Back in the day, there was nothing more fun than traveling to Scotland in the early Spring, purchasing a bunch of single barrels, getting them shipped back to the U.S. by Fall, and selling them to our customers right as the chill began to take hold in California.

I always referred to October 1st as the start of “Whisky Season,” as it’s both when Scotch starts to taste its best, and when the barrels start barreling in.

Of course, COVID ruined most of whisky season, as we weren’t able to head across the pond this year, but it didn’t stop us from doing our job!

COVID played a very cruel trick on my friends at Ardnahoe distillery, however.

Imagine this…

You’re opening a new distillery on Islay, you’ve locked down Islay legend Jim McEwan to be your master distiller—the guy who took Bowmore to new heights, and turned Bruichladdich into a cult phenomenon—and you’ve put together the coolest, most insane single cask collection of iconic Islay whiskies to sell in your gift shop to those die-hard single malt fans who brave the trip out to the island. 

And then COVID hits.

It’s a pickle, right? You’ve got the coolest new gift shop exclusive on the planet with The Kinship single casks, many of them hand-chosen by Jim McEwan himself, but you’ve got no tourists.

Then, this past December, the U.S. (out of nowhere) decides to allow the importation of 700ml bottles, reversing course on decades of exclusionary practices that have kept unique and highly-prized whiskies out of the hands of thirsty Americans. 

At that point, we just needed to get around the tariffs. Eventually those fell off, and the magic began to happen. Now we’re here. 

Let’s talk about the Kinship Collection.

The thing about having a good relationship with your suppliers isn’t just about getting an order done, it’s also about getting access to bottles either long sold out, or normally unavailable to the general market. That’s what’s so cool about these 2019 Feis Ile bottlings we’re offering today, as they were originally for the Islay festival goers who made the trip out to the island, launched back in May of 2019 in an announcement here from Hunter Laing.

Wanna know what’s even crazier? We’re gonna offer them for the same price they were sold for back then, not for the crazy $1000+ prices you’ll currently find on the interweb. 

For me personally, this is a dream list of whiskies that I wish I had purchased more of in my youth, and will probably never be able to afford again. Granted, these bottles are not inexpensive, but they're within reach still, unlike much of what’s out there today. I know which ones I'm getting already, so hopefully I don't take the bottle you want!

Given that the Bowmore 30 is sold out at most stores, (other than the Whiskey Shop in Singapore that wants $2000+) that's probably the direction I'm going. And the fact that Jim McEwan picked it out and likely distilled it as well.

We’re just getting started here for Whisky Season 2021, but there’s nothing this epic coming down the pipe. I wanted to start with a bang, so here we go!

BROWSE THE KINSHIP COLLECTION HERE.

-David Driscoll