charming wine perfect for current consumption. (CC)

Utterly clean and delicious aromas of lemon meringue, chiseled chalk and chipped flint show on the attention-grabbing nose of this bottling. There's a lively acidity and chalky grip to the palate, where tight Asian pear and jicama flavors align. (MK)

The wild success of the Sideburns 35 Year has rattled the cage of more than one large company in Scotland. If you haven’t seen my review of that product, I highly recommend taking a look: https://shop.klwines.com/products/details/1918829 . The short version is this: we may be on the precipice of a new golden age of Scotch, and K&L is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the market asymmetry. While our marketing of the previous batch was met with side eyes and raised eyebrows from the original owners of the stocks and trademarks, other suppliers with similar inventories saw it as a signal. This was an opportunity. It would seem our prayers have been answered. Another incredible value in old malt has landed in our lap, and this time the deal is even more impressive. There are, of course, differences in the stock. This distillate comes entirely from November 1989 and was matured in refill hogsheads, rather than the first-fill sherry hogsheads of Batch #1. The proof is slightly lower, but still a robust 47-48% for a whisky of such advanced age. Remember, Scotch typically loses up to 1% ABV per year and enters the cask around 63%. So yes, older, slightly lower in proof, and without the fashionable sherry influence, yet 25% cheaper. If you ask me, old malt like this absolutely thrives in refill hogsheads. While I often insist on first or second fill for younger whisky, at this age the nuance of second or third fill can be profoundly beneficial. In any case, if it’s not already clear, this malt is drawn almost entirely from one of Speyside’s most beloved distillers. Search “Burnside,” the Cadenhead/Springbank-owned blended malt, if you want clues to the source. We’re being intentionally careful about naming names, but suffice it to say this parcel comes from the cellars of one of the industry’s most powerful blending houses. Whether it was once destined as a top note for premium blends or simply forgotten stock, it now stands as perhaps the greatest value I’ve ever offered. Twice in six months. It really does feel like the start of something bigger.

Dark in colour. Soft, juicy, velvety tannins. An approachable and well-balanced vintage of Coudoulet that should age well thanks to its tannic finesse, acidity and freshness. Though it is quite a tannic vintage, so give it some time. (MW)

Bright and lifted red-fruit aromas of wild strawberries, confit cherry, rose petals and citrus peel. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins and bright acidity, finishing with an earthy undertone. Well balanced and pure. Drink or hold.

This newer producer really starting hitting its stride in the 2023 vintage, as viticultural improvements on the older vines began to take hold. Juicy yet earthy aromas of blackberry, damp sage and mossy soils lead from the nose into a palate that sizzles with nearly prickly acidity. Flavors of sage, olive and brisk fruit ride across leathery tannins, making an mouthwateringly savory sip.

The 2022 GSM from Justin Willett is fleshy and floral, with great inner sweetness and lovely freshness. It's nicely lifted and full of spiced character, with blue fruit, green peppercorn, lavender, blood orange, iron and inky seaweed notes fleshing out in the glass. At only 13.5%, the 2022 has a surprising amount of textural heft. This is a lot of wine for $25. (BN)

Superbly composed and expressed, with excellent fruit purity and sensual complexity, the inviting bouquet reveals dark plum, wild strawberry, olive, clove, and roasted nut aromas. It’s succulent and splendidly weighted in the mouth, delivering a velvety texture and finely pitched tannins. Harmonious and structured with loads of delectable flavours, offering terrific drinking. At its best now to 2034.

The 2014 Tronquoy-Lalande is medium to deep garnet in color. Intense notes of Morello cherries, creme de cassis, and plum preserves spill from the glass, plus touches of mint tea, iron ore, and dried roses. The medium-bodied palate is taut with muscular black fruits and fantastic tension, framed by firm, grainy tannins, finishing long and fragrant. Simply beautiful! (LPB)

After tasting the Petaluma Gap chardonnay and the Anderson Valley pinot noir, this (also) brand-new cabernet was my last stop for the day. With the other two being outstanding, especially for the $, I had high expectations for this one. This one was quite the change! The other two leaned more into brightness and acidity. This lil monster looked very deep and brooding in the glass. It almost looked unfiltered. I'm not sure if it is but, it kind of appears that way. For me, that is a very good thing. After letting it breathe, out came the black currant, tobacco, cedar and chocolate cherry scents. In the mouth, quite formidable with mouth-coating fruit of more currants, dusty red cherries, earth, clean wood and milk chocolate. Initially the finish starts smoothly, gathers speed and become tart with the clean (and fresh) wood dominating. A very, very light bit of smooth chalk also comes into play, if there is such a thing. Like the other two Anonymous wines that I tried today, this one is a bargain, and it will certainly age for quite a few more years.

Coming from a vintage compared to 2016 and 2019 by the château, the 2020 Château Tronquoy-Lalande checks in as 52% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Petit Verdot, hitting 13.5% alcohol. Beautiful cassis, plums, damp earth, and chocolate notes all emerge from this beauty, which is a layered, medium to full-bodied, gorgeously textured Saint-Estèphe. The tannins are present yet polished, and it has a great mid-palate and outstanding length. I'd wager this is one of the finest vintages of this cuvée to date. It has the purity of fruit and opulence to shine even today, yet I suspect it won't hit prime time for 7-8 years, and it should have 20 years of prime drinking at that point.

This ridiculous barrel represents what I would consider the pinnacle of craft whiskey in the US today. Westward have been at this for a long time, and they've ridden out an incredible roller coaster as the industry has ebbed and flowed over the last 20 years. Part of what makes Westward so unique is the way they treat their wort, and the resulting spirit is unlike any in the US, Scotland or beyond. Anyone who knows me knows I'm all for experimentation, but the resulting product must be at least as good as or better than products made using tried-and-true methods, or it's simply a waste of time. And we've established that Westward is capable of making incredibly special whiskies on par with the greatest spirits in any category: see the Milestone Solera whiskey. But we've yet to find a single cask that was able to capture that same complexity, unique character and overt opulence...until now. This ridiculous little barrel offers a completely unique experience, producing a similar profile to the absurdly fruity Milestone with the added tension, powerful character and deep woodsy goodness of a cask-strength new oak malt. It may be my favorite malt whisky aged exclusively in new charred American oak that I've tasted in many, many years, maybe ever. Here it comes! The color is a truly dense shade of auburn (1.5). The nose immediately transports me to a forest in the fall: underbrush, dense oak, earthy spice. But with aeration, an incredible transformation occurs, offering tropical mango, coconut oil, cacao nibs, quince jam, persimmon and candied orange peel. On the palate at full proof, the oily texture is the first striking note, and the second is the ridiculous tropicality. While the oak is obviously powerful and intense, it doesn't feel hard or bitter at all. With water, the nose moves more toward red fruit, and the palate totally relents, softening and opening to a huge, fruity chocolate compote, like a chocolate-covered cherry filled with kirsch. This is simply one of the most impressive craft whiskies on the market today and provides a completely distinct experience while matching or besting the experience traditional distillers from either KY or Scotland offer at nearly any price point. BRAVO!!!

New Riff Distilling has built its reputation on transparency, precision, and an unwavering commitment to full proof, non chill filtered whiskey, and this sherry finished 100 percent malted rye is one of the most compelling expressions they have released to date. Distilled entirely from malted rye and aged a minimum of six years in new charred oak, the whiskey was then finished in a combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, adding an unmistakable old world dimension without obscuring the underlying character of the spirit. Bottled at a robust 111.9 proof, the nose opens with dark dried fruits, toasted walnut, cocoa powder, and polished oak, followed by a savory rye spice and subtle malt sweetness. With time in the glass, notes of fig paste, orange peel, and baking spice continue to emerge. The palate is dense and expressive, marrying rich sherry driven flavors of raisin, date, and bittersweet chocolate with a firm backbone of peppery rye grain and malty depth. There is real structure here, with the wine influence integrated rather than dominant, lending weight and complexity instead of sweetness alone. The finish is long and warming, showing clove, leather, dark fruit skins, and a lingering dry spice that invites another sip. This is a serious, barrel driven American rye that will strongly appeal to fans of sherried single malt and bold, full proof whiskey alike.

Bright and lifted, this Pinot Noir opens with aromas of red cherry, cranberry, and rose petal, accented by subtle smoky and mineral nose. The palate is fresh and energetic, vibrant red fruit, fine tannins, and a touch of earthy complexity. A gentle savory edge and underlying volcanic character add intrigue, leading to a clean, balanced finish. A distinctive, cool-climate Pinot Noir that overdelivers with freshness, character, and value.

No other bottler is offering such a diverse selection of high quality casks at such compelling prices. The Thompson brothers entered the whisky business through pure passion, and that passion has opened doors within the complex and often opaque world of cask trading. As the exclusive US source for Thompson Bros whiskies, we are able to translate those relationships into remarkable opportunities for our customers. Hand selected by the team at Dornoch Distillery and approved by our own buying team, this exceptional cask underscores the uncompromising commitment to quality that has become synonymous with the Thompson Bros name. If you know anything about K&L, it is that we are enormous fans of independent bottlings from Bowmore Distillery. There is a tension and soul to the casks Bowmore releases to outside bottlers that is almost never exhibited in the official range. Perhaps the house style is sometimes shaped toward broad appeal, but no other Islay distillery offers such a wide spectrum of personality in its independent releases. Founded in 1779, Bowmore is a cornerstone of Islay’s whisky tradition. Situated on the shores of Loch Indaal, it maintains its own floor maltings and produces a spirit defined by a distinctive balance of coastal smoke and orchard fruit. This gorgeous, underpriced barrel was filled into refill bourbon on April 15, 2013 and bottled in March 2026. Casks like this serve as a timely reminder that greatness does not need to shout when it can smolder.

Product details coming soon.

There's something meaningful and gratifying about bottling an OB Bruichladdich once again. If you're not aware, K&L was Bruichladdich's ride-or-die customer number one. Even before I started here, we were one of the first stores to EVER bottle a Bruichladdich from the new regime. The old distillery was bought by a consortium led by wine and spirits industry veteran Mark Reynier and Bowmore Master Distiller Jim McEwan. Almost exactly 20 years ago, their "First Born" single casks were sold at K&L at the fresh young age of 6 years old (thank you, Susan!!!!). Some of the first spirit produced after the refurbishment was done. When I took over several years later, our first mission was to go to Islay and explore the Bruichladdich warehouses. There we found many of our first "Faultline" barrels, but also the infamous Quarts de Chaume Micro-Provenance barrel. That's a story I won't dive into today, but our time with Jim at Bruichladdich was completely formative, and I still consider him a dear friend, although it's been many years since I've seen him. And while that phase in our relationship with Bruichladdich ended with the sale of the distillery and its old stocks to Rémy Cointreau, our love for the spirit distilled there has not subsided in the slightest. The new team, led by the wonderful Adam Hannett, continue to push the envelope and bring new and exciting things to market from that beautiful Tiffany-blue beacon on the bay. Now, in a surprising twist, where once we were told "never again," we're now told "please and thank you!" A beautiful barrel of Bruichladdich aged full-term in a cask that held the great white ratafia of the Charentes. The vin muté category is severely underappreciated in the States, but it turns out that if you take fresh grape juice pressed from the high-acid grapes grown on the wonderful chalky soils of Cognac, arrest its fermentation with freshly distilled Cognac and age that in old Cognac barrels for many decades, you create one of the most complex and delicious dessert wines available. The closest analogue is the wonderful botrytized white wine from due south of the Charentes, Sauternes, but of course at a fraction of the price. Now imagine taking that old wood, simply brimming with sweet, oxidized glory, and filling it with the fabulous, full-bodied Bruichladdich spirit. It's truly a match made in heaven. I honestly hate to trivialize this spectacular whisky with tasting notes because its existence is so poignant and meaningful to both me and the history of the store, but I will try to do it justice here. The color doesn't fall nicely into the classic "Whisky Magazine" color descriptors I usually use, as there's an almost pinkish-red character to it, but the closest is russet/tawny (1.3/1.4). The nose is impeccable and cleaner than expected for such a unique cask type, with a huge, almost buttery confectionery note followed by lemon curd, candied almonds, Shine Muscat, salted pretzel, nougat, peach tea, mossy rocks, wet gravel, pancake syrup and wildflower honey. On the palate, there's big sweetness at first, with the darker, craggy notes quickly balancing the richness of the wine: barley syrup, shiso leaf, lemon balm, peppermint oil, camphor, mace and pink peppercorn. It's viscous and long. With water, the old-school retro malt character comes forward, as do the sweet lemon oils. It's lovely, classical, eminently drinkable and stupendously delicious. It's not as sweet and juicy as some Sauternes casks, nor as spicy and tense as some Cognac barrels. A totally unique yet somehow totally classical Bruichladdich that we're proud to be selling exclusively at K&L.

*****One Full Sealed 6 Pack Case****** Few releases are as compelling as Thompson Bros.’ Mystery Malt series from Dornoch, Scotland. For a single malt lover, the pleasure of tasting blind is discovering a whisky before its reputation shapes your expectations. Here, that experience comes in a box. Neither the bottle nor the case reveals the distillery or age. The answer is on a small sticker beneath the foil, so with a little care, you can open and pour a bottle without learning its identity first. You can even host your own blind tasting. Every sealed case contains six different bottles. Thompson Bros. has also balanced the cases so each has the same weighted average quality across its six selections, based on the rarity of the casks rather than age alone. The complete list of casks in the series appears in the tasting notes section of this product page or by visiting https://www.mystery-malt.co.uk