Not Another Whisky Blog

October 2024 Club Releases

Ever wonder what whiskies the Club Members at McCallum & Sons receive? Here’s an inside peek at the most recent newsletter, and what they received for October. Interested in signing up? Head over to the website and register your interest for the Whiskey Clubs.

International Whisky Club

Benriach 14yr Single Cask – Single Malt Scotch Whisky

A few months back, myself and Tommy Patrick from The Ballard Cut were offered a pretty incredible opportunity that has never occurred in the state of WA before: to bring an entire barrel of Scotch whisky from one of the Brown-Forman distilleries. Our initial hopes of a single barrel from The Glendronach distillery were dashed when we found out the price point we would need to list the bottles at (like $500-600… maybe one day). A Glenglassaugh barrel looked promising, unique, and it was at a much more reasonable price point. Then we were offered a sample of Benriach. The color alone peaked our interest, but tasting it blew our minds. We knew this barrel would appeal to Scotch and bourbon drinkers alike. If there was a single malt to unite them all, this was it.

The tricky thing about committing to an entire barrel of Scotch whisky, and why you don’t see it too often, is the size of the barrel itself. Casks like sherry puncheons, hogsheads, or port pipes are significantly larger than your standard US barrel. This particular cask, No. 1907 from Benriach, yielded a total of 721 bottles. That’s a lot of whisky to move, and not many liquor stores or restaurants have the confidence (or capital) to do so. It certainly gave us pause to commit. In the end, the quality of the whisky coupled with the jaw-dropping price they worked out for us, was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

McCallum’s Take: This was aged for 14 years in a Pedro Ximenez Puncheon. For those of you unfamiliar with styles of sherry wine, PX is generally the sweetest and most decadent variety. The whisky has taken on an incredible amount of cherry, chocolate, raisin, and plum from this cask. I am beyond thrilled at the opportunity to bring in this cask of whisky and get these bottles in your hands.

The big ask: There are 721 bottles of this to go through, and our International Club Members are only making a dent in this case count. Please tell EVERYONE about this whisky. Pour it for your friends. Pour it for your uncle who hates Scotch. Pour it for your mom who hates whisky. Pour it for your cousin who runs 5k’s and only drinks Michelob Ultra. Point them to McCallum & Sons and tell them to snag a bottle of this while it’s still available. An incredible 14 year old, PX aged, single cask, cask strength, single malt whisky at this price is not an opportunity to be slept on. Do you adore it? Come grab an extra. Give it as a gift this holiday season. Pour it at your holiday parties. Pour it for the parents at your door trick-or-treating with their kids on Halloween, and tell them where they can find it. I humbly thank you for your support, helping to spread the word, and doing your part in flooding this state with this remarkable whisky.

Single Cask – 721 Bottles Yielded

62.5% ABV

Age: 14yrs (Distilled in 2008)

Distilled and Bottled in Scotland

Nose: Silky mocha, Maraschino cherry and warm vanilla combine with deep dates, plums, and cocoa.

Taste: Dark vanilla, plum, and currants layer with milk chocolate, oak spice, cinnamon, and sultana.

American Whiskey Club

Pinhook 9yr Single Barrel – Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Pinhook has been a fun brand to follow. Their core range of whiskies, while excellent, are a bit hard to keep track of. The ever changing names and labels with each year’s batch make even my head spin, and this is my job. There is good reason for it though: one of the founders came from the wine world, and they model much of their brand in that fashion; new and fresh vintages each year to be explored and enjoyed. Pinhook is a term borrowed from the horse racing world, meaning buying a young horse and caring for it until mature enough to race. That is exactly what the team at Pinhook is doing with whiskey; artfully aging, blending, and bottling distillate from MGP.

Where Pinhook really stands out, in my opinion, is their Vertical Series. As far as I know, no other brand on the market is doing anything like it. From the website: 

“A limited series of nine consecutive annual vintages that follows a single group of MGP barrels (with similar fill dates and identical mashbills) as they mature from 4-12 years of age. Different proofs are set each year to best highlight and express the unique attributes of that vintage’s blend.”

McCallum’s Take: This is an incredible series and live experiment for American whiskey. The Vertical Series age statements of 5yr – 8yr for both the bourbon and rye lines have all graced the shelves here at McCallum & Sons. We hope you’ve been lucky enough to explore some of them, as they are only going to get harder and harder to find. We have been careful to set aside a bottle of each release so that we can host a tasting of the full 4-12yr flight once they are all released. I bring all of this up because the bottle coming to you this month is not a normal Pinhook Single Barrel – it is from their stock of barrels for the Vertical Series. The latest nationwide release for the Vertical Series is the 9yr, which means that the bourbon you are receiving from barrel No. 2003 is among some of the oldest whiskey that Pinhook has in its inventory.

Single Barrel – 164 Bottles Yielded

55.3% ABV

Age: 9yrs

Distilled in Indiana, Bottled in Kentucky

Nose: Seasoned cedar, cardamon, and preserved oranges.

Palate: Brown sugar, glazed almonds, and brandied cherries.