SPIRITS

BRAND NEW IN THE SCOTCH CABINET
Creative Whisky Company
The Exclusive Malt

I had the pleasure of meeting with the founder of The Creative Whisky Company David Stirk recently. We got to sit down and try all of these wonderful single malts and I was blown away. This is one of the most solid independent bottlers around. These guys definitely know how to pick barrels. All of the whiskies in this collection are Cask Strength (undiluted), Single Cask (coming from one single barrel), Unchill-filtered (so as to maintain the complexity of the whisky), with all natural color (no caramel coloring ever). The Exclusive Malts collection sees no more than 24 casks being bottled each year! Each of these bottles is one of less than 300 in existence and then they’re gone forever. These are must try single malts for any whisky enthusiast.

ABERLOUR 2000 12 YEAR OLD 55.7%

Coming from a single refill hogshead cask. Brilliant nose of apples, pears, touch of vanilla and cereal grain. Spot on Aberlour flavor of pear skin, caramelized apples, oaky tannins and vanilla. A soft and mellow Speyside dram.

$83.99 750ml [103005]

MORTLACH 1995 17 YEAR OLD 53.3%

Gorgeous Mortlach bottling. Bright and fresh nose of tropical fruit with a subtle saltiness. White peach, blood orange, pineapple, & butter toffee can all be found pleasantly on the palate. One of the best and most unique single Mortlach casks we have tried. Mortlach is one of those distilleries that makes about 99% of its whisky for blends so to see a single cask offering is always a nice treat.

$119.99 750ml [103003]

GLEN GRANT 1992 20 YEAR OLD 55.7%

Aged 20 years in a bourbon cask, this whisky shows a fair amount of vanilla. Notes of dried fruit and toasted nuts come through on the palate. Big malt presence with caramel and baked apple. A richer and bolder Speyside dram.

$133.99 750ml [103004]

CLYNELISH 1997 15 YEAR OLD 53.5%

Another great whisky that is a fairly rare find. Most of the whisky distilled by Clynelish is made for blends. This is a very intriguing malt. A distinct salty note plays well with the white pepper that cuts through. No shortage of honey and heather is this dram either. Sappy, resinous flavors coat the palate while it leaves the palate with spicy dryness.

$92.99 750ml [103001]

LITTLEMILL 1988 24 YEAR OLD 49.8%

If you’re looking for something that’s a nice step outside the speyside/highland style whiskies then this is the one for you. Littlemill is one of the few Lowland distilleries out there (and they actually have been closed for quite some time). This whisky would be perfect for a warm spring afternoon. It is so fresh and herbaceous and wonderfully bright. The nose is pretty typical lowland with grassy, herbal notes. Then a slight butteriness comes through leading to…is that some fresh parsley? Or cilantro? Then the palate starts off with cucumber, more fresh herbs, and a slight buttery note. Let it sit for just one more moment and then WHAM! The fruit comes pouring in. Stone fruits, kaffir lime, and more of that cucumber note. Such an intriguing and wonderful rare whisky.

$157.99 750ml [103002]

ARDMORE 2000 12 YEAR OLD 56.3%

This is a very unique cask of Ardmore. The peat level is far lower than usual and the nose opens with a HUGE salted caramel note. There is a sweet smokiness in there as well. Nutty flavors and white fudge come through. The palate is sweet honey, brown sugar, cocoa nibs, milk chocolate, salt, and then some peat comes through toward the back end. If you’re looking for a bigger, sweeter whisky with subtle peat notes then this is the way to go. Excellent cask selection!

$88.99 750ml [103000]

BOWMORE 2001 11 YEAR OLD 53.6%

This particular sherry cask of Bowmore is unique in the sense that it is, stylistically speaking, going back to the revered 1960’s Bowmore that many whisky enthusiasts know and love. No perfume in this dram. The sherry cask really does shine beautifully in this malt. Lots of red fruit all over, cherries and almonds, dried fruit, and spice. Nutty sherry notes glide across the palate with a slight peat note cutting through. A truly brilliant Bowmore cask that had us all taken aback. (EXTREMELY LIMITED QUANTITIES)

$92.99 750ml [103006]

BRAEVAL 1994 18 YEAR OLD 52.1%

“The Braes of Glenlivet” as it was once called, Braeval is another rare find. This whisky opens up right off the batch with a huge peach aroma. I mean all I could think while nosing this whisky was “PEACH COBBLER.” There is a little graham cracker and vanilla in there too…but mostly just peach cobbler. The palate follows suit with the peach tones but in a subtler, less sweet manner. A little spice and pastry notes pop up toward the finish which ends clean and dry. Overall a delicious dram that you just won’t see every day. (EXTREMELY LIMITED QUANTITIES)

$114.99 750ml [103007]

ABSOLUT ELYX SINGLE ESTATE HANDCRAFTED LUXURY VODKA 1 LITER

Part of Absolut’s new craft spirits line intended primarily for bars (hence the 1 liter bottles and why you will only find it for sale here at Hi-Time), Elyx is a truly hand crafted spirit. It is meticulously distilled from single estate Swedish Hard Winter Wheat in a copper column still from 1921. The wheat definitely shows through in the flavor. The soft, sweet flavors are apparent right from the start. The wheat sweetness leads the way to an exceptionally clean and crisp finish. The slightly higher alcohol (42.3% by volume) is only exhibited in the richer flavor and viscosity without adding any unwanted heat. Absolut Elyx is overall bright and layered very clean vodka. Try it in a dry martini and you will be sold. Oh! And this would be a great idea for a Mother’s Day gift.

$45.99 1000ml [102937]