Years ago, when my wife and I were looking for our first house that we would own together, we were obsessed with this British documentary series called “Build a New Life in the Country”, where a couple or family bought a run down, severely dilapidated heritage farm or house in the countryside to get away from it all. Some episodes ended in success, some ended with a partial completion and more than a bushel full of financial uncertainty. Regardless of the outcome, there was always a good story to tell.

As I was researching Kingsbarns, memories of the themes of that show came wafting back to me. The big dream, the creative ambition, the desire to start a new life, unexpected costs, not enough money. Yet, a happy ending (though a bittersweet one for the founder).

The initial idea of creating the distillery lay in the mind of Douglas Clement, who was a golf caddy in and around St. Andrews, long time home of The Open PGA major tournament. Over the years, he noticed that after a hard day on the links, many golf tourists wanted to visit a distillery, have a tour and a drink, and walk away with a bottle as a souvenir. Only problem was, the nearest distillery was 50 miles (80 km) away. Douglas’ desire to fill that niche lead him to pitch his idea to several golf contacts whom he caddied for. With this initial investment in place, he was able to secure a long-term lease from the nearby Cambo Estate for the East Newall Farm, as well as obtain planning permission from Fife county council. The farm was quite run down, but had lots of character and potential for a distillery and visitor’s center.

With this initial investment and a £670,000 (~ 1 million Canadian dollars) grant from the European Union, Douglas still did not have enough capitol to realize his dream of turning the farm into a distillery. Fortunately, William Wemyss, a golfing friend whose family had interests in a number of industries, including an independent bottling company (Wemyss Malts) and a French winery, offered a substantial grant to keep the project going. To keep the dream alive, Douglas and his investors sold their interests in the distillery to the Wemyss family. Now working for Wemyss, he became the Kingsbarns visitor’s center manager and director, opening the center on St. Andrew’s Day 2014. Douglas chose to leave the distillery in 2018 to pursue other ventures and later that year, Kingsbarns released their first whisky.

Although no longer directly involved with the distillery, except of course in spirit, Douglas decided to get a tattoo on his forearm to commemorate the first distillery release. Although he was not able to independently realize his dream of serving whiskey to the golfing masses, his vision had ultimately created something that made all of Fife proud. That, in and of itself, is substantially rewarding.

In my glass today is the second core release from Kingsbarns. Called Balcomie, this is a non-age stated (NAS) single malt whisky made from 100% Concerto barley from county Fife. It spent its entire life in ex-Oloroso American oak Sherry butts from Jerez, Spain and is bottled at 46%. This is non-chill filtered and contains no added colouring.

Nose: Fresh, minty and slightly floral. There are a couple of layers of fruitiness in here. Tropical notes are dominant. Combined with a confectionary sweetness, it’s almost like candied pineapple and ginger, the latter of which tickles the nose a little. A less prominent fruitiness comes in the form of poached pears in syrup sprinkled with cinnamon. Lovely mint milk chocolate bar, like the ones sold at the old-style chocolate shop near the house where I grew up (the now defunct Lee’s Chocolates for those who lived around the west part of Vancouver). Much of what I’m nosing is the result of this near-perfect balance between spirit and cask. For a lighter spirit, ex-Sherry casks can simply overpower a whiskey. That is not the case here.

Palate: A sweet and zesty one right from the start. Initially, I get creamy, rich honey and barley sugar on the entry. As this transitions into the development, the citrus comes to the fore along with a slice of fresh ginger, which tingles the tongue a bit. That floral note from the nose comes back as the experience approaches the mid-development, giving the spirit a slight gin character. Throughout the whole development, that poached pear is prominent, this time with some dark chocolate sauce drizzled over top. For an ex-Oloroso cask, the dark baking spices are quite faint. A good thing really, as this gives the spirit a chance to shine. Instead, the cask is delivering with that dark chocolate.

Finish: The citrus and syrupy sweetness leads to a juicy finish, which dries out slightly at the end. That pear and dark chocolate continue all the way through. The cask is, again, only exerting a light touch.

With water added

The ginger note is quite strong on the nose now.  Floral honey is in there too. The poached pear is absent, replaced by a barely fresh one. After I nose this for a while, I get dark chocolate ginger, quite the contrast when compared to the chocolate note I got without water added. The stronger ginger character continues on the palate and the floral nature of the development is turned up a bit. Still a ripe pear rather than poached.

Conclusion

Whether you like this scotch will depend upon the expectations that you had when you purchased the bottle. Those who read the label, saw the word “Sherry” and were expecting a whisky heavily laced with dark spices and dried fruit, disappointment will soon set in. Lowland spirit is a light, fruity and floral thing. Swamping it with an active Sherry cask would erase that character almost entirely. These Oloroso solera casks instead impart just enough of its signature to let you know of its presence without reaching for the ten pound lump hammer. In the end, the result is a supremely balanced young Scotch that I am salivating to try at cask strength (coming soon to Alberta, I hear). For those who are interested in trying all facets of Sherry cask matured Scotch, and those lovers of Lowland Scotch in general, this one will put a smile on your face.

Instagram: @paul.bovis

Correction: I made a couple of errors in the timeline regarding Douglas’ founding of the distillery as well as his time at Kingsbarns after him and investors were bought out by the Wemyss family. I have made these corrections in the text. Sorry!

Glenfarclas is one of the very first distilleries that I discovered in my whisky journey, and one of the first that I fell in love with. It was the perfect distillery to discover that funky, nutty, sherry flavour profile that I’ve come to enjoy so much.

That being said, Glenfarclas is a family owned distillery that’s very anchored in tradition. This means that you can know exactly what to expect from most of their core lineup. Lots of sherried goodness, but not much in terms of creative maturation or cask finishes. While their yearly Family Cask releases do offer some variety and are bottled at cask strength, they aren’t always affordable to be enjoyed as a daily dram.

This is why I was so excited when I noticed this release on our shelves at Wine and Beyond. As we are currently celebrating Wine and Beyond’s 10th anniversary this month, I thought the timing would be perfect to review this exclusive release! This Glenfarclas 12 Year Old is botted at 56.9%, non chill filtered and natural colour. Like its little brother in the core range, it was matured in sherry casks.

In the glass: Copper, somewhat thin. Based on looks, the sherry influence seems similar to that of the core releases.

Nose: A lot of alcohol on the nose, proceed with caution! With time, it dissipates and gives way to that classic nutty Glenfarclas nose with dried fruits in the background. Some water helps to bring out baking spices. Palate: This is definitely the Glenfarclas 12yr on steroids. I will warn that this whisky is quite sharp. I will never shy away from a high abv dram, but even with water the strong alcohol remains on the palate. Once you get past that, the same nutty oloroso goodness from the nose shines through. Lots of spice rounds out the flavour profile, with subtle notes of raisin.

Finish: Short, very dry, and more sharpness at the end. That being said, most of the alcohol shows up at the beginning, so the finish is smoother than I would have expected. More spice and fresh hazelnuts.

Conclusion

This whisky didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Perhaps my feelings of nostalgia around other classic Glenfarclas releases set the bar too high. While the age statement, abv, and price point are all very reasonable, I feel as though this whisky was a bit unbalanced. The predominant alcohol notes masked the funky sherry goodness that I was hoping to find.

I’m still very pleased to see Wine and Beyond getting an exclusive release from this distillery, and I hope to see another one in the future. Ryan Engen has done a tremendous job of bringing in a wide variety of quality single casks, and his track record in the last few years shows that it’s always worth making the gamble to grab a bottle! I always look forward to trying his selections, they are just one of many reasons to celebrate this 10 year milestone or Wine and Beyond. Cheers to the next 10 years, and many more amazing whiskies to come!

Instagram: Nic Bélanger

Here’s the Cole’s notes on this whiskey. During a business trip in Colorado, Steve (@park.whiskey) and Travis (@edmontonscotchclub), who run PWS Imports, the agency that has Boulder Spirits in their portfolio, tasted a sample of this whiskey at the distillery. They said “We want all of this.” And we all lived happily ever after. The end.

This tale is mostly accurate. Canada got 700 of the 850 bottles from the cask.

Just like Scotch and single malt brands from all over the world, American Single Malt distilleries and blenders are utilizing cask finishing and peated malt as well. Boulder Spirits is among a handful of brands that have had peated malt expressions from the start.

American peated single malt is a very different animal that the medicinal, briny, Lemon Pledge sort of vibe you get from Islay. It’s earthy and rich, like a campfire in a west coast cedar forest. With Boulder Spirits at least, their expressions are only very lightly peated. It’s more about the smoke than the peat.

Cask finishing is another element that is being more frequently utilized in American Single Malt. Sherry barrels of all types are most common, but I’ve seen Cognac, Tequila and Armagnac used too. And the list is growing rapidly.

The Boulder Spirits Trailhead expression, which is what I have in my glass today, is an attempt to take all of these things and pack it into a single bottle. This is a combination of peated and unpeated malt matured separately for four years in new, #3 char American oak barrels. Both casks were then dumped into an ex-PX Sherry barrel to marry for one more year. It’s bottled at 52.5% abv.

Nose: Scotch drinkers may expect the Sherry cask influence to be present right from the get go. Not so here. Even after a one year PX cask finish, the original cask maturation is at the forefront. Ripe, slightly sour cherries, lots of sponge toffee, a bit of dark roast coffee and a dash of cinnamon. After a while in the glass, the smoke from the peated malt starts to waft out of the glass. Underneath all of this is the undeniable signature of the PX cask. Combined with the barrel char of the American oak, it smells like the crispy caramelized edges of a freshly baked Christmas cake. The darker spices, the dried fruit. It’s all there.

Palate: The entry is like eating a milk chocolate fruit and nut bar. Rich and creamy. The PX cask is clearly asserting itself now. This this is quickly joined by still more raisins and a few prunes. Then the peat kicks in during the development. It’s slightly sour, but doesn’t consume the initial sweetness. Cinnamon, nutmeg and a good dose of clove arrive half way through and slowly build rather than crash in like a wave. The stages of this experience slowly ebb and fade so that one builds upon another.

Finish: Slightly sweet with a bigger dose or sour. Almost like the stuff they sprinkle on Sour Patch kids. Makes my mouth water. Rich cocoa emerges pretty quickly and fades slowly. As I breathe in and out after I have swallowed, that campfire smoke comes back again.

With water added

Much more of the PX cask influence now on the nose. Dark chocolate, raisins, nutmeg. It’s a little bit nutty too. Walnuts mostly. Instead of sponge toffee, I get soft Kraft caramels. The fruit and nut bar sticks around a lot longer now on the palate, resulting in a creamier mouthfeel throughout. The sourness from the peat doesn’t dig in quite as hard either. Nor do the spices. Lighter and creamier overall. The finish is less of the sour and more of the cocoa powder.

Conclusion

Any way you cut it, this is a phenomenal pour. It’s not a Sherry bomb. It’s not a peat monster. It’s something quite different, but incorporating enough from each of those extremes to make this a highly balanced experience. The only exception to this is that I feel like the unpeated malt kind of gets lost due to the peat and the PX cask finish. The sour peat note on the development kind of washes away the unpeated spirit too much. However, with everything else that this whiskey offers, it’s a solid “buy” recommendation from me.

Instagram: @paul.bovis

What’s one extra year’s worth of maturation time in whiskey? If you’re talking Scotland with its cool(ish) climate, it hardly makes a difference. Not so in other places around the world. Generally, hot and/or temperate climates really help to supercharge the aging process. Although not known for its searing heat, Boulder, Colorado is certainly temperate to cause noticeable differences from one year to the next.

Since I last wrote Boulder Spirits reviews, quite a lot has happened in the American whiskey world. Most importantly, American Single Malt, like Bourbon, is now an officially recognized category by the American Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). This has been a years long effort by a consortium of US distilleries such as Boulder Spirits, Balcones (Texas), and Westland (Washington). Although the rules are slightly less stringent than Bourbon, it is nevertheless a huge hurdle that has been overcome and will hopefully encourage still more distilleries to hop on board the barley train.

Since Boulder Spirits has been distilling single malt for quite a while now, they are one of the first distilleries in the country to be able to offer a whiskey that is Bottled in Bond (as well as their Bourbon, by the way). In the United States, Bottled in Bond whiskey requires the spirit to be distilled in a single season, matured for at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse and bottled at no less than 100 proof (or 50% abv). Their New American expression is one year less than the Bottled in Bond (which is in my glass today) and bottled at 46% abv. They are both matured in new American oak barrels that have been treated to a #3 char.

Let’s answer that initial question now, shall we? In the process, I’ll compare both the Bottled in Bond and American Oak.

Nose: It’s a bit shy at first. Give it a few minutes to open up. The cask has taken a firmer hold on the whiskey after an extra year. Quite a noticeable change. A nice balance between spirit and cask. The New American expression was bright, youthful, barley sugar with a slight hint of cardamom pods. This Bottled in Bond is much darker and richer. Grilled pineapple, ripe cherries, toasted cinnamon, freshly shaved nutmeg. After nosing more, I get a tiny bit of coconut.

Palate: Quite sweet on the entry. Vanilla cream and caramel with a little bit of zest thrown in. Tart cherries start the development, but dark roast coffee, cocoa powder, and a hint of dark chocolate mix with that not soon after. The sweetness from the entry mostly fades mid-way through the development, drying out the experience a bit. At the end of the development, there’s a ton of cinnamon. It’s kind of overpowering the rest of the spices.

By comparison, the New American retains that sweetness all the way through the development, allowing that spice cake/ginger snap cookie vibe to shine through at the end. That’s what I wanted to see with the Bottled in Bond as well, but instead, I’m treated to a richer experience. It’s a trade-off, for sure.

Finish: The coffee and cocoa powder hang on, but slowly fade along with the cinnamon. There’s just enough sweetness to prevent this from becoming too bitter at the end. The finish is definitely on the long side.

The finish on the New American isn’t as long, but I like the ginger snap cookie/cocoa powder notes more than the Bottled in Bond.

With water added

The grilled pineapple and cherry notes come out a lot more on the nose now, nicely balanced with the cinnamon from the cask influence. Water has made a huge difference in the development. The sweetness from the entry hangs on a lot longer, giving me that spiced cookie note that I love from the New American expression. The finish is sweeter and not as bitter.

With water, I like this more that the New American. Just with one year more, the Bottled in Bond gives me the best of both worlds. The richness that I got without water added, combined with the extra extra sweetness that I like from their New American.

Conclusion

Although I had some quibbles with this Bottled in Bond initially, it not only stands up incredibly well to water, it actually improves the experience dramatically. The same can be said of their New American expression as well. To me, this is a mark of a quality whiskey: one that has enough depth of flavor so that it doesn’t collapse with a few drops of H₂O.

Instagram: @paul.bovis